Running Errands

I had to run a couple errands over the weekend. Since I wanted to let Esther have some time to herself, I took the kids with me. Of course, nothing is free. The cost of dragging the kids along with me to three different stores: ice cream.

On the way back from the shopping misadventure, we stopped at Carvel in DeWitt. I remember going to Carvel as a kid. It’s changed through the years, but still remains a good place to have great tasting ice cream. In fact, recently Carvel increased their portions. The “kiddie size” is now closer to a small.

Since we were on a schedule (after all, I broke a cardinal rule and had ice cream BEFORE dinner), I asked the kids to share a flavor. Here’s what they thought:

S6: I went to Carvel with G8 and Dad. [G8 and I] got Chocolate Crunch. I LOVED it. It was great. It was chocolaty!

G8: We went to Carvel! S6 and I had Chocolate Crunch. It is made of chocolate ice cream and crushed Oreo! I really liked it because there were sometimes chunks of Oreo in it! I liked to eat the chunks of Oreo with ice cream! I liked the store because it is [a] very yummy store! I also like it because it is very, very close.

I tried Chocolate Volcano. It was primarily a vanilla ice cream with chocolate mixed in. It also had those small chocolate crunchy morsels of goodness that they sometimes put on ice cream cakes. You end up with vanilla and chocolate mixed together with a light crunch in every bite. The combination may sound simple, possibly even boring. But when it hits your mouth, you realize the elegance that is conveyed through its simplicity. Genius. Sheer Genius.

Next time, maybe something with peanut butter cups…

School’s Out!

Last week,  we went out for a celebratory end-of-the-year ice cream cone.  This is the second year we've done this; the girls love it so much I think it's going to become a long standing tradition.

From G8: School is out! We went to Kimberly's [in Manlius, NY]!  I got Cotton Candy [ice cream].  My sister got the same thing.  I really like the ice cream because [the flavor] is very cotton-candy-like.  I have tasted cotton candy before, [so i know what it tastes like].  I love Kimberly's!

S6’s take on things: I went to an ice cream/candy store.  I went with my sister and mom.  My sister and I both ate KaBoom Cotton Candy ice cream.  It's cotton candy ice cream with sprinkles [mixed in].  I love it!

Mom’s note: The girls have only eaten real cotton candy once…and they didn’t really like it.   They love  that cotton candy flavor in an ice cream, though! 

While the girls gobbled up their cotton candy ice cream with an explosion of sprinkles, I enjoyed Kimberly's specialty flavor, Amaretto Peach Toasted Almond.  It was a smooth creamy peach ice cream with a hint of amaretto, with little chunks of peach and bits of toasted almond mixed in. Fancy, but not too fancy!  It’s inspired me to try making a peach ice cream.  I just need to have patience while I wait for the peaches to ripen!

The atmosphere at Kimberly's is fun, relaxed, with a touch of class. They make all their own ice creams and sorbets and have a variety flavors, from Holy Canoli to “Just Plain” Vanilla (made with bourbon vanilla…nothin’ plain about that!)

In addition to ice cream, Kimberly’s carries ice cream cakes, pies and premium chocolates.  I kicked myself for not thinking of Kimberly's for all those end-of-the-year teacher gifts.  Oh well, there's always next year,right?

In the mean time, happy summer vacation!

Frozen Bananas

One can only eat so much ice cream.  Well, sort of.  Our family can eat an unlimited amount of ice cream, but then we’d all have serious health issues. 

I had been brainstorming some healthier frozen options when I was inspired at Disneyland.  The ice cream guy only had one Mickey-ice-cream-on-a-stick left.  So I  did the mature thing and let the kids have the Mickey ice cream and ordered a frozen chocolate covered banana.  I have to say, I really enjoyed it!  And I didn’t have to feel guilty after eating it. After all, its really fruit!

I enjoyed it so much I decided we needed to re-create it at home… (This recipe is so easy the kids had a great time doing much of it themselves.)

Here’s the recipe:

1.  Peel 4 ripe, but still firm, bananas.   Cut them in half width-wise and insert a craft stick into each banana.  Lay them out in a dish to freeze. Cover and freeze for about at least 4 hours. 

 

You want your bananas nice and frozen.  (We did overnight.)

(It would be helpful to line your dish with wax or parchment paper.  We didn’t do that and had a little trouble lifting the bananas out after they were frozen.)

2.   Melt your choice of dark chocolate over a double boiler with hot (not boiling) water.  We used 2 bars of Hershey’s Dark Chocolate.)

3.  Dip your frozen bananas into the chocolate, then roll it in whatever topping you’d like.  We used rainbow sprinkles and walnuts, just because we had them in the house. 

One website suggested that you transfer the chocolate into a glass and then dunk your banana into the chocolate.  We tried that, but in the end, I found it easier to just spoon the chocolate onto the banana. I was able to use all the chocolate, as well as cover the banana better that way. 

I had the toppings in pie pans to make it easier to roll the bananas. But again, I discovered it was easier to just spoon the toppings right onto the chocolate. 

4.  Set your covered bananas onto wax or parchment paper and freeze for an hour. 

Actually, our bananas were so frozen that the chocolate hardened almost immediately.  But, putting the chocolate covered bananas back into the freezer ensures a nice hard chocolate shell.  Also, I realized I didn’t have wax paper, so used aluminum foil instead.  It worked out fine. 

5. Store frozen bananas in the freezer.  (I just put ours in a big Ziploc bag.)

 

 

Who knew fruit could be so yummy ? 

Fro-Yo

Our family recently made a trip to Los Angeles for a friend’s wedding. We had a great time visiting friends and family.  We were determined to try some frozen yogurt, which is apparently all the rage now. 

And rage it is!  Those little fro-yo places are as popular as Starbucks – one on every corner.  We were particularly set on trying Yogurtland, at the suggestion of our new friend, Roddy Chong. 

The two shops we visited were pretty similar -- self-soft-serve frozen yogurt in a variety of flavors, with do-it-yourself toppings.  Yogurt flavors range from decidedly non-upstate New York flavors like lychee to the traditional chocolate.  The toppings are anything you can imagine – from fresh fruit to malt balls to rainbow sprinkles.

The two places we tried each had giant bowls for you to fill with whatever pleases you.  You pay by weight, so keep that in mind!

We tried the Lotus in Hermosa Beach after lunch with Esther’s cousins.  We were really full from lunch, so the girls shared their fro-yo.  Here are S6’s thoughts:

We tried Lotus on our vacation.  We ate frozen yogurt.  Me and my sister ate Irish Mint [yogurt].  But my family is not Irish!  We got gummy bears [for our topping].  I loved it! [G8 was not quite as enthusiastic about the mint-gummy bear combo.  She commented that they were better separate.]

On our last day in California, we tried the famed Yogurtland with some friends.  Here’s what G8 had to say about it:

During our recent trip, we went to Yogurt Land.  My sister and I got Rootbeer Float flavored yogurt.  Are you wondering what topping we got?  If you are, we got chocolate chips!  By the way, the chocolate chips took over the Rootbeer Float part.  It would have been better without them.

So, the moral of the story is…the girls need to pick toppings that actually complement the flavor of their frozen yogurt. 

What’s your favorite fro-yo place?  (Or if like us, you don’t live in an area that’s overrun with frozen yogurt, what’s your favorite flavor?)

Frozen Faves…

Like our new look?  We added a banner behind the title of the blog, depicting our favorite ice cream flavors.  G8 colored the center 2 cones, and S6 colored the end cones. 

And now, presenting our frozen fave’s…(The kids wrote their own descriptions.  Anything in brackets is part of the “editing”)

Mike: Who doesn’t like Chocolate ice cream? It’s true there are many flavors to choose from – almost too many! Sometimes ice cream flavor listings resemble a laundry list…literally. Muddy Sneakers? Dirt?

There are precious few ice cream flavors ice cream I wouldn’t try at least once. Chocolate is the old standby. It’s the flavor you feel bad ordering because there are so many other exotic combinations to try. But, you know that if you can’t chose from the 39 flavors scribbled on the chalkboard quickly enough,  you won’t be disappointed by chocolate.

Esther: When we go out, I often order something I love, but no one else in the family enjoys.  That way, I get to enjoy the flavors I like and don’t have to hear all the complaining. 

One of those flavors is pistachio.  I love nuts, particularly pistachios.  The nutty flavor and the little crunch goes great with the creaminess of the base.

But the real reason I included it in the banner? I thought a little green would zest up the picture a little! (My true favorite is coconut ice cream.)

G8:  Hi! My ice cream cone is the blue[one].  It’s on the right and is the third one.  It is blue because [the flavor] is called Smurf or Cotton Candy.  [I first tried it] at Chuck Hafner’s Garden Center  in North Syracuse. [Hafner’s has an ice cream stand right inside the garden center.]

[By the way, G8 doesn’t even really know what a Smurf is.  They’re not on TV anymore!]

S6:  Hi! I did the orange one [at the end].  [I chose this] because it is mango sorbet.  It is good!  You have to try it!

[Check out our Mango-Ginger Sorbet]

Your Turn…What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?

Mango-Ginger Sorbet

We love mango.  Well, the girls in the family love mango.  We made regular mango sorbet before and loved it. 

But I found a mango-ginger sorbet recipe in Sweet Scoops by Shelly Kaldunski.  As a ginger lover, I had to try it.

It definitely matched my expectations.  The combination of cool and hot (spicy) was definitely tantalizing!  This would be good after an Asian meal, particularly one with curry and/or coconut.  

I added a bit of crystallized ginger to my little bowl of sorbet and that only made it yummier!  In fact, the added heat from the candied ginger brought out the sweetness of the mango all the more. 

I must be honest, though and tell you that the rest of the family doesn’t love it.  The kids said, “Well, hmmmm…we like it.  But not really eat-it-all-the-time like it.  Maybe just once in a while.” 

Mike was not as diplomatic, “I don’t like this one.  I’ll stick to chocolate.”

Well, for those of you with more refined tastes, try this recipe!

(We’ll likely be making the pure-mango version soon…the kids would eat that all the time!)

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Mango-Ginger Sorbet 

(according to the recipe in Sweet Scoops, this yield 1 quart, thought I only got half of that when I made it)

3/4 cup sugar

2 ripe mangos (about 2lbs total wt.) – I had a bunch of the smaller yellow mangos, so I used 4 of those. 

1 tbs peeled adn grated fresh ginger (do not substitute ground ginger)

2 tbs fresh lime juice

pinch salt

1. Combine sugar and 3/4 cup water.  Boil, stirring occassionally to form a simple syrup
2. Peel and dice mangoes.  Place mango in blender and add cooled syrup, ginger, lime juice and salt.  Blend until very smooth
3. Pour into a bowl, cover and refrigerate until very cold (I did it overnight)
4. Pour the cold mango puree into an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. 
5. Cover tightly and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.

Freezing Joy

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.

And why not?  Cold, creamy and sweet, each bite is frozen joy!

Our family loves ice cream.  Anytime, anywhere.  It doesn’t matter how full we are, we have room for ice cream…it just fills in the cracks in your belly!

Which is why we are starting a blog to chronicle how our family is freezing pure joy. 

We’re going to share about the ice cream (and other frozen treats like frozen yogurt, sorbets, etc…) we make and the ice cream we buy…and anything else about ice cream!

So, go ahead, scream for ice cream!