Vanilla Ice Cream

The easiest, most amazing ice cream EVER!!!

2 cans Eagle Brand milk (if you prefer, make your own with my recipe)
6 c. milk, half and half or combination
1 tbsp. vanilla

Mix well. Freeze according to your freezer's directions.

From my friend Kathy: if you don't have an electric maker place ingredients into a low sided metal container and place in the freezer. Every 5-10 min. scrape the sides and stir the cream mixture, when it becomes the desired frozen consistency, enjoy.

Awesome!

Quinoa Tabbouleh

This is posted in my Cooking for Dad blog, but I got tired of having to hunt it down any time I wanted to make it.

• 2 cups water
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 pinch salt

Rinse quinoa well before cooking. Cook according to package directions; let cool.

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3 tomatoes, diced
• 1 cucumber, seeded and diced
• 1 cup green onions, greens and bulbs, diced
• 1 cup fresh parsley, chopped


• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped
• Add salt and pepper to taste.

Mix the above and stir into cooled, cooked quinoa. Mix well. Best if it sits for at least an hour before serving.

Cottage Pudding

Just like Mom used to make. Total comfort food! The cake alone is on the dry side. I figure because it's meant to be served with a sauce. It tastes great though - and takes no longer to whip up than a cake mix would. Serve it with the nutmeg sauce like my Mom made, or any sauce you like. Last night we used it to make Strawberry Shortcake, using the Berries and Custard recipes I posted earlier. Yummy!! I cut the cake in small pieces and then cut those in half, like a sandwich. The next day the kids were taking the leftovers, cutting them in the middle and adding a spoonful of custard for a sandwich. Cute! So this is really two recipes in one! Use the nutmeg sauce posted here for traditional Cottage Pudding. Skip that and use the berries and custard for an awesome shortcake. Enjoy!

Cottage Pudding

Cake:

1 1/2 cups flour 

2 teaspoons baking powder 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/2 cup sugar 

1 stick butter 

1/2 cup milk 

1 egg

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Butter and lightly flour an 8-inch square cake pan. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together in a large bowl. Melt the butter in a small pan, remove from the heat, and stir in the milk and the egg, beating well. Add to the flour mixture and blend. Pour into the pan and bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Sauce:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons butter 
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (use jarred if needed)

Combine the sugar and cornstarch and blend with the water. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter or margarine and nutmeg. Serve warm over the cake.

Girl Scout Cookie "Tornados" by Stephen

• Girl Scout cookies of your choice, about 3 per person, chopped
• Ice cream of your choice, about 1 cup per person
• Milk - Just enough to blend the ice cream

Blend the ice cream and milk into a thick shake, using only as much milk as you need. Pour into cups and put the cups in the freezer while you eat supper.

After supper: remove from the freezer and stir in about 3 spoonfuls of chopped cookies. Our favorite was Tagalongs and they were good in either chocolate or vanilla Tornados.

~ Recipe by Stephen, age 8

Roasted Kale

I discovered this recipe while cooking for Dad's special diet. The kids (I am blessed with kids who like to try new things!) all wanted to taste it that first night. I had to get up and put more in the oven!

My 12 year old asked for it the other night. When a 12 year old boy asks for kale, you know it has to be good. So try it, you never know! Kale is super healthy and most people think of it as a garnish, not an actual food!

Don't use the pre-packaged, pre-washed stuff with this, though. It's chopped too small and doesn't work well with this. You want to buy the whole leaves and rip into smaller pieces.

Roasted Kale with Sea Salt

* 4 cups firmly-packed kale
* 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
* 1 tsp. sea salt (regular salt will do)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Wash and trim the kale: Peel off the tough stems by folding the kale leaves in half like a book and stripping the stems off. Toss with extra virgin olive oil. Roast for five minutes. Turn kale over. Roast another 7 to 10 minutes until kale turns brown and becomes paper thin and brittle. Remove from oven and sprinkle with sea salt. Serve immediately.

** watch it carefully, I cut and pasted this but it seems I didn't cook it nearly this long. It should be crispy and a little bit brown, and it burns easily once it's done!

** I use a large Ziploc to toss it, it seems to coat it more evenly.

** don't salt it before cooking. It shrinks a lot and will end up way too salty.

Berries and Custard

I've had a hankering lately for my Grandmother's "Boiled Custard" - a thick custard sauce she would cook up whenever I went to visit. I remember her stirring and stirring at the stove (sometimes I would help) and when it was still warm we would spoon it over a dish of vanilla ice cream (Yarnell's, of course!) where it would slightly melt the ice cream before forming little ice crystals in the custard. Pure heaven!! Then the other day I happened to be watching Food Network and saw a berry recipe I wanted to try. I picked up a small container of fresh raspberries and a couple of pints of Louisiana strawberries. Tonight while the guys were at baseball practice I decided to whip up both for dessert. They were great together / with ice cream (though we don't have Yarnell's here) or separately! The kids had seconds on both and pronounced them both "keepers". 

(See thicker variation at the bottom!)

  Boiled Custard 

 3 eggs 

1 cup sugar 

2 tsp. cornstarch 

1 quart milk 

2 tsp vanilla 

 Beat eggs until creamy in a heavy saucepan. Mix together sugar and cornstarch and add gradually to the eggs, beating well after each addition. Add milk and stir well. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently. Bring to a boil, turn heat off. Stir until thickened. Cool slightly; stir in vanilla. Chill - or serve over ice cream while still warm. 

  Fresh Berries in Syrup 

 2 pints fresh strawberries, raspberries or mixture, sliced 

1/2 cup granulated sugar

 juice of one lemon 

 Stir together and refrigerate for one hour. Stir before serving. Perfect over ice cream or cake!

**put in the ice cream freezer for a delicious frozen custard! 

** This can easily be made lower carb by using sugar substitute instead of sugar. I have not tried it using low carb milk alternatives, but that would be another option to try.

**for thicker custard - add two more eggs and 2 tsp. cornstarch to the above recipe. This will be thicker, but still pourable. If you want a really thick (like pudding) version, double the amount.

Buttercream Frosting

I've made 2 birthday cakes this weekend. It's also been a very busy weekend! So for the first cake I caved and bought a can of chocolate frosting. I hated to do that. For a few years I've been making my own frosting. Seriously, it makes sense. Ever read the ingredients on the can of frosting?! Once you do, you will want to wash your eyes out with soap, and never-ever buy another can of commercial frosting again.

It is SO easy to make buttercream frosting. It doesn't take 5 minutes, including cleanup, in my experience. It tastes amazing - and you KNOW what's in it!

This is a basic vanilla recipe. You can tweak it any way you like. I'll add some suggestions after the recipe.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

1 package powdered sugar (16 ounces) (3-3/4 cups)
1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
2 to 3 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

Beat sugar, butter, milk and vanilla with electric mixer at low speed until well blended and smooth. If frosting becomes too thick, beat in additional milk by teaspoonfuls until the frosting is of spreading consistency.

Makes about 2 1/2 cups frosting.

• Many recipes say you have to sift the sugar. I never, ever sift the sugar. I never do a single thing to get extra lumps out of the sugar. If you do sift, it will take extra time.
  

Variations:

Peppermint: Omit vanilla. Add 1/2 cups finely crushed peppermint sticks (about 7 sticks) and 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract.

Almond: Omit Vanilla. Add 2 tsp.s pure almond extract.

Lemon: Omit vanilla and milk - add 1 Tbsp grated lemon zest, and1/4 cup fresh lemon juice.

Chocolate: Add 1/4 cup powdered unsweetened cocoa for light chocolate. Add more if you would like a darker, less sweet frosting.

Mocha: to the chocolate buttercream light variation, add 1 Tbsp. instant coffee granules.

Fruit: Omit the milk. Add equal amount of strained fruit preserves of your choice.