Ice cream sandwiches! (and why I love Evernote)

Do you use Evernote? Everclip? More than Pinterest or any other online tools, I have fallen in love with Evernote and its ability to organize all of my recipes.

It's so simple: I read a recipe on a friend's blog, in one of my cooking mags, in a newspaper article. I clip it with Everclip and voila! It is instantly in my Evernote collection of notebooks, which I can access even when I am not connected to the internet.

Evernote organizes information by notebook, and you can set up as many as you want. I have a bunch of notebooks...a couple for work (I occasionally use Evernote as a simple word processor to take notes at meetings), and then a ton for recipes: breakfast foods, lunch ideas, dinner main dishes, side dishes, desserts, breads, food tutorials, snacks. And then I have a notebook called Weekly Meals into which I dump any recipes that I want to make this week. It's so easy to switch recipes (notes) into different notebooks, so I can pull recipes from my other notebooks into that notebook for easy access and then put it back in its original notebook when I'm done.

I seriously use it multiple times every day. When we were out west visiting my inlaws, I was able to bring all of my favorite recipes without bringing any cookbooks or magazines. Evernote even has a camera function, so I've taken pictures of some old family recipes to keep in my virtual notebooks. When I'm stuck for dinner inspiration, I just browse through my dinner folder.

Sometimes, a recipe looks good and then isn't that great; with one click, I delete it from my notebook. So easy.

Occasionally, I have recipes in my Weekly Meals notebook for quite a while, constantly reminding me that I MUST MAKE THESE...that was the case with ice cream sandwiches. I had recipes from both KAF and Deb at Smitten Kitchen saved, and I knew I needed to make one of the versions. After re-reading the recipes and the comments from SK, I decided to go with the version from KAF's blog (actually Jennie Schacht's recipe from her book i scream Sandwich). It seemed less fussy (you just bake the cookies as a large sheet and then cut them out rather than trying to roll them out and cut them before baking) and many of the SK comments suggested that, while delicious, those cookies were crispy rather than soft.

I used my normal vanilla ice cream recipe (Jeni's) and then made the other Jennie's :) sandwich cookies. After freezing them both on parchment-lined cookie sheets, I pulled them out and used cookie cutters (a heart and a small circle) to make some smaller sandwiches, and then a knife to cut out the rest in the more traditional rectangle. Rather than smearing the ice cream, I just used a cookie cutter on that tray, too; then I could be sure that everything fit together perfectly.

These were just as delicious as you'd imagine they would be. I wrapped each sandwich in plastic wrap, and put them in a tub in the freezer. They were the perfect treat at the beach today! (I used my Zak ice cream container to keep our four sandwiches cold.)

The miracle ingredient ~ and Joanna's kefir bread

My little girl has been having tummy troubles for a while, although we've only recently realized that she's probably had some version of acid-reflux for quite a long time. I thought she was just burping incessantly to annoy me (bad mother award!). Her doctor prescribed antacids, which seemed to do the trick; but after a month or so, I began to get concerned about giving a five year old antacids twice a day...if we even missed one dose, she was back to burping and tummy discomfort. Were we supposed to do it forever? But my research indicated that long-term use could cause all sorts of problems.

Browsing online, I looked for natural helps for acid reflux, and a common one was chewing gum after meals. So we tried that. It seemed to work okay, although not quite as efficiently as the antacids. And then I thought, isn't it crazy after all of our work to switch to real foods to be giving my daughter something that is nothing but chemicals twice a day? *sigh*

Finally, I was talking to my girl friend, and she mentioned that when her little one was having GI problems, they tried kefir and the problems cleared right up. Ke-what? I'd never heard of kefir. I started researching, reading, questioning, and it truly seemed like the miracle ingredient: cures acid reflux, any tummy troubles, some even claim diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer.... Will it clean my house?! Just kidding. But seriously, I couldn't find any negatives of drinking kefir anywhere. So we bought some; I was skeptical that she would drink it, but she did and she loved it and it seemed to make her feel better. And it contained a lot of sugar. And was something like $4 for a tiny little bottle that only lasted us a couple of days, and that was only if the rest of us didn't have any.

So back to research. I discovered that if you got some healthy grains, you could make kefir yourself, and then you could decide how to flavor it and how much sugar to add...and it reproduces eternally, as long as you do it right, so you don't have to keep buying it. I purchased some milk grains from the KefirLady. It was harder than I thought; at first, it tasted and smelled really funky and we had to toss jar after jar. But after a week, I tried rinsing the grains and then I bought some fancy organic whole milk instead of grocery store 2% milk. And sure enough, we immediately noticed a difference.

Adding fresh milk; kefir grains on the left

Since then, we've been producing about 3 cups a day, enough for all of us to have kefir smoothies once a day, and for me to make "kefiracles" (extra kefir smoothies frozen in popsicle molds). But because kefir needs to be made daily (gotta feed those hungry grains!), if we miss a day of smoothies, I end up with extra kefir.

And wouldn't you know it, right as I had an extra batch of kefir, Joanna posted this recipe for date syrup kefir bread! Well, that was meant to be, wasn't it? Jo helpfully suggested that I could use honey (I didn't have any date syrup), and I got to work, following her instructions and bread formula. I made the preferment and left it to bubble for 18 hours. It's a little shocking to use kefir, water, flour, and honey, and have it bubble...with no yeast or sourdough starter.

Joanna's formula worked perfectly for me (I used part KAF bread flour and part KAF white whole wheat) ~ and it made a nice, supple, soft, slightly tacky dough. It smelled just like a sourdough. Like sourdough, it took a long time on its first rise; for a while, I wondered if it was even rising. But when I did stretch-and-folds, I could feel the dough deflate, so I knew there was some rising going on. I pulled out my old round banneton and shaped the dough into a boule (haven't done that in ages!). I was expecting another long rise, but the dough filled the basket in only about 90 minutes.

Eggs-in-a-nest for breakfast...made from fresh kefir bread!

I used an egg wash, and baked it for...probably about 40 minutes? First at 470º and then lowering it to 360º. I tented it with foil at the end because it was getting so dark.

I'm still in awe that kefir could make such a perfect sourdoughy loaf...the bread was delicious, made excellent toast. It was sourdough-like without being too sour. And it didn't have any store-bought instant yeast or sourdough starter. And I didn't have to spend a week waking up my sourdough starter. How cool is that?!

Our kefir smoothies:
Little girl: 1/2 c plain kefir, 2 T (ish) homemade chocolate syrup, 1/2 banana, 3 ice cubes
Hubby & me: 1/2 c plain kefir, 2 T homemade chocolate syrup or small handful of chocolate chips, 1/2 banana, 1 T natural creamy peanut butter, 5 ice cubes
Little guy: 1/2 c plain kefir, various amounts and combinations of frozen fruits

Wordless Wednesday: Farmers Market Fabulous

Farmers market fresh-picked corn, the first local blueberries of the season, grilled fresh zucchini and peppers, and local free-range farm fresh burgers

The meat experiment

When we committed to our month of eating unprocessed foods, one of our goals was to reduce our meat consumption, find a local source for meat, switch to grass-fed/free-range, try the farmer's market. I think it was the goal we were least successful with. Mostly because, while committed to making healthy choices, eating unprocessed foods, doing what's best for our health and the health of the planet, I'm also a cheapskate. I've always been. My desires to be earth-friendly are always in conflict with my desire to save money.

Organic produce (especially when using the dirty dozen lists, so not needing to buy absolutely everything organic) isn't that much more expensive. But meat is so expensive, and we eat so much of it. My hubby grew up in a meat-and-potatoes family, and while he's gotten good at appreciating the occasional vegetarian meal, he generally doesn't consider a meal a meal unless there's meat. And our family is full of big eaters, and we like to host dinners, and that adds up to a lot of meat and a lot of money.

But after we returned from our trip out west, I was grocery shopping and (as I always do) debating my meat choices, and I saw this package of organic, grass-fed, free range hamburger. "Oh, why not?" I decided. And then next to it, I saw our normal package of grocery store brand hamburger. Hm...how about an experiment?


I brought them both home. I decided to doctor them as little as possible, so that the flavor of the meat could shine through: about 3/4 teaspoon of freshly ground salt and pepper for each pound of meat.

Grocery store = left, Free range = right

I mixed them lightly and then carefully weighed out 3.25 ounce portions and gently formed them into burgers.

Grocery store = left, Free range = right

Hubby cooked them for the same amount of time. I made our usual buns, but mini versions so we could each try both of the mini burgers.

We tried to explain the differences to the kids, introducing the concept of feed lots and free range cows, talking about the different foods they were fed, and whether or not they're given medicines. Over the course of the conversation, they became Happy Cows and Grocery Store Cows.

Grocery store = left, Free range = right

The verdict? There was a definite difference. The free range meat smelled fresher, tasted meatier and more flavorful, the texture was less chewy/less processed. The free range meat was definitely better. I'm fairly certain that if you gave me a burger at a barbecue, I would not be able to tell you if it was from a grocery store cow or a free range cow. But it's true that in addition to being better for the environment, more humane, and unprocessed, this meat is also yummier.

Grocery store = left, Free range = right

What does that mean for us? I'm not sure, but it was an interesting and fun experiment and will surely inform our future meat choices. In fact, last week at the farmer's market, we made contact with a local butcher and purchased some of his hamburger and bacon; it was fun to talk meat with the supplier, and I'm sure we'll continue this experiment.

Cooking out West

As I said yesterday, we have just returned from spending almost a month with my in-laws. Last summer, their house was in complete disarray; they were in the process of putting in an addition, as well as doing a complete kitchen remodel. Last summer, my mother-in-law moved all of her kitchen into her dining room and survived by cooking with only a microwave. But this summer, we got to enjoy the fruits of the labor, and I enjoyed every minute working in the new kitchen.


While we were there, my in-laws welcomed some friends whom they hadn't seen in twenty years. My mother-in-law and I had great fun preparing a dinner to feed 13 people, centered around her famous garden linguine recipe. I made two batches of Peter Reinhart's pain a l'ancienne (recipe here), most of which I turned into garlic bread. (A couple loaves were left plain for the non-garlic lovers.)

I also baked a batch of these banana split brownies to go with my sister-in-law's homemade Tagalong ice cream.


The next morning, my hubby baked a batch of his famous fancy scrambled eggs (eggs with onions, ham, and cheddar), and, having had both cinnamon rolls and blueberry muffins requested, I made both! I used Peter Reinhart's all-purpose sweet dough recipe for the cinnamon rolls (recipe here) and a Cook's Illustrated recipe (via Tracey's site) for best blueberry muffins. I actually baked the muffins twice over our vacation; they truly are the best.


Finally, we took our annual camping trip to Yellowstone. In previous years, we've just brought cold foods in the cooler and visited Yellowstone restaurants, but this year, hubby decided we should actually cook at the camp site. As we pulled into the campgrounds, dime size hail began to fall on the car, and my intrepid hubby built our fire through a continuous rainfall.

For dinner, I'd prepared hobo packets. Hubby was expecting the traditional simple ground beef, potatoes, carrots, and a little butter, but since I was preparing them at home, I decided to go a little fancier. I was inspired by this post on 100 Days of Real Food, and I used her marinade (olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, basil, thyme, oregano, and salt). In the packets, I included chicken sausage, onion, potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, and a green pepper (only in hubby's...the rest of us don't like peppers). With our packets, we had yogurt and fruit. We, of course (we were camping after all), enjoyed s'mores for dessert.

For breakfast the next morning, we made campfire eggs-in-a-nest, which was about the most delicious way possible to start our day.

Nurse Rachel's Ice Cream Celebration Cake

Well, hello, little blog. Long time, no see!

We just returned from nearly a month out West, staying with my in-laws and cooking in my mother-in-law's gorgeous new kitchen. I'd assumed that I would spend much of my time there cooking, baking, and catching up on my blog. Instead, I spent my time cooking, baking, and catching up on my very-neglected old-favorite past time: reading! Ever since I discovered food blogs, I have spent my precious little reading time on the web: reading new recipes, studying new techniques, following my friends' kitchen stories. This trip, I never even pulled out my computer, spending every non-family minute plowing through book after book. It was marvelous.


But it also meant that I never told you about my sister's super amazing celebration ice cream cake that I made a full month ago. My baby sister (I'm sure she won't mind if I tell you...) struggled in school. There was a time when we were worried she wouldn't graduate high school. So we were especially proud when she discovered her passion and decided to go back to school to become a nurse; this June all of her hard work paid off, and she graduated from nursing school with honors.

We hosted a family graduation party for her, and I wanted to make an especially special dessert. I thought of these ice cream sandwiches that I'd made last year, but we were hosting 20 people.... What could be better than an ice cream cake?!

As with the ice cream sandwiches, I started with Dorie's devil's food cake, splitting a full recipe between two half-sheet pans. After baking and cooling, I wrapped the cakes and placed them in the freezer. Then I made a batch of Jeni's vanilla ice cream and, after churning, dolloped it onto one of the layers. I wanted the traditional ice cream cake crunch, so I also made a batch of Dorie's cocoa crumbs. I sprinkled these on the layer of ice cream and pressed them in gently. Then I placed the other cake on top, and returned the whole thing to the freezer.

I debated a lot about the frosting: traditional ice cream cakes seemed to be covered in something almost like buttercream. But many of the recipes I found actually used more ice cream, or ice cream combined with cool whip. I decided to go with a simple sweetened whipped cream.


I am no good at fancy frosting and decorating, so to make the letters, I used some of Jeni's magic shell. I cut out a sheet of parchment paper and put the magic shell in a baggie, cut off the corner, and wrote letters on the parchment until I was happy with them. Then I stuck them in the freezer until they hardened and placed them on the top of the cake.

The cake was such a hit. The kids had a great time picking out which letters they wanted to eat, and everyone gobbled up every last bite. Because the cocoa crumbs made the layers a bit slippery during cutting, I thought I might leave them out next time; one bite convinced me that they were a necessary, crunchy, and delicious component. My only other complaint was that the cake was too thin; I think I would make a double recipe next time, so each cake would be a full layer tall.

Wouldn't you know it, today Deb posted a fantastic-looking ice cream cake recipe on Smitten Kitchen, and I am eager to try some of her additions: adding a layer of chocolate ice cream, as well as hot fudge. The second flavor of ice cream may mean that I could get away with only one recipe of cake (she didn't use cake at all). I'm also curious to try her homemade oreos and compare them to the cocoa crumbs.

Regardless, you can't go wrong with ice cream cake: such a fun-to-make, amazing-to-eat treat!

Slaying the dragon

I'm not sure how it's possible (parents always start birthday posts that way, don't they?), but my baby girl turned five this weekend. My little girl is a warrior princess: she loves everything princessy, pink, and sparkly, but her favorite princesses are Eowyn (Lord of the Rings), Leia (Star Wars), and Merida (Brave). While dressed in fancy princess dresses, she climbs trees, shoots bows and arrows, and runs from Darth Vader.

When I asked her what kind of cake she wanted, she first said princesses (she loves looking at the Disney princess cakes at the big grocery stores). Then she wanted a castle. And finally, she settled on a red dragon. (Smaug - from the Hobbit - is her favorite and has been her Halloween costume for the past two years.)

There are many pictures of dragon cakes out there, and many seem to follow the same basic pattern. I followed this set of instructions. The birthday girl requested "vanilla cake," which I took to mean yellow. I asked on Twitter for a good, sturdy, yummy yellow cake, and my friend Rebecca recommended Rosie's golden cake (recipe can be found here). I used my 9" rounds, and although the recipe said to bake them for 35 minutes, by 32 minutes, they were already very done. Didn't matter; the cake was moist and delicious. And (most importantly for me!) very sturdy.

I used the same ATK 7-minute frosting that I used for the little guy. It makes a ton and the kids love the marshmallowy flavor. Despite a lot of red gel food coloring, the frosting never got darker than a deep pink. It's okay; the little girl loves pink, and she easily adjusted her expectations.

The girl and her daddy were in charge of decorating design. She picked the colors for all of the pieces, and she helped Daddy design the flames and wings. Given our recent unprocessed journey, I was quite distressed to spend so much time in the snack aisle looking for decorations: luckily, I didn't have to buy too much. I found a multi-colored fruit slice pack, which I used for the claws, eyes, and eye brows. The chocolate-covered graham cookies were perfect for the spikes. And I found a multi-pack of fruit roll-ups and fruit-by-the-foot, which became the wings and flames. We already had chocolate chips (eye balls) and kisses (nostrils).

The cake was a huge hit; it was definitely my biggest cake-decorating success. The guests all loved the dragon, and the kids had fun requesting body parts, starting with the birthday girl, who wanted the head. And I'm happy to have a new no-fail cake-building yellow cake to add to my chocolate cake and frosting. Happy birthday, sweet girl!