Sweet Notes and a Contest with Sweet Rewards

Last fall I wanted to write some notes on ice cream note cards, and I had a heck of a time finding anything I was really excited about. Since then I am constantly on the look out for nice ice cream stationery to say "Thank you for the nice ice cream scoop" or "So glad you came over to chat over ice cream." Cupcake cards, as beautiful as they are, are popping up all over the place, but, my frozen treat friends, ice cream cards aren't so easy to come by.

I found a few cute cards on Etsy as well as some more commercial products, but the pickin's, though wonderful, are slim.

It was these cards on the right by Chronicle Books that I ended up using last fall in my search for ice cream notes. This box of twenty note cards (five designs repeating four times each) features ice cream signs along the highway taken by San Francisco based photographer Troy M. Litten. These cards remind me of summertime drives, pulling off the highway for a spontaneous ice cream treat.

As a lover of stickers and ice cream (I know, what am I, six?) I was thrilled to find the cards at left by Potter Style, an imprint of Random House. The blank ice cream cards work wonderfully on their own, but you can add some flare by sticking strawberries, whipped cream, chocolate chips and things of the sort all over the cards. Luckily, they don't have sprinkle stickers, so you don't have to stick teeny sprinkles one by one! [I also found these on buy.com, amazon.com, and many other places after doing a google search on "ice cream note cards".]

Seasoned Etsy member Marilyn Patrizio has some super fun ice cream cone notes in her Etsy shop. What could be more fun than a smiling ice cream cone? You can buy them singly or as part of an assorted set, or if you just want to stare at those little faces all the time and not send them away, you can also buy the cones on the cover of a notebook.

Canadian artist Rachael Herbert of Rubyfaz on Etsy also puts a smile on our faces with her smiling ice cream cones. Whether you want to write someone a short short note, or add an adorable gift tag to a package, Rachael's mini cards are just the answer. Rachael's website is also beautifully designed and features some great work, and her blog is super fun as well. I was just so enamored with today's posting of Flossie.



* C O N T E S T *
Reply to this post with a link to your own great ice cream stationery find and you will be entered in a random drawing for a coupon for a free pint of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. Send all entries by next Monday, February 4th and be sure to include an email so I can contact you if you are indeed the winner!

1 month, 5 flavors and lots more to go

So its been 1 month since I made my debut into the ice cream making world and so far so good and I thought I'd share a few things I've learned and tips I'd give others just starting out.

Since I always have to do tons of research about anything I do I spent my first week or so reading, searcing the web for tips, and just soaking in anything I could learn to make ice cream perfection. What I quickly learned is that there are two types of ice cream, custard based(with eggs) and Philadelphia style(no eggs) which through the experiment of both the custard wins big. Who would have thought that its egg yolks in ice cream which give it a creamy smoooth consistency but this is the secret ingredient in the custard base style ice cream that makes all the difference. I made one batch of the Philadelphia style and it was my first and last.

So what else have I gotten out of my first month of churning? I quickly learned how crucial it is to master the technique of heating of the custard. Since there are eggs in this its important to slowly heat, consistently stir, and wait for the moment of perfect consistency(sort of like Pepto Bismol thickness) or the result is this scrambled egg mixture we've mentioned before. The custard needs to heat to 175 degrees (to avoid bacteria from the eggs) and it should lightly coat the spoon. Through experience, use your eye over the thermometer...I learned the hard way when my thermometer was wrong. After 5 flavors I am still battling this one but give me a few more tries and I'll be golden. But regardless, the resulting ice cream still ended up worth every bite.

Here are the five flavors I have made so far and results of each.

Peppermint Stick
(careful how much extract, mine was strong and I think because of this the alcohol in the extract
stopped it from freezing hard but it was super creamy and really good)

Butter Pecan
(tried this Philadelphia style...icy and not enough flavor...not a winner)

Ginger
(infused actual giner into the base, hardened well and the creaminess and flavor was awesome.
Just bought crystalized ginger that will add a nice crunch next time)

Triple Chocolate
(bittersweet chocolate, semisweet chocolate, cocoa & dark chocolate chunks...got rave reviews by my testers)

Mint Chocolate Chip
(infused mint leaves and added dark chocolate resulting in a unique herbal flavor for the mint
but it was really good with a great consistency)


Lessons learned..
-the more egg yolks the smoother and creamier
-slowly heat the base
-infusing flavors gives a stronger and more natural flavor
-after base is heated, cool over an ice bath for better consistency
-seal the top of the ice cream with plastic wrap before putting the lid on the container, it keeps the this layer of the ice cream from drying out

So although this may not be the most exciting post I think its important for anyone starting out to understand the basics, this is where this blog came from. I couldn't find anyone talking about their adventures in ice cream making so why not do it ourselves.

Happy ice cream making...I am off to make Oreo Cookie!

Fabulous Inedible Ice Cream Finds!

Having a couple of friends who love ice cream as much as I do, including my co-blogger, I am always on the lookout for ice cream related gifts. This isn't as easy as it seems. I searched for quite a while and picked out a few of my favorite finds on Etsy...

I know I am a sucker for tiny things, but these adorable sweaters take the cake...er, um, the ice cream. Kim at Kimbermouse tells me that customers "can order any flavor of ice cream on any color sweater in any size (6 months through 8 year). I have even done mint chocolate chip with mini chocolate colored spots." I am not sure it's appropriate for a 28 year old woman to be wearing an ice cream cone sweater (though I DO love it), I'd love to own a sweater with a collar like this one. How cozy.

I am simply in love with this image of a little girl eating ice cream on this teeshirt by Turtlepapers. What's even better is that you can start your little one off early in sharing your love of ice cream by buying her her own lap tee with the same design.

For the small art collector (small size yet big impact!) there are the ever so popular ACEOs ("art card, editions and originals"). I am completely a newbie when it comes to these little cards. After seeing "ACEO" all over Etsy, I finally just last week wikipediaed the word to find out what they are.

At left, Dilkabear's ACEO painting of a bear holding an ice cream on a stick is one of a kind. This tiny piece (3.5 x 2.5 inches) is painted in a limited palette of gold and yellow, and it seems to be this palette that makes the piece so warm and and inviting, even though it's a painting of a winter day. At $7.00, this little painting is a bargain, and once framed (see below) would make a lovely gift for a friend, yourself, or a favorite ice cream blogger.

Sizing in at 2.5 x 3.5 inches, Six06's little robot holding an ice cream cone is so endearing that one might forget robots are supposed to be cold, metal, emotionless creatures. And he seems to love ice cream as much as we do. How could we not love him? (It's also quite a treat to visit Six06's website if you have a few minutes to look around.)

How might I display these adorable pieces of art? On my cluttered desk, I am looking at a Cakespy original, framed in what seems to be the perfect sized frame. I asked Ms. Cakespy where she got the perfect frame, and she (see below) tells me that she gets these little black frames at Bed Bath and Beyond, and with an opening of 2x3 inches they seem to be almost the perfect size for framing ACEOs (better than nothing if you want to frame your original piece of artwork -- I don't know of anywhere that sells 2.5x3.5 inch frames). I couldn't find them online, but I might suggest you check out your local BBB for framing these adorable pieces of art.

I've been a long time fan of Cakespy's blog and cupcake drawings, but this talented artist and sweet tooth has also put some love out for the ice cream loving community. This little watercolor in an 8x10 mat, chooses no favorites, sharing the love of both soft serve and hard ice cream. These originals are so endearing that you can't help but smile when you see one of Ms. Cakespy's drawings, and priced from $15 to $35 for one of these originals, you can't go wrong.

This adorable ice cream cone pinata from Birchangel might more appropriately be filled with gifts than given as a gift. However, I might just buy it to hang in a child's room, because it is too beautiful to break. I love the texture in the ice cream itself and the burlap cone. Birchangel also caries a variety of other sweet treats for the breaking in her shop. With prices from $14-$32, these pinatas are a steal.

Finally, its not just for people anymore...Bill Pickle's Dog Company makes ice cream cone shaped treats for your favorite pup. These are so yummy looking that it I didn't know better, I'd order them for myself.

Well, enough window shopping for me. I should probably get back to work.

Cones NYC

There was no ice cream making for me this weekend due to the fact that I went to Manhattan to visit my oldest and dearest friend. The one stipulation of my visit though was that we visit at least one ice cream shop in the city. Ashu had done her research and offered me a variety of yummy sounding choices. Our final decision came down to the ice cream shop that fit best in with our plans of gallery hopping in Chelsea. After our art intake, we hopped a cab to Bleeker Street for ice cream at Cones. After some serious tasting (chocolate sorbet, blackberry sorbet, dulce de leche, and zabayone), I finally decided on mint chocolate chip ice cream. Ashu decided on chocolate ice cream. Ashu was so excited for me to try hers that I tried it before tasting mine -- it was fabulous. However, the sweet chocolate flavor left in my mouth caused my first bite of mint chocolate chip to be overwhelmingly minty, and I was a bit disappointed in my choice. However, a few bites later I was back on track, the mint had mellowed, and I was back to enjoying my own choice.

This Argentinian ice cream hot spot lived up to its great reviews. (Only a few of the many reviews -- Google search on "Cones NYC" produced numerous results.) Not familiar with this Argentinian's recipes, I was expecting something in the vein of American ice cream but it was denser -- it definitely reminded me of the Italian gelatos in Boston's North End. (For the difference between gelato and ice cream, you can find a good description here.) The ice cream was rich while light (in texture only. I am sure it was not light in the calorie sense of the word), creamy, and wonderfully sweet.

It was comforting and homey to find the friendly owner working the counter, and thanks to the cold weather outside, the scoop shop was empty except for one other couple, so it allowed Ashu and I to snag one of the two other empty tables. Word to the wise, warm weather visits to this shop probably won't promise seating, but the charming Bleeker Street is the perfect setting for strolling with a cup or cone of ice cream and some window shopping.

[I apologize for the not so great phone photo.]

On a side note, I just found an exciting website (World of Ice Cream) with both commerical and homemade ice cream recipes. Located on Long Island, World of Ice Cream also offers ice cream /gelato making classes.

Infusing flavor

I finally got around to making my favorite flavor, Mint Chocolate Chip. I found a recipe in this great ice cream cookbook, A Passion for Ice Cream, which is filled with amazing ice cream recipes that are all also paired with desserts. Since I am on an ice cream mission I left out the dessert aspect of this recipe which was fudge cookies but I am sure I'll get around to those later. Actually, the image on the cover of this book is this recipe. (I know its not green but she prefers to let the flavor speak for itself..I had to add the green to mine).

So onto the infusing part. Infuse: to steep in liquid without boiling so as to extract the soluble constituents or principles...and this is what I did. Instead of using Mint extract the recipe called for using actual mint leaves and cooking them with my cream/sugar mixture. Once heated through and before adding this to the egg mixture I strained the liquid to omit the leaves and, voila, pure mint flavoring. I was a little skeptical when straining as my leaves were brown, wilted, and not so pretty but I guess that is what happens when you cook leaves. So after finalizing the whole process, refrigerating the base overnight and then freezing, the verdict is out...definitely good mint flavor but somewhat unique. I am curious to see what others think. My husband thought it was definitely mint but tasted like leaves! So I just did a second taste test to be able to really describe it and the only additional thing I could say is that is has an herb like taste...but after the initial bite all I taste is yummy Mint Chocolate Chip. I think this could become my signature flavor..its my favorite but with a twist.

And the cute cow bowls..my girlfriend recently went to the Ben & Jerry's plant and brought me back these fun cow dishes...love em.