The last batch I’ve made was my Mixed Berry. I like to use frozen berries because they have great flavor but at the same time you don’t have to worry about spending a whole bunch of money on fresh berries.

I’m slightly surprised at how this turned out this time. I used half blackberries and half raspberries, but it came out tasting almost like a fruity cheesecake! Tangy, sweet and like berries. The only thing I can think of is the tangy raspberries just gave it that lovely flavor.

The color will also change with what type of berry mixture you use. If you use blueberries it will give it a dark purple color and a slightly sweeter flavor. If using more raspberries definitely use the full amount of sugar, but if using something sweet like mostly blackberries and blueberries, consider backing off on the sugar by a little bit since the berries themselves will be sweet.

Mixed Berry Ice Cream
Makes 5 cups

• 4 cups berries (raspberries, blueberries and blackberries)
• 1 1/2 cups cream
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. If using frozen berries, thaw before using.
2. Heat the cream and sugar in a pan to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes until cooled.
3. In a blender combine the berries, vanilla extract and cream mixture. Blend until smooth. Strain the mixture to remove any seeds.
4. Chill mixture overnight.
5. Freeze according to manufacturers instructions in ice cream maker.
6. Press a piece of plastic wrap over the ice cream before putting a lid on the freezing container to keep it from becoming leathery. Let harden in freezer at least 4 hours before serving.

I loathe the heat of summer. Why can’t it just be WARM and not BOILING outside? My poor fair skin needs to hide from the sun and avoid it unless wearing a strong SPF.

But the heat is also the BEST time to make the ice cream. Home made ice cream. Minty fresh ice cream with bits of lovely dark chocolate nestled through it.

Now THAT is summer.

I never was a huge fan of this stuff until this batch. I backed off just a little on the mint, so it was just enough to make it a nice smooth, creamy and refreshing mint.

You don’t have to add the food coloring to make it the green color, but that is how my Husband remembers it, and that’s how its supposed to be. At least according to him. It also helps me remember what ice cream it is if I forgot to label it.

I have issues eating green things other than vegetables. Green salsa scares me, I won’t eat avocados, Mountain Dew is unnatural and split pea soup is something evil. I’m trying to get over the dislike of green mushy stuff, but I’ll just have to deal with the ice cream.

I also believe one reason I love this batch of ice cream is because of the type of chocolate I used. Since discovering the bulk foods area in one of the local stores, I found huge pieces of dark chocolate. It’s not the best chocolate but its pretty damn good. Instead of using formed chips this time I wanted something that felt a little more rustic, something inconsistent in size so that as your going through a scoop you might find a nice hunk of chocolate to munch on.

The ice cream maker I use is the attachment for my KitchenAid and it really works really well. The consistency coming out of the bowl is always like extremely soft serve, but it tends to harden up just fine in the freezer for a few hours. One positive thing about the consistency is how easy it is to stir in whatever else you want to add in.

And then the hard part comes… Waiting for it to freeze up enough to scoop and not just eat with a straw. But when that time comes, its beautiful!

And that bite is exactly why I love using roughly chopped chocolate in my ice cream. I’ve also noticed while eating this over the last few days is that it melts really quickly. I’m not quite sure why it would, possibly using too much cream? Or maybe its because it doesn’t get really firm in the ice cream maker? I’m not the “know-all” of ice cream so I don’t know how to make it like store bought but I like it just the same. Just eat quickly!

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup milk (I used 2%, what i had on hand)
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 teaspoon pure mint extract
• 1 pinch of salt
• 6-8 drops of green food coloring (optional)
• 1/4-1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate (or chips)

1. Add the cream, milk, condensed milk, and salt to a pot and heat until everything is smooth and incorporated. Remove from heat and let sit for 15 minutes.
2. Add the mint and food coloring.
3. When almost cooled, stick the mixture in the fridge for at least 3 hours, or until cold.
4. Add to the ice maker per manufacturers instructions.
5. When the mixture is at a soft serve consistancy, stir in the chocolate until fully incorporated.
6. Transfer the mixture to a freezer safe container and press a piece of plastic over the top of the ice cream. This prevents a leathery top from forming and helps to keep it fresh.
7. Freeze for at least 4 hours before serving.

Make your own ice cream sandwiches!

I’m on a mission to do “Pantry Buster” type of cooking lately, and use things that are in the pantry rather than something new and exciting that needs all sorts of new ingredients that I have to stock up on.

I’ve wanted to do home made ice cream sandwiches for a while since I’ve been craving a delicious Its-It sandwich. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find them here since we moved, so I decided to make them with the help of my lovely assistant and friend who came over.

An Its-It is a large ice cream sandwich made of two oatmeal cookies, filled with vanilla ice cream, and covered in a layer of chocolate. Who couldn’t love that! I mean seriously. But since I can’t find them, I wanted to make them. And if I did I wouldn’t want to spend the money, AND they are huge. Seriously huge. I believe you need two hands to properly eat it. My version is much smaller

I had never made oatmeal cookies before, so I didn’t have a good recipe to go off of. After several hours looking for recipes online, and in my cook books, I decided to use the one I found in my Joy of Cooking book that had a pretty basic recipe for an oatmeal cookie. By basic I mean there were no spices at all, except salt, in the cookies. I needed something spicy and wonderful to go with the vanilla and chocolate.

With a few additions in spices, the cookies turned out GREAT! Spicy and surprisingly gingery, I think these will be a must have in my kitchen even if I don’t make them with ice cream. When we made these, we only covered half of them in chocolate, and I find the ones without chocolate a little better. I must be over my chocolate craving phase.

Spicy Oatmeal Ice Cream Sandwiches
Made 15 sandwiches

• 1/2 cup butter (softened)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (sifted)
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup quick rolled oats (or half old-fashioned and half quick)
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• Vanilla ice cream
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the cookies:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Cream together sugar and butter until slightly fluffy and well incorporated.
2. Add the egg, vanilla and milk. Beat until smooth.
3. Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder into the bowl and mix until combined.
4. Add the oats and spices, and mix.
5. Drop cookies by using a cookie scoop or by roughly a tablespoon sized each onto parchment lined baking sheet.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are lightly browned.

For The Sandwichs

1. Let the cookies cool until they are room temperature. Let the ice cream sit out for about 10 minutes before assembling the cookies.
2. When the ice cream has softened, spoon a good amount of ice cream onto a cookie, the ice cream should be between 3/4”-1” thick. Squish the ice cream flat with another cookie to complete the sandwich.
3. Sandwiches can be eaten immediately if desired. To add chocolate, sandwiches should first harden in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
4. After freezing sandwiches, start melting chocolate using the double boiler method until chocolate is completely melted.
5. Take frozen sandwiches from the freezer and work quickly to apply chocolate to the tops and sides by spooning over, dipping, or covering in any method desired.
6. When sandwiches are covered, re-freeze for another 20-30 minutes or until hard again.