Rudders at Home

A week or so ago, I spotted this recipe for pistachio gelato online over at Chocolate & Zucchini. I decided that I wanted to try it after my cherry and chocolate chip ice cream turned out so well. I like pistachios, but I’m not a huge fan. However, the recipe seemed so easy – no eggs – and I’ve had pistachio ice cream in Italy, which was gorgeous. I was hoping that I could possibly recreate that at home. And I think I did pretty well! Have a look:

The flash on the camera has washed things out a bit, you can’t see how green the ice cream actually is. I was really surprised at how vibrant the color was. But, I didn’t have time enough to sort things out and play with the camera – my dessert was melting! I also have to say I thought it was a bit rich, so I wouldn’t put that much in a bowl again. Admittedly I was being a bit greedy. 🙂

This recipe was very easy to put together, and it will definitely be something I’ll make again. It churned up quite quickly, and has probably been the best ice cream I’ve made this summer so far.

I seem to be having a bit of a love affair with my ice cream maker this summer. I don’t have anything lined up yet for next weekend. I wonder if I’ll finally end up doing the strawberry which Paul has been asking for? Or maybe I’ll try to find some peaches and make peach, like mom suggested. Or I may just take a weekend off. Who knows?

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So, I made some more ice cream at the weekend. This time I made my favorite, chocolate chip mint. Gorgeous. Basically, I just took a basic custard based ice cream and added peppermint extract. Then I cut up a bar of dark chocolate and added that in after it had churned. It was so good I think I might just make it again next weekend!

The rest of the weekend passed in a bit of a blur. Today we spent the day in London, visiting with a friend of mine over from the States for work. He’s come down from Newcastle for the weekend, so we met up for lunch.

After we left him to catch his train, we wandered over to the National Portrait Gallery. I can’t believe I haven’t been there before. It was an excellent museum, with a broad range of portraits from over the centuries of British history. Definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area. And it’s free, so there’s no commitment!

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…with chocolate chips?

When I read this recipe here for cherry ice cream with chocolate chips, I couldn’t help but think about Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia. Cherry Garcia is my favorite flavor of Ben and Jerry’s, and because I haven’t made ice cream yet this year, I couldn’t resist this recipe.

In short, this ice cream was gorgeous. I personally think it’s the best I’ve made so far in my ice cream maker. I highly recommend trying it out sometime soon. For the Brits, 1 cup equals 237 mls, but I’m sure you can round up to 240.

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I’ve been hungry for home recently. With the small spurt of warm weather here, I’m really in the mood for a picnic. I’ve also been yearning for a cookout. Really yearning. A warm summer afternoon up on top of the hill, with a fire, hot dogs and marshmallows. I can almost close my eyes and imagine opening a cooler and setting things out on the picnic table – isn’t that crazy? Give me a bar of Hershey’s, some graham crackers, a bag of marshmallows and we’re all set for some s’mores.

I was browsing through some food blogs the other day and when I stumbled across this S’more pie recipe at Smitten Kitchen, I knew I had to make it. If nothing else I thought it might curb my hunger for the sweet treat.

It turned out pretty well, and it was definitely well received by Paul. I used a combination of digestive biscuits and ginger snaps for the graham cracker crust, and in place of the corn syrup, I used golden syrup, which worked as well. Next time I might split my chocolate and do half milk and half dark. I used all dark this time, and it was just a bit too strong and overpowered the other parts.

If I get a hankerin’ for s’mores again, this will definitely be a good option. Now, I think next weekend I might just fry some chicken and make potato salad.

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Yum. It turned out well, although I nearly forgot to put the brown sugar on top. Plus, I used soy milk instead of evaporated for the topping. Either way, though, it tasted good and I proved to Paul that he does like coconut! It doesn’t look like much, but tasted lovely!

I haven’t been able to make this cake in the UK because of the fact I haven’t been able to find a yellow cake mix. I refuse to pay the money for the imports, and sometimes I admit I’m too stubborn to try to find alternatives to things – let alone be bothered to do it. So after five years, it was definitely a treat.

Bake 325 F for 45 minutes
1 yellow cake mix
1 can fruit cocktail
2 1/3 cup coconut
2 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar packed
1/2 cup butter or oleo
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup evap milk or regular milk
Combine cake mix, fruit with juice, 1 cup coconut and the eggs. Blend, then beat 2 minutes at medium speed. Pour into greased 13 x 9 inch pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake 325F for 45 minutes or until done – springs back in the center.

Bring butter, white sugar and milk to a boil, boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in remaining coconut. Spoon over hot cake in pan. Serve warm or cold.

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