May Ice Cream of the Month

                                       Vanilla Kumquat Froyo
                                              1 8 oz. package kumquats
                                                    2/3 cup sugar
                                                 1 1/2 cups 1% milk
                                                 2 tbsp. cornstarch
                                                 4 tbsp. cream cheese
                                                 1/2 cup heavy cream
                                               1/4 cup light corn syrup
                                          1 1/4 cups plain Greek yogurt
                                                  1 tsp. vanilla extract
                                                  
                                                     Instructions    
                         
 Puree kumquats whole in a food processer.  Spoon them into a saucepan.  Add sugar to the saucepan.  Heat over medium high heat until sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat, and let cool.  Pour milk into a measuring cup.  Remove 2 tbsp. of the milk out into a small cup.  Add the corn starch to the small cup, and stir well.  Scoop cream cheese into a medium to large bowl.  Pour remaining milk, heavy cream, and corn syrup into a saucepan.  Boil over medium-high heat for 3 minutes.  Remove from heat, and stir in the cornstarch mixture.  Return to heat and boil over medium- high heat.  Cook for about 1 1/2 minutes or until thicker while stirring with a heatproof spatula.  Remove from heat.  Slowly, whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese.  Whisk until smooth.  Add Greek yogurt, the kumquat mixture, and vanilla. Pour it into a big Ziploc freezer bag and place it in a huge bowl full of ice water.  Let it sit for 25 minutes.  Freeze in your ice cream maker until thick and creamy ( It took mine 15 minutes).  Scoop into a freezer safe bowl and press a sheet of parchment paper right on the surface of the ice cream.  Cut any edges of the parchment paper that are hanging over side off.  Put on a tight lid.  Store in freezer.  It would be best to wait a couple hours to eat it.  That way it can get hard.  Enjoy.

This recipe was based on the ice-cream in a book I have called  Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams At Home.  It is a very interesting book because of the unique ice-cream base she uses and the unique flavors.  One that I thought was interesting was celery ice-cream.  By the way, kumquat wasn't in there.  Here is a link for Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams At Home.
                                         

Late April Ice cream of the Month

     I'm sorry I'm really late on my April ice cream.  Honestly, I just forgot.  By the time I remembered, I had to try out an ice cream.  Fortunately, it is really yummy.  Here's the recipe.

                                               Cherry Rose Tea Ice-cream
                                                              
                                                               1/3 cup boiling water
                                           2 tsp. loose leaf cherry rose green tea (I used Tealightful Treasures)
                                                               1/3 cup white sugar
                                                               1 cup half and half
                                                               1 cup heavy cream
                                                              
                                                                   Instructions
                  Scoop tea into a tea infusing bag.  Place bag in a mug.  Pour the boiling water into the cup.  Squish the tea bag so it is fully covered with water.  Let steep for five minutes.  Squeeze the tea bag into the cup and throw away.  Mix the tea with the sugar in a large bowl.  Let it cool.  You can stick it in the fridge to speed up the process.  Stir the half and half and cream into the tea mixture.  Pour into your ice cream maker.  Freeze for about 20 minutes or whatever your machine instructions say. 
                 

March Ice Cream of the Month

                                  Maple Butter Walnut
                                        2/3 cup 1% milk
                                                           2 cups half and half
                                                          1/3 cup + 2 tbsp. Maple syrup
                                                          3/4 tsp. imitation maple flavoring
                                                          pinch of salt
                                                          1/2 cup walnuts
                                                          2 tbsp. butter
                                                          
     Melt butter in skillet.  Then add the walnuts.  Toast them for a few minutes.  In a medium saucepan heat the maple syrup until it is hot.  On the side pour the milk, cream, and salt into a medium bowl.  Add the maple syrup.  Then add the maple flavoring.  Pour it in the ice cream maker and freeze for 15 to 20 minutes.  If you want hard serve ice cream put it in a bowl and leave it in the freezer for at least 2 hours.

February Ice Cream of the Month

                         Triple Chocolate Ice Cream

                                                    1 cup 1% milk
                                                    1/3 cup sugar
                                                    a pinch of salt
                                                    1 pint heavy cream
                                                    3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
                                                    3 tbsp. milk chocolate chips
                                                    3 tbsp. dark chocolate chips
                                                    3 tbsp. white chocolate chips

                            Heat cream and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat until hot.  Divide evenly into three small bowls.  It doesn't have to be exact.  Put milk chocolate chips into the first bowl, and stir to melt.  Put the dark chocolate chips into the second bowl, and stir to melt.  Put the white chocolate chips into the third bowl, and stir to melt.  Add 1/3 cup of milk, 1/4 tsp. vanilla, and a tiny pinch of salt to each bowl.  Let each bowl chill in the fridge until cool to touch.  Pour 1 bowl at a time into the ice cream maker.  It will take about 20 minutes.  When it's done scoop into a freezer safe bowl, and freeze for at least 2 hours.  Enjoy.  

Ice cream of the month

     For the year of 2013, I will be posting an ice cream recipe each month.  These recipes are for electric ice cream makers like the Cuisinart.  All of them won't have eggs in them.  It is the easier way to make ice cream.  Sometimes I will do frozen yogurt or sorbet.  I am a little late for January, but normally I will post on the 2nd Monday of the month.

                        Nutmeg

Thanksgiving Party

This is the table.  The tablecloth and plates are from  iparty.
It was a mix of fancy and cheap.

I made pilgrim napkin rings.  This is Cilantro, Sage, and me.

This is Paprika, Coco, and Oregano.

This is called popcorn.  It is the Thanksgiving version of a Christmas cracker.

This is Sage in an indian costume I made for her.
My costume was just one I found at a consignment store.

This is Oregano playing a game called Tippy Tepee.
It is kind of like Jenga.

I made a cranberry apple pie for dessert.  It was OK.
Not quite as yummy as I was hoping.

These are bacon beanstalks.  They were pretty easy to make.

Cupcake Picture

Here is a picture of the cupcake I took to Cupcake Warz.