Speed ice cream

So, I hate waiting for literally 24 hours to eat delicious ice cream. This made me decide to read seventy million cooking blogs and figure out how to make a custard taste of ice cream without having to actually make custard. I'm a genius, I know. And also very humble. So here is a blueberry ice cream recipe. Apparently blueberries have had one hell of a season because they are practically handing them away like zucchini at the store.

Without further bullshit, here you are:

You need-

2 cups blueberries

2 cups half and half

1 can sweetened condensed milk (it should be 14oz)

1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla

So, get out your "vintage" blender and blend up those blueberries.

Set them aside. Combine all other ingredients in a bowl and whisk them together. Pour this mixture into the ice cream maker.

Sit on the couch and begin writing your blog entry about this and do the dishes that you just got dirty.

Now would also be a good time to put on some music, maybe sit on the balcony for a bit. It takes my ice cream maker about 25 minutes to get to the consistency of soft serve, which is what you're going for. 

Once you are at soft serve status, pour in the blueberry purée. 

You'll need a spatula to get it out of the blender, and it will take a good 5 minutes to look like you actually added it, but be patient because you get to eat this ice cream today!the blueberries are going to make the ice cream soupy again, so let your ice cream maker do its thing and go change your sheets.

Look at you go! Made your bed and now you can sit in it and eat ice cream!

OMG it's 2013.

Total and epic fail on having a "more serious" blog, but whatever. I bought an ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchen Aid, and shit got real... Real delicious

Here is what you need, followed by unhelpful, yet witty instructions and some irrelevant information:

1 cup whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

3/4 cup sugar

A pinch of salt (what does that even mean?) I just tossed some in

2 cups (approx) fresh mint 

5 egg yolks

Chocolate chips

Hella Pyrex

A wooden spatula

Fine mesh sieve

Egg separator

Ice cream maker

Are you ready? First, get your mind in a good place. This takes forever and you don't get to eat it until tomorrow night. Next, put on some tunes. I played the mix tape I found at my parents' house featuring great hits like "be about yo paper" by The Click....

Anyway, we live and learn right?

1. Add milk, 1 cup of the heavy cream, salt and sugar to a saucepan. Cook on medium heat until the sugar dissolves (aka...forever, but do not turn the heat up or you'll be an angry badger).

2. Add the mint leaves and stir that shit up. Make sure the leaves are totally covered in the milk substance. Stick a lid on it and set it on a trivet (or if you're Rose, a trundle). Let it sit there and don't open it up for 1 hour. Go find something else to do, or prep the rest of your steps. I did a combination of pacing my apartment, checking Instagram, and deciding which Pyrex I would use.

3. After an hour, put the sieve over a bowl (a white and pink Pyrex) and pour the mint mixture over the top. Press down on the mint leaves to get out all of the flavor.

Now, return it to the pot and rewarm it.

4. Now if you were smart and listened to my earlier suggestion, you would already have 1 cup of heavy cream sitting in a Pyrex with the washed sieve sitting on top, and this would be next to a bowl of 5 egg yolks that you had already mixed until smooth. If not, get your shit together.

5. Now, get ready to whisk your heart out. Slowly pour the warmed mint mixture into the egg yolks. I mean slow, if you go to fast, those little chicken embryos are going to cook up into some nasty mint and milk scrambled eggs.

6. Take this new concoction and... You guessed it! Put it back in the saucepan. Now you are going to constantly stir until the mixture thickens. It should coat the back of the wooden spatula. So, if you pull the spatula out and run your finger down the middle, the mark your finger leaves should not fill up with milk concoction. Comprende? 

7. You're almost done, I swear.... For tonight at least. Take the new mixture over to your pre-setup bowl of cream with the sieve. Pour the mint/egg/milk into this bowl. Mix it up. Let it cool on the counter for a bit, then put it in the fridge overnight.

8. Go to work. Or whatever you do during the day. When you get home, pull out your ice cream maker and set it up. Pour the mint concoction in it and let that bad boy do its job. The ice cream is going to be almost like soft serve. When it's done, mix in the chocolate chips and then put it in a container in the freezer for about two hours to harden the rest of the way.

This stuff is so good! I've been making everyone come to my house and eat it!

OMG! It's almost 2013.

I am revisiting my to do list:

• make a website (I made it but have not launched it....)
• go backpacking for 2+ nights
• have a table at a craft fair
• make a dress
• get a tattoo
• pay off credit card (I'm pretty damn close)
• paint my desk (I just got rid of it...so it's a wash?)
• move into a place with a bedroom
• go to the dentist
• organize pictures
• put all of my music on an external hard drive (dammit, I was going to do this because I knew my computer was going to bite the dust...and it did, before I got this done).
• watch one movie a month
• read more non-fiction
• 1 DIY blog a week (I did this for a month straight, then school ate my soul)
• ride my bike more
• learn to make patterns
• take swimming lessons
• go on vacation
• write 1 letter a month
• donate a bag of unnecessary items to charity a month 

The best thing that happened this year was moving into a one bedroom apartment.  I decided to ditch my hipster bullshit studio living and get a real place where all of my crafting stuff would fit. Good choice.   It was a sad little series of events getting into the place (falling down the stairs, accidentally buying an 800lb pull out couch, water flowing out of the wall when I ran the dishwasher), but it's great now.  AND I have a balcony.  Not very practical right now, but in August I bet you'll be calling me.

This coming year I am going to do a 365 Challenge.  You can join, it's on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/groups/365greatthings/.  Everyday I am going to post a photo and one good thing that happened that day.

Well.... yep. See you later 2012.

I am inspiring people to clog their arteries!

Mindy, a regular at THE CoffeeShop, was so inspired by my original Tater Tot Casserole that she whipped up her own version....who doesn't love bacon? If you don't, get off my lawn..and blog.

Bacon & Blue Cheese Tater Tot Casserole

8-10 Slices Bacon
1 lb. ground beef
1 tsp. dried thyme
I cup chopped onion
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. minced garlic
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
½ lb. crumbled blue cheese
1 32 oz. bag frozen tater tots

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch glass casserole dish. Cook bacon until crisp. Drain and cool. Chop bacon. Brown ground beef and thyme in bacon fat. Drain in a colander. Heat olive oil and cook onion and garlic over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Mix together beef, bacon, onion mixture and soup. Spread evenly in bottom of casserole. Sprinkle crumbled blue cheese over meat mixture. Top with a single layer of tater tots. Bake for one hour.

Nom, nom, nom.  What twist can you put on it? I already have a mexican version up my sleeve.


 

Turkey Tater Tot Casserole

In honor of Thansgiving, my newest take on tatertot casserole:

You will need:
1lb ground turkey breast
a bag of tots
1 can of cream of celery soup
2 minced cloves of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 bag of pre shredded "pepper cheese" (it is sold at Fred Meyer, and I have no idea what makes it different from pepperjack cheese, but it is delicious and not the same)

Preheat your oven to 350
While you are waiting for that little guy to heat up, turn on your overhead fan and then heat up your olive oil in a frying pan.  When it is all nice and warm, cook up your garlic.  Once it is about to burn, remember that you are trying to do something "domestic" and add in the ground turkey.  Cook over med-hi until browned all the way through. 
Now, you get to make your layered tot casserole.  Pick from one of your many pyrex casserole dishes.  Place a layer of tots, then a layer of cheese.  Now put in all that delicious turkey, smother it in the cream of celery soup. Take a spoon and smear it around real good!  More cheese! More tots! More cheese!
Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes.  For the last two minutes, witch the over over to broil and get the top of the casserole nice and crsipy.
If you're from the midwest, crack a cheap beer and get out the ketchup, it's time to eat!

Favorites Friday: A day late

But not a dollar short! My new favorite thing....wearing a button down shirt with a dress.  I have so many dresses, and some of them are a little too fancy for daily wear.  Not anymore.  Just pair that dress with a button down and you are good to go.   I even inspired Christie who sent me this picture of her "Erin inspired outfit"

Nice work!
This week I also found some new excercise blogs which are pretty interesting/inspiring/aggravating

http://blogilates.com/
http://backonpointe.tumblr.com/

So, like Bubba Sparx says: get it right, get it tight!

Some things I'm excited about:
Kath's Wedding
School is about to start again
FALL
Halloween costume planning
doing one 5k a month for the entire year (I even tricked Shannon into this one)

I think that this is my favorite time of year

DIY Monday: Washer Bracelet

So...I woke up this morning and made one of those work out tanks that has been all over the internet, completely intending that to be my DIY Monday project.  But, it literally took me 5 minutes to make and I think that I will just post it later this week. 

The project for today: A washer bracelet.
I looked at about four different tutorials, and found this one to be the most helpful, she also has a cute Etsy shop.
I didn't use her exact technique, and as Aaron the roommate can attest, I tried about three or four different types of knots before settling on one.  I think you should just play with it until you get something that you like.  Here is what you will need:

The craft designer suede cord was $2.99.  If you download the JoAnn Fabrics App (yep, they have one), you can get a sweet coupon for up to 50% off.
Next, drive to your parents house and dig through all of your Dad's old stuff, there you will need to locate anywhere from 5-10 washers.  I scored 4 small ones and one that was slightly bigger.  They are all in various stages of corrosion, making them look even better!

So, turn on Intervention, and mindlessly knot your doubled over suede cord through the washers until you get a bracelet! It'll be fun, and after watching Intervention, you can pretty much go to bed knowing that all though life may seem shitty, you've got nothing on the 25 year old who is doling out BJs to buy vodka.
Happy Monday!