Saturday, June 12, 2010

White Chocolate Lime Ice Cream: Recipe

I made ice cream.




A few nights ago, I woke up mid-dream when Dana climbed into our bed after a nightmare. I should probably not admit this on the world wide web, but I was dreaming about making lime ice cream with white chocolate.

And so I did. And it's really lovely. It's creamy and limey and sweet, and it's flecked with bright green bits of lime zest.

Both girls think it tastes like lime sherbet, and they are so right. I used white chocolate chips that I pulsed in the food processor, and I am not sure they add anything flavor-wise. In my dream, I was adding a stream of white chocolate syrup as the ice cream churned. In reality, I didn't want to completely mix in the white chocolate-I wanted bursts of it here and there. And I wasn't sure how to pull that off with syrup. Then again, it didn't really work with the chips either. Oh well. The ice cream is still pretty awesome.

White Chocolate Lime Ice Cream

1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/4 cups milk (I had 1% in the fridge)
1 1/4 cups half and half
1/2 cup lime juice (juice of 3 limes)
zest of 2 limes
1 cup white chocolate chips, roughly chopped

Mix sugar, cream, milk and half and half in a bowl. Let it sit while you deal with the limes. This will give the sugar a chance to dissolve.

Remove the zest from 2 limes and mince it very finely. You should have about 2 teaspoons of zest. Add this to the cream and sugar mixture resting in the bowl.

Half the limes and juice them (I needed 3 limes to get 1/2 cup). You may use bottled lime juice if you prefer, but since you need the zest anyway, why not use fresh? Add the lime juice to the sugar and cream mixture and stir until all of the sugar is incorporated. Pour into your ice cream machine and process according to the directions.

Once my ice cream was done churning, I transferred it to a freezer-safe container and stirred in the white chocolate chips. Then I froze it overnight.

I like the idea of pink lemonade ice cream, so I may try that next, subbing lemon juice and zest for the lime, and adding strawberry puree. Sounds refreshing and summery. Yum!





Friday, June 11, 2010

New Purse

I made myself a new purse about a month ago. My old purse was beginning to fray all along the strap, and it bugged me to no end.

This is the perfect size for me, holding everything I need without allowing room to become unmanageable.





I went dark this time. I also used a cotton webbing strap.




I am not entirely sure about the solid black, but at least it won't show grime.




The pocket on the left side holds my cell phone. I sewed a snap in the middle of that pocket so my phone can't just slip out and get lost like it did with my old purse.

I also sewed a couple of mini tote bags for Sophie and Tommy, my friend Jessica's kids. But I forgot to take photos of them. Oops. I made those bags a bit wider than the other kid bags I've made, and I think that worked a lot better. I love the idea of a little tote made from fat quarters, but in practice, it's just not practical.