Sarah's SCRUMPTIOUS scoop!!

On Friday I was running errands on my lunch break and stopped into Baskin Robbins for a scoop, I could not decide what to get but then I saw 'RUM RAISIN' and I thought of the last time I ate that (many many years) and you know, it was good and I said to myself  'I'm making this kind this weekend'  SO I DID!

Glorious cone!

My inspiration for this recipe belongs to these two recipes, what I've done is a hybrid of the 2, with less sugar.  I also used  less raisins because I had some blondie bits to put in too (otherwise I may have used closer to a half cup).  The method is very similar (exactly) like the joy of baking website.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Rum-Raisin-Ice-Cream-4529

http://joyofbaking.com/VanillaIceCream.html

When making homemade ice cream with this kind of mixture bigger is not better.  Small batches are best because the mixer is not that big and you want as much of the mix to contact the sides as possible.   There are quicker and very tasty ice creams and frozen yogurts out there.  But this is custard style, the best in my books.  This post is a text and photo chronicle, which employs some of the experience I have gained in the last (almost) year I've had the ice cream maker.  There is still much to learn, and much to churn HA HA HA HA!


RUM RAISIN ICE CREAM


Some ingredients..cream, sugar,
egg yolk

INGREDIENTS:
1/2C packed brown sugar

5 egg yolks
2 1/2C half and half cream
1t vanilla
1/3C dark rum
1/3C raisins
2/3C blondies (I had some leftover, see recipe here:  http://www.joyofbaking.com/barsandsquares/Blondies.html)

The process - PART 1
- Combine the rum and raisins in a small pot on medium heat, gently warm mixture for about 5 minutes until warm to the  touch.  Place mixture in glass bowl or measuring cup and cover.  (Do this in advance if you can, 2 hours steeping time is a good minimum).   We're soaking the raisins for a few reasons, mostly so they don't end up hardening in the ice cream mix,  and of course for the amazing flavour.

You say Potato, I say SALAD....potato SALAD potato SALAD

Potato Salad folks!  It was my Grandmother's birthday party yesterday (86 years young) and I was commissioned to bring some starchy salads. 


The finished product, you can see
my famous pasta salad behind it :)

I've made potato salad, but I've never made really good potato salad...until now.  I stole this one from Martha Stewart.    When combining the warm potatoes with the seasoning at the beginning, the flavour is excellent.  I will make this again.  I could eat this all day.  There's enough leftover, so I might just do that! http://www.marthastewart.com/341697/basic-potato-salad


BASIC POTATO SALAD

INGREDIENTS:

3 pounds waxy potatoes (such as Yukon gold or new), scrubbed and cut into 3/4-inch cubes

1/3 cup white-wine vinegar
4 scallions, white part minced, green part thinly sliced
Coarse salt (1tsp)
Ground pepper (1/4 tsp)
1/3 C light mayo
1/3 C plain 2% or non-fat greek yogurt
1 stalk of celery, finely sliced
Fresh Parsley (optional)

Crispy crumbly

I bought a 2lb thing of blueberries, guess I'm short on antioxidants?  Well I needed to bring dessert to Adam's parents cottage thing this past weekend, so I thought - good, I love dessert and I can use these berries.  Adam's idea to make a crisp, actually.



finished product - yum

Probably the first dessert I ever made by myself is apple crisp.  Now, it's come a long way, and it's kind of one of those things that's a bit different every time I make it.  The thing is, it's such a basic dessert and you can do so many different things with it - sugars and their proportions, butter melted or softened, how many oats? What about using coconut, or almonds, or walnuts...or no nuts at all?  Maple syrup? yes please.   Don't even get my STARTED on the fruit.

A good rule though, is if you're using berries in any proportion, flour or some starch in with the fruit is an absolute non-negotiable must. (you can't negotiate, seriously)

Inspired by pretty much any crisp and crumble recipe out there.   Noteworthy is joyofbaking.com and canadianliving.com (for the apple/blueberry combo idea)

APPLE BLUBERRY CRISP 

INGREDIENTS

Filling:

4C of cooking apples, peeled and chopped or thinly sliced (about 4 large)

2C of fresh blueberries, picked over and rinsed

1/4t of cinnamon

2T sugar

2T flour

juice of half a lemon

SOUPER SUPPER!

Last week we had a few sticky hot days, and Adam and I were sick of BBQing things (this affliction has since been cured).  I had bought a giant thing of Kale, you know, for it's Iron boosting properties and general good health vibes.  What the hell can I do with KALE I thought? Soup. So, I made this soup on a 40 degree humidex day.  Normally I wouldn't have used as much convenience food as I did but I was time constrained, but canned beans and lentils are in my pantry at all times because, let's face it, they're easy.   Prep to bowl approx 30 minutes.  Not bad.
(BTW, excuse the mixes of imperial and metric, it's just how I roll)


KALE AND LENTIL SOUP W/ SMOKED SAUSAGE


Simmering away! awesome.

- 1/2 lb of turkey kielbasa (250g) sliced and quartered (slices a 1/2 CM or 1/4" thick)

- 1lb of Kale, big fat ends removed, stems chopped into 1" pieces, leaves chopped.
- 19 oz can diced or italian style stewed tomatoes (if using plain diced, add 2 extra t of italian seasoning to the soup)
- 1 medium carrot - julienned
- 1 small onion - small dice
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced fine
- 1 can of lentils drained and rinsed
- 1 900 ml container of low salt chicken broth
- 1 C+ water
- salt and pepper
- 1T oil
- 1t italian seasoning
- 1t dried thyme

mmmmmmmm, burrrrger

 This recipe is good, here is the original:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/a-cracking-burger

Adam wanted to make dinner the other night, and I knew that it would have something to do with meat. It's a hunch I get and I was right.  So we had some fresh ground in the fridge and this burger recipe came to light.  I knew the recipe in my mind and mentioned if he needed substitutions for things, to let me know, we talked alot throughout the recipes preparation :)

Adam has made this recipe before, almost exactly as described in the link above. A few changes were made though.  Find below Adam's adaptation (mostly based on what we had in the house)

A "Cracking" Burger



Burgers with the fixin's in the

backyard

INGREDIENTS
• 1 piece of conventional bread, whizzed up into fresh bread crumbs
• small handful of cilantro - stems and all.
• 2 heaped teaspoons Dijon mustard

• 1 pound extra lean ground beef

• 1 large egg lightly beaten

• salt and fresh ground pepper

Garnishes:(I call this 'whatever you want' because we all have different tastes)
Salsa
Sliced Avocado
Tomato slices
Lettuce leaves

Mustard and ketchup

cheddar cheese


grilling up goodness!