Tuesday, May 04, 2010

TWD—Burnt Sugar Ice Cream

Ahhhh!  We moved.  All done.  I’ve been kind of sad that we’re not in our house anymore.  Sigh.  I’ll get over it.  We left our buyers the cleanest, nicest house!  While I was doing a final vacuuming of the house, completely empty, cleaner than ever, I was feeling a little bummed thinking, “There’s not a single thing of ours left in this house.  No one would ever even know we were here.”  Vacuum, vacuum.  Then I turned around downstairs and saw that Sam had drawn on the freshly painted wall with pencil.  How sweet of him to leave a little goodbye note.  Sigh!  I really thought of leaving the drawing on the wall.

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Taylor’s “green frog room” no more. 

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And Sam’s love note.

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I should have left it.  The lady who bought the house is an elementary school principal, I’m sure she would have enjoyed the graffiti.  I took these pictures, then was nice and washed it off.

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Sam IS becoming quite the budding artist.  He was drawing yesterday and said, “Look Mom, a monster.”  That’s the drawing on the bottom left.  Then later he showed the boys at dinner that he’d drawn each of them, too, pointing to each of the other three pictures and naming them Scott, Parker and Taylor.  Nice, Sammie!!!  (At least he didn’t say I was the monster one. ;) )

Okay, I’m getting to TWD.  In a sec.  We’re “settled” in the little duplex until June.  On Thursday, Kevin and a friend, Dan, drove a 26 foot truck with as much of our things as we could live without for 2 months to Utah.  Friday morning, after three days here with working internet, I had no internet.  It wouldn’t work no matter how many times I unscrewed the cable on the modem and no matter what else I did per Kevin’s instructions over the phone.  I was so frustrated.  Can YOU live without the internet?  I was seriously depressed (how sad is that?).  But I got a lot more done than I would have.  And now I’m super totally behind on blogging and catching up with everything.

Kevin got back tonight  (Monday night), (they flew home, on an airplane. ba dum dum.)  We figured out the issue with the internet (UGGHHH!)  And I’m now happily posting about TWD this week.

Our recipe is Burnt Sugar Ice Cream in Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours baking book.  It was chosen by Becky of Project Domestication.  I SCREAM.

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I made the “caramel” on the stove with no problems at all.  Then the custard for the ice cream, all went off without a hitch.  Chilled it for about 6 hours in the fridge.  Churned it.  And came out with some beautiful ice cream.  I packed up half of it and made some Lenox Almond Biscotti because Dorie suggested it would be a good compliment to the ice cream.  I took the cookies and half the ice cream over to our  now former neighbor :(  and my friend, Ruth.  I have so many people to make goodies for to thank them for all their help with our move this last week!  Ruth had told me before that she cannot resist ice cream.

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With the rest of the ice cream, I played around.  Surprise.  I think the ice cream by itself really is too rich or sweet, or just needs something.  So I decided to make ice cream bon bons.

I melted some chocolate and sprinkled on some chopped pecans and toffee bits.  Then after coating one little scoop with the chocolate, I decided that wasn’t very fun, as during the second one, the chocolate wouldn’t stay on the ice cream to completely coat it and began seizing up.  So, I made one bon bon.  Then I forgot to photograph it whole.  So here’s the one shot of it.

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After cutting it in half, I cut it into quarters and each of the boys had a bite of it. They liked it. 

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When the melted chocolate was having issues, I hurried and threw some of the nuts and toffee into it and it was firm enough like ganache to form in to balls.  So I made a bunch of marble-sized balls of chocolate.  I thought they would be fun on a dish of the ice cream.   Fun, I SAY!

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And that’s that.  The flavor of the ice cream is not my favorite, but it’s definitely good.  Give me chocolate or give me death. ;)  Really, I was happy to make ice cream for the first time since last summer and I’m super glad I didn’t pack my ice cream maker and send it to Utah!  Becky will have the recipe on her blog.  It really was pretty easy.  Homemade caramel, you don’t scare me!

And that concludes our broadcast day.

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While Kevin was gone, Sam kept coming in and getting in our bed with me.  I woke up to him with his blanket wrapped around his head one morning.  Three days this little stinker got in our bed in the VERY early a.m., like 4:00, then wouldn’t go back to sleep until about 6:30 or so.  And slept until 10:30 a.m. each time.  Should be an interesting first night with Daddy back.  I asked Sam what he was going to do when he’s home and he said, “Sleep in Daddy’s bed.”  I said, “Where will Daddy sleep?”  He didn’t even hesitate and said, “In my bed!”  Yeah, I’ll let you take that up with him, little buddy.

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Oh wait, one more thing.  BEST kid’s meal toy ever! from Wendy’s.  Finger-sized Twister.  The boys were playing this Sunday morning and were having a blast stretching their hands and twisting them every which way.  My favorite thing---for at least a good half hour, all three of them were laughing like crazy over this game and getting along without any fighting!  Thanks, Wendy’s!

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Hearing them laugh---priceless. 

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33 comments:

alvarosa said...

wow - where do you take your energy from? moving and still making icecream (and not only making the recipe but also putting in some extra-effort with toppings etc.)

Heather said...

Katrina you are amazing! I think I might have given the ice cream a miss if I had all that to do. And yet you made it and created some additional recipes with it. The bon bons look amazing. We had it as chocoate sundaes. Great post and love all the pics of your kids.

Paula said...

I could comment on so many things here but I'll stick with two.
1. I'm with you on this ice cream. Not my favorite. Too rich or something. Love the bonbons but what a lot of trouble!
2. We had no power for about 2 hours last weekend and I realized how seriously addicted I am to the internet. I was LOST. Like you said--sad. Very sad.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your move! The sundaes look absolutely delicious. I hope your boys enjoyed!

Kayte said...

Oh, I knew you would be chocolate-ing this up this week. It all looks really wonderful, you are always so creative. Okay, I admit it, I am loving the finger twister idea...how fun is that!!! Feels strange to see your house all empty...eager to see your new one when you finally get there!

Pamela said...

I knew I would find some tasty looking alternatives here, Katrina. Your old house was spotless for the new owners! So nice of you.

vibi said...

I'm not the only one it seems to think you are the queen! lol

I'm so glad for you this great move is over... you must feel so much better, stresswise!

And I can't beleive you had the time to make bonbons, nevermind making ice cream during such busy times!

You amaze me with the differents heights you take all those recipes!

♥peachkins♥ said...

chocolate coated burnt sugar ice cream! this is the best!


blowing peachkisses
The Peach Kitchen
peach and things

Maria said...

Glad you have internet again. You are a trooper to keep up with blogging! Love the ice cream though!

Fallon said...

Oh.... I stress out big time when the Internet isn't working!! I know how you feel. Lost ;)

MMM Ice cream season is definitely ahead of us. I like caramel but the addition of chocolate makes it better. Chocolate is the best!

Kimberly Johnson said...

All of your variations look fantastic!

Jessica of My Baking Heart said...

Love the bon-bons! And the last pictures of the boys - too cute! :)

Flourchild said...

You did a splendid job on the ice cream..woah the bon bon looks so tasty! COngrats on getting your house all cleaned and ready for it's new owners. It's hard to say goodbye..but fun to begin again!

Leslie said...

I need a nap just reading about your move! And this goes to show why some people are cut out for kids (you) and some just have cats (me). When I read the part about the pencil drawing, I thought "Poor thing! She had to paint that wall all over again." Uh, duh, I guess you'd be painting every other week if you went with my approach.

I can't believe you found time to make ice cream. It looks so much better with the chocolate bon bons.

Plain Chicken said...

YUM! The ice cream and bon bons look great!

Lynne Daley said...

Adorable children. Nice job on the ice cream and going beyond the call of duty making the bon-bons having just moved-Amazing!

Unknown said...

I already said it on Facebook, but it's worth repeating - I'd go crazy without internet so I totally know how you feel! Love the shots of the boys - always up to something, especially Sam :)

The ice cream wasn't a favorite here either, I think perhaps we're just not caramel ice cream people. Love the little bon bon you made - always so creative!

Anonymous said...

Holy cow Katrina! At first I thought that was your new house - it had that new house look to it! Can you do that at my place? I'll be your best friend! =)
You have the cutest boys! I want to play Finger Twister now too! I might have to stop by Wendy's, if they have that promo going on here...
I love the picture of your ice cream in the maker! And your heart bowls - soo soo cute! I LOVE chocolate too but I have to say I really really liked this ice cream! Although I would really really LOVE it with those chocolate ganache balls...

TeaLady said...

Isn't moving FUN!!!! Inevitably you will find something you HAVE to have and won't for the next 2/3 months. Glad it is going well.

Ice cream just melted so fast to do anything with it. Love the single bonbon. Special.

Jacque said...

I think moving once you've had kids is very bittersweet. You have so many memories of them at various cute stages in life that are linked to a home. Sigh. But, I'm sure you have tons of new memories in store for you at your new home.

Anyway, good job with the toppings. I kept thinking I needed to add some chocolate sauce, but never got to it.

Mimi said...

I love Sam's art work! He's just too cute. I like your Bonbons a little bitter chocolate would be a good contrast to the sweet caramel.
Mimi

Nickki said...

You are amazing making ice cream in the middle of moving house! Your sundaes look terrific. And the bon bons are inspired! Love your way of thinking :-)

P.S Love your pictures! And the finger Twister! I've never seen that before. My boys were actually playing Twister last night, what a coincidence!

chocolatechic said...

Ice cream bon-bons?

You are brilliant.

Bella Baker said...

congrats on making it through the move! That drawing on the wall is priceless! Glad you snapped a photos before washing it off! :) And your ice cream looks out of this world! I am beyond impressed that you found the time to make ice cream in the midst of moving!

Cathy said...

I can't believe you even made this with all you've got going on - you rock! You certainly did leave your buyers a pristine house! The graffiti was cute - I'm glad you captured it on film! Ice cream looks great - I agree that it is probably best with something else, and of course, I knew I could count on you to make that "something else" really spectacular!

Anonymous said...

I can't believe you made ice cream and biscotti while moving! You're a dedicated baker (and dedicated chocoholic!).

I remember not having any internet and not having high-speed internet but boy, would it be hard to go back now!

Carol Peterman/TableFare said...

Congratulations on your move. What perfect vacuum pattern in the rug! The new owner is lucky to get such a clean house! Your ice cream looks fantastic, especially the bon bons.

Shandy said...

OMGoodness! Your ice cream, toppings, combos, everything looks absolutely delicious!

You will make your new home feel even more comfy and wonderful then your last but I know the sad feeling that goes with moving.

Jaime said...

congrats on the new home! love the bon bons :)

Unknown said...

Congratulations on moving!! Finger twister looks like soo much fun!

spike. said...

I like the bon bons- so cute. Good luck with all the moving- hope it isn't too long before you're finally settled. ps- the little boxes I found for cookies were from ac moore.

Emily said...

Great post, Katrina! Love your blog!

Becky @ Project Domestication said...

I love your bon bon idea. So cute and fun. You always come up with cool variations.

Thanks so much for making the ice cream along with me for my TWD pick.

Good luck on your move. Utah will love to have you here soon!