Peach Ice Cream

I love making homemade ice cream, one of my favorite parts of summer. I found this recipe on line, "Deluxe Peach Ice Cream". For some reason the link won't work for it so I posted it below, but I got it at www.food.com. I had to cut it in half for my ice cream maker (I have one that is 1.75 qts), the recipe I posted makes 1 gallon. I think next time I will leave out the eggs and skip the cooking step, just to save time. It was really good and I could have just had it as a shake after it cooled in the fridge. This very refreshing, I want to serve it with peach cobbler sometime, sounds good.

Ingredients for 1 gallon of ice cream:
6 cups mashed peaches (I boiled them for a few minutes, peeled and pitted them then mashed them)
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 quart milk
1 cups whipping cream (I used a full 1 cup in mine, and then only used 2 cups of milk)
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract.

1. Mix mashed peaches and 1 cup of sugar in a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, beat eggs until they are frothy
3. In another bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups sugar, flour, and salt
4. Gradually add sugar mixture to eggs, mixing until thick.
5. Add milk, mix well.
6. Pour egg mixture into a large pot, cook over low heat stirring constantly (I had mine at heat level 7 and it took about 5 minutes to thicken), about 15 minutes until mixture thickens and coats a metal spoon.
7. Remove pot from heat and set in cold water, stir gently until it is cool. (I just put mine in the fridge and stirred it when I remembered it was there, tasting it several times to make sure it was still edible (It was really good!!!)).
8. Add cream and vanilla, mix well.
9. Add peaches, mix well.
10. Pour into ice cream maker and freeze according to directions for ice cream maker.

If you skip the eggs and just do the milk and cream it would make the recipe much easier. But it was really good this way too. Enjoy!!

Hot Ham, Cheese, and Pepperoni Roll-ups

It has been one of those days. Not a whole lot of time to plan dinner and not a whole lot of motivation to go all out (you know a normal day). I had crescent rolls, ham, cheese, and pepperoni in the fridge and decided to try something new. And, it was a hit.

Ingredients:
2 packages of crescent rolls (8 count each)
Ham
Cheese
Pepperoni

Preheat oven to 375 and grease a cookie sheet. Roll out crescent rolls. Top each roll with 1 slice of ham, 2 pepperonis, and some shredded cheese. Roll dough up as you would to make regular crescent rolls. Bake for 13 minutes.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread and/or Cake

I got this recipe from my friend, Julie, that I met in Madison. She got it from our friend Bev, also a fellow Madisonite for awhile. I miss those days of playing out at the playground with all of the kids all afternoon. But, it is also very nice to be done with school.
This bread is like cake and my kids love it. I put 4 cups of Zucchini in instead of the 2 cups it calls for. You can make 5 mini loaves or 2 large loaves. Make sure to have some milk close by. I made it as a cake also and baked it in a 9 by 13 pan for about 40 to 45 minutes. I topped it with chocolate butter cream icing (recipe is listed under the recipe for PB cup cake) and it was awesome.

Ingredients:
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
6 Tablespoons cocoa mixed with 2 Tablespoons of oil (or 2 oz bakers chocolate, which I never have)
2 cups Zucchini (I use 4 cups)
1 cup oil (or applesauce)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups flour (I have used 1/2 whole wheat before and it turned out well)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (I never add this, not a fan of cinnamon and chocolate mix)
1 cup of chocolate chips (I usually use 1 1/2 cups, because I like too)

Preheat oven to 350, grease pans. Beat eggs, add sugar, oil, stir in vanilla and cocoa/oil mixture. In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients together. Add liquid ingredients to dry (I think that is what you are supposed to do to avoid lumps, or do it the other way if you wish). Mix until well blended. Pour into greased pans. Bake large loaves for 45 min, smaller loaves about 35 minutes. Test with toothpick, if it comes out clean they are done.

Chef's Salad

Another crazy day, not a lot of time to plan a meal. I had some salad left over from last night, and a head of lettuce. So, I used that to double the salad and made the dressing that my kids have come to love from Jayna's Junior League Salad. I had some lunch meat that if it didn't get used in the next few days was going in the trash. So, mix it all together and you have "Chef's Salad" and it was so easy and everyone (even my 2 year old who wants nothing more to drink milk all day) ate it. I love this dressing!!!

Ingredients:
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Croutons
Cheese, shredded or slices
Lunch meat

Dressing:
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 cloves of garlic (or 1 1/2 teaspoons of the garlic in a jar)
3/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Mix salad dressing (I use my magic bullet or blender). Mix salad together. Just before serving add dressing and mix well.

Pet Peave, Part 2

In case you didn't read my blog about the empty TP roll, you can click here.

Another bathroom pet peave of mine is when someone forgets to, or just doesn't care enough to flush (and put the seat down!!! Seriously, how many times have I almost fallen in the potty in the middle of the night because the seat was not put down????)

I hate going in the bathroom and seeing the Yucka left in the toilet.

So, this past week I entered my bathroom only to be greeted by what was left behind by someone else. Gross!!! But, wait a minute. The older 3 kids and Mike are gone. The younger 3 didn't use the potty...Did some stranger sneak in and leave a little surprise for me. That couldn't be mine... could it???

I replayed the day in my head, of course, as I was finishing the phone rang, kids were screaming, I hurried up and washed my hands...but...I...forgot...to...flush. How can that be??? I guess it is my bathroom, so it is okay, and I flushed later and cleaned the toilet. Is this TMI?? Sorry. I just had to laugh at myself.

Zucchini Bread, Courtesy of Paula Deen

It's that time of year again. People who have ambitiously planted and cared for their gardens have zucchini coming out of their ears.

This one of the best zucchini bread recipes EVER. I love the combo of tastes from the lemon juice and the nutmeg. I have a recipe for chocolate zucchini bread that I will post soon too. But to make this awesome bread CLICK HERE. For some reason this link is not going through. So, I am just going to post the recipe here, but know that it is all from Paula Deen. (To find it on foodnetwork.com I entered "Zucchini Bread and Paula Deen".)

Sorry, still no camera. I think my husband took it on the trip. There is a pic on Foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:
3 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon (I usually don't add this, but it is good with it too)
3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil (I use apple sauce instead if I have it)
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup water
2 cups grated zucchini
1 teaspoon lemon juice (I usually double this)
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. In large bowl combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon, and sugar. in a separate bowl combine eggs, water, oil, zucchini, and lemon juice. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Add nuts. Bake in 2 greased normal sized loaf pans for 1 hour or until a tester comes out clean. Or use 5 mini loaf pans and bake for about 45 minutes. Enjoy!!

Chocolate Lover's Dream Cheesecake

This recipe is from my sister Laura. She made this and I had to have the recipe. It is so easy to make and seriously, one of the best cheesecakes I have ever had. Prepare to indulge.

Cake:
1 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened (I use the 1/3 less fat kind)
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon flour
1 9 inch chocolate pie shell (or you can make one out of Oreos. I didn't have Oreos, or a chocolate crust, so I just improvised).

Topping:
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of heavy cream (I didn't have cream, so I used butter and it worked well)
1/4 cup white chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350. Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Slowly add condensed milk and beat until smooth. Add egg and vanilla, mix well. Toss 1 cup of chocolate chips with the flour and add it to the cheesecake mixture. Mix well. Pour mixture carefully into pie shell. Bake for 35 min, or until center springs back when lightly touched (I think I had to bake mine for 40 min). Let cheesecake cool. While it is cooling prepare the glaze. Combine 1/2 cup of choc chips with 1/4 cup of the cream in a saucepan, melt over low heat until smooth and glossy. Pour over cheesecake. Put in fridge for an hour and let glaze cool. Melt white choc chips with remaining 2 Tablespoons of cream. Drop in 3 places over chocolate glaze. Swirl lightly with a fork or knife. Store in fridge until you are ready to serve. This is seriously the easiest and best cheesecake I have ever made.