One
Two

liret is working on a column about ice cream for Nommable, too. We discussed naming her column last night. Here’s how it went:

jess: (10:33:10 PM) I am trying to think of an overarching title for these ice cream posts
tea: (10:33:45 PM) you could do them lemony snicket style and make each of them “i scream for…”
jess: (10:34:05 PM) I could!
jess: (10:39:52 PM) or something like ‘eating new england’ which I could also use for donut and cupcake places
jess: (10:40:07 PM) there needs to be a word specifically for eating dessert.
jess: (10:40:27 PM) I suppose there’s snacking
tea: (10:40:58 PM) devouring?
jess: (10:41:20 PM) I like that because it makes me sound like a dinosaur
tea: (10:41:47 PM) yes
tea: (10:42:02 PM) that’s because you are a dinosaur
jess: (10:42:28 PM) How did you find out my secret identity?
tea: (10:42:46 PM) it’s the very small arms
jess: (10:43:17 PM) and the big head
tea: (10:43:22 PM) yes
tea: (10:43:27 PM) and the scales
tea: (10:43:30 PM) and the eating people
jess: (10:43:36 PM) well, yes
jess: (10:43:44 PM) that last one might have been a bit careless of me
jess: (10:44:09 PM) but it is hard to remember, since my brain is the size of a walnut
tea: (10:44:46 PM) i love you
jess: (10:45:03 PM) I eat you!
jess: (10:45:10 PM) No, wait, love. I meant love.
tea: (10:45:24 PM) BUT I AM SO TASTEY
jess: (10:45:30 PM) nom nom nom
jess: (10:45:56 PM) do not be offended by my cultural dialect that makes me say ‘eat’ when I really mean ‘eat’
tea: (10:46:29 PM) THAT SOUNDS LIKE A CERTAIN ROBOT I KNOW
jess: (10:47:47 PM) Robots are smart! Except for the part where they destroy instead of devour.

That comment about robots at the end is a reference to Skin Horse, btw. The strip that is referencing is hanging on my wall.

So then I was talking to my friend Steve. Remember Steve? If you don’t, you can read about him here. Steve is awesome and he’s in a new band. Here is their rendition of Folsom Prison Blues:

(Steve is on keyboard so you don’t see a lot of him in this but I figured I would post it anyway)

So then we were talking about an original song he played last night at an open mic, and then we wrote the most awesome song ever:

MY ICE CREAM IS MELTING BUT MY ARMS ARE SO SMALL.
I CAN’T SEEM TO MAKE IT REACH MY MOUTH AT ALL
MY NAME STRIKES FEAR INTO EVERY DINOSAUR.
BUT MY CHERRY VANILLA’S DRIPPING ON THE FLOOR.

As you can tell, it is sort of about Jess.

Tea: that is how he became extinct
Steve: Died with a cone in its claw. Alas.
Tea: poor t-rex, we hardly knew ye
Steve: And thanks to that one movie, velociraptors kinda stole their thunder.

I’m not sure what it MEANS, but SOMETHING, SURELY.

Anyway, there has been a dearth of actual ice cream as I went out with my mom for mango sangria and ceviche. YUM. My father says that is not as good as White Castle and he is disappointed I went without him, though :-(

I really, really need to get back into drawing comics. I have half of a one done for joeymichaels and I keep having ideas. So many things I like to do, DAYS WHY DON’T YOU HAVE THIRTY-TEN HOURS?

I think that is all for now! May your dreams be full of ice-cream-eating dinosaurs!

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Here’s our nifty little strawberry patch:

They are covered, as you can see, with a little tent of netting that is high enough for people to go inside to pick the berries, and also high enough to keep birds away from all but the berries very, very close to the outer perimeter. We still get some slugs this way, but it is the best way to keep your berries from being eaten before you get to do the eating! Notice also that the wide netting means that bees can get in to pollinate! They are good at that.

When the strawberries are ripe, you go under the netting and pick them. Here’s a ripe strawberry along with some not-yet-ripe ones!

So pretty and red!

So far, we are getting tons of strawberries this year:

We got about 3-4 quarts the first week of strawberry picking, and 4-5 quarts the second. And they are big and ripe and juicy. We’ve had strawberries for a couple years now, and each week, we’re getting as many strawberries as we’ve ever gotten in a year before, which is pretty exciting!

We made a whole lot of things with strawberries in them! For two weekends!

Let’s start with a cocktail. I’m going to give you three variations on a similar recipe. I made one for my dad, who pretty much only drinks highballs and punchy drinks with a very little liquor in them, and then I’ll show you how to make a stronger and more sophisticated drink in two ways– one sweeter, one less sweet.

Here’s the Daddy Version:

Daddy Version Ingredients:

1.5 oz vodka
.5 oz limoncello
6 strawberries
Lemonade or Pink Lemonade to top

Daddy Version Instructions:

1) Put vodka in glass with strawberries cut into chunks and muddle well until strawberries are thoroughly pulped.
2) Add ice, limoncello, and lemonade

Here’s the Lady Version:

Lady Version #1 Ingredients:

2.5 oz Dogfish Head Brown Honey Rum
.5 oz limoncello
.5 oz cognac
4 fresh strawberries, plus one for garnish
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon thyme

Lady Version #2 Ingredients:

2 oz Dogfish Head Brown Honey Rum
.5 oz limoncello
1 oz cognac
2 fresh strawberries, plus one for garnish
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon thyme

Lady Version Instructions

1) Add rum, thyme and strawberries (cut into chunks) to shaker with ice
2) Muddle well until strawberries are fully pulped.
3) Add cognac and limoncello
4) Shake!
5) strain into chilled cocktail glasses and serve with a whole strawberry.

But that is only Strawberry Cocktail #1!

Fraise

Ingredients
2.5 oz Rogue Pink Spruce Gin
.5 oz Ramazzotti
.5 oz Domaine de Canton
3 ripe strawberries plus one for garnish
2 dashes Fee Bros Whiskey Barrel Bitters

Instructions
1) Add gin and strawberries (cut into chunks) to shaker with ice
2) Muddle well until strawberries are fully pulped.
3) Add Ramazzotti and Domaine de Canton
4) Shake!
5) strain into chilled cocktail glasses, add two dashes bitters, and serve with a whole strawberry.

This past week, I had the sublime pleasure of having quizzicalsphinx in the house. The thing is, when it comes to our imbibement habits, we could not be more dissimilar. In that I drink copious amounts of excellent liquor and she drinks non-alcoholic beverages only.

So I made her her own very special strawberry drink:

Red Beer

Ingredients
6 strawberries, cut into chunks
3 oz GUS grapefruit soda
.5 oz grenadine
.5 oz pomegranate molasses
Newman’s Own Pomegranate Lemonade to top.

Instructions
Put strawberries in glass with ice and crush with muddler.
Add all other ingredients and stir!

And finally, the last drink, which is a more negroni-style one.

Fragola

Ingredients
2 oz Comb 9 gin
1 oz Carpano Antica Formula
.5 oz Fernet Branca
4 strawberries, cut into chunks
2 dashes Bitter Truth Grapefruit Bitters

Instructions
1) Add gin, ice and strawberries to shaker.
2) Muddle until strawberries are fully pulped.
3) Add Carpano and Fernet Branca, shake.
4) Strain into short glasses, add bitters!

But that isn’t all the strawberry things we made!

My mama also made strawberry shortcake. Let’s talk about strawberry shortcake a little. This is one of my favorite foods. When I was a little kid, there were a couple years when I asked for this instead of for a cake-cake on my birthday. Excellent, huh?

It doesn’t really need a recipe, because all you need to do is whip some cream, make a batch of your favorite biscuits, slice open the biscuits and there you go. Beautiful and delicious!

I also made strawberry ice cream. I’m not as good at fruit ice creams as I am at chocolatey and herbal and caramely type ice creams, but this one came out really well!

Ingredients
2 3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup half & half
1/3 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
2 cups chopped strawberries

Instructions
Whisk the egg yolks and the sugar together until frothy and pasty.
Mix 3/4 cups of the cream and the half & half together in a saucepan, cook just until boiling, remove from heat, wait until it stops bubbling.
Add 1 Tb of the hot cream to the sugar and egg mixture, whisk quickly to keep the eggs from cooking.
Keep adding the hot milk to the sugar and eggs in small increments, whisking and pausing between additions, until 3/4 of the hot milk has been added.
Pour the milk/egg/sugar mixture back into the saucepan, heat over medium heat, stirring frequently until mixture thickens.
Remove from heat and chill for at least four hours.
Once chilled, add heavy cream and stir until well mixed. Stir in strawberries.
Put entire mixture in ice cream mixer and follow instructions for your ice cream mixer until frozen. Put finished ice cream in freezer.
Chill for at least two hours in freezer.
Serve with strawberries, whipped cream, or just plain!

That is the end of the strawberry adventure! FOR NOW!

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Actually, let me just show you.

Do you notice anything special about that picture? Like, say, the presence of two hives instead of one?

Well, that is because my parents got up at the crack of dawn to ACQUIRE A NEW QUEEN. And now we have two hives! So exciting.

The bees are producing crazy honey. Like, we put in some empty spare frames with some comb they made last year but never got around to filling, and it was full within about eight hours. Crazy! I’m excited to see what this honey tastes like compared to the goldenrod honey they made last autumn.

Bees are the most awesome. Check them out!

Love them! That last one was a bee on my leg. They kept landing on me today. At first it was because I was wearing crazy madras shorts which make them think I am a beautiful flower, so I changed into whites and I think then it just meant that they love me. D’aww.

Anyway! I got a ton of work done in the garden today. We went to three garden centers and picked up a bunch of stuff, including a golden raspberry bush and Vietnamese coriander, which is one of my favorite drink-worthy herbs, but we couldn’t find it last year.

Here’s some of my gardening work for today:

That is my mom’s bed of eight basil plants in seven varieties. We bought SEVEN varieties of basil. Who does that?! So now, we have an entire bed of basil. Excellent?

That one is carduni, which is another thing I love (fried!), but that is pretty hard to find. We couldn’t get it last year. Then it’s collards, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts. I was a little disappointed that we didn’t have another vegetable that began with the letter “C” to go in that bed, but it’s cool because I do love brussels sprouts.

Yesterday, Jess came up, and we got invited to a barbecue at the neighbors’ at the last minute. It was fun, but I got massive horrible asthma pretty much the whole time I was there, and ended up sitting on their sofa in their living room the whole time. I felt really badly about it, but there wasn’t much I could do.

Then, this morning, we got up and went to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It’s sort of crazy, because the last two I went to opening night in costume, and this one, I was only vaguely aware that it had opened. It says something about how my life has changed, and something about how disappointing the last two movies were. This one was cute. It wasn’t as good as the first one, but it was much easier to follow and not as overwrought as the second and third ones. It didn’t actually ever feel like it was a long movie, which is good when something is over two hours.

Then was gardening and beekeeping, hooray! I wore the bee hat today and everything, which I usually don’t do.

Jess was in Chile for a while, and she brought me back a bottle of really good pisco.

Jess tends to like sweeter, fruitier drinks than my mom or I do, and we have a ton of berries in the fridge right now, so I made this for her and then added the pickling liquid for me and my mom.

Ingredients
2.5 oz pisco
1 large strawberry or 2 small
10 blueberries
1 tsp basil jelly
Juice of 1/4 lime
1 tsp pickling liquid from a jar of pickled hot peppers
1 slice lime

Instructions
Cut strawberry into chunks
Add strawberry, blueberries, and pisco to shaker with ice and muddle until fruit is well crushed.
Add jelly, lime juice, and pickling liquid and shake
Pour into chilled cocktail glass and add lime slice

We also dumped the leftover fruit from this into our wine tonight :-P Yum.

Last but not least, I leave you with pictures of the chicks, who are fluffier and cuter than they were last time two days ago!

And our scallop appetizer (with bacon, brown butter, and scallions)

And the second batch of salt & pepper ice cream (made with more brown sugar and less white sugar), served with a 12-year balsamic

Are there ice cream flavors anyone would like to suggest I try? As long as it is a flavor that appeals to me and for which there are ingredients available, I will consider pretty much anything.

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Now, there’s a little more of this story I might tell you another time…I *will* tell you another time…but I’ve been planning on making toffee bacon ice cream all winter, and then yesterday I came up with an idea that was either inspired genius or gross! So I had to try it!

Cracked Pepper and Sea Salt Ice Cream

Ingredients
3/4 cup whole milk
3/4 cup half & half
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup piloncillo sugar
4 egg yolks
2 Tbs honey
1 Tb vanilla bean paste
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp fine sea salt

Instructions
Whisk the egg yolks and the sugar together until frothy and pasty.
Mix the milk and half & half together in a saucepan, cook just until boiling, remove from heat, wait until it stops bubbling.
Add 1 Tb of the hot milk to the sugar and egg mixture, whisk quickly to keep the eggs from cooking.
Keep adding the hot milk to the sugar and eggs in small increments, whisking and pausing between additions, until 3/4 of the hot milk has been added.
Pour the milk/egg/sugar mixture back into the saucepan, and add honey and vanilla, heat over medium heat, stirring frequently until mixture thickens.
Remove from heat and chill for at least four hours.
Once chilled, add heavy cream and stir until well mixed. Stir in salt and pepper.
Put entire mixture in ice cream mixer and follow instructions for your ice cream mixer until frozen. Put finished ice cream in freezer.
Chill for at least two hours in freezer.
Serve with cracked pepper and additional shavings of piloncillo on top.

I can’t even tell you how awesome this was. It is so lovely. I really wasn’t sure if it would even be edible, but holy wow, I want to eat it all the time. I am making another batch of it up here at the barn for my parents.

Story number 2: In which Tea actually makes a drink with vodka that isn’t something for her dad.

You know how sometimes things all come together in funny ways so that weeks have themes? Well, here’s how my week went as far as my libation imbibement for the week.

trouserminnow posted something about vodka earlier this week, and pretty much the question of what cocktail there might be that is actually better with vodka than with any other spirit, where the vodka is actually tasteable as the centerpiece of the drink (many vodka cocktails are all about covering up the flavor of the vodka). Which I’ve been thinking about now on and off, because I can’t *not* take that as a challenge. And I have a theory which I will be trying out later this week at home.

Then, I was over at Astor, and apart from getting an excellent little daiquiri-style drink, I discovered Boyd and Blair, which is very possibly the greatest vodka I have ever tasted. Seriously, this thing has a depth to it that I’ve been starting to see in some newer vodkas, but it just goes beyond anything else I’ve ever had.

Then, tonight, my mom bought a bottle of Comb, which is distilled from honey. I love their gin, Comb 9, and the Comb was ostensibly a “We need a good vodka for guests who hate gin” purchase. Because pretty much anytime my parents have friends up to the house, they want vodka, and we have barely any (at least compared to anything else in our cabinets).

Also, today, I sent karnythia a drink recipe, and I know she’s a vodka drinker, so I was messing around with vodka in my headspace to begin with, and then I wanted to try a variation on what I gave her. So, karnythia, this drink is also for you!

Split Hive

Ingredients
2.5 oz Comb vodka
.5 oz rhubarb-honey-white balsamic syrup (recipe below)
10 blueberries
1 4 inch narrow piece of rhubarb stalk.

Instructions
Add everything but the piece of rhubarb to a glass or pitcher, muddle until blueberries are well-crushed.
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, add stalk for garnish.

Ingredients for syrup
4 small rhubarb stalks
2 Tbs honey
2 tsps white balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup water

Instructions
Chop rhubarb into very small pieces.
Add to small saucepan, add water to cover.
Add honey and vinegar, heat until boiling.
Once boiling, stir intermittently to keep rhubarb from sticking to pan
When liquid becomes syrupy and rhubarb has cooked down completely, remove from heat. Strain into a bottle.

And finally, for the most exciting news of the day!

I went out to Long Island after work, and met my mom to drive up to Connecticut, with a stop at Suburban Wines on the way (which was incredibly disappointing; this place used to have an amazing selection. I don’t know if it’s a reflection of the clientele or staff turnover or what, but while their bourbon selection is still pretty okay, that’s pretty much the ONLY selection that wasn’t completely decimated. It was sad! But I digress. Anyway, I get into the car, and when we stop at a light, my mom tells me to be quiet and listen.

I hear this sound. It goes, peep peep peep.

PEEP PEEP PEEP.

It takes me a second.

“Holy shit, is that in the car?!” I ask.

“It’s in the car,” my mom answers.

So then when we stop the car at Suburban, the first thing I do is open the back door to see the new babies.

PEEP PEEP. They peeped all the way home! It is the most joyous noise in the universe, all the little peepings! So cute! So exciting! Chickens! I do not even know where to begin with how awesome this acquisition is!

I HAVE CHICKENS, PEOPLE. CHICKENS.

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Honey Ginger with Honey

Ingredients
1 2/3 cups Half & Half
5 Tbs honey
2 Tbs finely chopped fresh ginger
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
2 egg whites

Instructions
Put honey, sugar, and water in a small saucepan. Cook, stirring, until honey and sugar are dissolved.
Add ginger and bring to boiling.
Boil until the mixture is reduced to syrup
Lower heat to low, add half & half slowly, stirring
Remove from heat, cool to room temperature
Whip egg whites to form stiff peaks
Gently fold egg whites into milk mixture
Freeze according to your ice cream mixer’s instructions

Mexican Hot Chocolate

Ingredients
2 cups Half & Half
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup sugar
6 egg yolks
2 tbs cinnamon
1/2 tsp orange extract
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp chili powder

Instructions
Heat 1 cup of half & half in a medium saucepan with cocoa, orange, cardamom, and chili, stirring until cocoa is dissolved
Add the rest of the half & half and the cream, and cook just till it begins to bubble around the edges.
In a bowl, stir the egg yolks until slightly frothy and pale
Add the sugar to the eggs and mix well
Add the dairy mixture in 1/4 cup increments, mixing quickly and thoroughly to temper the egg mixture
Once half of the mixture is mixed into the eggs, add the rest and stir until the consistency is even
Return to saucepan and cook on low until the mixture reaches a temperature of 170 degrees F or 77 C
Remove from heat and refrigerate overnight
Freeze according to your ice cream mixer’s instructions

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ldragoon

BUT WAIT NOW HE IS FENCING WITH PROTO DARTH VADER WHAT IS THIS I DON’T EVEN. Seriously, yes, I realize I’m spoiling but you need to see it for yourself.

Second, and more importantly, I’ve been experimenting with my ice cream maker. Sadly, tonight’s batch didn’t turn out– I tried to make vegan ice cream, and it didn’t even freeze– but yesterday’s did!

Ingredients
1 cup boiling water
4 Earl Grey Tea Bags
1/2 cup sugar
1 2/3 cups half & half
2 egg whites

Instructions

Steep 1 cup of tea with 2 tea bags
Take the hot tea and mix it with the sugar. Put it in a small saucepan and boil until the tea has been reduced to syrup.
Add the half & half, bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the syrup.
Steep two more tea bags in the hot milk and syrup mixture for 3-5 minutes.
Remove tea bags and chill mixture in fridge or freezer.
Whip two egg whites until they form stiff peaks.
Once mixture is cool, fold in egg whites.
Put in ice cream mixer and freeze according to ice cream mixer instructions.

I brought this to work today and it went over very well!

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1)Fairy Time

Ingredients for two drinks
6 oz D H Krahn gin
1/2 oz absinthe
1/2 oz simple syrup
1/4 cup fresh thyme
1/4 oz dry vermouth
1 Meyer Lemon

Instructions
Reserve 2 half-moon slices of lemon
Put lemon juice, syrup, and thyme in shaker with ice, muddle until thyme is bruised
Add gin & absinthe, shake
Coat 2 chilled cocktail glasses with vermouth, pour out excess
Strain contents of shaker into glasses
Add lemon to garnish

2) Scarborough Fair

Ingredients for 2 cocktails

6 oz Miller’s Gin
1 oz Acacia Honey
1 oz Lavender Syrup
1 oz Dry Vermouth
1 Meyer Lemon
2 tbs cup fresh parsley plus two sprigs
2 tbs cup fresh sage
2 tbs cup fresh rosemary
2 tbs cup fresh thyme
1/4 oz St Germain

Instructions
Reserve 2 half-moon slices of lemon
Cut remainder of lemon into wedges
Put fresh herbs, honey, syrup, and lemon wedges in shaker with ice and muddle until herbs are bruised
Add gin & vermouth, shake
Coat 2 chilled cocktail glasses with St Germain, discard excess
Pour contents of shaker into glasses, garnish with lemon and parsley

3)Strawberry-Chili Margarita

Ingredients for 2 drinks
7 oz tequila
2 oz cointreau
2 limes
5 medium-large strawberries
1 chili pepper, or 2 halves of 2 different chili peppers
Margarita salt (1 Tbs salt, 1 Tbs sugar, 1 sprinkle chili pepper)

Instructions:
Slice pepper into rings. Set aside some rings for garnish.
Set aside 2 half moon slices of lime for garnish
Put remaining peppers in tequila over ice, let sit 5 minutes
Cut up 3 strawberries into small chunks, add to tequila and peppers and stir well
Add cointreau & lime juice, stir well
Rim 2 chilled cocktail glasses with margarita salt
Strain contents of pitcher into glasses, add strawberries, lime slices, and pepper slices for garnish.

And now, DESSERT!

Rhubarb Bread Pudding (Thanks, shinyredtype with homemade Rhubarb Ice Cream with Cream

Ingredients for Bread Pudding
4 cups plain white rolls or bread cut into cubes
2 cups chopped fresh rhubarb boiled in 1 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar until syrupy
1 1/2 cups chopped raw rhubarb
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

Layer a 2″ deep 8×8 pan with bread
Add 1 Tbs butter in pieces
Sprinkle 2 Tbs brown sugar
Add rhubarb and cooked rhubarb evenly
Mix the eggs, milk, remaining brown sugar and vanilla and pour on top
Add remaining bread to top
Let soak for 1 hour
Bake at 350 for 40 minutes

Ingredients for Ice Cream
3 stalks rhubarb boiled with 1 cup water and 1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup 2/3 light cream
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions
Chill cooked rhubarb mixture
Put rhubarb mixture in food processor and process until smooth
Add cream
Whip eggs to stiff peaks
Fold eggs gently into cream & rhubarb mixture
Add to ice cream maker and follow ice cream maker instructions.

Yum!

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1) Tarragon Sazerac

This isn’t an especially unique drink, because it’s just a slight twist on the original, but my mom wanted Sazeracs for Mother’s Day.

Ingredients for 2 cocktails
7 oz rye
1/4 oz absinthe or Pernod
3/4 oz tarragon syrup*
2 sprigs tarragon
6 dashes Peychaud’s bitters

Instructions
Add rye and syrup to a pitcher with ice and stir
Coat two chilled old fashioned glasses with absinthe, discard remaining absinthe.
Pour contents of pitcher into glasses, add bitters and sprigs of tarragon

*Tarragon syrup: made with 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup fresh tarragon sprigs.

3) Rosemary’s Green

Ingredients for two cocktails
6oz Dogfish Head Jin
1 oz Sweet Vermouth
1 oz Chili-Rhubarb Syrup
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup fresh rosemary sprigs plus two whole sprigs
1/4 oz cointreau or other orange liqueur
2 lemon slices
4 dashes Fee Brothers’ Rhubarb Bitters

Instructions
Chill two martini glasses
Add syrup, rosemary, and lemon juice to shaker with ice and muddle until rosemary is well-bruised.
Add gin and vermouth, shake
Coat glasses with Cointreau, pour out remainder
Strain into glasses, add bitters, rosemary sprigs and lemon

This drink might sound like it has too many ingredients, but it was really good. It was also one of those ones that got better the longer it sat.

3) Busy Bee

Ingredients for two cocktails:
6 oz Hurricane Rum
4 Tbs Acacia Honey
1/4 cup fresh curly leaf basil plus 2 large whole leaves
1 Meyer Lemon
4 droppers Urban Moonshine Citrus Bitters

Instructions
Chill two martini glasses
Reserve two half-moons of lemon for garnish
Add honey, lemon juice, and basil to shaker with ice and muddle
Add Rum, shake
Strain into glasses, add bitters, basil leaves, and lemon slices

And now it is time for Ice Cream!

Rosemary-Honey Ice Cream

Ingredients for 1 quart of ice cream
10 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 2/3 cups light cream
3 egg whites
5 Tbs Acacia Honey
1 Tb Rosemary-infused olive oil
3 Tbs white sugar

Instructions
Take rosemary leaves off tough twigs
Add rosemary to food processor to chop
Add honey, sugar and olive oil to food processor and process until ingredients become a paste
Add cream to food processor and blend
Whip egg whites in mixer until they form soft peaks
Add cream mixture to mixer, mix gently just until egg whites are folded in
Put mixture into ice cream freezer, follow your ice cream freezer’s instructions

This is possibly the best-textured ice cream I have ever made, ever!

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Stonyfield Farm Creme Caramel

If you remember from the yogurt reviews, I wasn’t crazy about the yogurt, but I still wanted to give their ice cream a try. It’s $3.99 a pint, which is pretty reasonable for a dairy ice cream. It has 260 calories per serving, 130 from fat, though, so it is a bit more calorie-heavy than most non-dairy ice creams. It also has a lot more sugar– 28 grams per serving. It’s sweetened with organic, naturally milled sugar.

Stonyfield Farm Creme Caramel Opened

It looks pretty nondescript on opening, and doesn’t smell like much. You can’t even really see the caramel.

But YUM! This ice cream is delicious. It tastes like it’s made with good, fresh milk, and although it’s a bit sweet, the texture is really creamy. It has a thick caramel swirl.

The only problem I have with this ice cream is that it melts very quickly– the same way homemade ice cream does, which is a plus, but I ate way more than I was intending to because I didn’t want to put melty ice cream in the freezer and have it re-freeze! But I would highly recommend this one!

My second ice cream is Green & Black vanilla. I can’t find the receipt for this one but I believe it cost a bit more than the Stonyfield, though. It’s another organic dairy ice cream.

Green & Black Vanilla

It has significantly fewer calories per serving-190– and calories from fat– 100– than the Stonyfield. It also has less sugar– 17 grams per serving. The sugar is organic sugar and the ingredient list on this one is super short. The only things that are in here that you wouldn’t put into your homemade ice cream at home are guar gum and locust bean gum.

Green & Black Vanilla Opened

The inside of the container has a little star-shape on it, so the ice cream has a pretty indent when you open it. You can see the vanilla bean flecks all through this and the vanilla scent is really strong!

The ice cream is soft and has a really nice, smooth texture, but I think it’s a little too sweet and not heavy enough on the vanilla. It just doesn’t have a nice, solid flavor for eating alone. I think it would be really good with apple pie or something else that would mix with the flavor of it nicely, but on its own it just doesn’t have a lot of body, which it too bad because the texture is excellent.

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Purely Decadent Soy Mint Chip

It’s another soy based ice cream, and it has 170 calories per serving, 60 from fat. It has 18 grams of sugar with cane juice, tapioce syrup, brown rice syrup, and there is bett sugar in the dairy-free chocolate. No corn products! Another thing I liked about this brand when I saw it in the store

It has a sweet smell and looks like it has a glutinous texture. I forgot to take a photo, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. The flavor of the ice cream is very sweet and minty, and a little syrupy– it has a sort of Junior Mint flavor to it, the same way that the Organic Rice Divine I tasted in the first one of these posts.

It has chocolate in a ribbon like Italian straciatella, not in hard chips, and it is really good. It’s dark, a little bitter, and melts very slowly in your mouth.

I think this is a much better product than the Soy Delicious ice cream, even if it is from the same company, and if you’re trying to choose between the two of them, definitely choose this one!

Purely Decadent also mades a coconut milk variation that has a much shorter ingredient list and that is sweetened with agave syrup and also comes in mint chocolate chip. It cost $4.49 for a pint.

Purely Decadent Coconut Mint Chip

It has the same number of calories– 170– per serving, but somewhat more fat– 80 calories from fat per serving. But it only has 13 grams of sugar, which is pretty low compared to most of the ice creams I’ve tried so far, so if you’re more concerned about sugar than fat, this might be a good choice.

Purely Decadent Coconut Mint Chip opened

Even just looking at this one in the container, it looks extremely white and creamy. It has a very, very mild scent. It has an interesting texture– a soft, fluffy, creamy texture– but not a heavy one– and you can taste the coconut in it very strongly– so it really tastes like coconut-mint-chip. The chocolate in it is similar to the chocolate in the soy version, but there doesn’t seem to be as much of it in this.

I thought this was pretty good, but I think I like the soy one better. Both of them are yummy, though!

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