Ice Cream Cake

Last year at Tim's birthday I went to pick him up an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. He had mentioned one a few weeks before. So, I picked it out and went to pay for it but their credit card machine wasn't working. They wouldn't take a check and of course I didn't have any cash~never do. So much for the surprise ice cream cake.

It's been a year and he still hadn't had ice cream cake so I decided to make one. Yes, make one. I went by this recipe. Friday I made chocolate fudge sauce. I got this recipe from a friend and it is the best recipe I had tried for fudge sauce.

Hot Fudge sauce

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup corn syrup

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix dry ingredients. Stir in wet ingredients. Add butter.

Bring to a boil on medium high heat. Boil for three minutes.

Remove pan from heat and stir in vanilla.

Saturday morning I baked homemade oreos cookies. I really wanted to make things myself. I didn't want to buy oreos and have to scape the middle out because I know myself and I would have eaten all the middles. ;) This recipe was super easy anyway. I used this one.

They were crisp like and oreo but the taste was better actually.

Instead of letting the ice cream set out to melt I just whipped it in my mixer to give it more of a custard texture and make it speadable. This makes ice cream so good. We do this sometimes in the summer when we want a custard.

I started out spreading the vanilla in the bottom of a springform pan followed by the cookie crumbs which I had mixed in some of the chocolate fudge. If I make it again I will definitely thin the fudge sauce first. Then I poured a layer of chocolate fudge. Then I whipped the chocolate ice cream.

This is what it looked like before I spread the chocolate ice cream on top. After spreading the chocolate I put it in the freezer because the bottom later of vanilla was melting quickly.

I let it stay in the freezer for about an hour before spreading another layer of vanilla. Then after a few hours I took it out of the pan and covered it with cool whip. No, I didn't whip my own cream. Maybe next time. I let it set in the freezer overnight.

We ate it the next day after lunch. It was so rich but so delicious!! I'm not sure if it was just like a Dairy Queen cake but it was good enough and was a lot less expensive. :) Plus it was fun to make. If I make another one I will definitely make a smaller one because this made a pretty big cake and it's just Tim and me. Seth did eat a piece yesterday and hopefully he'll come up again today and polish off some more.

We'll have some tonight for Tim's birthday too!

Blueberry Crumb Cake

Growing up Mom made blueberry muffins at least once a week. Usually on the day she was off from work. This began my love of blueberry muffins. She used a box mix so when I married and started making blueberry muffins myself I used a box mix also. A few years ago I started looking for a homemade recipe because I love the idea of making things from scratch. Now, I would like to eliminate processed foods. I tried several recipes but honestly nothing was as good as the bakery style (which isn't even made anymore) that one company had.

Fast forward to a couple of years ago and someone brought blueberry crumb cake to church for breakfast. I didn't eat it that day but it looked really good and the topping resembled the crumb topping on the bakery style box mix. So, I got the recipe and it tasted just like the box mix. The cake was delicious and the crumb topping was fabulous.

Even better that the recipe was for a cake instead of muffins since that is easier to make. I would like to try it sometime in a muffin pan but haven't get around to it yet. Last Sunday it was my turn to bring breakfast so I made the blueberry crumble cake, refrigerated it to bake the next morning. It snowed just enough for us to stay home so we ended up having it for breakfast. I cut it in squares and put the rest in the freezer. I have gotten a piece out a couple of times for breakfast. I love it paired with scrambled eggs and bacon. I guess that is what Mom always had plus the salty compliments the sweetness of the cake.

The crumble mixture on top is my favorite.

I had a piece this morning actually. Of course it is good with coffee.

Blueberry Crumb Cake

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup vegetable shortening (I substitute butter)

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Grease a 9X13 pan. Sift together dry ingredients. Cut in shortening. Combine milk and eggs, then add to dry ingredients. Mix lightly. Fold in blueberries. Spread in pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Make topping.

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, melted

Mix together until crumbly. Sprinkle over batter. Bake uncovered 25-30 minutes until topping is lightly browned.

Lazy Weekend

Ahhh, the joys of a lazy weekend. Well, actually most of our weekends are lazy. That's exactly how we like them. It was a weekend of significance too because Tim's last day of work was Friday. There was a bit of closure when I picked him up from work on Friday as he carried out his last bit of belongings and said his goodbyes. I felt a twinge of sadness but that's only because I am a woman, I guess. We came home and unloaded the vehicle, carried everything in and then celebrated with dinner from Robos. :) Actually, Tim had been craving it and since I had been out running errands and to the store I didn't have time to cook.

Saturday I decided to try a vegetable soup recipe I had found on Pinterest that looked really good. I started out with all fresh vegetables.

Sauteed them in a little olive oil.



I added a few other things like some beef and peas. Honestly I was disappointed in the recipe. I "unpinned" it and don't think I'll be making it again. So, I plan to doctor the soup up today with tomato sauce and a can of tomato soup. I'm sure it will be fine. Since Tim isn't much of a homemade soup eater I made him chili. I used this recipe for the seasoning. I omitted the onion and garlic and sauteed some onion and garlic with the ground beef. I also used chili beans and chili ready tomatoes. I ate it for lunch on Sunday and it was really good. I also baked some banana bread and mixed up a blueberry crumb cake for breakfast at church Sunday morning. I baked an extra banana bread for Tim to take for breakfast this week also.

Pokey found a cozy spot on top of stacks of clothes in our bedroom. I started cleaning out the closet and haven't finished because I need to find some containers upstairs to store clothes in. This is pretty much how our weekend was spent too. Cozying up on the couch to watch football with a warm blanket and space heater to knock off the chill. Oh yeah, and Tim took a three hour nap. I think he might be well on his way of catching up on his sleep.

Then the snow came Saturday evening. It had flurried on and off Friday and Saturday but by night fall it went from flurries to snow fall.

By morning we had a couple of inches. Enough to really cover our road so we stayed home from church. We ate the blueberry crumb cake for breakfast. It was a quiet relaxing Sunday morning. We read our Bibles, then watched Charles Stanley and Jonathan Falwell. Who says you can't have church at home? ;)

It warmed up pretty quickly so the snow melted easily. We watched football and had a relaxing day, then went to Awana.

So, today Tim started his new job. He will be in orientation all week. It is a farther drive but thank goodness he was able to sleep an hour and a half later. He'll be home about an hour and a half later too, but honestly 4:15 p.m. was a bit early for me for him to come home. I'm excited for his new opportunity and know God orchestrated it all!!

Cookies, Cinnamon Rolls and Caramel Corn

Yesterday was spent decorating sugar cookies that I baked Saturday.

I used royal icing and flooded them like Sarah's wedding cookie favors. It is a bit more time consuming but they aren't overwhelmingly sweet this way.

Snowmen, Christmas trees, snowflakes, mittens, bells, stars and candy canes. I remembered at the last minute I had a gingerbread house cookie cutter and was only able to cut one. Maybe next year.

I also made cinnamon rolls and put in the freezer for Christmas morning. I plan to take a couple of pans to Courtney tomorrow at choir practice.

I waited till Tim was home when I made a batch of caramel corn so he could stir. I plan to make at least one more batch tonight, maybe two. I am giving it as gifts and of course we want some to munch on.

I finished decorating the cookies first thing this morning even before coffee and my Bible.

The only other thing I plan to make for gifts is Amish White Bread. I will bake four loaves tomorrow.

I have been in the kitchen a lot less this year so it felt good to spend the day preparing goodies. Now, to deliver on Wednesday evening.

Here are the recipes I used. Sugar cookies with this icing , Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls with this icing  and this easy delicious recipe for the caramel corn.

Amish White Bread

One of Tim's former employers, well, I should call him a family friend, gives out gift bags at Christmas with various goodies. One of the items is a loaf of homemade bread bought from a woman in Kentucky. The bread is always fabulous and every year I vow I am going to try to bake some. Last year I even looked for recipes. I found Amish White Bread on allrecipes.com and saved it. Well, of course I had Sarah's wedding coming up in June so I definitely wasn't going to bake bread and be tempted to eat it. So, finally this summer I thought of it again. I used the recipe from the website and I cannot tell you how easy and delicious this bread is! Everyone that has eaten it has loved it.

Amish White Bread

1 cup warm water (110 degrees)

1/3 white sugar

2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast

3/4 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. oil

3 cups bread flour

    In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. ( NOTES FOR KITCHEN AID MIXER USERS: Proof your yeast in the mixing bowl then add the oil/salt, then add the flour approx. 1 cup at a time with the dough hook on low speed. Once all the dry ingredients are in come up to medium speed for 5 minutes.) Then take the dough out, fold it over on itself to redistribute the yeast. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes. Shape into a loaf and place a well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pan. Allow to rise for 30 minutes or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

               Enjoy!

The original recipe from allrecipes makes two loaves. I normally just make one. The note about Kitchen Aid users came from the comment section. It was very helpful. Now, I have a hankering for some homemade bread. :) I think I might bake this and give as a few Christmas gifts too.

              
Again, I am linking to Christmas Cheer @ lifeingrace.

Peanut Butter Roll Candy

Some folks call this peanut butter roll but some old timers like my grandmother call it Martha Washington candy. I was always afraid to make it because boiling the sugar mixture always intimidated me but once I started I saw how easy it really is though. This is one of those recipes that is affected if made on a rainy/snowy day so I always make it on a sunny day.

The ingredients are:

3 cups sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup water

3 egg whites

1/2 tsp. vanilla

powdered sugar

peanut butter

Mix the first three ingredients in a cooker on medium high heat. Do not stir once it starts boiling. Place a candy thermometer in cooker. Bring to a boil till it reaches 252 degrees. When it nears that temperature beat the egg whites on high until stiff. Slowly pour sugar mixture into egg whites and continue beating on high, adding vanilla until it loses it's shine and is the consistency of cookie dough. It will take 8-12 minutes.

When it reaches the right consistency, pour out onto powdered sugar and roll out. Spread an even layer of peanut butter and roll up.

Store in the refrigerator and slice into pieces.

This is my favorite Christmas candy.
I'm linking to Edie's Christmas Cheer at lifeingrace but I haven't a clue how to link. I hope I have time later to try to figure it out.