Down the drain...

Two quarts of homemade ice cream went down the drain this evening. Literally. We had an episode similar (but by no means nearly as severe) to this one. That same pipe leaked or something and the water went through the upstairs flooring and dripped into our kitchen, where our semi-new electric ice cream maker was churning us a batch of vanilla ice cream. And so, that undesired added ingredient (water that has dripped through a floor/ceiling and as a result is murky-brownish in color) caused me to have to wash it down the drain. :( It's enough to provoke one to tears. Well, close to tears, at least. No, I didn't cry, but if I had been in the right mood, I definitely could have mustered up some tears. That's how important ice cream is in our house. :P

ROTK, pizza, ice cream, and family.

Yep. That's what my evening looks like. Pretty sweet. I'm excited. My mom and sisters are in Ohio, so it's just my dad, Keith, and me. So, we are going to watch Return of the King, eat homemade pan pizza, and eat homemade ice cream. I guess you already gathered that from the title. Sorry for being redundant. I'm tired.

Why go to Caribou?

We have recently found a new delicious, inexpensive, and easy way to use up leftover coffee--coolers! They are a perfect summer treat for anyone who doesn't want to waste perfectly good coffee. I just throw these ingredients together in a blender and blend until very small ice chunks remain:

(all measurements are VERY approximate. I don't measure anything, so just eyeball it and experiment until you find the amounts that you like the best)

1 c. leftover coffee (it doesn't really matter if it's fresh or old, hot or cold. With hot coffee, though, you will need plenty of ice to make it cold enough)
1-1/2 cups of ice
1/4-1/2 cup powdered milk
A splash of milk
1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 c. sugar

I will warn you that there will be a thick layer of foamy stuff on top and the really good coffee-y stuff on the bottom--both are good, but I never drink all the foam. If you want to, you can skim off some of the foam in order to make it more concentrated. Sometimes we add chocolate syrup to make a Mocha Cooler. Mmmmm...

Pictures of this delectable drink coming soon!

lemon meringue pies

I love lemon desserts. They're so fresh and tart and yummy. Two weeks ago, my mom and I were on a kick for lemon meringue pie. We had frozen store-bought crusts in the freezer, so the hard part was taken care of. All I needed to do was to make the lemon curd-like filling and the merengue. We got the recipe from America's Test Kitchen (it's free to sign up...the only drawback is the multitudinous emails you receive...I still highly recommend membership! All of the recipes that they have aired on television are free!) and it turned out great. It took me all day to make, however. Okay, maybe "all day" is an overstatement. A full 2 1/2-3 hours, though. But boy, was it worth it! Here's some proof:

I made a double batch in order to have two pies. =D

I meant to take more pictures after we sliced the pie, but that didn't end up happening. Oh well. It was yummy! You'll just have to take my word for it, or drop by and let me know ahead of time. I'd love to make one and share it with you!