I've been hosting my four year old niece this weekend. Her taste buds are fairly limited to things like french fries, pancakes, chicken fingers, and mashed potatoes. I took her to Elmo's for pancakes. Elmo's met with her discerning taste. Her mother and I were happy that Elmo's serves nice, strong coffee while customers wait for tables. I usually eat the salmon cake and eggs. Perhaps it shows my roots, but I'd rather have a salmon cake than some fancy salmon tartare or sushi.
We also went to A Southern Season because her mom hadn't been. I'm pleased to say that the Weathervane Restaurant has a good children's menu. My niece loved the sweet potato fries.
The best part of the weekend was a trip to Francesca's for ice cream. They have several seasonal flavors that we loved. Even the child liked the pumpkin, cheesecake, and rum raisin flavors, although she opted for some old regulars: a scoop of strawberry and a scoop of vanilla with a cookie crumbled in it. I tried both. Both were great. What's not to love about ice cream!
I heartily recommend the pumpkin ice cream. It's so much more interesting and possibly tastier than pumpkin pie. It is definitely worth a trip to Francesca's before they stop making it.
Showing posts with label ice cream. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ice cream. Show all posts
Monday, October 27, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Cherries jubilee
The array of summers fruits in season makes me so happy! I have been having a lot of fun experimenting with cherries. They cook so well. The only downside to cherries is the need for a cherry pitter. It can also be used for olives. I like kitchen gadgets so I don't mind having a utensil that I pull out for only a short time every summer. I have learned to put it to good use on olives too.
I've tried two variations of cherries jubilee, a sauce of cooked, sweetened cherries set alight with brandy and poured over ice cream. The recipe couldn't be simpler. For the variation, I substituted red wine for the water. It makes the sauce even richer and more elegant. I also used some vanilla sugar that I had on hand. Whenever I use vanilla beans, I save the pods and put in a glass jar with sugar. It imparts a delicate vanilla flavor to the sugar. Given how expensive vanilla beans are, I like to get the most out of them.
2lb sweet cherries, pitted ans stems removed
1 c. water or red wine for the variation
1/2 sugar or more according to your taste
1/4 c. brandy
Cook the cherries in the water over medium low heat for 20 minutes. Stir in the sugar. Allow to cool to warm. Put ice cream in the bowls. Pour brandy over cherries and set alight with a match or a grill lighter. Once the alcohol burns off, pour the sauce over the ice cream.
I've tried two variations of cherries jubilee, a sauce of cooked, sweetened cherries set alight with brandy and poured over ice cream. The recipe couldn't be simpler. For the variation, I substituted red wine for the water. It makes the sauce even richer and more elegant. I also used some vanilla sugar that I had on hand. Whenever I use vanilla beans, I save the pods and put in a glass jar with sugar. It imparts a delicate vanilla flavor to the sugar. Given how expensive vanilla beans are, I like to get the most out of them.
2lb sweet cherries, pitted ans stems removed
1 c. water or red wine for the variation
1/2 sugar or more according to your taste
1/4 c. brandy
Cook the cherries in the water over medium low heat for 20 minutes. Stir in the sugar. Allow to cool to warm. Put ice cream in the bowls. Pour brandy over cherries and set alight with a match or a grill lighter. Once the alcohol burns off, pour the sauce over the ice cream.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Chocolate malts
I love chocolate malts! Vanilla ice cream, malt, and chocolate syrup. I think some people call this a black and white because the malt or shake isn't made with chocolate ice cream.
Elmo's in Durham makes the best chocolate malt I've had so far. It is just as I like it with lots of malt flavor, chocolate syrup and vanilla ice cream. The drug store on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill makes tasty malts too but they call it a black and white. I heard the that old MacDonald's drug store on 9th St. might reopen as a soda shop and ice cream shop. That would be great!
Cafe Driade on Franklin Street deserves special mention for their chocolate mocha shake. It has vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup and a shot of espresso! MMMM! I don't even miss the malt.
So I decided to try making malts at home. I started with 2 scoops of plain old Ede's vanilla ice cream becauce chocolate ice cream isn't all that, in my view. I'd much rather eat (or drink) vanilla ice cream with a lovely chocolate sauce. The beauty of shakes and malts is that the fewer high brow the ingredients, the better. I added 2 T of chocolate sauce, 2 T Ovaltine malt and 1/2 c of milk. It was a disaster! Ok maybe not quite a disaster because it was drinkable and very good, but it had too much milk and I didn't like the Ovaltine. It might have even had too much chocolate sauce, if that is possible. So I am still on a mission to find the right ingredients and the right quantities. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.
Elmo's in Durham makes the best chocolate malt I've had so far. It is just as I like it with lots of malt flavor, chocolate syrup and vanilla ice cream. The drug store on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill makes tasty malts too but they call it a black and white. I heard the that old MacDonald's drug store on 9th St. might reopen as a soda shop and ice cream shop. That would be great!
Cafe Driade on Franklin Street deserves special mention for their chocolate mocha shake. It has vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup and a shot of espresso! MMMM! I don't even miss the malt.
So I decided to try making malts at home. I started with 2 scoops of plain old Ede's vanilla ice cream becauce chocolate ice cream isn't all that, in my view. I'd much rather eat (or drink) vanilla ice cream with a lovely chocolate sauce. The beauty of shakes and malts is that the fewer high brow the ingredients, the better. I added 2 T of chocolate sauce, 2 T Ovaltine malt and 1/2 c of milk. It was a disaster! Ok maybe not quite a disaster because it was drinkable and very good, but it had too much milk and I didn't like the Ovaltine. It might have even had too much chocolate sauce, if that is possible. So I am still on a mission to find the right ingredients and the right quantities. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.
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