Ice cream sandwiches made easy

For Jack’s birthday weekend I cooked up a storm of good grub, including an experimental vegan version of pecan pie. My man is from Oklahoma where pecan pies are a food staple, like milk, butter and bread. He knows and loves his pecan pie. I should have known starting out that my vegan version would be a disaster.

Don’t get me wrong, it tasted good, but it didn’t taste like the “traditional” pecan pie that folks from the South know and love. Jack took one bite and lifted an eyebrow at me, “This is a lot of things, but it is NOT pecan pie.” And then a 5-minute lecture ensued about what “pecan pie” is supposed to taste like.

Sigh. Okay.

Birthday pie (actually, it was more of a tart) was a no-go. It just sat on the counter looking lonely and dissed. I felt so bad for it and berated myself for calling it “pecan pie”, a loaded term if ever there was one. Augh! I should have called it something else, like “loony pie” and it would have at least been enjoyed for the delish freakishness that it was.

Fine. On to Plan B.

Well, after all that cooking (and subsequent rejection) I was not about to spend a minute more on birthday dessert than I had to. I was feeling a little deflated.

I opened the freezer door and stared inside it for a full minute hoping a coconut cake would magically appear. Not for Jack, but for me!

It didn’t.

Instead, I pulled out these frozen muffin top things that I had recently bought thinking we might try them out for an easy semi-healthy weeknight dessert. And then I pulled out a pint of vegan ice cream. (If you haven’t had Coconut Bliss’s Dark Chocolate, it’s awesome!)

Easy ice cream sandwiches would save the day. Jack jumped on it. Yay.

While I toasted up the muffin tops, Jack took the pint of ice cream and started sawing at it with a bread knife.

What the …?? Oh, my gosh! What are you doing, you crazy dude?

Whoa. Uh …

… that’s kind of … snort … brilliant.

Instant ice cream sandwich. No mess, no fuss.

So easy. So satisfying.

And the birthday was saved.

Good-for-ya Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

It’s Sunday. It’s a beautiful day outside. And my sweetheart comes home in three days after a 6-week stint up in Alaska. He has spent 8 of 11 weeks this summer up North. Yay for him. And at first it was a yay for me, too—who doesn’t like a little freedom to stay up until 4am watching an entire season of Friday Night Lights and doing whatever the heck she wants whenever the heck she feels like it?—but now I’m totally ready for him to come home.

So, let’s dish up some Good-for-ya ice cream to celebrate.

Now, let me just say up front that this ice cream is dairy-free (dairy doesn’t like me much), vegan and almost entirely raw. Instead of traditional cow’s cream it’s made with cashew nut cream. Does it taste EXACTLY like traditional dairy-based ice cream?

Heck, no. That would be silly.

But it does taste like ice cream, with a super creamy flavor and texture. It has a wonderful and very subtle flavor of nuts in the base.

Is it totally delicious? Heck, yeah! And does it completely fulfill my sinful desires for ice cream? Heck, yeah! Even better, I can enjoy every bite knowing that I’m being really kind to my body.

Plus, it’s super easy to make. Homemade ice cream that loves ya back.

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Good-for-ya Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Makes: 1 pint
Adapted from Living Raw Food by Sarma Melngailis

1 cup cashews, soaked in water 4 hours or more and rinsed
1 cup young coconut meat, fresh preferred but frozen also works
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup agave nectar
2T peppermint/mint extract
1T vanilla extract
Pinch sea salt
1/8 cup coconut butter (my preference) or coconut oil warmed to liquid
1-2T raw cacao nibs, adjust for you taste

1. Mix everything but coconut butter and nibs on high in a blender until creamy and smooth. Slowly add coconut butter until incorporated.

2. Chill thoroughly in refrigerator.

3. Add in cacao nibs, mix and process in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Yum!

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And just because I miss his face, here’s a picture of my sweetie on our wedding day, which was another beautiful Bay Area day.

There’s lots to celebrate. Go hug your loved ones, whip up some Good-for-ya ice cream and enjoy!

Sin-eaters

It’s damn near impossible to lose weight while working in this office.

Mornings are always humorous around here. Each staffer’s arrival is noted and punctuated by exclamations of outrage coming from the bowels of the kitchen.

“God! Dammit! Who brought in the cookies!”

I apologize for the swearing, but that’s exactly what you’ll hear. Almost everyone says it. I think the only person who doesn’t cap a profanity is Debbie and that’s because she’s a saint. Although I have to tell you the handful of times that I have heard her swear I laughed so hard I nearly wet myself.

Anyway.

Food: You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream

Photo credit: Cuisinart

My goodness it’s been unbelievably hot here—in the 90s this entire week. Whimper. It’s not even May yet. Let’s save a little for summer, shall we?

Now that the sun is out and summer is looming it’s time to pull out the good ol’ ice cream machine. This little Cuisinart ice cream maker is the one I have and I love it like it’s my child. It runs for about $60 these days and this year it comes in an exclusive cherry red—I really like the cherry red, it looks passionate and pretty.

Ya know, I really, REALLY love ice cream; however, ice cream REALLY does not love me. I repel lactose. I don’t want to, but I just do. It’s sad that we have such a one-sided relationship. I’m still in denial.

Last year when the boys (my two teenage nephews) were home with me for spring break we made a lot of ice cream. Actually, let me rephrase—”we” made ice cream once and then they made ice cream nearly every day after that. I must admit that they got pretty darn good at it. They made dark cherry, mint chocolate chip, Mexican hot chocolate, Vietnamese coffee and heath bar crunch, and even lavender vanilla (modeled after some surprisingly terrific gelato we found on 4th Street in Berkeley). Here was their secret: