One of my friends commented that I have just been Betty Crocker-like as of late.  True, I am being more domestic than usual, but summer inspires me to be more creative in the kitchen.  And what’s more fun than creating homemade ice cream?  Last summer the kids and I started making ice cream about every 2 weeks.  We bought this book as a starting point and it has some really good recipes:

However last week, I was jonesing for some banana pudding ice cream.  See, there used to be an ice cream place called Hank’s in Atlanta across from the zoo and my family was addicted to the banana pudding ice cream.   When Hank’s moved we were devastated.  ” Ahh,” I thought last week, “I can just make my own!”  But there wasn’t a recipe in the book.

A sidebar moment to wax poetic about my iPhone:  Despite the love I have for my iPhone, generally I don’t use the web feature too much, but as I headed to the grocery store with the recipe book in my hand, that’s when I got the urge to make the banana pudding ice cream.  ”Shoot,” I thought, “I have to go back home and see if I can find a recipe online.”  ”Wait a minute,” I said to myself, “I can just look it up on my iPhone!”  So that’s what I did–googled “banana pudding ice cream” in the middle of the grocery store.  I found the recipe below and walked around the store iPhone in hand gathering the ingredients.   Big props for the iPhone!

Back to the banana pudding: So I found this great recipe on Joy The Baker.  She has this fantastic blog full of recipes, life musings and the most beautiful photos of food.   Looking at her photos of the banana pudding ice cream inspired me to try her recipe.  

A few my notes on the recipe: As she says in her blog, this recipe makes a lot of ice cream.  My ice cream maker holds 1 1/2 quarts and the recipe made 2 batches for me.  This was a problem because I only have 1 freezer bowl, therefore the 2nd batch didn’t freeze as well.   Next time I will 1/2 the recipe or better yet buy another freezer bowl.   My family had 14 (small) servings eaten over the course of 3 days.   Depending on your ice cream maker, you can either eat it right after mixing/freezing or put it in your home freezer for awhile.   Be careful though because if you leave it in the home freezer too long, the ice cream will be rock solid and very hard to scoop (that happened to me and we had to let it soften for quite a long time). 

And finally, I must say that oh my goodness THIS IS THE BEST ICE CREAM THAT I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE!   This is the kind of goodness that makes you mutter while you are eating it, close your eyes while it melts on your tongue and lick the bowl clean when you are through.   

If you have an ice cream maker, I suggest that you make this if you have any idea what’s good for you.

Gathering the ingredients

My daughter mashes the bananas

I do not have a photo of the finished product because I was too distracted EATING IT.  Trust me, it’s a beautiful thing.

Banana Pudding Ice Cream

     adapted from recipezaar

4 ounces Cool Whip (1/2 of an 8ounce container)

7 ounces sweetened condensed milk (1/2 of a 14 ounce can)

scant 1/2 gallon milk (reserve about 1 cup for you morning cereal)

1 (3 1/2 ounce) package Jello Banana Cream Instant Pudding

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 bananas (mashed)

1/2 box of vanilla wafers, crushed

In a bowl mix cool whip, condensed milk, vanilla, banana pudding and about 1/2 of the half gallon of milk.  Add chopped bananas and vanilla wafers.  

Pour mixture into an ice cream maker.  With machine on, pour in the rest of the half gallon of milk.  

Stir the mixture and begin freezing according the manufacturers instructions.  My ice cream machine took about 15 minutes to get to soft ice cream.  

Remove very soft ice cream and place in a freezer friendly plastic container.    Serve with slice bananas and vanilla wafers.  

My father called me yesterday.  When he asked what I was doing, he seemed amazed to hear that I was making a blueberry cobbler.  I don’t know why he was so shocked; he has had several of my homemade cakes on holidays and birthdays.  Maybe it was because I don’t particularly like to cook and he knows that.  I cook everyday out of necessity or for special occasions or to make a special treat for my family, but I’m not one of those people who like to piddle around in the kitchen for fun or because I find it relaxing.  But yet there I was looking very domestic in my apron, whipping up a quick blueberry cobbler on a random Thursday.   It helped, of course that I was using a Real Simple recipe that I had made before; it is insanely quick and easy.  

The Real Simple recipe below uses blackberries, but you can use any berry and even combine it with stone fruits like peaches.  I used blueberries because my son brought home a freshly picked bucket from the mountains of North Carolina.   The consistently of the finished product is more like a blueberry cake, but I guess it’s called a cobbler because it is sort of “cobbled” together.  My kids ate it for dessert right out of the oven and also for breakfast the next day.  We put whipped cream on ours, but ice cream would be pretty good too.

*Note: It has a tendency to be more “cakey” in the middle; next time I would use a 1/4 less of the batter.

Ingredients:

butter for the baking dish

3 half-pint containers fresh blackberries or one 16-ounce bag frozen unsweetened blackberries, thawed  (or blueberries or peaches and raspberries, etc).

2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

2 cups pancake mix

1 cup whole milk

2 large eggs

1 7- or 8-ounce container whipped cream

Directions:

Heat oven to 375° F.  Butter an 8-inch square baking dish.  Add the berries and 1 1/2 tablespoons of the sugar to the dish and toss.  In a large bowl, combine the pancake mix, milk, and eggs until no lumps remain.  Pour the batter over the berries.  Bake until the crust is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.  Remove from oven. Let cool for 5 minutes.  Sprinkle with the remaining sugar and serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

Doesn’t that look yummy?

And it is!

I’ve gotten a few requests for my morning smoothie recipe, so here it is.  It’s pretty simple; combine the following ingredients in a blender:

8 oz.              Pineapple Juice, Organic 100% Pure  (you can use any 100% pure juice)

1 package    Eboost

1/2 scoop    Rainbow Light Rice Protein Energizer 

1/2 cup        Organic Plain Fat-Free Yogurt

1                   Banana

1/2-1 cup    Fresh Strawberries, Blueberries (or any fruit; frozen is good too)

In addition to my smoothie I usually have 2 boiled eggs whites and maybe a piece of whole wheat toast as well.   I’m pretty energized after this meal and satiated until lunchtime.  I’m also happy that I have managed to ingest many good vitamins and minerals for my body without much effort.   

Let me know if you try this recipe and how you like it.  I warn you that the spirulina in the protein powder does have a “green” taste and takes some getting used to, but it’s so good for you!

Every year my kids and I bake Christmas cookies that we cut out and decorate.  I have hunted high and low for an easy, but good recipe and a few years ago I discovered this one.  I found it best to make the dough ahead of time and refrigerate it overnight; then the next day we cut out, bake and decorate the cookies.  I use pre-made icing sometimes, but you can also make an easy icing by combining powered sugar with a little water and food coloring.

CHRISTMAS  COOKIE CUTTERS

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup butter

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon lemon extract

Mix the dry ingredients.  Add the butter.  Us a mixer at low speed until the mixture resembles cornmeal.  In a seperate bowl, beat the eggs and then add the sugar and lemon extract; beat thoroughly.  Blend the egg mixture into the flour mixture.  Chill the dough overnight.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface and cut with floured cookie cutters.  Bake at 375 for 6-8 minutes.

If you want to use colored sugar to decorate, put that on before baking.  Otherwise, use icing and other decorations after the cookie cools off.

I try not to get all Martha Stewart with my cookie decorations because I let the kids have fun decorating however they want to without any intervention or “suggestions” from me.  Here is a cookie that my daughter left for Santa last Christmas, 2007:

As you can see, we use all kinds of cookie cutters, not just Christmas shapes.  We got that that cookie cutter at Disney World, but Wiliams-Sonoma has some great ones.  Look at these fun Princess Cookie Cutters:

Or All Star Cookie Cutters:

So think outside the Christmas tree and angel shapes; go wild with your cookies!  Have fun!

I used to cook a lot for Christmas, but I’ve scaled it back some in the last few years.  My kids are at the age where I want to play with them on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and not be chained to the kitchen counter while everyone else is having fun.   So, I’ve gladly given that honor to my mother or mother-in-law or I make something I can cook ahead of time like gumbo.   However, I do bake for Christmas and it is always home-made!  I make my aunt’s red velvet cake recipe that is very good, B. Smith’s lemon pound cake and a chocolate cake that is a dead-ringer for Watershed’s famous cake here in Atlanta.  

But, the cake that has my friends and family screaming for more is my friend Cheryl Jackson’s Almond Pound Cake.  When I lived in New Jersey, Cheryl was the fancy cook in our crew; she watched the Food Network long before it was fashionable.   My friends and I met regularly to scrapbook together and the host would provide lunch.  When it was Cheryl’s turn to host, we knew that we were always in for a culinary treat.  One year she made this Almond Pound Cake for dessert and we were all hooked ever since.   This is Cheryl’s own secret recipe and for years she wouldn’t share it with anyone, but I think that she got tired of us begging her to make us a cake, so she finally gave it up.  With her permission, I am now sharing it with you.    It’s delicious at any temperature, but if you time it just right and serve it after it has had a chance to cool off slightly, but is still warm, it is incredible!

Cheryl’s Secret Almond Pound Cake

2 cups of sugar

1 cup of butter

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of baking powder

½ teaspoon of baking soda

4 eggs

1 cup of sour milk (add 1 tbl of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to milk)

3 cups of flour

2 teaspoons of almond extract

Preheat oven to 325F.  Grease and flour a bundt cake pan.  Cream sugar and butter together.  Add eggs one at a time.  Add in salt, baking powder and soda.  Add flour and milk alternating.  Add extract.  Bake for 60-75 minutes.  As soon as cake comes out of the oven poke holes in top of cake with a fork.  Pour ¾ of glaze mixture over cake (recipe below).  Let cake cool slightly (about 30 min).  When cake comes out of the cake pan pour the remaining glaze mixture over cake.

Glaze mixture

¾ cups of sugar

1/3 cup of butter

3 tbl water

2 tbl almond extract

Combine all ingredients in saucepan over medium heat until sugar and butter are completely melted.