I couldn’t live without my coffee!  Seriously, I don’t just drink it for the caffeine kick, although that is a plus.  I really enjoy the taste of coffee.  And, I love waking up in morning to the wonderful aroma of fresh coffee brewing.  What I don’t love so much is that bitter, burned taste it gets after it’s been sitting in the pot for too long. Yuck!   At our house, whoever gets up first is responsible for making the coffee. Unfortunately, that means that by the time the rest of us are ready for a cup, it is often already past its prime.

About a year ago, I found a solution to this problem:  the Keurig home brewing system.  With this machine, you brew one cup of coffee at a time – when you want it.  It is fresh and hot every time.  The coffee comes in these little sealed, plastic containers called “K-cups”.  You just fill the tank with water, pop in a K-cup, push the brew button and voilà – coffee in about a minute!  There are a gazillion different kinds of coffee blends available in K-cups, so you can still have whatever kind of coffee you like.  Plus, they even have tea, hot chocolate and iced beverage K-cups.  How cool is that?  Not only that, but the machine comes with a teeny, tiny coffee filter, so don’t even have to use a K-cup.  You  can use any coffee you happen to have on hand.   Sweet!

So, here’s the best part. The nice folks from Keurig reached out to me a while ago and offered to send me one of their machines to try out. Since I already have one, I asked if they would be willing to send one to a lucky SGCC reader instead. They said yes, and so I’m thrilled to be able to offer one of YOU a Keurig Platinum Brewer of your very own!  And trust me, you do want one of these.  

All you have to do to be eligible for a shot to win is to do one or more of the following:

• Leave a comment telling me what your favorite coffee recipe is.  It can either be a coffee drink, or food using coffee in some form.
• Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter, with a link to this post, and leave a another comment here telling me you did so.  Make sure you @mention me in your tweet, so that I will see it.
• Share the link to this post on Facebook or Google+ or both, and leave a comment here.
• And last, but not least, I will give two extra chances to win to each new person who “Likes” my Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy fan page on Facebook.  That’s right – TWO EXTRA CHANCES!    But, make sure you also leave a comment here letting me know you’re a new fan.

You have until midnight EDT on Saturday, July 30, 2011 to leave your comments.  Next Sunday, July 31, I will randomly select and announce the lucky winner.

On your mark…Get set…GO!!!

Of course, I couldn’t leave you without sharing one of my favorite ways to enjoy coffee this time of year. When the temperature rises, I like my coffee iced, or better yet, frozen. So, I made these easy, peasy Vietnamese Coffee Popsicles to help you beat the heat.

To make your own popsicles, the first thing you have to do is brew some super strong coffee. I use a dark French roast. There are several varieties available in K-cups that would be perfect for this. You’ll need two cups of brewed coffee, or about three K-cups worth. Mix the coffee with some whole milk and sweetened condensed milk, and chill. Then, freeze the coffee mixture in popsicle molds until frozen solid. That’s it! It doesn’t get any simpler than that, people.

So, if you’ve been feeling as hot and bothered as I have lately, cool off with some frosty and refreshing Vietnamese Coffee Popsicles.

And, don’t forget to enter for a chance to win this fab Keurig Platinum Brewing System!

Enjoy!

I have to tell you, people, I never intended to publish this post.  Ever hear of Murphy’s Law – If anything can go wrong, it will?   Well, that’s how it was for me from the first moment I decided to make this Coconut Fro Yo.   First of all, when I took the tub of yogurt I’d bought out of the fridge to make the base, I noticed that it had expired.  Actually, it was already expired when I bought it the day earlier, only I didn’t notice.   I’m usually a very diligent label reader, but on that particular day I was in a hurry and didn’t check the expiration date.   My bad.  Except the %*#@ing supermarket employees shouldn’t be stocking expired items on the shelves. This was not the first, second or even third time I have seen this.  I think that they’re so worried about the bottom line, that they keep those old products out, banking that most shoppers that get one won’t bother to take it back.  Either that or the stock guys just can’t read.    I know we’re in a recession, but poisoning your customers with spoiled dairy products is not the way to boost sales! 

I did return the yogurt.  And then when I went to get another tub – they were completely out of the kind I needed.  UGH! So, I had to drive out of my way to another store to find it.  Now keep in mind, that the yogurt I was looking for was just regular Greek yogurt, and not some fancy, gourmet kind.  Just any old brand of plain, whole milk, Greek yogurt.

By the time I finished driving around looking for the yogurt, I was too aggravated to make the fro yo.  So, I put the Greek yogurt in the fridge for later.  The next day, when I took it back out for my second fro yo making attempt, about a third of it was gone.  Yes, gone.  As in someone ate it.  And of course, no one would admit to it either.  Not even Bella.  I’m not pointing any fingers, but I know for a fact that it wasn’t me.

Hmmm. Come to think of it, Bella does look a little guilty, doesn’t she.

So, off I went again to the grocery store to buy another tub of yogurt.  I went back to the same place I had gotten it the day before, and guess what?  They were now out of it too.  I kid you not, people.   While reciting the Serenity Prayer to myself, I drove back to the first store again, hoping that they now had the yogurt.  They did.  And, the expiration date was three weeks away.  So, I grabbed two tubs and ran.

I finally had plenty of yogurt, and went to get a can of coconut milk out of the pantry.  Only now guess what?  No coconut milk.    How could this be?  I always keep a stash of coconut milk!  I never don’t have any coconut milk!  Except for last Thursday, apparently.

ARGHH!

I hopped back in my car and drove back the the market for coconut milk.  I bought three cans.  I also bought a bag of flaked coconut.  I was pretty sure I already had one at home, but I wasn’t taking any chances.

Finally armed with all of the necessary ingredients, I whipped up a batch of the most indescribably delicious coconut frozen yogurt ever – and promptly ate half of it on the spot.  Did I mention I was a stress eater?  The other half went into the freezer to firm up.

Later, when I was trying to photograph the fro yo, was when things really started to go wrong.

I decided to go for a “tropical” feel for the shots. I toasted some coconut to sprinkle on top of the fro yo.  I dug out a brightly colored bamboo mat and bowl, as well as a cute, pink, paper drink umbrella like you might find at your friendly, neighborhood tiki bar.   I set up the first shot, taking great care to get the light just right.  The sunlight was streaming in the window at two o’clock, and my foil covered foam board was positioned directly opposite to bounce the light at just the right angle.  The finishing touch was a matching spoon jauntily perched on the side of the bowl to make the suggestion that the fro yo was about to be consumed.  I took a few test shots to make sure that all of my settings were spot on.

And then…

Kerplunk!

The foam board fell over on top of the fro yo, and the smushed fro yo toppled over.  I scooped it up and threw it in the sink.  And then, I went shopping.

Two days later, I looked in the freezer and there was still some fro yo left in its container.  I got this crazy idea that maybe I could still get a few decent shots of it.  Maybe the tropical theme idea wasn’t meant to be.  Maybe an Asian theme would be better.  There was coconut milk in the fro yo.  Yeah!  An Asian theme was the ticket!

I shifted gears and set up a new coco fro yo scenario.  I used some pretty little black bowls that I’d picked up in San Francisco’s Chinatown last Fall.  I found a blue drink umbrella and a sweet little matching blue spoon.  This time, after I scooped the fro yo into a bowl, I froze it so that it wouldn’t fall over so easily – just in case…

Again, I set the shot up just right.   This time I used a black background to eliminate the need for sunlight and the foam board.  I placed one of my studio lights on one side of the bowl and took a few more test shots.  I liked what I saw!  Then, I stepped back, steadied my tripod and…

Bella ran in, bumped the tripod, which bumped the light, which fell on top of the fro yo, which knocked it to the ground, which mashed it into the carpet and chipped my beautiful bowl.  The last thing I remember as I ran out of the room screaming was Bella licking the fro yo off of the rug.

And that, my dear readers is why I never intended to write this post.

But, then I realized that it just wasn’t fair of me not to share this super rich, smooth and luscious frozen treat with you.  Especially not in the dead of summer.  No, no, no!  I couldn’t have that on my conscience.  So, here it is – the most incredibly scrumptious coconut frozen yogurt made with just three ingredients.  There are no thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers or any other additives.  It’s a cinch to make, and you don’t have to drive anywhere or wait in a long line to get some.  A series of unfortunate events and blurry, mismatched photos aside, I think it was the right thing to do. Don’t you?

Everyone has their own Achilles’ heel – the thing that sends dread seeping through their pores.  That one thing that takes hold of their breath, brings them to their knees and gets their hearts racing like a runaway freight train.  There often  isn’t any rhyme or reason to it.  It just is.   And, it’s terrible.

My Achilles’ heel – the one I spent most of my life, including years of therapy, trying to conquer – is my fear of elevators.  There is no scientific name for it.  However, that doesn’t make it any less real.  Many describe it as a combination of acrophobia (fear of heights) and claustrophobia (fear of closed spaces).    I don’t care how science defines it.  I call it terror. 

For years, whenever I have had to ride an elevator,  I have manipulated the situation so that I wouldn’t have to ride alone.  I’ve loitered in more building lobbies than I care to admit, waiting around for someone – anyone -  else to come along and push that “up” button.  I’ve even grabbed people off the street and begged them to ride the elevator up with me!  Oh, the shame…

These past few years, I’ve gotten a lot better about dealing with elevators.  I told myself that if I wanted to start traveling on my own to various blogger conferences, I would have to suck it up and “get over it”.  So, I found a relatively tall building here at home, and practiced going up and down its elevator by myself until I could do it without breaking out in a cold sweat.  After attending several conferences, I began to get pretty good at it.  Sure, each time those big steel doors snapped shut on me, my heart skipped a little beat.  But, I was okay.  Dare I say that I even became a little blasé about it.  Score one for me!

Why am I telling you this?  Good question.  I had intended this to be a lighthearted post about my experience in Atlanta last weekend for BlogHer Food.  I reconnected with several old friends there and made some great new ones too.  I gleaned lots of valuable information from the lineup of talented and generous speakers.  And, though it wasn’t everything I hoped it would be, I had a pretty good time – until I was ready to go home.

On Sunday morning, after the conference, I went out for a late breakfast with Andrea Meyers from Andrea’s Recipes and Sean Timberlake from Hedonia and Punk Domestics.  We went to Café Intermezzo and had some delicious food and great conversation.  I was feeling pretty content and relaxed about my flight home.  My bags were packed and ready to go and all I had to do once I returned to the hotel was grab a cab to the airport.  Easy peasy, huh?  Hah!

Once back at the Westin, Andrea, Sean and I hopped into the elevator to go to our respective rooms.  There were also several other people with us – two cute, young Chinese girls who didn’t speak any English, and Greg and Annette, a nice couple from Jacksonville visiting with their teenaged daughter.  Their significance will soon be revealed.

Andrea got off on the 18th floor.  Sean and I were riding up to the 29th and 30th floors.  We were chatting with our elevator-mates, when all of a sudden the damn thing stopped.  That’s right.  STOPPED! It took a few seconds for me to grasp what was happening and then…

OMG!!!  WE’RE STUCK IN THE ELEVATOR!!!

My Achilles’ heel had just been stabbed.  And, it took me down.

OMG. OMG. OMG.  I kept repeating it over and over in my head like a mantra.  I didn’t know what to do, but I knew that what I didn’t want to do was have a full blown panic attack in front of my fellow prisoners.

Everyone else seemed pretty calm, especially the Chinese girls, who didn’t seem to even realize what had happened.  They stood huddled in a corner, chatting and texting nonstop.   “Were they crazy?” I thought. “Don’t these people realize that we’re trapped in a giant tin can?”

As it turns out, Annette works for Starwood Hotels, the company that owns the Westin.   She immediately took charge, sounded the alarm and pressed the call button for help.  Annette was the epitome of cool, calm and collected professionalism.  The voice of the Westin’s head of security was soon piped in to us, telling us that help was coming.  She unsuccessfully tried to reset the elevator several times.   I had no idea that they could be controlled remotely!   Finally, she was able to get the elevator moving upward.  We went up, up, up to the 45th floor, and then we stopped.    But, the door wouldn’t open.  We couldn’t get it to open, and the Westin’s head of security couldn’t get it to open.  So, there we were, dangling like bait on the 45th floor in a nonfunctioning elevator cab.

My head was swimming and everyone around me started to look like Dali’s Melting Clocks.

By the way, did you know that hotel security speak for guests stuck in an elevator is “elevator entrapment”?  Neither did I, but I sure do now!

Anyway, I was completely freaking out inside and doing my best not to let it show.  Unfortunately, I don’t think I was all that successful.   My heart was pounding, my palms were sweating and my feet were having a tough time holding me up.  I kept looking over at Sean, who seemed to be doing a lot better than me.  I tried to speak, but the small, weak voice that poured out of my mouth sounded more like that of a three year-old toddler than the polished, self-composed businesswoman I pretend to be.

The others seemed to get that I was teetering on the edge of hysteria.  Maybe you really can smell fear.  Sean kept patting me on my shoulder, and Greg and Annette just kept me talking – and reminded me to breathe.

“So, where are you from?”

“What did you think of Atlanta?”

“Blogging conference, huh.  How interesting!  What was it like?”

“You’re from Sarasota, you say.  Such a lovely town!  What do you do there?”

“Okay, honey.  We’ll be fine.  Just keep breathing.”

Despite myself, and to my great surprise, I was actually able to carry on a conversation with them.  And, for a few fleeting moments I even forgot that I was a victim of “elevator entrapment”.  Honestly, I don’t know how I would have coped with the situation if Greg and Annette hadn’t been there.  They talked me off the ledge.  I am so thankful that they – and Sean – were there with me.  I shudder to think what might have happened if I had been trapped in there alone!

After a while, the disembodied voice of the security lady told us that the Atlanta fire department had been called and to hang on because help was on the way.  Hang on?!?!  Was she kidding?!?! We were on the 45th floor.  What did she think we were going to do – make a jump for it?

We waited for what seemed like centuries before we heard some signs of life outside.  There were sounds of banging and clanging and scraping metal.  Finally, the elevator doors began to part, and I could see the face of a cute young fireman.  As soon as the opening became wide enough for me to fit through, I leapt, practically right into his arms.  I couldn’t get out of there fast enough!   Sean, Annette, Greg, their daughter and the two Chinese girls followed close on my heels.  Our ordeal on the 45th floor lasted for 45 minutes.

After much hugging, email exchanging and blood pressure checking, we all went our separate ways.  It was already past the time that I had planned to be at the airport.  Seeing how shaken up I was, (and probably worrying about possible legal ramifications), the hotel manager personally escorted me to get my luggage, put me in a taxi (at his expense) and sent me on my way.  I think I saw him breathe a little sigh of relief as the car pulled away.  I know I did.

The first thing I did when I got past airport security was head to the first bar I saw and order a stiff drink.  That, and sign in on Twitter.  Ah, the healing powers of Twitter!  My Twitter stream was already aflutter with tweets about the “elevator incident” and speculation about who the unfortunate victims were.  Sean and I were both sharing the gory details and sympathetic @mentions poured forth.

Fortified by enough vodka to drown a whale, I then boarded my flight home.  In the air, I reflected on the “elevator incident”, and thought of the irony of it all.  What were the odds that, of all the things in the world that could have happened to me, the one that I feared most was what did?   They say that God never gives us more than we can handle.  If that’s true, maybe he was trying to show me that I am stronger than I thought I was.  Or maybe the karmic forces of the universe were just f*%#ing with me. I don’t know.  What I do know is that I was incredibly lucky to have had such caring and compassionate people to help me through the ordeal.

I believe that one of the best cures for a wounded Achilles’ heel is ice cream.  And, pie.  So when I finally got home from Atlanta, I made this ice cream pie.    A great big and tall, decadent, coffee, fudge, ice cream pie.  You’ve heard of mile high pies?  Well, I’m calling mine “45 Stories High Java Fudge Ice Cream Pie”, and I’m dedicating it to Sean, Greg, Annette, their daughter and even the two chirpy, clueless Chinese girls (they were kind of cute, anyway).

When I was a little girl, we lived in house made of pale gray stone.  It was the only stone house on our street.  All of the others were made of red brick.   The front and back flagstone porches were connected by a cobbled path, and the whole property was encircled by a white picket fence.  Yes, a white picket fence.  Really.  Ivy and morning glory trailed up the outer walls like dark green veins  It was our very own country cottage in the middle of the urban jungle.  I wonder who lives there now.  Do they love it as much as I did?   Oh, how I still sometimes yearn for that house!

Our small back yard contained three huge lilac bushes, two Japanese cherry trees and a few other things that frankly, paled in comparison and don’t bear mentioning.  After each winter’s thaw, I’d wait with excited anticipation for them to bud.  When they finally did bloom,  the profusion of color and  intoxicating scent were a feast for my young and tender senses.    The yard became a fairyland of lavender and pink, and I was the resident fairy princess who reigned supreme.  All too soon the flowers would fade and fall, covering the ground with a soft, plush, pastel carpet that was perfect for lying on as I pondered the meaning of life – and waited for the roses.  

Ah, the roses!   I’ve always been in love with roses.  The ones I love best aren’t the sterile, scentless, long stemmed, barely opened blooms that come in a box, although I’ll take them in a pinch.  My favorites are the tangled, unfussy, multi-hued clusters of fragrant blossoms that crown thorny, twining bushes.    The ones that climb and creep and flaunt their velvety, unfurled petals as if they’re smiling at the sun.   These are the roses that, to me, are the loveliest.  With their slightly ruffled, imperfect edges, they are perfection.

Once the lilacs and cherry blossoms were spent, it was time for the roses to make their appearance.  We had over one hundred rose bushes of varying types and colors lining the perimeter of our yard – right along that white picket fence I told you about.   When the roses were in bloom, it was spectacular!  Each year around this time, there were masses of vivid crimson, coral and yellow roses  mingling with blushing, watercolor pinks and creamy whites surrounding the house.   It was a kaleidoscopic masterpiece!  Perhaps that is where my love affair with roses began.

Sometimes, I would try to count the flowers, wandering from bush to bush, stopping to sniff each one.   Did you know that different varieties of roses have different scents?  Some smell slightly sweet, with a touch of spice.  Others have a warm, musky scent.  Some even give off a fruity aroma, like that of lemons, apricots and peaches.   It’s no small wonder that roses are a popular ingredient in Mediterranean cuisine, and have been since ancient times.

The Romans used roses petals in cooking, especially desserts such as puddings and ices.  They even used the petals to flavor wines.  Other cultures, influenced by the Romans, also embraced the use of roses in their cooking.  To this day, tasty rose flavored treats are popular in many European and Middle Eastern countries.   So, when I was looking for an unusual twist to add to my luscious honey chevre ice cream, roses came to mind.

This ice cream is absolutely lovely all on its own, with the subtle tang of fresh goat cheese laced with earthy tones of honey.  But, I wanted to make some kind of topping to go with it.  I thought about doing something with roasted strawberries, but then I remembered a dessert I had once at a fancy, schmancy restaurant that I absolutely loved.  It was also an ice cream made with chevre, and it was served swimming in a sea of lavender-scented caramel.   I decided to swap out the lavender with roses and see how it turned out.

There’s a wonderful little spice shop a few blocks from my house that carries an assortment of culinary grade dried flowers, including rosebuds.  Most people buy them to use in teas, but I thought they would work well for making my “rose kissed” caramel sauce.  Don’t they look pretty?

To make the caramel, I first combined the rosebuds and some heavy cream together in a small saucepan and brought them to a gentle simmer.    Then, I removed the pan from the heat, covered it and let the roses infuse the cream with their delicate, floral essence.

After that, I made my caramel sauce using a recipe from the fabulous new cookbook, Sugar Baby, by Gesine Bullock-Prado.  Instead of the plain heavy cream called for, I added my rose-infused cream, and crossed my fingers.

By the way, Gesine’s publisher was kind enough to send me a copy of the book to try out -  and it is wonderful!   I plan to share a few more recipes from Sugar Baby soon,  and there might even be a giveaway in it for you.

Anyway, I was very pleased with the way this caramel turned out.  It was smooth and silky, with a deep, but not burnt, caramel flavor.  The essence of rose was definitely there, but not in an “in your face” kind of way.  It was delicate and refined, just like an actual rose.  I loved it!

For the chevre ice cream, I again took my inspiration from David Lebovitz.  David’s version doesn’t include honey, but I really wanted to have those earthy, floral notes in the ice cream to play off of the caramel.  It was a good call on my part, because I really think that the whole combination was heavenly.   The ice cream all by itself was wonderful too.  It had a lovely, creamy texture, and just the right amount of sweetness.  The honey balanced out the tanginess of the goat cheese perfectly.  This was one sophisticated ice cream!

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get a decent photograph of ice cream with warm caramel sauce on top?  Setting it in front of a bright, sunny window didn’t help either.  Oy!

I stuck this one back in the freezer for a few minutes first. Better.

Indulging in this creamy, dreamy treat isn’t quite the same as luxuriating in a field of gorgeous flowers, but it’s certainly worth the effort.  Making it conjured up many magical memories for me of an unfettered time filled with unbridled joy.   Too often we busily rush through our lives, scrambling to keep up with jobs, deadlines and family obligations.  Our lives can become so cluttered!   We forget about, or just don’t have time to really enjoy the exquisite beauty that surrounds us, often in the simplest things – like one perfect rose.  Sometimes, we need to just stop and smell the roses.

Have you ever wondered why it is that certain foods can elicit such strong emotions in us?    I was told once that every experience we have ever had is filed away in our subconscious mind.  Even though we may not remember them, they are all there – waiting to be triggered by some seemingly unrelated sight, touch, taste or smell.  I have found myself in this situation many times.  I’ll be going about my business and then suddenly – POW!   A familiar scent wafting out of  someone’s window as I walk by,  the locking of eyes with a kindly stranger on the street, or even watching a television commercial can send a flood of long-forgotten memories rushing to the surface.   The process of making this Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream was one of those times.

As I gathered the fresh mint I needed from my garden,  I suddenly saw myself at five, lying in a patch of green.  It took a minute or two, but I eventually realized that I was remembering myself as a little girl playing in my grandmother’s garden.  She had lush, thick rows of fragrant, fresh spearmint growing up and down the little flagstone path that led from the street up to her front door.  I thought it was so exotic!  I would lie down in the piles of feathery, textured leaves, drinking in their intoxicating scent, until Grandma would come out of the house and tell me to get up because I was “a crusha da meent”.   I can only imagine what the neighbors must have thought seeing this crazy little kid rolling around on the ground!

Now that I can recall the experience again, it is so clear and vivid in my mind.  And, I’m very grateful to that mint for bringing such a cherished memory back to me.  That must be why I’ve always felt the need to have fresh mint growing somewhere in my yard, even though I don’t normally use it all that much.  Somehow, just knowing that it’s there is a comfort.  

When I bought some new little mint plants at the farmers market a few months ago, the guy that sold them to me warned me that they would grow like crazy.  Boy, was he ever right!  I’ve got peppermint, spearmint and applemint growing everywhere – scads of it!  Among other things, I’ve been steeping it into tea, chopping it into salads and pureeing it into soups.  I love that fresh, clean burst of flavor it brings wherever I add it.    The funny thing is that, while I enjoy using mint in all kinds of savory dishes, I really don’t care for it in sweets.  I especially don’t like it paired with chocolate, which is why nobody was more surprised than I to find that I absolutely adored this Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.  Yes folks, it’s true.  I loved, loved, loved this ice cream!  I’m such a dichotomy.  Or pain in the butt.  You decide.

Why then, you might ask, would I even bother to make an ice cream whose main ingredients are chocolate and mint – a combination I usually dislike?  The answer is simple.  I’m trying to use up some of that damn mint before it takes over the rest of my garden!  I’m sorry, but there’s only so much peppermint tea that one can drink.  And frankly, I’m getting a little sick of tabbouleh.

The recipe for this ice cream came (again) from David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop.  I know that I use this book a lot, but I just haven’t found another I like better for making frozen desserts.  David’s recipes are easy to follow – and they work.

So, let’s make some ice cream!

The first thing you need to do is collect a big pile of fresh mint leaves.  I used a combination of peppermint and spearmint, because I had both.  The mint is simmered with milk, sugar and cream, and then steeped in them for about an hour.  This infuses the mixture with lots of lovely “mintiness”.

Next, it’s time to make the custard.  Whisk up some egg yolks and pour a little of the warm, milky mint mixture in.  Keep on whisking so that the eggs don’t scramble.  Add it back to the pot and cook it slowly until it gets nice and thick.  You’ll know it’s ready when you can run your finger down the back of a wooden spoon and leave tracks.  After that, you’ll need to strain the custard in case there are any curdled egg bits in there.  You definitely don’t want little globs of scrambled egg in your ice cream!

Make sure you chill the custard for a good, long time.  Otherwise, your ice cream will not set up properly, and that would be a crying shame.  Once it is thoroughly chilled, churn it up in your ice cream maker.

Now, here’s the tricky part.  To make your “chips”, melt some bittersweet or semisweet chocolate.  I just do this in the microwave.  When the ice cream is about two to three minutes away from being done, drizzle the melted chocolate right into it in a thin stream.  When the warm chocolate makes contact with the cold ice cream it will break up into small, very thin and shatteringly crispy flakes.  Forget chocolate chips.  This is way, way better!

When your ice cream has finished churning, scoop it into a freezer container and freeze it for as long as you can wait before diving into it.  And I warn you, this might not be very long at all.

You’ve probably noticed that while this ice cream has a pale, greenish tinge, it isn’t really green.  That’s how it’s supposed to look.   If you need to see a more “in your face” green, you can add a few drops of green food coloring.  I  think it looks pretty and much more palatable the way it is, but to each his own.   Whatever you do though, please, please, please don’t add any of that fake, mediciney tasting mint extract!  It doesn’t need it.  And if you do, please don’t tell me about it, because I might just cry.

Enjoy!

I’ve been feeling a little blue lately.  It’s a barely perceptible, nondescript blue,  like a bad color cast, which is the worst kind because it’s the hardest blue to define.  I’m not quite sure exactly where it came from either.  One day I looked around and it was just there.  Every so often, a bunch of little things start to pile up on top of each other and the blue just sneaks in.   I’m sure my  recent “pot stirring” experience didn’t help.   This blue is a tricky little sucker too.  Depending on the direction of the light, it sometimes seems to disappear, and you think it’s moved on.  But then, when you least expect it – poof – it’s back again, and your white balance goes all off.

There are only so many things you can do to ward off the “blue”.  I already made homemade caramels last week, so my only other alternative was to bring out the big guns – chocolate.  Did you know that chocolate, particularly dark chocolate, has mood enhancing qualities?  It contains small amounts of phenylethylamine -  a mood-regulating chemical naturally found in the brain.   Chocolate has also been shown to boost serotonin levels – our brain’s  own natural antidepressant – as well as endorphin levels.  Endorphins are neurotransmitters produced in the brain, usually during some kind of physical exercise,  which serve to reduce feelings of stress and pain, and can actually induce feelings of euphoria and well-being.  Just a few bites of your favorite chocolate can help chase away your blue too.

Short of nibbling on an actual chocolate bar, I can think of few ways to replicate that pure, intensely chocolate flavor.  The best I know is with this chocolate sorbet from David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop.  With no milk, cream or eggs to muddle things up,  this sorbet is pure, unadulterated chocolate love.  And, if that doesn’t make you happy, I don’t know what will. 

First, scrounge around your kitchen for some deep, dark chocolate pieces – the darker the better.  One great thing about this recipe is that you can mix and match leftover bits from other recipes.

You’ll also need some unsweetened cocoa powder.  David recommends the Dutch-process kind.  I don’t really know what difference it makes, but if David says to use it, I just do.  He is the god of frozen desserts.

Mix the cocoa powder in a saucepan with sugar and a pinch of salt.  We all know that a little salt enhances the sweet.

Add water and bring it to a boil.

After the cocoa mixture has boiled, take it off the heat and whisk in your lovely dark chocolate bits.

Ooooh!!!

Add some more water and a splash of vanilla.  Then, chill.

Anybody wanna lick the whisk?

Once the sorbet base is super chilled,  pour it in your ice cream machine and churn, baby, churn!

I’m telling you, people, this chocolate sorbet is the stuff dreams are made of!   It reminds me of that smooth, thick, dark, impossibly rich chocolate chaud, or drinking chocolate, that I slurped down all over Paris back in the day – only frozen.   It has a lush, velvety texture that kind of lives on your tongue for a minute or two after melting.  I swear I can actually feel those endorphins bubbling up and rushing through my body just thinking about it.  Lucky for me, I still have a small container of sorbet in the freezer that accidentally got stashed underneath the frozen lima beans.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

You have got to make this one, people.  It’s sinful, I tell you – absolutely sinful.  And, the recipe is so easy.  There’s no egg yolk tempering or cornstarch thickening or ice baths to worry about.  Forget the “runner’s high”!   A chocolate high is much more fun and requires no more exertion than moving your spoon from the bowl up to your mouth.    Trust me.  This indescribably delicious chocolate sorbet will not only chase away your “blue”,  it will make you forget that it ever existed!  I promise!

Enjoy!

Okay, I’ll admit it.  I’m not a big fan of chocolate ice cream.  Never have been.  I really don’t know why that is, because I love other chocolate things.  I love brownies, chocolate chip cookies and chocolate cake. And, I absolutely adore chocolate pudding, especially when it’s homemade.  But chocolate ice cream, not so much.  The name of this particular ice cream, however, is Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream.  I really love chocolate ganache!  Love, love, love!  You could put chocolate ganache on Brussels sprouts and I would eat it.  You could even put it on duck lips, and I’m pretty sure I would still eat it.  So of course, when I learned that Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream was on the menu for this week’s TWD, I had to try it.  And, I’m glad I did.

Dorie’s ice cream is made by basically rolling two recipes into one.  First, there is her decadent, deep, dark chocolate ganache, which we all know is sublime by itself.  Then, there is a rich, creamy custard, which is the base of the ice cream.  The two are blended together and, when churned in an ice cream machine, become melded into one glorious, velvety and intensely chocolatey mound of frozen lusciousness.  Seriously, people. This ice cream is a little bit of chocolate heaven in a bowl!  And coming from someone who doesn’t really care for chocolate ice cream, that is really saying something.

Oh yes.  I also added some dark chocolate bits to the ice cream as well.  You know, just in case it wasn’t quite chocolatey enough.

Many thanks to Katrina from Baking and Boys who selected this recipe for us this week.  You can find the recipe on her site.  If you’d like to see lots more of this delicious ice cream, please check out the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll.

Hello, my lovelies!  It’s time again for another droolworthy creation from the Daring Bakers.  This month it’s all about the perfect summertime treat – cool and creamy ice cream.  The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s World – Life and Food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

The bombe or ice cream cake begins with a light and thin sponge cake which is slathered with a whipped cream filling and rolled up to make a Swiss roll.  Slices of the Swiss roll are used to line a bowl and are then filled with alternating layers of softened ice cream and fudge topping.   Then, the whole thing is frozen solid, unmolded and served.  Don’t let your eyes roll back into your head just yet.  You’ll need them to read how to make this dreamy dessert. 

In Sunita’s original recipe the sponge cake is flavored with cocoa and vanilla and chocolate ice creams are used for the layers. One of my all time favorite ice cream desserts is a Mississippi Mud Pie that I first had while on a cruise.  It’s a decadent concoction consisting of a chocolate cookie crust filled with coffee and chocolate ice creams separated by a layer of thick ribbons of hot fudge.  Absolutely sublime!  When figuring out what kind of twist I wanted to try with this bombe, I decided to use the same flavors that are in the pie, hence the name Mississippi Mud Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake. I know it’s a mouthful, but so is this cake! I stayed with the chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream and fudge, but swapped out the vanilla ice cream for a rich and luscious java chip ice cream made with coffee beans, espresso powder and dark chocolate bits.  I flavored my cream Swiss roll cream filling with coffee as well.  It was brilliant!  The chocolate cake rolls took the place of the cookie crust, and the rest….. homemade coffee and chocolate ice creams, dark chocolate bits, hot fudge….. Need I say more?

Although, this recipe is pretty lengthy and does take quite a while to put together, none of the steps are the least bit difficult.  In fact, you could skip making your own ice cream and just use a good quality store-bought product. That would save you the better part of a day.  Hell, you could even buy the hot fudge sauce too, and save even more time.

If you’d like to see lots more beautiful and creative variations of this Swiss Roll Ice Cream Cake, grab a fork and stop by the Daring Bakers blogroll.

Mississippi Mud Swiss Roll Ice Cream Cake
inspired by the recipe of the same name from the Taste of Home website

Swiss Cake Rolls

Preparation time- 10 minutes
Baking time- 10-12 minutes
Rolling and cooling time- at least 30 minutes
Filling-5-8 minutes
Filling and rolling- 5-10 minutes

Ingredients

For the cake:

6 medium sized eggs
1 C / 225 gms caster sugar /8 oz+ extra for rolling
6 tblsp / 45gms/ a pinch over 1.5 oz of all purpose (plain) flour + 5 tblsp/40gm /a pinch under 1.5 oz of natural unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted together
2 tblsp /30ml / 1 fl oz of boiling water
Oil for brushing the pans

For the filling:

2C / 500 mls/ 16 fl oz of whipping cream
1 vanilla pod, cut into small pieces of about ½ cm (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
5 tblsp / 70gms/2.5oz of caster sugar
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder*

Directions

Preheat the oven to 200 deg C /400 deg F.  Brush to 11×9-inch baking pans with a little flavorless oil and line with parchment paper. If you have just one pan, bake one cake and then let the pan cool completely before using it for the next cake.

In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar and beat till very thick; when the beaters are lifted, it should leave a trail on the surface for at least 10 seconds. Add the flour mixture, in three batches and fold in gently with a spatula. Fold in the water.

Divide the mixture among the two baking pans and spread it out evenly, into the corners of the pans. Place a pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes or till the centre is springy to the touch.  When done, bake the second cake.

Spread a kitchen towel on the counter and sprinkle a little caster sugar over it.  Turn the cake on to the towel and peel away the baking paper. Trim any crisp edges.  Starting from one of the shorter sides, start to make a roll with the towel going inside. Cool the wrapped roll on a rack, seam side down.  Repeat the same for the next cake as well.

Grind together the vanilla pieces and sugar in a food processer till nicely mixed together. If you are using vanilla extract, just grind the sugar on its own and then add the sugar and extract to the cream.

In a large bowl, add the cream, vanilla-sugar mixture and espresso powder.  Beat until stiff peaks form.

Open the cake rolls and spread half of the cream filling on each cake, leaving a 1/2-inch border.  Roll the cakes up again, this time without the towel. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge till needed, seam side down.

Java Chip Ice Cream
liberally adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups whole coffee beans (Use decaf if you don’t want the caffeine in your ice cream)
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 teaspoons instant espresso powder, according to taste
1 tablespoon coffee liqueur
1/2 cup good quality semisweet chocolate chopped into small bits

Directions:

Heat the milk, sugar, whole coffee beans, salt, and 1/2 cup of the cream in a medium saucepan until it is hot and steamy, but not boiling. Cover, remove from the heat, and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.

Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into a medium size metal bowl, set over a larger bowl filled with ice.  Set a mesh strainer on top of the bowls. Set aside.

Reheat the milk and coffee mixture, on medium heat, again, until hot and steamy, but not boiling.  In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Slowly pour the heated milk and coffee mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly so that the egg yolks are tempered by the warm milk, but not cooked by it. Scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spatula or spoon.

Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Press on the coffee beans in the strainer to extract as much of the coffee flavor as possible. Discard the beans. Mix in the vanilla, espresso powder and liqueur, and stir a few minutes to release the steam.

Chill the mixture for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator.  Freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  When the ice cream is finished churning, mix in the chocolate bits and freeze until firm.

Makes 1 quart.

Chocolate Ice Cream
adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz.

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream, divided
3 Tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (I used Valhrona)
5 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Place a medium saucepan over low heat. Add 1 cup of the cream and the cocoa powder into the pan. Whisk mixture briskly to combine, and bring to a boil. Once liquid is boiling immediately reduce the heat to a simmer, and whisk constantly for about 30 seconds. Turn off the heat and remove pan from the burner. Add the chopped chocolate into the liquid and stir until it is melted and smooth. Next, add in the remaining 1 cup of cream and stir to combine. Transfer all of the liquid into a medium bowl, and place a fine mesh strainer on top of the bowl. Set bowl aside and make the custard.

Return the medium saucepan to the stove over low heat. Add the milk, sugar, and salt into the saucepan. Heat gently until the mixture begins to steam but not bubble. While the liquid is warming, in a separate medium bowl whisk the egg yolks together. Once the liquid is warmed, slowly pour it into the egg yolks, whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from scrambling. Once the liquid and eggs are well combined, scrape the mixture back into the pan. Place the pan over a medium heat, and stir constantly. Be sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the pan while you stir. Once the custard has thickened to the point that it coats the back of your spoon, remove it from the heat.

Pour the custard through the strainer into the medium bowl of chocolate liquid. When fully combined, stir well and add in the vanilla. Place the medium bowl of liquid in a larger bowl partially filled with ice water to cool quickly. Stir occasionally until the mixture has cooled enough to be transferred into the fridge. Press a layer of plastic wrap on top of the liquid to cover and prevent a skin from forming on the top of the custard.

Place the bowl in the fridge and chill for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight. Once the mixture is chilled, transfer to your ice cream maker and freeze according the manufacturer’s instructions. If you find that the custard is too thick to pour, give it a stiff whisk or two to thin it out and then place it in the ice cream maker.

Hot Fudge Sauce

Ingredients:

1 C / 230gms/ 8 oz of caster sugar
3 tblsp / 24gms/1.5 oz of natural unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tblsp /15gms/ 1 oz of cornstarch
1 and ½ C /355ml /12 fl oz of water
1 tblsp /14gms/ 1 oz butter
1 tsp/5 ml / .15 fl oz vanilla extract

Directions:

In a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch and water.

Place the pan over medium heat, and stir constantly, until it begins to thicken and is smooth (for about 2 minutes).  Remove from heat and mix in the butter and vanilla. Set aside to cool .

Assembly:

Cut the Swiss rolls into 10-20 equal slices, depending on the size of your mold. Meanwhile, take the ice cream out of the freezer to soften.

Cover the bottom and sides of the mold/bowl in which you are going to set the dessert with plastic wrap.

Arrange two slices at the bottom of the pan, with their seam sides facing each other. Arrange the Swiss roll slices up the bowl, with the seam sides facing away from the bottom, to cover the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze until the slices are firm (at least 30 minutes).

Take the mold/bowl out of the freezer, remove the cling film cover and spread the java chip ice cream on top of the cake slices and up the sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze until firm.

Pour the cooled fudge sauce over the ice cream, cover and freeze until firm .

Remove from freezer and spread softened chocolate ice cream over the fudge sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4-5 hours till completely set .

Remove the plastic cover, and place a serving plate on top of the mold/bowl. Turn it upside down and remove the bowl and the plastic lining. If the bowl does not come away easily, wipe the outsides of the bowl with a kitchen towel dampened with hot water. The bowl will come away easily.

Keep the cake out of the freezer for at least 10 minutes before slicing, depending on how hot your region is. Slice with a sharp knife, dipped in hot water.

Enjoy!

Sometimes, life is just a bowl of cherries.

Sometimes, it’s just the pits!

And, when it’s the pits, one thing that always makes me feel so much better is some cool, refreshing, fruity cherry sorbetto.

When I was a little girl in New York, one of the best parts of summer was when the Italian bakeries up and down Morris Park threw open their storefront windows and set up their Italian ice stands.  It was special because the bakers only served up these frosty sweet treats during the few months between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

The Italian ices that I grew up with were nothing like the icy, crunchy snow cones that you might be thinking of.  Nor did they have the slightly finer, but still crystalline texture of a granita.   Instead, they were soft, silky smooth and bursting with fresh fruit flavor.  Slurping one down after a hot, gritty day of running around with my amiche was pure bliss!

Back then, an Italian ice served in a white paper pastry cup would set you back around twenty-five cents.  I don’t know what they cost now, but it doesn’t really matter because they’re nonexistent down here in my neck of the woods.   You can find a packaged product that purports to be Italian ice in the ice cream freezer at most supermarkets, but trust me – it’s not the same thing. 

After the grueling week I had here in SGCC-Land, I decided that I deserved a little treat.  Since we’re in the throes of cherry season, my market has an abundant supply of deep, dark, plump and juicy Bing cherries.  I adore fresh cherries!  Whenever I buy some, I always tell myself that I’m going to make something fabulous with them.  Unfortunately, most of the time they don’t last long enough.  This time, however, I was determined to recreate one of the simple pleasures of my youth and made this Bing Cherry Sorbetto.

In my opinion, making a sorbetto is much easier than making ice cream.  A simple syrup of water and sugar, some lemon or lime juice and maybe a splash of liqueur are added to pureed fruit, chilled and then churned in an ice cream maker.  If you want your sorbetto to be super smooth, you can strain it through a sieve, but if you don’t mind a few small chunks of fruit, it isn’t necessary.  However, in order to get the proper texture, you  really should use an ice cream machine.

The most tedious part of making this sorbetto is pitting the cherries. Although, if you have a handy, dandy cherry pitter like this one, it’s actually kind of fun. That is Mr. SGCC’s hand demonstrating the cherry pitter. My hand is much more dainty and delicate.  Plus, I don’t have hairy knuckles.  Just sayin’

Have you ever tried to take photos with a wild and crazy, teething puppy under foot?  It isn’t easy!  Bella’s idea of “helping” is running around through the legs of my tripod and biting it to bits.  Of course, she tries to bite everything to bits these days.  I’ve already had one camera casualty thanks to her.  Luckily, it wasn’t my DSLR. If she wasn’t so cute, she’d be in big trouble!

By the way, sorbetto is the Italian name for sorbet. It’s purely semantics.  You can call it whichever you like.  I’m calling it delicious.

Bing Cherry Sorbetto

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water
2 pounds fresh Bing cherries, pitted
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon kirshwasser or cherry brandy (optional)

Preparation:

Make a simple syrup by combining the sugar and water together in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil and continue to boil until until all sugar has dissolved and the liquid is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Whizz the cherries in a blender or food processor until well pureed.  Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl.  Stir in 1 cup of the cooled simple syrup, the lemon juice and the kirshwasser, if using.  If you like it sweeter, add more syrup. If you like it more tart, add more lemon juice.  Chill for several hours or overnight.

Transfer the cherry mixture to the bowl of an ice cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  When done, place in a freezer safe container and freeze until the sorbet has reached the desired consistency.

Enjoy!

This has been one crazy, messed up week!  Honestly, I don’t even know where to begin. But, if there ever was a week where I could have used some of Dorie’s sinfully creamy and delicious Burnt Sugar Ice Cream, this was it!

If you read my Lemon Linguine post, then you already know that we just got a brand new puppy.  Bella is a sweet little Golden Retriever puppy and she is absolutely beautiful, as her name suggests. I’m totally smitten with her, but I’d forgotten just how much work caring for a new puppy involves.  It’s like having a new baby and a toddler all rolled up into one.  They have very little control over their bodily functions and they get into everything. Except with babies, you can slap a diaper on them, pop them in a playpen, and they’re good to go.  Bella is a very good little girl, but I’ve worn a path to my front door taking her in and out to potty a gazillion times every day.  Plus, have you ever noticed that with puppies (and babies), there is no direct correlation between what goes in and what comes out. There is definitely a lot more of what comes out! Not very appetizing fare for a food blog, I know.  Just keeping it real. The rest of the time, I run around the house after her, pulling an assortment of inappropriate “chew toys” out of her mouth and trying to keep her from nibbling on a) the furniture; b) my Oriental rugs; and c) my shoes! Suffice it to say that this “up and down” and “in and out” situation is definitely not an ideal work environment!

Inconvenient as it may be, the Bella situation wasn’t really even the crazy, messed up part of my week.  That revolting development occurred last Tuesday evening.   I was out in my front yard trying to coax Bella to “get on with it”, when Mini SGCC came flying out of the house with my purse, yelling something about being late for a choir practice that I didn’t even know she had.   The three of us jumped into the car and took off.  Luckily, I had Bella’s pet carrier in the back seat.  Unluckily, my cell phone wasn’t in my purse. You will understand the significance of this later.

Mini SGCC’s school is less than two miles from our house.  It’s less than a five minute drive with no traffic.  Bella and I were on our way home after dropping off the kid, and I was stopped in the right lane, waiting to make a right turn.  I was diligently waiting for the oncoming traffic to pass before I did.  It was broad daylight.  All of a sudden, my car was jolted out into the middle of a busy six lane road and my head slammed into the steering wheel.  I literally didn’t know what hit me!  I scrambled to get the car back over into the right lane before I was roadkill.  As I tried to collect myself, there was a tapping on my car window.  It was the guy that hit me. 

The first thing I did was check to make sure the puppy was okay.  She was a little scared, but otherwise fine (thank God!).  My shock quickly turned into anger and I launched.  I started screaming at the guy, using words I didn’t even realize I knew!   You know what he said?  He said that didn’t see me.  DIDN’T SEE ME!?!?  HE WAS DRIVING A HUGE A$$ COMMERCIAL VAN AND HE DIDN’T F*#%ING SEE ME? He could have seen halfway to Texas from the driver’s seat of that van!  Plus, I was driving a big, German sedan. I wasn’t exactly hard to spot!

I reached into my purse for my cell phone to call the police, and…..it wasn’t there.  Remember, I said this would become significant.  Well, Mr. “I Didn’t See You Because I Was On My Way to the Fish Market to Buy Some Clams for Dinner and Wasn’t Paying Attention” didn’t have a cell phone either.  So, there we were – standing in the middle of US 41 – with not a cell phone between us.  He walked one way to find a pay phone, and I trudged the other other way, with the puppy in my arms, to find a shop where I could call for help.

Here’s where it gets a little dicey.  I’m usually pretty calm in a crisis.  However, this time I was really shaken up.  And, Mr. SGCC was out of town and wouldn’t be home for three more days.  I was disoriented and my head was beginning to throb.  I couldn’t even think of someone to call.  The clerk in the store was very sweet, though.  Or, maybe he’s a sucker for cute little puppies.  Anyway, when he saw how my fingers were shaking as I tried to dial the phone, he did it for me.  I called my brother (the chiropractor) and he came to help.

Thank God the deputy that came to investigate the accident was also very nice.  I was such a mess that I spilled the contents of my glove compartment all over the car and couldn’t even find my registration and insurance card.  He was able to get all of the information he needed from his computer.  Did I mention that my head was throbbing?

While the deputy was writing up the accident report, I finally mustered up the courage to take a look at the damage to my car.  Trust me, you don’t wanna know.  It was pretty bad.  The whole rear was bashed in and the bumper was in pieces.  The trunk wouldn’t close either.  I was beginning to feel as though I’d been hit in the head with a sledgehammer.

In the end, the other driver was cited for careless driving and I was in the clear, but carless.  Ugh!  While I am very thankful that neither Bella nor I were seriously hurt, I’m very upset about my car.  It wasn’t a new car. In fact, it was over ten years old.  I probably needed a new car anyway, but here’s the thing.  That car belonged to my dad – and he loved it.  I have many memories of the two of us tooling around together in it – going out to lunch, Christmas shopping or whatever.  Every time I got behind the wheel, I felt a little bit closer to him. I drove my daughter to her first day of kindergarten and her first day of high school in that car. I dropped her off at her first school dance in it.  The value of that is something that you just can’t measure on any “blue book” chart or insurance company valuation table.  So, now it’s gone, and so is a little piece of me.  Yes, it’s been a crazy, messed up week over here at Chez SGCC. Did I mention that my head hurts?  My heart does too.

So, now as I wait for the lump on my head to go down, my black eye to heal and the various bumps and bruises to fade, I don’t feel too much like baking.  The fact that this week’s TWD assignment didn’t require it is a blessing.  I could handle ice cream.  Especially a fabulous ice cream like this one!

My thanks go out to Becky at Project Domestication for choosing this week’s recipe.  If you’d like to try it for yourself, the recipe can be found HERE.  As always, check out the TWD blogroll to see lots more versions of Burnt Sugar Ice Cream.