We really enjoy the frozen custard much more than the Philadelphia style.

The recipe I like best is from ‘The Ultimate Ice Cream Book’ by Bruce Weinstein.

Just remember to keep the heat low-ish and keep stirring to keep the eggs from curdling.

Vanilla Ice Cream - Custard style

1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
7 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups half and half
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, beat sugar and salt into the egg yolks until thick and pale yellow.

Bring the half and half to a simmer in a medium sauce pan. Slowly beat the hot half and half into the eggs and sugar. Pour the mixture back into the sauce pan or a double boiler and place over very low heat. Stir with a whisk or wooden spoon until the custard thickens slightly. Remove from heat and pour through a strainer into a large bowl (I use a stainless steel ‘third pan’ - I think it cools more quickly). Allow the custard to cool slightly (10-15 minutes) and stir in cream and vanilla. Cover** and refrigerate until cold or overnight.

Stir the chilled custard, then freeze in your ice cream machine. Ice cream with be soft and ready to eat, or transfer to a freezer container and freeze for firm ice cream.

** I do not cover the custard while it is still warm. Partially cover, leaving one end uncovered until cool!

Technorati Tags: Frozen custard, ice cream, recipe

Did I mention that a few weeks ago we bought a Cuisinart SupremeCuisinart Supreme Ice Cream Maker?  Well, we did.

Cuisinart Supreme

We had an ice cream maker.  We also had two that were powered by our KitchenAid stand mixers.  They all worked great, but having to put the bowl in the freezer cut down on the spontaneity of the thing.  We were always taking the bowl out to shove in a roast or an extra loaf of bread or, you know a couple of Thanksgiving turkeys.  We never remembered to put the thing back in.

Did we need this?  No.  Did that deter me?  Ha!  Obviously not.  It’s ice cream, for goodness sake!

I remember the ice cream makers my folks had when I was a kid.  First the hand crank type that took about 4 pounds of rock salt, 20 pounds of ice and seemed to take forever.  Then the electric type.  Still the 4 pounds of salt and gobs of ice cubes.  Not too much faster, but at least your arm didn’t get tired.

This baby has a compressor built in — it’s always ready!  Like an ice cream maker on Cialis or something.  And it’s quick.  Making a frozen custard is about 30 minutes.

It’s not inexpensive.  Dennis gulped - hard - when he saw the price, but he decided after the 2nd batch that he loves it.  I sometimes see him petting it and whispering sweet nothings into it’s vents.  But that’s another story. It’s definitely worth the money, I have had always been pleased with other Cuisinart products, and well, you know, it’s kinda cool.

Anyhoo…. I made frozen yogurt a few weeks ago and I just threw it out today.  I don’t think either of us ate more than a couple of bites.

Maybe it was the yogurt I used, I don’t know, but it was just too tangy.

Does anyone have a good Columbo style frozen yogurt recipe?  Or maybe advice of the best yogurt to use when make this frozen desert?

Thanks!

Technorati Tags: Cuisinart Supreme Ice Cream Machine, Frozen custard, frozen yogurt, ice cream, ice cream maker

Yummy!

I used four tablespoons of coffee syrup instead of two and added a couple of tablespoons of chocolate syrup to make it mocha.

Zowie!

I posted earlier that we had planted a veg garden this year.  The plants are doing great despite the hot weather, but we have also had quite a nice initial show from our flowering plants this month.

I love the first blooms of the year.

This is the iris that got smashed when the pear and  pine tree fell on it a couple of years ago.  See that story here.

Bearded Iris

Peony

Peony

Wisteria

The wisteria we planted the first year we moved in bloomed a good year before it was supposed to.

We’re blessed with good soil - not green thumbs.  And boy, do we appreciate it.

Technorati Tags: blooms, flowers, garden, peony, rose, roses, wisteria

The remedy? Iced coffee.

Here’s a recipe from the 1931 General Electric “The “Silent Hostess” Treasure Book”.

Frosted coffee

2 tablespoons coffee syrup
1 cup milk
Vanilla ice cream

Put syrup, milk and a heaping tablespoon of ice cream into shaker, or tightly covered jar, and shake well. Pour into tall glass and serve more ice cream on top, if desired. (Use one tablespoon syrup if a less sweet drink is preferred.)

Coffee Syrup

1 cup sugar
1 cup strong coffee

Put sugar and coffee in a saucepan and stir until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a bil and boil without stirring for about 10 minutes. Cool. Pour into covered jar and keep in refrigerator, using as needed.

Technorati Tags: beverage, coffee syrup, frosted coffee, ice cream, iced coffee

Dusky

Japanese Long

Italian Pink Bi-Color

Cloudy

Dark Beauty

Gourmet (mixed seeds)

Besides the old eggplant parmesan, I’m thinking we’ll try this from the 1934 General Electric Kitchen Institute’s The New Art cookbook:

Stuffed eggplant

1 medium sized eggplant
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup raw mushrooms
1 cup minced ham
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
breadcrumbs

1. Cut slice from top of eggplant or cut in halves, lengthwise; scoop out meat to within half and inch of outer skin. 2. Peel mushrooms. 3. Chop mushrooms and eggplant coarsely (do not grind) and saute in butter with onions for ten minutes. 4. Add ham and seasonings. 5. Fill eggplant shell and sprinkle top with buttered breadcrumbs. 6. If this is prepared in advance, cover with waxed paper and keep in refrigerator cabinet until ready to bake. 7. Bake in a hot oven (400 degrees F.) until thoroughly heated through and brown. Serve with thin strips of pimiento.

Technorati Tags: eggplant, mushrooms, recipe

We decided to put in a vegetable garden this year (after a couple years hiatus).  We started some seeds and purchased some seedlings from several local greenhouses.  One of the things I knew I wanted to do was to plant a few varieties of heirloom tomatoes.  I figured I would have to order them from the Internet/mail order because, who would carry those quasi-obscure plants that I wanted?

Well, as it turns out, almost everybody!  We found heirloom tomatoes everywhere from Walmart(!) to the local nursery.  So, my few varieties turned into…36 plants.  Thirty six.  And that’s just the tomatoes we planted.

Yes.

We’ll be canning this year.

Needless to say, I have been looking at tomato recipes recently.  Here’s one from the General Electric Kitchen Institute’s 1934 booklet, The New Art:

6 firm tomatoes
1/4 pound cream cheese
1/2 cup blanched almonds
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cream

Scald and peel tomatoes and chill thoroughly.  Make four incisions from the stem end to the bottom.  Pull back the cut sections to form petals.  Arrange tomatoes on crisp lettuce leaves.  Mix the cream cheese and mayonnaise to form a thick smooth mixture.  If too thick, thin with cream and pile in the center of the tomato.  If this is done with a pastry bag a very attractive effect is obtained.  Put three or four almonds on top of each salad.  Chill thoroughly and serve with French dressing.

Here’s a list of the tomatoes we have growing:

• Celebrity
• Ildi
• Eli/Ele
• Old Ivory
• Balcony
• Japanese Trifele
• Brandy Boy
• Tumbling Tom
• Northern Lights
• Green Zebra
• Jubilee Yellow
• Dutchman
• Mortgage Lifter
• Roma
• Bloody Butcher
• Brandywine
• Purple Cherokee
• Yellow Pear
• Sunsugar Cherry
• Mr. Stripey
• Old German
• Amish Paste
• Sugar Snack Cherry
• Champion

Technorati Tags: garden, gardening, heirloom, Parisienne, recipe, tomato, tomatoes, Tomatoes Parisienne

From the Arm & Hammer 1933 Booklet:

2 cups sifted flour
3/4 teaspoon Arm & Hammer or Cow Brand Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs, well beaten
1 1//3 cups sour milk
2 tablespoons shortening, melted
2 cups diced apples

Sift flour once, measure, add baking soda, salt, sugar and nutmeg. Sift again. Combine eggs, milk and shortening. Add to flour mixture. Beat until smooth. Add apples. Drop by spoonsful into deep hot fat (375 degrees F.) and cook to a rich brown, turning frequently. Serve hot with syrup. Serves 8.

Dennis says “Hold the raisins, I don’t eat wrinkly fruit”. I say, they are going in, you can pick ‘em out.

I can’t find much on Cocomalt, except it was apparently a chocolate malt powder/granule you mixed with milk. It was one of the sponsors of the old Buck Rogers radio program. Plenty of old adverts on the web, but I can’t see anything that indicates it is still available. If anyone one knows more, please let me know.

This recipe is from The Household Searchlight Recipe Book - 1933

Bread Pudding

1 cup bread cubes
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups milk, scalded

Combine sugar, salt, flavoring, butter, cinnamon and egg. Add milk slowly; stirring constantly. Add bread cubes and raisins. mix thoroughly. Pour into well-buttered baing dish. Set in pan of warm water. Bake in moderate oven (350 degrees) about 1 hour, or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Cool. Serve with cream. If desired, the flavor may be varied by adding 1/2 cup Cocomalt, and substituting 3 tablespoons sugar for the 1/4 cup.

4 servings.

The Household Searchlight

Technorati Tags: bread, bread pudding, Cocomalt, pudding, Raisins, recipe, recipes

Note to those who haven’t had a fresh scone: Do not be confused by those scones you find in the coffee shop (hello Starbucks!) or wrapped in plastic wrap at the bakery counter. Sconces should not be hard as a brick. They should not break a tooth when bitten into. They should be soft on the inside with just a bit of crunch on the outside. Like a nice loaf of fresh Italian or French bread, crunchy crust, tender crumb. Excellent fresh out of the oven - warm with butter or honey or a nice fruit curd. Out of this world with a glob of Devonshire Cream.

This recipe is from a 1933 booklet from Arm & Hammer. I don’t know when “Cow Brand Baking Soda” went out of business, but I would love to find an old package of it for my kitchen (no, not to use in cooking). Here’s a copy of the box from the Package Museum website:

From “Good Things to Eat” made with Arm & Hammer Baking Soda; 105th Edition booklet, copyright 1933.

Sultana Scone (Raisin Scone)

4 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoons Arm & Hammer or Cow Brand Baking Soda
2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup Sultana Raisins
1 egg, well beaten
1 cup milk

Sift flour once, measure, add baking soda, cream of tartar, salt and sugar and sift again. Cut in shortening. Ad raisins. Combine egg and milk. Add to flour mixture, stirring quickly to form a stiff dough. Turn onto floured board. Kneed slightly. Divide in two parts. Roll into circles 7 inches in diameter. Cut dough almost through crosswise with a sharp, floured knife. Brush with slightly beaten egg, leaving cuts untouched. Bake in hot oven (475 degrees) for 20 minutes.

Technorati Tags: Arm & Hammer, Baking Soda, Cow Brand Baking Soda, Food, Raisins, recipe, Scone, Scones, Sultana