I’m in love…

.. with my ice cream maker.

I think he needs a name. He’s been such a good little guy this week! And you know what? Tonight he’s outdone himself.

Ooooooooh!

You see, I had this butternut squash sitting on the counter from the farmer’s market. Oh how I love the farmer’s market. A plethora of delicious veggies and such for super cheap. Ahhhh it’s heaven to me. Well the squash was roasted up last night in preparation of.. well.. eating! But I wanted to be sure to save enough to make some ice cream.

Yes, butternut squash ice cream. Oh my you have never tasted such ice cream.  Just look at that beautiful color and those teeny spice specks!

I decided to spin up my own little recipe instead of following one. I bought half and half JUST for this reason. I also bought canned peaches JUST for this reason. Oooooh you just have to taste it for yourself. Mmm.. mmm.. mmm…

Maybe serve it over some frozen blueberries?  Or sprinkled with chocolate shavings..

Now I have to go deal with Ralph. He keeps trying to come in here. What the hell do you do with a ballsy Ralph??

(photo courtesy of Google and is NOT actually Ralph)

He simply canNOT live in my house. No way, Mister.

Appetizing, no?

Butternut-Peach Ice Cream
1 cup pureed butternut squash (pumpkin would work wonderfully here, too)
1 14 1/2 ounce can peaches, drained, rinsed and pureed in a food processor
1 cup half and half
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon garam masala (you could use plain cinnamon here, too)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Combine all ingredients and whisk together until smooth. If needed, refrigerate until chilled (everything I’d used had been in the fridge except the peaches and the honey so I didn’t need to stick it in the fridge) and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. My ice cream maker took about 30-40 minutes to get a nice, thick consistency.

Whip it Gewd!

I’ve been waiting for three months. It finally happened today! Christina Aguilera’s new CD was released! I rushed out to buy it… see…

I love it! Totally worth the wait!

What’s the best way to listen to a new CD? Cranking it in the house while whipping up something yummy!

Now, I’ve been whipping up lots of calorie-laden treats lately, so I decided to switch it up and try some meringue cookies. I realized I’d never actually eaten one, let alone baked one. Up for the challenge, I altered a recipe to use honey instead of granulated sugar.

Now, some came out slightly burnt, some came out a bit sticky, (I need a grown-up oven that cooks evenly…) so they need a bit of work. Let me know if you’ve got any opinions! I was thinking next time I’d try using some more CoT or even make them with granulated sugar the way they’re supposed to be!

Banana-Rama Muffins

So today my Uncle Jerry, along with my cousins Serena and Kyle, from Missouri were visiting. They’ve been visiting quite a bit this past year. I’m big on family. Of course, you could tell that from my blog description I’m sure…

While I was so graciously washing the dishes for my parents, Serena sat on the bar stool next to me so we could chat. She just finished up her first year of college. Pre-med! I’m so proud of her! So proud I’m beaming!

*beam*

I wish she didn’t live so far away, though. It makes me sad.

On the plus side of her living so far away, this means I’ll get to mail her care packages! I love to send out care packages! I know how happy it makes my friends or family to get them. And college kids will eat anything, so I can put together some of my crazier recipes to send off to her! She put in a request for chocolate chip cookies… I can spice those up a bit! It’s so exciting!!

Of course I’ve got the whole summer before she goes back to school, but hey, I have something to look forward to!

That’s not what this recipe is about, however. This recipe comes from the banana sitting on my mom’s counter. It was overripe and I knew that the trashcan was it’s fate if I didn’t rescue it! So I swooped in and made it into some banana muffins! These muffins are of a crumbly Red Lobster biscuit type consistency. If you’re into super dense and moist muffins, I’d add about a 1/4 cup more milk to the batter.

Banana-Rama Muffins
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon garam masala spice mix
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 mashed banana
1/4 cup peanuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flours, sugar, baking powder, garam masala, salt and peanuts in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, milk, oil and banana. Add wet mixture into dry and stir with a wooden spoon until just moistened. Fill muffin liners almost to the top and bake about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Makes about 11 muffins.

Crockpot Garam Masala

Thanks to a recent trip to the grocery store, I finally had a chance to create my own chicken recipe using the garam masala spice mixture Kyle so thoughtfully sent to me. I’ve recently grown very fond of green peppers, but if you’re not a fan you could substitute any other color you’d like. This recipe was rich in flavor, incredibly tender and would taste fantastic over a bed of rice. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Crockpot Chicken Garam Masala
4 chicken thighs
1 tablespoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 plum tomato, diced
1/2 vidalia onion, diced
1/3 green pepper, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 1/2 cups water (or chicken stock)
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Rinse chicken thighs and massage garam masala and ginger into chicken. Set in crockpot. Add all remaining ingredients and refrigerate overnight to allow flavors to blend. To prevent crockpot from cracking, allow dish to sit out for an hour before heating. Turn crockpot on low and simmer for around 8 hours. The chicken was so tender that the meat just fell off the bone. Pretty low maintenance, but definitely delicious in my eyes.