When You're Sick

When you are sick it's good to have company

When you're sick, certain people can do pretty much what they want

as long as those certain someones don't comment on the mess behind them or make you get up to entertain or feed them too often.

When you are sick, someone's scratch becomes a reason to be cranky.

When you're sick, it's hard to get worked up about the newly cracked side mirror on the newly purchased car.  I'm so sick, I'm not even going to tell you who cracked it.  He feels bad enough already.

When you are sick, two year old temper tantrums are almost as exhausting

as the healthy family members who insist on being terminally cheerful.



When you're sick, the centerpiece on the coffee table becomes more functional.

When you're sick, that overnight snowstorm seems like it dumped 10 inches of new snow on top of the old 8 inches.  Oh wait--- that actually happened.

Monday, November 29, 5 am

When you're sick.... Megan!!! Pay attention! 

That face is not going to get you ANY sympathy!

You're Wrong!

If you think Hailey wants oatmeal for supper when she asks for it,

you're wrong!

She meant to say "noodles".

If you think I'm too old to be fake-surprised by the fake-sleeping body in my cupboard,

you're wrong!

If you think I can clean up faster than the grandkids can mess up,

you're wrong!

If you think the grandkids are finding new and different places to play, places their mom never found,

you're wrong!

If you think my kitchen is so clean Makayla should be eating off the floor,

you're wrong!

If you think you can get kids to play in the family room, bedroom, living room,

or any other room you are not in,

you're wrong!

If you think Hailey is going to let those aliens shoot us with gamma rays,
you're wrong!



If you think you can prevent a two year old

from having a full-fledged temper tantrum,

complete with a dramatic, fall-to-the-floor-fit,

you're wrong!

If you think we can ever get tired of sticky hugs and slobbery kisses,

you're wrong!

If you think you might mix Montana up with Hawaii, I hope
you're wrong!

Sunday morning, after 8+ of snow in last 24 hours

And if you think all that snow and Sunday's high of 4 means I'm done trying new ice cream flavors,

Seriously, people!  Are you kidding me?!? Of course you're wrong!

Toasted Coconut Ice Cream with Macadamia Nuts
and Hot Fudge
6 egg yolks

3/4 cup of sugar
pinch of salt
2 cups of cream
1 cup of coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 cup of toasted coconut shreds
2/3 cups of roughly chopped and toasted macadamia nuts

Heat up the coconut milk, 1 cup of the cream, sugar, and salt in a medium-size saucepan over medium heat. Stir the milk and cream until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to slightly boil. Then temper the egg yolks with the ice cream base (Pour small amount of hot mixture into eggs; stir.  Continue adding small amounts into egg, stirring well after each addition). Pour the tempered eggs back into the sauce pan and heat until the custard reaches 170 degrees F. Place the ice cream base in a heat proof bowl, add the remaining cream, vanilla extract, and toasted coconut shreds, and let it sit over an ice bath. When the mixture has cooled, place in your refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Follow your ice cream maker instruction for churning.

Angie DeLong's (formerly) Top Secret Hot Fudge Sauce Recipe

Mix together in saucepan:

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

Using a whisk, stir in 1 cup water.

     Stir and cook over medium heat until mixture thickens (it will almost boil) Remove from heat and stir in:

1/2 stick butter or margarine

1 teaspoon vanilla.

Comment:

If you have leftover sauce, store it in the fridge. You might need to add a few teaspoons of water when you reheat it.

THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE!!
To be fair, I should add that I love coconut.

Stan still thinks Raspberry is better, but this is next.
Megan thinks it "tastes like whip cream" and added with disgust, "It has coconut in it!!"

Don't put too much stock in what Megan says. She's had a busy weekend.   She's the same girl who can't decide between P. Dub, Mr. Pocatello, J. Alumni, or C. Co-worker. You don't like my ice cream, Megan?
 I think you're wrong!

The Quest Continues

Today's quest for the perfect ice cream is:

 Pomegranate Ice Cream

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

3/4 cup pomegranate juice (such as Pom)

Mix well and add

1/4 cup lime juice

2 cups heavy cream

Beat until soft peaks form; freeze as directed in ice cream machine.

This was good ice cream.  Not great, but good.  I still like Super Lime the most, followed closely by Stan's favorite, Raspberry Sour Cream.

It's time to demonstrate the proper way to eat ice cream. 

Generally speaking, ice cream must be eaten out of a hot cocoa mug.

That way if a member of your family wanders by as you're sneaking some ice cream, you can pretend you are drinking hot cocoa.  Trust me, if they know you are eating ice cream, they will want some too, and you'll be forced to share.

You and your spouse should find a dark space.  The living room with the lights off works best. Start talking about love, taxes, how your joints hurt, and how your insomnia and gout are getting the best of you.  What? You don't have gout? That's okay, your kids don't know or care. When the kids hear the topic of your conversation, they will quickly move to another part of the house. Now you can eat your ice cream in peace.  Remember, this won't work for very small children.  They are happy to listen to tax talk if they can just snuggle on your lap.

Luckily for us, Makayla doesn't like ice cream.

And if she thinks she might, I quickly substitute applesauce and she's perfectly content.

Megan thinks I have a "problem" when it come to ice cream.  That's ridiculous!  If I had a problem, I'd spend all my time thinking about how, when, and where my next ice cream fix was coming from.  I'd lie about how much I'd had that day.  I'd eat ice cream instead of "real" food.  I'd avoid people who avoid ice cream. 

Oh wait! 

Oh.  Uh-oh... 

Just so you know, it's turned freezing cold up here with an irrational exuberance.  I'm going to rethink this whole ice cream thing before I freeze to death.

Dark and Snowy Saturday, 7:30 am

I've decided it's time to warm things up, so next I'm making:

Toasted Coconut Ice Cream with Macadamia Nuts and Hot Fudge.

The Party's Over

After one of the most beautiful, warm, and snow-free Montana autumns in my memory, we got our first snowfall.

The snow is melting as it hits the ground, but I have a feeling I'm going to wake up to a few feet of snow.

See?  Here we are Friday morning, buried in snow.  And this is just the beginning of a week of snowstorms.

And today's predicted 16 degree high seems balmy compared with 4 degrees for tomorrow.

Kind of depressing.  There's one sure cure for the cold and snowfall blues.

More ice cream!

Raspberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

 8 oz frozen raspberries, thawed and crushed
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 beaten eggs
1/2 can (6 oz) evaporated milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream

Mix fruit, sugar, sour cream and vanilla together. Add well-beaten eggs, milk and cream.
Follow the procedure for your individual ice cream maker.

Do you see all the good-for-you ingredients in this recipe?  Fruit, dairy, protein, and (since I used beet sugar) vegetables.

I let Megan sample it first.  Okay, she was fourth.  I was first, second, and third.  I had to make sure it was good enough for Megan.

Megan thought it was "Alright. Kind of jello-y tasting".

That Megan is hard to please. She probably hates puppies and rainbows, too.

Stan tried it fifth.  Okay, he was eighth.  I was fifth, sixth, and seventh.  In my defense, I was trying to see if I could taste the Jello-y flavor Megan thought she detected.

Stan proclaimed it "Marvelous!  Wonderful!  Outstanding!"

I too thought it was tasty, a big improvment over Squash Ice Cream (now THERE'S a surprise).  

 I still liked the lime ice cream best of the ones I've tried recently, but I'll be making Raspberry Ice Cream again. 

That means there's only one thing to do: tomorrow I'm trying a recipe for Pomegranate Ice Cream. 



Keeping Up With The Little Joneses

When the grand kids came today, they were both in a silly mood.  Their favorite game to play is "I'm a kitty".  This happens to be my very least favorite game to play.  That means the girls don't talk except to say "meow" or, "no, my name's not Hailey, it's Fluffy!"  Makayla's kitty name, by the way, is "Puffy".  Fortunately, after crawling around on the dirty floor for an hour or so, Fluffy and Puffy thought of a new game.

Bowl races!

Bowl racing is about who can get across the kitchen floor fastest while standing on and sliding dollar store plastic bowls across the floor  Makayla, who is starting to talk a lot more, kept saying "big blue bowl!" in rhythm as she scrapped across the floor.  Except she says it "ba boo bowl!"  Try saying that fifty times fast while trying to speed past your sister and not lose your balance!

Next Hailey and Makayla helped me with a blog I'm working on for Saturday's Relief Society blog post.  They were surprisingly willing.  Maybe because it involved cookies, chocolate, and marshmallows.  I'm sure Amy won't care if they eat that for supper, right?

Hailey was seriously into the project.

And seriously into claiming she wasn't sampling the chocolate.

And seriously into seeing how many marshmallows comfortably fit in her mouth.

Here's the finished product.

Then we were back to the ba boo bowls!

Just so you know, Hailey's and Makayla's energy is not contagious.  It's exhausting!