Homemade Ice Cream, Pickles, and Ticks. . .

Our office is open 365 days a year 24/7, we do not close for anything, not even bad weather.   When you work in the medical field you learn that this is just how it is.  Your family must also adjust.  I do not mind it because I know I am making a difference in someones life, I usually do not get to see the end result but sometimes we get to hear wonderful stories of our recipients connecting with our donor families and that is amazing.  That is what gets me through adjusting Christmas and Thanksgiving celebrations with my family. 
We do not do things traditionally in my household.  This year  I wanted to do the 4th more traditional.  I had to work the night of the 3rd so,  I slept most of the morning of the 4th but I had bought an ice cream churn that week and we were going to have homemade ice cream for the 4th.  I told the hubbs about my idea and he grumbled, naturally, he does not like homemade ice cream.  He says it is always runny and gross and he only liked chocolate.   It was my mission to make the best homemade chocolate ice cream ever.  I searched the internet all over to find what I thought was a good recipe.  Turns out, I am the bomb when it comes to making ice cream, I even wowed the hubby.  Best ever chocolate ice cream, it tasted and had the consistency of a Wendy's frosty.  Yummm!!  I bought a Hamilton Beach traditional ice cream churn and it worked wonders.   I will do this again, it was easy and not messy at all, there was a little bit of a learning curve since I had never actually done this before.  I will share my recipe later in this post.
We are getting cucumbers by the baskets full and I have made four jars of fridge pickles, I will share that recipe too.  It is easy and no cook but you have to keep them in the fridge.  We have eaten two jars and I gave one jar away and I made another jar yesterday.   I also eat cucumbers just by themselves and I add them to my water with a little lemon.  I have used a couple that got to big to eat on my eyes.  LOL!!  We do not waste in this house.
In between lacrosse and doing yard work for the ladies in the area Sprat has been fishing with his friends.  They have evidently been fishing near a tick Hilton, Sprat has come home with several ticks on him each evening.   On the 4th he came home with one attached to his shin, yuck!!  He came to me and said,  "Mama is this one attached?"  I put my glasses on so I could see the little bugger and sure enough it was attached.  I got the Vaseline and coated the tick, hoping it would let go, he did not.  I worked on this bugger for a good bit before I got him off of my Sprat.  The last time Big T had a tick I was not sure what kind it was so I took him and the tick to the doctor and they said it is there standard procedure to give anyone that has had a tick attached antibiotics.  I scheduled Sprat an appointment to see the doctor.  Sure enough they wanted to give him antibiotics.  Sprat is allergic to almost all antibiotics and I have not been real keen on him taking any type of antibiotic.   They wrote a prescription for one they did not have record of him being allergic.  The hubbs and I worried and fretted over whether to give it to him or not.  His reactions were not breathing trouble but that could be the next one.  Long story short we are on day 3 of antibiotic with no reaction so far.  Sprat is taking benadryl with the antibiotic to try and reduce any reaction he might have.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that he will make it through  this regimen. 


On to the recipes:

Chocolate ice cream

3 cups heavy cream
2 cups half and half
2 cups whole milk
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Mix dry ingredients first then add water, whole milk, half and half, and heavy cream
Get your churn set up and add your ice cream mixture.  The churn said it would run for 20-40 minutes and cut off on it's own.  Mine did not cut off so I checked it after about an hour and it was so fluffy and wonderful.  I think it was fluffy and creamy because of the heavy cream and half and half.

A New Cookbook for this Pampered Mom. . .

I have watched the movie Julie & Julia several times over the last so many months, and I love it.  No, I am not going to start a cooking blog or cook through any cookbook but, I must confess I did purchase Mastering the Art of French Cooking.   There is a great deal of good tips and tricks in this cookbook and I love this book.  I did make Julia's Boeuf Bourguignon last night.  I would say  I am an average cook, not the best but certainly not the worst.   It took me three hours to prepare this dish and then it cooks for 2 1/2 hours before serving.  We ate dinner at eight o'clock last night.  When the hubbs came home I told him what I was fixing, he was intrigued but not impressed.  He has gotten use to me trying new odd recipes.  I told him that I hoped it was really good and that everyone enjoyed it because I would probably not be making this one again.  The boeuf was really good and yes, I may have to eat my words and make it again.  If I do make it again I will start preparation at noon. Big T even like it and when I try my "new" recipes the hubbs and I are usually the only ones that enjoy them.
There are a couple other recipes that I want to try in my new cookbook, if they turn out I may share them with you.  I have always loved a cheese souffle and I did find an intriguing recipe in my new book.  I have made souffle's before so this one will not be a daunting as the boeuf was.  I may take a stab at pie crust again, I have yet to master that one and maybe with Julia's help I will.

Cucumbers and More. . .

The sauerkraut is almost ready and we have started another jar.  We are truly blessed with our garden and so very thankful.  The cucumbers are now flowing like water and the hubbs did plant some picklers so, you guessed it, he now wants to make pickles.   We still are not that sure about true canning so we are going to try refrigerator pickles.  The hubbs is quite an adventurous man these days and is willing to try new things.  Youtube may be the death of us.  Yes, he found a recipe and directions on youtube.
We are using wide mouth quart sized mason jars.  We did two jars of pickles to start, so if these mess up we have messed up two jars.  I did not realize how easy refrigerator pickles could be to fix and they will last up to 3 months in the fridge.  I love pickles and have since I was little.  In our first jar I used whole cucumbers, the picklers, and in the second jar I sliced the cucumbers and did spears.  I was really surprised at how easy these are to fix, we have not tried them yet so I guess I will have to update you later on how they taste.
As with everything I do, I tweaked this recipe too.  We also have a good crop of onion so to our pickles I added onion.   Here is what we did:

In a clean quart sized mason jar we added:

3 cloves of fresh garlic crushed
3 tsp black pepper corns
1 small onion sliced (3 slices)
2 pinches of red pepper flakes
2 bunches of fresh dill  (1 bunch on the bottom and 1 bunch on the top)

place your cucumbers in your jar.
Liquid:
2 cups of water
4 Tbsp white vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp Kosher salt

The happy little guys that get to go in the fridge.

Our jar with all the spices 

The final product to go in the fridge.

These have been in the fridge for three days and I tasted the spears yesterday and boy were they good.  If you like the Claussen pickles you will love refrigerator pickles.  I am going to try the whole pickles today and see how they turned out.  The spears are fabulous!!!!  The hubbs hit a home run with these.  We will be making more of these.  

Mad Scientist and Fried Rice. . .

I had a craving for fried rice last night, so I decided to whip some up.  You know what that means, right?   I am like a mad scientist in my kitchen, at times.   I will create a recipe for something in two shakes of a rats tail.  This is how it went:
11/2 cups of Basamati rice
edamame (small bag frozen)
two eggs beaten
3 cloves of garlic pressed
soy sauce
olive oil
11/2 tbsp red curry paste
a little powdered ginger

I have never used Basamati rice before but it worked great in this recipe.   You soak the rice for thirty minutes then rinse and drain.  I cooked mine in a rice cooker.  On the stove, I used a stir fry skillet, heat 2tbsp olive oil and the pressed garlic until aromatic.  Add the red curry paste, if you want it a little more spicy add a little more curry.   Gently scramble your eggs in another skillet and set aside.   Cook your edamame on the stove and set aside.  Add your cooked rice to your stir fry skillet with the garlic and curry paste and mix well.  I add a little soy sauce and then the edamame and gently stir.  Make a hole in the center of the skillet and add the egg, let it get warmed back up and then gently incorporate it into the mixture.   This seems like it would take a long time but, it actually did not take that long.   It was a huge hit with the hubbs and I loved it.  It is not as bad for you as take out or restaurant style stir fry because you do not use as much oil.

Easter Fixings. . .

I usually bring deviled eggs and some sort of dessert to our family get togethers, this year I was asked to bring mac and cheese.  I have a great recipe for homemade mac and cheese that is actually my sisters.  She shared it with me when the hubbs was having his food allergy issues and I had to make everything from scratch.  Yes, I was a baking fool.  The hubs could not have any veggies that were yellow, red, orange, or green because of his salicylate allergy.  He was also not allowed anything that was pre-packaged.  That means homemade everything.    I learned a lot during these couple of years that this was required for his health.  I learned that I can do anything that I put my mind too and that the good Lord above will give you strength to overcome.  I am going to share my sister's fabulous homemade mac and cheese recipe.

2 cups dry pasta (I use whole wheat elbow mac)
1 cup milk
lots of grated cheese (I use a whole big block of cheddar, you can use mozzarella or jack)
2 eggs beaten
salt and butter

Cook your pasta according to package directions.  I grate my own cheese because there are things added to the bags of grated cheese that are not natural.  This also saves money.

Combine eggs, milk, and salt to taste.  Grease casserole dish.  Layer noodles and cheese 2-3 times then dot with butter then pour egg milk combo over the top to cover.  I usually top with extra cheese and you can add bread crumbs for some extra texture.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

This is not your traditional mac and cheese it will have a much different look and texture than what you normally see.  This is actually a healthier version of this childhood favorite.  My hubby and I love this.  

Until we eat again. . . Enjoy