Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream

A few weekends ago, Ladson and I went biking on the W&OD trail.  Famished afterwards, we had to "feed the beast", beast being Ladson's man-stomach, that eats a lot of meat and such, in quantities unfamiliar to semi-vegetarian X. So, we stopped for lunch at Lazy Sundae, a classic little American deli and ice cream shop.  We had some of the BEST chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream EVER there, and we don't even like chocolate ice cream. And since then, I was determined to make some of my own, with my favorite wedding present, the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker!
I found this recipe on a blog shared with me by Elizabeth. WOW, Homemade Peanut Butter Cups!!!AHHHH!!! it's too good... but for real!
But this is where I come in. For some reason, recipes just never do it for me. I always want to change something, whether for health reasons, or because I don't have a certain ingredient; the issues were two fold:

1. my food consultant/husband and I decided that peanut butter cups are best in vanilla, not chocolate. So, I based the recipe more on the Cuisinart's.

2. The peanut butter cups in the recipe call for graham cracker crumbs. And who has gluten-free graham crackers??? 

Here's what I did. You can do the same, or be inspired and modify it again to fit your desires!

For the peanut butter cups:

I pretty much followed the recipe from Confections of a Foodie Bride, but instead of the 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs, I used about a 1/2 cup ground flax seeds. This gave great consistency and flavor! I still used powdered sugar (which you can make from normal sugar in a vitamix! so cool!), so they weren't uber healthy, but I think you could use honey or agave nectar if you wanted to, without totally damaging the consistency. Following her instructions more carefully would have made very pretty peanut butter cups, but I didn't care too much. With Trader Joe's semi-sweet chocolate morsels and organic peanut butter...

Ladson and I agreed they were way better than Resees! 

  I had to make more because they were running 

out by the time I got to the ice cream part!

For the ice cream:
Cuisinart's recipes always call for too much sugar.  Additionally, the peanut butter cup recipe made way more peanut butter filling than there was chocolate) or maybe that's just because I ate the chocolate as I went... So instead of mixing peanut butter and sugar as Cuisinart suggests, I just whisked the rest of the filling in the milk/cream mixture to add flavor.  This is my modified ingredient list:

a little bit of the peanut butter mixture
1/2 cup raw honey
1-1/4 cups whole (raw) milk
2 cups (really) heavy (raw) cream
a slug of pure vanilla extract
2 handfuls homemade chocolate peanut butter cup cups (save the pretty ones for eating by themselves)

Whisk together milk, honey, and peanut butter mixture.
Add the cream...

Raw cream is so nice and thick!

I think I could eat this plain because I love raw milk so much! 

I turned on the ice cream maker (be sure to have a frozen container!!) and let the magic begin!! While this was happening, the peanut butter cups came out of the freezer and into the food processor. 

But I had to chop them more because they were too frozen hard. I recommend either chopping by hand on a large chopping block, or letting them be a little softer before sticking them in the food processor. Always pulse large things like this!

This stuff was AMAZING!!!!


 I don't really know if I can put into words what a great thing it is to make homemade ice cream. And this one "took the cake". Literally.

What would I do differently?

1. The ice cream got dry and flaky after freezing it.  That didn't stop me from killing the quart in less than a week, but next time I would have used a vanilla ice cream recipe with eggs in it, to keep a better consistency.

2. There were too many peanut butter cups. I know, this seems impossible, but it's true, it was so chunky you could hardly call it ice cream.  I think I would use one cup of chopped peanut butter cups in the future. There is a fine balance there... we will find it someday over the rainbow

this marriage

sometimes i wonder if i'm old enough to be married








then we go do something fun

like this weekend, our trip to Tarara Winery

We wanted to go for a bike ride out in Leesburg. Maybe along the Potomac? Over White's Ferry??

So we got up bright and early! about 10:30 am, and had some breakfast, and then Ladson had to have an EMERGENCY haircut. And then I had to have an emotional breakdown (see my post on tears), and in that amazingly on schedule manner, we packed up the pathfinder, and headed North with bicycles, helmets, bike shoes, and manchego.

We stopped at a farm stand and picked up squash, and peaches, corn and kettle corn. The produce will be addressed later this week, but the popcorn, that was open when we got in the car.

We all know that only adults go wine tasting.




And we are experts at that (being adults).

Actually, Ladson, since getting married and therefore becoming incredibly grown-up, has found the perfect match: white wine & kettle corn.

this was taken by me, with my point and shoot, very artsy, i know ;)

I think that the couple next to us, who had just celebrated their 30th Wedding anniversary, was very impressed with this pair.

So, I guess my point is, maybe I'm old enough for this marriage.

and we never did go biking. but it was a beautiful afternoon getaway.

awe

How many different kinds of vegetables are there?
Some people don't like vegetables. They think that they don't taste good. I think they eat bad vegetables. Even a lot of "organic" things taste like water and pesticides. I doubt their verity. If people ate these vegetable, they would be in awe.

From the DuPont Circle Farmers Market Sunday...

This first one is called tatsoi.
It was so spicy but kind of like spinach or bok choi... and what a pretty flower!!!



These are radishes.


Yes, ALL OF THEM! They are all so different and they taste different too.

Confession: I don't really understand the difference between radishes and turnips. But I am going to try to cook some of the radish greens this week.

In all due respect for vegetables, Geoff points out the importance of meat in meals. Yes. Even Sarah and I have turned to our carnivorous tendencies for sustenance in these winter months. Maybe I should have posted a picture of the goat chops!

normal

Guess what this is:
Give up?

BEETS!!!

I shredded these beautifully striped beets on Sunday and I just had to take a picture to show you!!!
Aren't they fabulous! God is such an artist. I should have taken a picture before I shredded them, too.
The beets are nothing near what I expect beets to be when I buy them to bake or pickle or shred. But, then, that's what made them blog-worthy...

Adam shared this quote from Tombstone with me today:

Doc Holliday: What do you want Wyatt?
Wyatt Earp: Just to live a normal life.
Doc Holliday: There is no normal life, Wyatt, there's just life, ya live it.
Wyatt Earp: I don't know how.
Doc Holliday: Sure ya do, say goodbye to me, go grab that spirited actress and make her your own. Take that spirit from her and don't look back. Live every second, live right on through to the end. Live Wyatt, live for me. Wyatt, if you were ever my friend... if ya ever had even the slightest of feelin' for me, leave now, leave now... please.
Wyatt Earp: Thanks for always being there, Doc.

live for me

and don't be normal.

peanut butter and pretty toes

Antibiotics have strange effects on people. Mine makes me dizzy sometimes, generally causes feelings of inebriation, but today, it makes me not want to eat gritty things. Wanting to eat is an accomplishment for me these days. They discharged me from the hospital on Sunday but I still haven't had an appetite. I actually wanted to eat at 3am today when I woke up to take a pill. And I wanted to eat again at 9am. But I only wanted peanut butter and crackers.

So today I ate a half a jar of peanut butter. Not much else.
oh yeah, and I got a pedicure.

beautiful days

The sun is coming out.

Despite all that has happened, I still believe people are good at heart
- Anne Frank

Yesterday, Sarah Boschung and her mom took me and Alicia out to dinner. It was such a lovely evening and we shared a delicious meal of local fish and veggies at Ivy Inn. Our fellow patrons were celebrating "Cousin Luke's" birthday and they all had beautiful voices. We ended up spending the latter part of the evening enjoying their music and company. We even stood and sang the National Anthem together. Patriotism still exists!

Today, I had no cash and walked into Cville coffee. A kind stranger heard me ask about the nearest ATM and then just offered to buy whatever I wanted for me! She bought me a smoothie, what kindness!

So, with Anne Frank, my pessimism subsides today. It gives way to happy thoughts (and my Masters Qualifying Exam.)

Happy Food

You know where Fellini's is? On 2nd St. off of the Downtown Mall? Well, just across the street is the best treasure of Charlottesville. No, I don't live there ;) hahahahha
Nicola's Veggies!!!!!


Sarah Boschung and I finally went there yesterday and relished the delicious salad concoctions that owner and chef, Dragana Katalina-Sun, created. Sarah Yates and I stopped today, after our delightful run on the Rivanna trail. More deliciousness- fresh soup!
Also, if you go there, which I really hope you do, try the truffles! They are so natural yet soooooo tasty!!!!!!

If you want to be healthy and don't know how to start, I recommend you start right there on 2nd St!!!
Oh! And she'll be at the Downtown Farmers Market Saturdays... mmmmmm

crunchy

Today I felt kind of old. First off, facebook changed and I don't know how to join a group. This is a problem. I feel behind the times. I'm only 22!!!! PLEASE!!!
Feeling behind the times makes me think of something else:
As most of my friends know, I'm pretty organic, granola, environmentally friendly... and I am also very conservative politically. My mom says she calls us (yes, she is as well) "crunchy conservatives". Only today did it occur to me that I don't really know what "crunchy" means. I mean granola is crunchy, so I figured it meant the same thing. Ah the joys of urban dictionary! It's probably one of the most useful sites out there, especially for us old folks. Also, the Trinidadian translation of LIME, my beloved apartment, was found on this website. Just another reason why clearly, this is a great thing. ANYWAYS, I found that crunchy really does mean that I am environmentally friendly and implies an altered lifestyle.
And I do have a pretty different life than the average person I suppose. Today, after I offered Brian grapefruit for the fifth time this week, he looked into the big box of them in my kitchen and asked "Where do you get your food?" . Very good question, Brian. My grandma grows grapefruit (nice alliteration, Brian noted). My milk, I get from a farm, along with eggs and often chicken. I firmly believe that happy animals make happy people. And other than that, I drive around Charlottesville to get the best deals on healthy fats and fresh produce. In the words of Emilime: "mmm mmm good".









Off on a milk run!

water

I have been so thirsty today. Every two minutes I feel dry again and want another big chug of water. Is my brain still dehydrated? Am I just a camel like Ellen says?

They say that half of the time when people think that they are hungry, really they are thirsty. Am I really always this thirsty but today I recognize my body's true language?

This post would be longer, but
a) what more is there to say? and
b) I really want another glass of water

din din

Paige and I made a very legitimate dinner on Valentines Day.

This is 20 clove garlic chicken.Yes, we ate all 20 cloves and only half of the chicken.


and these are some strawberries. ------>>>>
mmmm




Paige says that pictures of food never turn out looking quite as good as the food originally was. I think this is pretty much true.

For this reason (and others) I feel somewhat squeemish at dinners with my parents when they take a pictures of dishes that are anything near artistic.

Food was meant to be eaten.

L-slice.

When you put a teapot on to boil, it makes these loud noises at the beginning, and then, just before it starts to boil, it gets quieter. I think it's like the calm before the storm.

Ellen and I both like to drink tea (and water and wine and cappuccinos). We always use the tea kettle, never the microwave. Even when we had a plastic water heater, we used the stove. (But that's another story...)
L-slice. We live together, so clearly her love for Camembert rubbed off on me, my love for organic rubbed off on her, and our love for God and each other is mutually encouraged. ( I don't think that's proper English).
Maybe the boiling point of our friendship was last summer...

I <3>

the name that shall not be spoken

I have a friend, yes, we are real friends, who does not speak her name. She adds such random joy to my life, she deserves several bloggings. Today I shall blog about what happened yesterday:

Busi, Marian, and I, were going to the Statistics Department Chinese New Year Party. The Stat department held the potluck celebration instead of a typical Christmas party at the end of Fall Semester. This makes sense, mostly because the department is over 50% Asian. In true respect for the Asian theme, Busi suggested we make dumplings. Now, I like getting creative in the kitchen, but really, I don't feel confident in my wonton-forming skills. So the three of us wandered around the Asian Market for about a half hour and left with two bags of frozen dumplings and a bottle of sauce. Busi wished she could be making them from scratch as she did with Matt Henry (don't let the British-sounding name fool you...) I was excited to use my wok. Marian needed coffee.

We quickly got tiny chicken dumplings stuck to the wok and had to call Matt for help. He came to the rescue (?) like a good friend. Soon, in the confusion of burning dumplings sticking to pans and my trying to make cookies to salvage our potluck attendance, a pyrex dish exploded on the stove, throwing shreds of glass all about my kitchen.

Busi: "hahaha...after the initial shock...i thought...boy miranda is really prepared for accidents. ...but that was my random thought" Marian, in her good, FDA-employee, character, leapt to her feet. "Don't move!" She commanded, "Where's a broom?" Oh! Typed words do not do her gallantry justice! Somehow, with Marian's emergency alert system and Busi's help, we cleaned up most of the shards of glass and headed to the party an hour late. oh! Happy New Year!!!! Next time, I will have to do Karaoke in Chinese.