Goodbye Summer

Being a teacher, my summer seems to end when school starts, but actually, the end of summer is a slow fade.

Every 4^th of July is a tad bittersweet—it’s the beginning of the end, and I’m not ready for it to be. Summer continues to slip by with late July and early August work-days and meetings at school. Then come the kids. But summer doesn’t fully end until Labor Day weekend—the last long break before the semester really picks up (108 days until Christmas break, in case you were wondering).

So on a whim and in honor of the last bit of summer, I give you, homemade ice-cream. There is really nothing better.

Dane and I made classic vanilla to take to my parent’s house for a night of grilling. I truly love vanilla flavored everything—it’s the opposite of boring to me; it’s perfect. However, I couldn’t resist not experimenting with something more decadent, so I made a chocolate Reese’s ice-cream too.

I used Kitchen Aid’s recipe for vanilla. Chocolate came about because we buy Shatto’s whole chocolate milk on a regular basis (don’t judge me), and this bottle was quickly approaching its expiration date. Shatto’s whole chocolate milk is like drinking a melted milkshake, so I thought it’d work well. I substituted the whole chocolate milk for the half and half in the vanilla recipe and cut the 4 tsps of vanilla to 3. The result was not super chocolately, but was delicious. 

 

Cast of characters.

Kitchen Aid and this lady also have some good tips for using your Kitchen Aid ice-cream maker attachment—the most important suggestions being to freeze your mixer bowl for at least 12 hours, chill your batter for at least 6 hours, and pour the chilled batter into the machine as it runs.

Unfortunately, the night Dane and I bought the attachment we had already gotten ourselves sufficiently pumped up for a night of ice-cream making, only to realize we’d have to wait until the morning.

Booooo. (But yay for the ice-cream that's now in my freezer!)

Vanilla Ice-Cream

Ingredients

2.5 cups half and half (or Shatto whole chocolate milk)

2.5 cups heavy whipping cream

4 tsps vanilla

pinch of kosher salt

8 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

Directions

Heat the half and half over medium heat until steamy, but not boiling. Stir often (and sneak a glass of chocolate milk).

I heart Shatto. 

Meanwhile, whisk sugar and egg yolks about 30 seconds until slightly thickened.

Starting the custard. 

Gradually add the half and half to the egg mixture to temper the eggs. (I use a measuring cup to add about a cup as the mixer runs, and once it’s blended, pour in the rest.)

Transfer this back to the stove over medium heat until steamy but not boiling. Stir often.

Hot and bubbly.

Then pour half and half mixture into a bowl (or, you know, a 9x13 dish if you're behind on doing dishes) and stir in the whipping cream, vanilla, and salt.

Mmmmmm.

Refrigerate for at least 6 hours (unless you have a beast of an ice cream maker, in which case, you could just go for mixing it!).

Follow the directions for your ice-cream maker. Here's an action shot of the chocolate going in the bowl.

This is the fun part.

Kitchen Aid attachments need to mix on low speed for 20-30 minutes or until the ice-cream become a soft-serve consistency. In the last few minutes, add in your mix ins.

Peanut-buttery goodness.

Freeze it for at least 2 hours before serving (the vanilla set up quickly and the chocolate needed about 6 hours--my guess is this is related to the fat content).

Finished consistency.

You'll need a scoop of each flavor.

Enjoy!

-Madison

5 Ways to Fill a Sundae Dish

Mis-matched is the new “thing.”  Last week I went antique shopping in Parkville, MO with my mom and her parents. I don’t really get jazzed about antiques, but show me some refinished furniture, chevron pillows, and mason jars, and I’ll go ga-ga as much as the next Pinterest freak. I got these awesome sundae dishes at Finders Keepers. Here’s my favorite thing about my sundae dishes: the random 4 glasses I picked were cheaper than the matching set of 4.

Hands down, the best moment from our trip was when my grandma started playing away on a piano in an antique shop. She’s an amazing piano player—think rhythm and ragtime. Turns out, a woman in the shop recognized some of her tunes. She said her mother used to play piano like that. My grandma made her day.

Here’s my list of Parkville favorites:

La Bottega Vintage Market
H.M.S. Beagle
The French Bee Bakery

No more talking—time to eat! Here are 5 ways to fill a sundae dish.

Go sweet:

1. Lemon Mousse. Make this lemon curd from Sweet Julia, and at Julia’s recommendation, mix with whipped heavy cream. I will be making this ASAP. Lemon anything is the perfect summer treat.

2. Peanut Butter Mocha Shake. This is my husband’s invention and was originally just a peanut butter espresso shake. I’ve added some chocolate (what else would I do?) and made it peanut butter mocha. You’ll need whatever ratio of milk to ice cream you prefer, and to that, add a scoop of peanut butter and a tablespoon or two of instant espresso powder. We drink espresso roast coffee normally, so we just use fresh ground beans (not too many or else it gets gritty). If you want to add chocolate to make it “mocha,” do your thing and squeeze in some chocolate syrup. Taste frequently and adjust ingredients as needed!

Look, I saved you a seat! 

3. Caribbean Ice Cream. This was maybe the best dessert I ate on vacation in Mexico, and it’s simple. You need one scoop each of chocolate, vanilla, and coconut ice cream. Then cover it all in rum sauce. It’s best if the ice cream is a little soft so you get a mixing of flavors. Oh. Yes. 

Go savory:

4. Ceviche. Think seafood pico de gallo. While ceviche calls for raw seafood that cures as it sits in a lime juice marinade, if you’re like me, you may opt to just cook it up instead. My seafood of choice: sautéed and diced shrimp. Here's a basic ceviche you can personalize. (For my part, I'd sub in shrimp and lose the tostada and Clamato.)  

Go healthy:

5. Yogurt parfait. Because you can’t eat like you live in a dessert blog every day. Layer up some yogurt (go Greek for more protein and beware the added sugar in many yogurts), fresh fruit, honey, and any assortment of crunchiness, like sliced almonds, oats, and chia seeds.

Or, in the words of Fleetwood Mac, “Go your own way!” Layer just about anything that you think will taste good together in these beauties and chow down.

-Madison