Tastes Like Home

I don't remember my Grandma baking very much when we were kids. She was an excellent cook and made the best pot of beans, skillet fried chicken and potato salad, just to name a few. I always loved her potato salad just after she made it when the potatoes were still warm and soft. She always saved a bowl for me to enjoy at room temperature while the rest of it went into the refrigerator. In July, we took a road trip and visited my cousin for his 1st birthday and stayed at my grandparents house. On our last night there we had a cookout and I was able to enjoy her potato salad again. It's little things like that that take me back to my childhood. My mom still makes potato salad, and while it's similar (and delicious), it's not my grandma's. 

This little guy had a field day playing with the ice cream maker. When he thought I wasn't looking, he'd stick his fingers in the top and sneak a few licks of gelato. At one point he even climbed up onto the island and tried to put his face into the machine. You could say he's a fan of this rice gelato, just like his momma. 

When my grandma did make "dessert" it was often a bowl of atole de arroz, which is kind of like rice pudding but not as rich or creamy. It's more of a rice porridge, made with white rice, sugar, water, milk and cinnamon sticks. During the summer months, a man would walk all over town pushing a cart of Mexican popsicles, called paletas. We called him "The Paleta Man" :-). And just like the ice cream truck, we'd hear him ringing his bell, run outside and flag him down as he approached our house. We would make our requests and he'd reach into his mint green chilled chest and pull out colorful treats on sticks. I liked the fresh strawberry and the rice paleta the best. The rice paleta was milky, creamy, lightly sweetened and had a dusting of cinnamon on it. What made it different from the rest was that it had nibbly bits of rice in it. I loved that. 

When I came across this recipe for Rice Gelato from The Perfect Scoop, I knew it would be making an appearance in my future. The original recipe called for adding strips of orange zest to the rice mixture, but cinnamon sticks seemed more up my alley. It's what reminds me of home, so that's what I used. I also added a bit of ground cinnamon to the mixture after the rice was cooked. The smell of the sweet rice cooking filled the house like perfume. This gelato is much creamier and richer than anything my grandma ever made, but this is gelato after all, and it should be creamy. The rice softens and plumps up during the cooking process- half of it is blended really finely and the other half stays whole for optimal texture.While this dessert is frozen and is great on an end of summer day, there's something about it that comforts and soothes the soul. And that to me, is the best of both worlds. 

Rice Pudding Gelato 

adapted from The Perfect Scoop

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• 1/2 cup Arborio rice
• 3 cups whole milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 5 large egg yolks 
• 1 cup half-and-half or heavy cream
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

In a 2 quart baking dish, mix together the rice, milk 1/4 cup of the sugar and the salt. Add the vanilla bean and cinnamon stick and cover the dish with aluminum foil. 

Bake for 1 hour. Remove the rice from the oven and remove the foil. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, then continue to bake the rice, uncovered for an additional 30 minutes.

Remove the rice from the oven a second time, remove the vanilla bean and cinnamon stick and briskly whisk in the egg yolks at once. Then whisk in the half and half or cream, round cinnamon and nutmeg.

Puree half of the rice mixture in a blender or food processor until finely chopped. Then stir it back into the cooked rice.

Place the rice mixture in the fridge until completely chilled. Then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions.

NOTE: This gelato freezes really hard. Let it sit out at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving, if necessary. 

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Lattes and A Winner!

Just a quicky post today. This is a recipe I've shared before but I've tweaked it a bit so that it serves two, rather than one. Because a pumpkin spice latte needs to be shared. My version of this ever popular drink contains real pumpkin and spices, not flavored syrup. It's just as easy to make as it is to drive to Starbucks, but it's much less expensive and better for you! Thanks Maranda for making and reminding me of this delicious beverage. 

Pumpkin Spice Latte from Monica H

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• 2 cups strong brewed coffee
• 3/4 cup half-n-half
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 4 Tablespoons sugar in the raw
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• whipped cream and cinnamon for garnish

Combine coffee, half-n-half, pumpkin, sugar and pumpkin pie spice in a small saucepan. Bring to a high simmer (just before boiling), whisking occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Pour into two mugs and top with whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon, if desired.

Makes two large servings.

And the winner of the Chinet Bakeware is commenter #40 Melody J. Congratulations! Thank you to all that entered the giveaway. And thank you Chinet for being so generous!

Road Trip Recap and Breakfast For Dinner

We headed out last Friday for a road trip to see family last weekend. I was concerned about travelling with Hayden but in reality he was wonderful and I could not have asked for a better travel companion. We did have some hiccups along the way, but surprisingly they had nothing to so with Hayden. We loaded up the truck and piled everyone in. We got about two hours out of town and started having issues with our vehicle. Out of nowhere it overheated and we found ourselves on the side of the road in the blistering heat, with white smoke pouring out the tail pipe and fluids bubbling under the hood. Not good. 

My brother and Mr. H saved the day and we barely made it to the nearest Ford dealership, only to be held up there for 3 hours. We had lunch, the service department diagnosed the problem and we tried to track down a rental car to get us to our destination. Long story short, our 9 hour strip turned into 13. Hayden got (understandably) restless about two hours out so we stopped, stretched our legs and got some dinner. Once we got back on the road he passed out and was peaceful the rest of the way, though we were all crammed into a minivan and uncomfortable. We made it to my grandma's house nearing midnight and had a great weekend. We ended up staying an extra day than planned but we got to visit family that we hadn't seen in years, including my new cousin that's only 3 weeks old. Love. 

The trip back home was a little less exciting but we were all so tired, hot and easily agitated. I don't think I've ever been so happy to back in my own home- I forgot how good it smelled and how great the A/C works :-). All this to say, that we survived our first road trip with the boy. And don't tell Mr. H, but I'd do it all over again just to spend more time with my family. I guess now it's time for me to talk about this breakfast casserole. It's delicious and I've made it several times over the past few months. I've made it with different meats and cheeses and it's always a hit. I make the full recipe and we eat on it for about 3 days, for either breakfast or dinner, and never tire of the leftovers. That's a rarity. 

Breakfast Casserole adapted from Confabulation In The Kitchen

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• 1- 20 oz. bag  Simply Potatoes shredded hash browns
  
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
  
• 1 lb. sausage, cooked and crumbled (ham or bacon works well too)
  
• 2 cups grated Cheddar cheese
  
• 5 large eggs
  
• 1 cup half n half or heavy cream
  
• A few dashes of hot sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place potatoes in a large bowl. Pour melted butter over potatoes and stir until well-combined. Line  anungreased 9x13-inch casserole dish with buttered potatoes, and press to make a crust. Bake 20-30 minutes or until potatoes are just crisped and brown on the edges. Remove dish from oven and set aside.

In a medium bowl whisk eggs, half n half or cream, hot sauce, salt and pepper.

Sprinkle sausage over potato crust then sprinkle the cheese over sausage to create even layers. Pour egg mixture over ingredients. 

Bake 12-20 minutes or until the eggs are set in the center and the edges are golden and bubbling.

Caffeine Is My Friend

It's no secrect that coffee and I are best friends. I love it and it loves me. I don't like paying $5 per coffee drink but every now and again I need a fix and give in. We generally like to make espresso at home in our stovetop espresso pot, but that's usually only on the weekends with breakfast. When we do drink it, we like it lightly sweetened with raw sugar and half-n-half. It hits the spot every time. That's really the only time I can drink hot coffee, especially in this heat! When cooler weather comes, it'll be a different story but for now I'll stick to the sweet, cool and icy coffee drinks.

Keeping with the same theme of how I like my coffee, I decided to make David Lebovitz's Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream. Now I've never had a traditional Vietnamese coffee (strong coffee with sweetened condensed milk), but if it's anything like this ice cream, I'm quite sure I'd like it. There are only 3 ingredients in this ice cream- brewed espresso, sweetened condensed milk and half-n-half. That's it! Well actually you can add a fourth ingredient, a pinch of ground coffee, but I left that out since I wanted the ice cream to be completely smooth.

This ice cream could not be simpler. It comes together in a matter of minutes, you chill it thoroughly and put it in your ice cream maker. Mr. H is even more of a coffee junkie that I am and while he thought the espresso flavor really came through, he thought it was a little too sweet. It was sweet but if you savor it one spoonful at a time, not only will it last longer but it will fulfill your cravings and your sweet tooth. Blend a little ice cream with milk, ice and chocolate syrup and you have an awesome Mocha Frappe. Add caramel sauce in lieu of the chocolate and you'll have a Caramel Macchiato Frappe- yum!

Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream from The Perfect Scoop

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• 1 1/2 cups sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/2 cups brewed espresso or very strongly brewed coffee
• 1/2 cup half-n-half
• Big pinch of finely ground dark roast coffee (I omitted this)

Whisk together the condensed milk, espresso, half-n-half and ground coffee. Chill the mixture thoroughly (overnight) then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Pretty In Pink

Cheesecake Ice Cream. Cherry Sauce. Graham Crackers.

I'll give you a moment to be alone with this lovely scoop.......okay now wipe up the drool off your keyboard, then bookmark this recipe. You can thank me later.

I know it's officially Autumn (my favorite season) but it still feels like Summer. It's hot. It's humid and downright uncomfortable. Just until the other day, we had experienced 69 consecutive days of temperatures over 100 degrees. Not fun. That made for a very cranky wife and baker. So in the midst of it all I decided to whip up some ice cream. If you ask me, it's perfectly okay to consume this all year round.

This cheesecake ice cream could not be simpler. You blitz up cream cheese, sour cream, half-n-half and lemon (and orange) zest in the food processor or a blender then you chill it. You churn it in the ice cream maker and you're done. That's it!

I decided to make a cherry sauce to add to the ice cream for a cherry cheesecake version. I added some coarsely crushed graham crackers and called it Heaven. Seriously folks, this was down right delicious. David Lebovitz my thighs curse you thank you!

Cheesecake Ice Cream from Perfect Scoop

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1 lemon (I used a combination of lemon and orange zest)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup half-n-half
• 2/3 cup sugar
• pinch of salt

Cut the cream cheese into small pieces. Zest the lemon directly into a blender or food processor, then add the cream cheese, sour cream, half-n-half, sugar and salt. Puree until smooth.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Makes about 3 cups.

Cherry Sauce adapted from Perfect Scoop

• 1 1/2 cups cherries, fresh or frozen
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon cold water
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

In a medium saucepan, heat the cherries and sugar til the fruit begins to release their juices. Mix the cornstarch with the cold water and lemon juice until lump free, then stir the slurry into the cherries.

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for one minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temp. Chill til ready to use.

NOTE: Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

The original recipe calls for blueberries which cook down a bit. The cherries don't break down as much so it makes more than you need to add to the ice cream. I used about 1-1 1/4 cups of the cherry sauce then ate the rest to put on top of ice cream. Yum!

For the cherry cheesecake ice cream, you will need one recipe cheesecake ice cream (recipe above), about 1 cup cherry sauce (recipe above) and about 4-5 whole graham crackers, coarsely crushed.

In a freezer container layer:

1. crushed graham crackers
2. cherry sauce
3. cheesecake ice cream
4. repeat 2 more times, for a total of 3 layers each
5. freeze til completely solid
6. prepare to swoon

Total girl food and I loved every bit of it.

Can I Have Some More Please?

I like soup. I like many kinds of soup. My husband does not. It has to snowing before he'll eat soup, which here in Texas doesn't happen very often. He does like chili, but that's a manly dish, potato soup is not. So I had to dress it up to his liking by adding (more) cheese, bacon and chives for a hearty baked potato feel. It was a hit. In fact my husband said (his exact words), "This soup is so good. I'm gonna get some more, want some?"

Cheesy Potato Soup with Toppings

recipe slightly adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

• 7 c. potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 c. potatoes, peeled and shredded
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 c. chopped celery
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 qt. (4 cups) chicken or vegetable broth or water*
• 1 qt. (4 cups) half-n-half
• 6 tbsp. butter
• 1 c. freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Place cubed potatoes, onions, celery and salt in a large pot. Cover potatoes with broth or water (you may need a little more than 4 cups) and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes up to an hour depending on how tender you like your veggies. Place shredded potatoes in a separate pot (just covered with water) and boil til tender.

Once cooked to your liking, put in blender or food processor fitted with the metal blade and puree until smooth.

Return to pot then add half-n-half, butter, shredded potatoes, parsley and cheese. Stir and simmer until piping hot, but do not boil. Top with bacon pieces, cheese and chives- yum!

NOTE: If you have an immersion blender, I suggest using it. It's one less thing to clean up and easier than transferring hot veggies from pot to pot.

Also, I used dried parsley because I didn't have fresh and reduced the amount to 2 tbsp.

*The original recipe called for water to boil the potatoes in, but I used chicken broth for more flavor. Use what you have or like.