Farmhouse French Vanilla Ice Cream

Gentleman Farmer gave me an ice cream maker

attachment to my KitchenAid Mixer

for Christmas.

This is my first experience making Ice Cream.

Here is a recipe I tweaked from the

KitchenAid Recipe Booklet.

Farmhouse French Vanilla Ice Cream

5 cups whole milk

(I use raw Jersey Milk ~ highest in milkfat

I let the cream come to the top and pour that into

a measuring cup. You can substitute half and half and

whipping cream, light and heavy cream, whole milk, or any combination 

as long as the liquid measurement stays the same.

 The more fat [cream] the

richer the flavor and creamier the texture!)

8 egg yolks

(mine are farm fresh and organic ~ straight from the nest!)

1 cup sugar

(you guessed it ~ organic!)

4 teaspoons Real Vanilla

(I would have used a Vanilla Bean if I'd had one!)

dash of salt

In a saucepan,

heat milk/cream to 170*

Do not boil

Stir often.

Remove from heat and set aside.

Mix egg yolks and sugar in a bowl

until well blended and slightly thickened.

While mixer is going, very slowly add

heated milk/cream.

Return cream, egg, sugar mixture to saucepan

and heat on medium, stirring constantly, until small bubbles

form around the edge of the pan  and

mixture is steaming.

Pour into a large bowl and stir in vanilla and salt.

Cover and chill in refridgerator overnight

(at least 8 hours)

Pour mixture into Ice Cream Freezer/Maker

and process according to

your machine's directions.

In a KitchenAid, on Stir for

20 minutes, until desired consistency.

Eat now for 'soft serve' texture,

or freeze 2-4 hours to harden

and ripen flavor.

You can add up to 2 cups fresh fruit

during last 5 minutes of processing.

What will you have on your delicious fresh ice cream?

(I had Chocolate Syrup ~

Gentleman Farmer topped his with fresh Rhubarb Sauce.)

Yum any way you serve it ~ even plain!

;~P

~*~

Joining Deborah Jean's

Farmgirl/guy Friday!



Busy Time Starts Now!

With the harvesting of the rhubarb

so begins my canning for the season.

I start off with rhubarb sauce and a few loaves

of rhubarb bread in the freezer.

Soon will be berries

for jams and jellies

and pies and smoothie packs...

but that is another post!

Joining
 Jami at An Oregon Cottage

for

Tuesday Garden Party

Amy at Homestead Revival
for
Barn Hop #61

Springtime Farmhouse Quiche

My quest for Spring has brought me back to a favorite

dish that is good anytime, but I love it for a quick

meal to incorporate my abundance of farm fresh

eggs and tasty springtime Asparagus!

You can find my recipe for Farmhouse Quiche

here.

Tonight's version uses sausage and asparagus.

Quiche is one of those dishes that are so

easy to prepare, uses just a few basic ingredients

 yet is impressive enough to serve to

company. It is a lovely Easter Morning

Breakfast dish!

Joining:

 Kathy at A Delightsome Life

for

Home & Garden Thursday!

Deborah Jean at Dandelion House
for
Farmgirl Friday!

A quick lunch with ties to the past

My Grandma was ahead of her time! Back when I was a child, she would fix this for a quick lunch that seemed oh so special to me.  Kids love this sort of thing, and I still adore it today! Top Ramen wasn't even invented yet! (My kids would say, China and Chinese Food wasn't invented yet when I was a kid! :~O ) Good thing about the ramen ~ this is way better .

Here is her 'recipe'!

1 can Campbell's Beef Consomme Soup

1/2 package of Red Rose Gourmet Chinese Egg Noodles(found in the Asian Isle of the grocery store)

Chopped Green Onion

Mix soup according to directions on can ~ (one can water to dilute)

Heat consomme to gentle boil and add noodles.

Cook till soft.

Serve with topping of chopped green onion (and any other additions

as you would ramen soup ~ leftover bits of vegetables and meat or fish, but

I prefer it simple ~ just the way Grandma made it!)



Honey, Wheat and MultiGrain Bread

This loaf has lots of goodies in it.

One of our favorites!

1 1/2 C. Boiling Water

1 C. Rolled Oats

3/4 C. Honey

3 T. Butter

1 C. 10 Grain Cereal (I use Bob's Red Mill)

2 t. Sea Salt

2 T. Yeast

2 C. Warm Water

3 C. Whole Wheat Flour

4 C. Unbleached White Bread Flour

Vital Wheat Gluten

Organic Golden Flaxseed

Chai Seed

Pour boiling water over oats, in a large bowl, let stand 15 minutes.

On top of the oats

Add honey, soft butter, salt, 10 grain cereal, a small handful

of flax seed, a good sprinkling of Chai seed, let stand another

15 minutes without stirring in.

Dissolve yeast in warm water (2 cups). (I scraped out the

remaining honey from the cup and put it in the warm water

just before the yeast.) Let it sit for a few minutes to

get a bit foamy, then add to the oat/cereal mixture and stir together.

Add the Vital Wheat Gluten and the Whole Wheat Flour,

 one cup at a time, and mix well.

Add the White Flour to make a medium soft dough.

Turn onto a floured board and knead for 10 minutes,

or until smooth and elastic.

Place dough in a greased (I used Coconut Oil) bowl.

Grease top and cover with a towel.

Let rise 1 hour in a warm place.

(I use the oven with the light on)

Turn out of bowl and knead again for

a minute or so. Divide dough into 3 portions,

shape into loaves and place into 3 greased loaf pans.

Place the pans on a large cookie sheet, cover with a towel,

and let rise until double in size or about 1 inch above the

pan, about 1 hour.

Remove towel and place in a preheated 400* oven for 5 minutes.

Lower heat to 350* and bake for another 25 minutes,

until loaves sound hollow when tapped.

Turn out of pans and place on a cooling rack.

Brush tops with butter if you like.



Sweet Meat Squash

I have never been a big squash fan.

But I do enjoy eating what I've

grown in my garden.

This year I grew an abundance

of colorful squash and didn't

want to lose the opportunity

to preserve the harvest.

Below are

Rouge Vif D'Etampes pumpkins,

Carnival Acorn Squash

and

silvery blue Sweet Meat Squash

which my Dad was so fond of.

Last night I cooked up one of the Sweet Meat squash

for our evening meal.

It.was.good!

Here is what I did~

Because winter squash have a hard rind,

you will need to help your large knife

with a little persuasion ~ a hammer!

Cut/chop your squash in half.

Scoop out the seeds and stringy pulp and

discard, compost, feed to your chickens

 or wash the seeds for roasting.

(Wash and completely dry seeds.

Toss 1 1/2 C. dry seeds with

2T. melted butter

1T salt, garlic salt or other seasoned salt.

Spread out in single layer on baking sheet.

Bake 275* for 15-20 minutes or until

lightly browned.)

Continue to cut your squash into quarters.

Place squash into a parchment lined baking

pan skin side up.

Bake at 350* for 30-40 minutes

or until easily pierced with a fork.

(Sorry, forgot to get a picture of this part)

Carefully remove from pan and scoop the flesh into a bowl.

(I let mine cool till easily handled without getting burned.)

I used and old fashioned potato masher to

'squash' my squash. ;~P

I set half of the squash aside for putting into freezer bags
and freezing for later use.

With the remaining squash

I added butter and brown sugar and

salt and pepper to taste and warmed it in the oven, covered,

and served.

~*~

There are a variety of ways to serve your squash but

this is how my Gramma did it so that is how I do it, too!

This squash also makes delicious 'Pumpkin Pie'!

Pear Honey

Today I picked pears

Tonight I will make Pear Honey!

~ Pear Honey~

Yield 12-16 half pint jars

8 cups (about 3 pounds) peeled, cored, and chopped pears

1 20-oz can crushed pineapple with syrup

10 cups sugar

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Mix all ingredients and cook until pears are tender and mixture thickens, approximately 30 minutes. Place in sterilized jars and seal while still hot.

This recipe comes from Kelli at There is No Place Like Home

(I process mine in a hot water bath canner for 10 minutes)

So good on hot biscuits, toast, waffles or ice cream!

These make really nice gifts, too!