Red Hot Firecracker Ice Cream

 The other day my son told me his girlfriend was so good to him.

He's five.


(Eyebrow-raising is allowed here.)


After I got over being speechless (This has never happened before.  It was an odd feeling),  I asked him what he meant by that, and he said: "Well she's not Trouble like that song on the radio about girlfriends who are just TROUBLE."



T. Swift...  What would I do without you to teach my children about dating??

Seriously.  I don't know.

Will you write a book?

 


This recipe was inspired by a flavor I saw listed on the wall at a local frozen yogurt store.  As soon as I read it I knew it needed to happen for Valentine's Day, so I melted Red Hots into my favorite vanilla ice cream recipe and studded it with more Red Hots.  We love it!  It is cinnamony without burning your face off, since it is sweetened up by the ice cream.  The Red Hot studs give it a little kick and you can adjust the "hotness" by adding more or less of those.  Definitely kid friendly and significant-other friendly.

Except only if they're not Trouble.

Obvs.

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Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider Granita

Okay... only 17 days late.  Here is the dessert I made for New Years Eve this year.  100% kid friendly and only two ingredients.  Plus, it looks fancy.


It's not.  It's basically a slushie.


Don't tell anyone.

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Pink Peppermint Oreo Ice Cream Sandwiches

These little peppermint Oreo ice cream sandwiches were my favorite new creation of the Christmas season.  They are SO good. 

Chocolatey.  Pepperminty.  Cool, creamy, and delicious.  

Plus they're bite-sized little babies, so obviously they're low-cal...

Right?

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Cherry Chocolate Ice Cream Pie {Cadbury Chocolate Ice Cream}

Sometimes I feel the need to put things in perspective for my husband.

Like sending him a link to this moisturizer.  And reminding him that some women buy this on a regular basis.  And then talking a lot about how lucky he is to have such a frugal wife who doesn't spend $275 on a small jar of moisturizer.

This conversation almost always happens right before he looks at our RedCard statement.  He always acts suspicious about this coincidence which completely baffles me.

Or sometimes it happens right before I tell him I want to buy $30 moisturizer.

It's kind of like when you're a teen and you call your parents and say "Hey I'm in jail, come pick me up."  And when that has sunk in, you say "Great news!  I'm not in jail.  But I did skip English today."

Perspective is a beautiful thing.

Something that needs no perspective is ice cream pie.

Ice cream.  Pie.   It just works.

I came up with a Cadbury chocolate ice cream recipe to use for this pie, but you can always sub a store-bought chocolate ice cream.  If you go with homemade ice cream, keep in mind that you'll need to make it at least 24 hours in advance because the ice cream mixture needs time to chill and develop it's flavor before putting in the ice cream maker.

 

Wanna search for unnecessary products with me and send them to our husbands?

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Blue Bubblegum Ice Cream

Soccer update:  Chase's first game went great.  There was no blood, no tears, no tantrums.  No children lost limbs or threw over the water table in a rage. There was no big reveal at the end where we found out one of the boys was actually a girl pretending to be her twin brother so she could prove girls can play soccer as well as boys and win over Channing Tatum in the process.

He listened to his coach (actually he perched himself on his coaches knee every time the kids all came in to take a knee...) and ran after the ball with all the other kids.

I noticed that he is really non-agressive.  I guess it is pretty confusing to be told to share all the time and not take other people's things and then to be screamed at to "be agressive" and try to steal the ball from other kids.

Talk about mixed messages.

I basically had a panic attack when I walked in to the sports store to buy his equipment.  I played sports as a kid but never soccer, football, or basketball (ie: all the sports my kids will probably want to play.)  I just stood there and stared at the 6 different kinds of cleats wondering which sport they were each for and whether my kid needed bands to keep his shin guards up or whether he was supposed to wear two pairs of socks with his cleats.

Like.  How do people even learn how to use these things?

What did people do before Wiki Answers?

(In case you are wondering, there is an article on eHow entitled "How to Wear Soccer Shoes and Shin Guards".)


I know I've been whining a lot recently about the LONG summer we've had this year, but really, my boys are my little piece of heaven.  They give my life purpose. I love that I can stay home with them even though sometimes I think I'd rather shoot my brains out than listen to the Doc McStuffins theme song one more time.

I really love to make treats that I know will put a huge smile on their face.  In all honestly I developed this ice cream just because I knew they'd freak out when they saw it.  If you like Baskin Robbins pink bubblegum, you will like this.  The great part is there's no bubblegum pieces to pick out so you wont have to save it all in a big wad on your napkin to eat later.

You do that.  Right?

If you want, you can turn this ice cream into Bubblegum ice cream cupcakes.
(Just sub bubblegum ice cream for the black raspberry ice cream.)

Or, if ice cream isn't really your thing, you can always make regular Bubblegum cupcakes instead.

This isn't super sweet considering it is Bubblegum flavored, so feel free to go a little heavy on the sugar if you want.

 Happy Thursday!!

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Tiki Punch Freeze

 

I am apparently the only one whose school district hasn't started back up again.  (And we still have 9 days of summer... WHAT?)

I'm sorry, four months of summer is just too long.

If the Halloween decorations are out my kid should already be back at school.

I'm going finger-lickin' insane without a solid routine or schedule.

Basically the only good thing about it still being summer is finishing up the last of the summer treats.

Tiki punch freeze is a little spin off of the root beer freeze's I posted recently.  I just used a can of Tiki Punch (any sparkling fruit punch will do) in place of the root beer.  It is surprisingly good, and tastes kind of like a sweet sherbet.

It's quite a bit sweeter than the Rootbeer freeze, so smaller glasses may be in order, or you can always add some ice to water it down a tad.

Let's start saying goodbye to summer, shall we?

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Vanilla Bean Cookies n Cream Ice Cream {Best Basic Vanilla Bean Ice Cream}

Do you ever say "This is the best thing I've ever eaten!"  But then think, "I eat lots of yummy things... Realistically this can't be THE best thing I've ever eaten.  What kind of label is that anyways? How could you ever decide?"

I say that a lot, but then I remember that I really do know the best thing I've ever eaten. 

When I had our first son I was induced.  Which means they basically starve you until your baby comes.  Unfortunately he was a long time coming and I only had chance to sneak a sucker in that 20-ish hours or so.  (Seriously... tell a lady to have a baby and not feed her? Dumbest idea ever.)  Without going into details, he was a very difficult & complicated labor, my epidural didn't work, and I'm not entirely certain my doctor was actually an MD.

Fast forward to his arrival. My sweet sister-in-law worked at the hospital where I delivered and gave me a coupon for a free shake at the cafeteria.  My husband cashed it in as soon as they moved me to recovery and I vividly remember this Caramel Oreo shake being The. Best. Thing. I've. Ever. Eaten.  INMYLIIIIFE.

I inhaled it.

And seriously?  I still dream about it. 

There is zero doubt in my mind that I will ever eat anything as satisfying and delicious as that shake.

But making a pretty good copycat is always a good idea.  This vanilla bean ice cream is amazing, and even better if you put a whole bunch of Oreo chunks inside. Putting caramel sauce on top?  Heavenly.  It could turn out to be one of the best things you've ever eaten.  Make it into a shake if you want.

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Chocolate-dipped Frozen Key Lime Pie on a Stick

Awhile ago when I shared my true feelings about key lime pie I mentioned the Key Lime Pie Factory where they dip frozen slices of key lime pie in chocolate.  Since then I've had these on the brain, and I decided I better make some at home since Key West is pretty much at the opposite end of the country.

It turns out I am not above buying single serve pie slices from Walmart's frozen section to save lots of time and energy.  They certainly aren't gourmet, but are surprisingly good.  And for 98 cents... a pretty good deal too.

If you want to use your own pie just cut it into slices, separate the slices, and freeze for about 6 hours or until frozen through.  (Placing them on a cookie sheet with an inch or two between each slice works well.)

These would be so cute for an end of the summer dinner party!  I'm thinking coconut cream would be delicious.

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Mini S'mores Ice Cream Pies

It wouldn't be summer without some version of S'mores would it?  We've had a really hot windy summer and lots of fires so we have been too paranoid to use our firepit much. This is a great solution AND it means you don't even have to sit by a hot fire.

Sweet summertime!!

Have a pie.

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Rootbeer Float Freeze

Did you know it's national root beer float day? I have a 4 year old who is in love with all things root beer.  Root beer gum, root beer cupcakes, root beer barrels, and you guessed it- root beer floats.  We like to do a blended freeze version that perfectly combines the root beer and ice cream in every slurp.  It's way easier to eat and less messy for kids.

Yes, we did have these for breakfast today.

Happy Root Beer Float day!!

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Black Raspberry Vanilla Ice Cream Cupcakes

If you follow me on Facebook maybe you've been wondering why I was looking for nut cups.

You know, the cupcake wrappers. 

Well.... voila.

Ice cream cupcakes themed after my favorite Bath & Body Works lotion from college.  (I still have it too because apparently I am incapable of finishing a bottle of lotion.)

As it turns out, this combo is just as great in ice cream cupcake form.  I highly recommend these!  The frosting is a marshmallow whipped cream frosting so it is light and airy and perfect.  Sub any cupcake or ice cream flavor you want to change things up a bit.

(Esp. if black raspberry ice cream is $5.99/gallon at your Walmart too.  Insane!  Don't tell my husband, k?)

 

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Pink Birthday Cake Ice Cream

 

Everyone is probably posting Olympic treats today for the Opening Ceremonies, but my husband & I are celebrating today for a different reason. It's our sixth anniversary!

{I swear it's been longer than that.  Children make you feel so old.}

We like to tell our kids that our anniversary is our family's birthday, and usually I make a treat the night before and let them blow out candles.  (Wanna keep a 2 year old entertained?  Let him blow out candles for fifty-ish minutes or so.)  My husband isn't really into lovey heart shaped treats anyways, so this year for our anniversary I made this birthday cake ice cream that I have been drooling over (and dying to make) for months.  It turned out to be hubby's favorite homemade ice cream yet.

Vanilla bean ice cream (tinted pink) + chunks of vanilla bean cupcake + swirls of frosting + sprinkles= pink birthday heaven

I live with three boys and a male cat so sometimes I have to dye things pink.  My two year old {boy} loves pink so at least I have somebody on my side.

The cupcakes that are mixed into this ice cream need to be made in advance so that you can freeze them and cut them into chunks.  Freezing them keeps the cake from getting soggy and will keep it from crumbling into tiny pieces when you stir it in.

The ice cream also needs to harden overnight after churning. So...  realize that this is at least a 2 day process.  Plan ahead and it's not a big deal.  Almost all of that time is freeze time or cool time.

Worth it? Totally!  This ice cream has the dreamiest texture, and if you use vanilla bean paste in your ice cream it has fantastic flavor as well.

{Confession- I used homemade buttercream for the frosting in this and cut it into chunks and mixed it in after churning.  I hated it!  I ended up wishing I had just used (brace yourself)-  canned frosting.  I swear you will never hear those words out of my mouth again, but in this case it's true. The chunks of buttercream weirded me out. I am rewriting the recipe using canned frosting and swirling it into the ice cream instead of mixing in chunks.  If you can't stomach buying canned frosting, you can still make your own but I recommend swirling it in instead of using chunks. I like canned frosting because it gives that "authentic birthday cake taste" that most people think an ice cream like this should taste like. Yes I realize I just used 'canned frosting' and 'authentic' in the same sentence. Also it doesn't freeze super hard like most buttercreams do, so it is great in ice cream.}

If you want a cake batterish flavor to the ice cream instead of vanilla, just mix in a few Tablespoons of white cake mix with the rest of the ice cream ingredients (before churning). You can also probably cut the vanilla bean paste in half.


"Happy Birthday" to my sweet family, and Happy Anniversary to the best husband a girl could ask for.  Seriously he is the most selfless,  giving,  thinks he's the funniest ever,  person I know. Love you forever honey!

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Rainbow Sherbet Torte

When we built our house I said all I wanted was a huge kitchen island.  These days I'm thinking I should have asked for two dishwashers. There are only four of us but I swear our dishwasher is always full.

As is the sink.  And the two counters surrounding the sink.  Every time clean dishes come out of the dishwasher, it gets filled right back up with dirty ones.  And there are still dishes waiting to go in on the next round.

Don't tell me I bake too much.  This is not the problem.  It's the darn size of the dishwasher!!

I need to butter my hubby up sometime and mention the fact that I want two dishwashers in the next house.  Just to get him warmed up to the idea, you know.

(I am not the slightest bit joking about this.  If people can have two ovens I should be able to have two dishwashers.)

One good way to butter hubbys up is to give them ice cream torte.  I realize that this is actually a sherbet torte, and that sherbet is... um...  kinda girly.  But it's a good starting point for a two-dishwasher kind of conversation.

Also, it's bright and happy.  Just like my face will be when we build a house with two dishwashers.

----------------------------

I always forget that rainbow sherbet is good.  I mean, I would never go to the ice cream store and order sherbet, but whenever I end up eating it I love it.  This is a fun torte to make for dinner guests in the summer and is easy to throw together.  I have actually made it two ways, both of which are delicious so I'm posting two (very similar) recipes.  The biggest difference is the crust- one uses coconut cookies and slivered almonds and makes a true crust.  The other uses macaroon crumbs, chopped pecans, and whipped cream and makes a thick creamy "frozen topping" type crust.  I have a hard time finding macaroons and usually don't want to make them (lazybutt) so I often make the first recipe, but if you have macaroons the second recipe is killer.

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Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream

Thanks to a cousin of mine I recently discovered Diet Coke with Raspberry from Sonic.  The heavens opened and raspberry diet coke rained down from the sky along with gumdrops and lollipops and Mike-n-Ikes and the streets were paved with Oreos.  (My blood sugar was kinda low so I might be slightly mistaken about this part, but that's basically what happened.)

Really, it was a great drink. 

I prefer not to drink my calories (obvs. so I can partake in chocolate-dipped goodness).  So finding a delicious diet drink is always a treat.

Some of my favorites are, Chick-fil-A's diet lemonade, Sonic's diet  Dr. Pepper with cherry, and Sonic's diet Cherry limeade with raspberry.

I kinda like raspberries.

Speaking of raspberries-


This chocolate raspberry ice cream is like eating frozen fudge.  In no frame of mind can I see how that could ever be a bad thing.

The bad news, is it's not calorie free.

{I know you're shocked.}

The good news is... we had a diet drink today.  ;)  

What's your favorite diet drink?

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Snickerdoodle Ice Cream

People tell me pretty often that they can't believe how many sweets I make based on how many I put up on this blog. The sad thing that I conveniently forget to mention during these conversations is I really only end up posting about 1 of every 2 treats I make. 

If I'm not impressed by something I won't post it.  Or I'll make it a bunch of times until I get it right.  I don't think it's fair to post recipes for others to copy that disappointed me, you know?

Anyway,  if you remember a really long time ago I posted Snickerdoodles so you could use them for an upcoming recipe.  After testing and reformulating 3 times... here is that recipe.

This ice cream has lots of huge cookie chunks so if you try to pick them out and leave the ice cream for your hubby... he's gonna notice.

Not that I know anyone who does that.

The good news is the ice cream is yummy so you really don't need to pick. 

If you omit the cookie pieces, this is a great cinnamon ice cream to pair with apple pie or peach crisp, or {my favorite} to dollop into a steaming cup of hot cocoa.

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Chocolate-dipped Chips Ahoy Ice Cream Sandwiches (and a 4th of July version)

I am currently trying to think of a good scheme that would convince my husband to buy me a dog.


Like plastering this face all over the house:

Probably two hundred-ish copies or so would do.


If I had a dog I would never have to sweep my wood floors again because everyone knows dogs are human vacuum cleaners.  This means no more crumbs people. No. More. Crumbs!!

Have you seen my floor?

I swept that yesterday.  

As in, one meal ago. 

Also, if I had a dog I could go "walking" in my neighborhood without looking like a moron, because my pace would obviously be a result of my dog's short legs and not my lack of coordination or physical fitness.  Walking a dog is the only acceptable way to walk around the neighborhood when you're 26.  If you're 50+ you can do whatever the heck you want.  But 26 year olds can't just go "walking" by themselves.  People expect you to at least jog or something.  This of course, I am not willing to do in broad daylight.

Also, most importantly, if I had a dog it would  function as a guard dog to scare away kidnappers and murderers when I'm home alone at night.  Probably a more effective deterrent than me wearing a hockey mask around and peering through the back windows at intervals.  (Kidnappers and murderers leave other kidnappers and murderers alone you see.  And they ALWAYS watch your house for at least an hour before busting in, so this is actually a great method. You really should invest in a hockey mask if you haven't already. Talking REALLY loudly next to your windows about your loaded gun also helps.)

All I see is positives here.

Plus, probably dogs clean up ice cream drips.  Which I will need for the next time I make these:

Let me know if you know of any place that does color copies in bulk.

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Toasted Coconut Ice Cream & Almond Joy Ice Cream

This morning I walked in to get my 2 year old from his crib to find he had styled his hair with poop.


True story.
 

An experience like that completely qualifies you to eat ice cream for breakfast.  (And lunch) (And the rest of the day if you want to.)

But first you have to wash your hands A LOT and sanitize your house for three or four hours.

I know you came to a dessert blog to read about this.



Anyway, this is my very favorite homemade ice cream. The toasted coconut is really good, but you can omit it if you want a smooth texture.    (This will make the ice cream less coconutty, but a little bit of coconut extract can help that.)

If you had a *REALLY* bad day- make yourself the almond joy version- (below) and go heavy on the fudge.

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Strawberry Blonde Ice Cream

You know that blonde's are the best, right? :)

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Pina Colada Starfruit Push Pops

As of this week my preschooler is out of school for the summer, so we are celebrating (mourning?) by making popsicles this week.  These are pretty darn good even if they don't have Flinstone's characters printed on the outside.

You can make these with any kind of juice you want.  Hawaii's Own makes lots of tropical juice flavors that would be yummy.  You can also sub coconut milk for the regular milk if you have it, or omit the shredded coconut if you want a smoother pop. 

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Gram Gram's Juice Can Ice Cream Sandwiches

My sweet grandmother passed away last week.  She was one heck of a lady who outran bears, saved someone's life using the Heimlich, and gave away roses from her garden to anyone passing by.  Not only was she spunky and sweet and tough as nails, she was an award winning candy maker and might've had a sweet tooth to rival mine.

When we lived in Europe I used to spend summers at her condo with my dad.  We watched Matlock and fed the geese, and made these ice cream sandwiches together.  I will always cherish those memories.

We made these a few days ago in honor of her.  I think she would have approved.


You can use any cookie/ice cream combo you want.  We used Chocolate Cherry M&M cookies and artisan vanilla bean ice cream (all other vanilla ice creams are dead to me).  You can even use store-bought cookies if you want.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

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