Summer time....

...and the living is not so easy. 


Nothing much going on around here lately.  NOT!!  We've been keeping very occupied, just not with the types of things that are fun to write or read about. 

We did make a quick trip home a few weekends ago.  Twelve hours of driving for about 36 hours of time in town is a little crazy, but it was worth it.  We saw our families, went to a few garage sales, and ate some barbeque.  We don't make trips home without eating barbeque.  This time we had lunch at The Bar B Que Shop...appropriate and original.  I know. :)  It is an award-winning restaurant, but shockingly neither of us had ever eaten there.  It definitely lived up to the awards it has earned.  It really gave our other favorite spots a run for the top place in our tummies. 

Speaking of tummies...our tummies have been enjoying some yummy homeade ice cream this summer.  I made 5 -  2 quart batches in about a 3 week period.  Yes, we shared.  For Christmas last year I was given the ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchenaid stand mixer.  I found an easy recipe on Allrecipes and adapted it to my taste and flavorings.  It's super simple and the ice cream got rave reviews from our small group.  Using the same base recipe I made strawberry, mint chocolate chip, and cookies and cream. 

Here's the recipe....

Homeade Ice Cream

Base:

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup half and half
1 cup skim milk
1 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 - 3/4 tsp of vanilla

Whisk all of the above ingredients and an liquid flavorings and food coloring together in a large bowl.  Mix in frozen mixer attachment for ~20 minutes.  Add solid flavorings (strawberries, chocolate chips, etc) in the last 2-5 minutes of mixing. 

For mint chocolate chip:
1/8 tsp of pepperment oil
3/4 cup of mini chocolate chips
green food coloring (optional)

For cookies and cream:
~20 crushed Oreo cookies

For strawberry:
2 cups of fresh strawberries, crushed
red food coloring (optional)



And while we're at it, a couple of other summer favorites...


Black Bean Salad

Food Network: Guy Fieri

Ingredients


• 2 cans black beans, drained, about 30 ounces
• 1 (15-ounce) can corn, drained
• 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1/4 cup diced green onions
• 1/4 cup diced pineapple
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 4 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• Pinch ground cumin

Directions

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (the longer the better; it gets better with time).


Broccoli Salad

Serves: 9
Ready in: 30 min.

2 heads fresh broccoli
1/2 lb of bacon
1/2 large red onion, chopped
3/4 cup golden raisins
3/4 cup cashew pieces
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tbl white wine vinegar

1. Fry the bacon over medium high heat.  Cool and crumble.
2. Cut the broccoli into bite-size pieces and chop the onion.  Combine with the bacon, raisins, cashews (or your favorite nuts), and mix well.
3. In a seperate bowl, mix the mayo, sugar, and vinegar together until smooth.  Stir into the salad, let chill, and serve.



**Sorry for the overly boring, pictureless post.  I intended to take pics of the food, but it seemed I always remembered as I was washing the empty containers they had been in.  Oh well, that just tells you how good these are. 


Jamie