Summertime Treat: Make your own ice cream!

A few weeks ago, I got my Weeknight Kitchen newsletter (a fan of NPR's The Splendid Table? Then you should consider subscribing to their newsletter here. It's great!), and at the very bottom was a recipe for Lynne's Stirred Fresh Lime Ice Cream (very similar to this recipe here). Having just moved to NC and being faced with 100+ temperatures that week, I promptly headed to the store and bought all that was needed (except I used lemons rather than limes). The original recipe was incredibly delicious - and rich. Too rich for my taste, actually (though my husband claimed it was the best ice cream he's ever tried). Since then, I've been testing out different variations of cream/milk/flavor combos to find the one that is just right for us.

This past week, I think we found it. I made stirred coconut ice cream that has been a huge hit with everyone, by simply modifying Lynne's recipe (linked above).

Here's my variation:
Stirred Coconut Ice Cream
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla (I didn't actually measure, but it looked to be about that much)
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups light cream

Place coconut, sugar, and vanilla in a freezer-safe dish (I like a long, shallow casserole dish). Add the light cream a little bit at a time, whisking as you add. Continue to whisk until sugar is dissolved. Add heavy cream and whisk some more, to combine. Place in freezer for an hour. Stir to break up ice crystals, and return to freezer. An hour later, stir again. Return to freezer. Wait one more hour, stir again. Return to freezer, and let freeze a bit longer. It's now ready for you to enjoy!

If you make it, I'd love to hear what you thought.

As a side note, this is an extremely kid-friendly recipe, and a great chance to get your little ones in the kitchen to help. We had a lot of ingredient sampling, but as this recipe does not include anything raw or potentially dangerous, it was all great fun for us both. Our little guy has now helped me make three different flavors of ice cream, resulting in lots of giggles and fun (and a big mess, too... but nothing that can't be quickly cleaned up).

Next up on my list to try out: peach ice cream!

Life moves fast; don't miss it.

Every night, as I get ready for bed, I find myself wondering how time can possibly be flying by so fast every day. Instead of the post-holiday slow down I'd been hoping for, I'm finding our days are fuller than before. We're constantly trying to keep up with it all, and finding ourselves frustrated that we can't do it all.

And when things feel like they're getting too busy, or we have too much to juggle, I find that I need to remind myself that life moves fast and I don't want to miss it. It's become a personal mantra, a reminder that it's ok to be busy, work hard, and have a lot on my plate... but it's not ok to sacrifice quality and the enjoyment of life in order to try to do it all.

So this past Sunday, I found myself taking a break from writing reports and analyzing data to enjoy some priceless moments with M. He's so into art projects these days -- stamping, painting, drawing, "writing", and, now, beading. It's delightful watching him finding such enjoyment in the process of creating something. He's so deliberate in his creating process, and doesn't rush through it at all. The end product is a plus, of course, but his real enjoyment comes from using his hands to touch and make. Our home is overflowing with his artwork these days, little bits that remind us to keep things in perspective.

Life moves fast; don't miss it.

Painting

I find it somewhat ironic that almost immediately after writing my last post, the weather changed in our corner of the world. It went from the unseasonal, yet gorgeous, Spring weather we'd been enjoying back to our typical grey, rainy days. And cold, very cold (well, after 65 degrees, 40 feels very cold!). And so we're finding ourselves spending more time indoors, entertaining ourselves.

There's lots of time pretending to cook or clean or "driving" his cars. There's also lots of time reading and lots of time dancing. But lately there's also been lots of time painting. We got Baby M finger paints for Christmas, but he had absolutely no interest in getting his little fingers dirty at that time. Little by little, he's been getting more and more interested in the paint, though.

He's still not a fan of getting his fingers dirty (thus the paintbrushes). But now that he knows his colors, he loves to request each one by name as the little cups get a little squirt of color in each. Always the little helper, he's keen on opening the bottles to help Mama squeeze out just the right amount. I always worry he might burst with excitement if I take just a little too long getting everything ready.

And this apron? It has made a fun little addition to our painting routine. The Monkey now knows to put on his apron before we can paint, and he helpfully hangs it up after he's done. It came together very quickly using Meg's tutorial found here. He and I love it so much, in fact, we might have to make a couple more for each of our messy indoor activities!