Ice Cream Party Spectacular

I can't believe its been two weeks since the madness of frantically making ice cream for a bunch of three year olds. Funny thing is I am not sure if the adults were more excited than the kids. Man, you should have seen the size of some of the sundaes created. In the end I made eight flavors, had 10 toppings, and way too many leftovers. I think this may become an annual tradition but only if people promise to bring some home. The Cake Batter ice cream has been calling my name every night since last Saturday which is not a good thing around here.

In retrospect I wished I had little score cards so everyone could rate each flavor but I didn't so here is what I think are the results. Seeing as the container with the least amount of ice cream left was Oreo Cookie I think that takes first place. I did get a comment that it had more cookies than ice cream so I'll lay off the Oreos next time, but it still seemed to go. And it was actually the one flavor I was able to send out the door with them. The next popular was the Peanut Butter Cup, although hard as a rock, and third place prize would probably go to the Cake Batter, which is my personal favorite out of the bunch.

Also, because a three year old can't comprehend that we are not having a cake on her birthday, just ice cream, I had to honor her wishes and get her a princess cake to blowout her big three candles. I made the mistake of showing her a cake book with this crazy Barbie cake and she instantly became obsessed and had to have it. So here I am 8am the morning of her birthday jamming her Barbie in the cake and piping ribbon. Oh what moms will do for their kids. But I had to share because I think the thing is hysterical. If you could have seen me and my husband fighting about how Barbie should be properly jammed in the cake you would have laughed. So we not only enjoyed plenty of ice cream but had the joy of Barbie to go with it.

So this posting isn't all together so informative but what I learned from having an ice cream party is...start churning a few weeks prior or have two freezer canisters to speed up the process. Second, take all ice cream out of the fridge at least 10 minutes before as some of mine was a hard as a rock and difficult to serve. Third, watch the amount of mixins put into the base of your ice cream. I found my peanut butter cup and oreo had more candy and cookies than ice cream. And lastly, send leftovers home with guests!

An Interview with Motormouthpress, LLC -- Ice Cream Greeting Card Designer Extraodinaire!

In my search for note cards with ice cream for the Sweet Notes and A Contest With Sweet Rewards entry, I hit jackpot. I had really been craving some letterpress ice cream notes and came across Motormouthpress, LLC. Such a variety of ice cream (and other food related cards)...I was in heaven!

Curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to separate this from the original post, and emailed Laurie of Motormouthpress to see if she would do an interview with me. Lucky for us all, she agreed! Without further ado, I bring you Laurie!

And when I am done with this post, I am off to shop at Motormouthpress! Can't wait!

Scoopalicious: Is there anything you want to tell your lovely fans to start off?
Motormouthpress: Well, if you didn't guess it already, Motormouthpress, LLC specializes in food-themed stationery and cards that double as mementos. We call these cards our Specialty Line. Our Postercard is an example of one of these cards (see below). For those of you who already figured this out already, here's a tidbit that we haven't mentioned yet. Our website is currently undergoing a redesign. Expect a sweet new appearance with easier navigation and new cards to boot! If you want to join out email list, please submit your email on our contacts page at www.motormouthpress.com.

Scoopalicious: Are you the founder/sole creator of these cards? How do you choose the subject matter?
Motormouthpress: I am the founder and sole creator of these cards, except for the Let's get Gnawty card. This one was designed by my friend, Brittany Powell. All of my illustrations are original designs. I am influenced by sweet treats of all kinds. I love how they are displayed and how they make your taste buds dance when you eat them.

Scoopalicious: Are all your cards letterpress? If not, how do you decide which are going to be letterpress and which will be offset?
Motormouthpress: I carry both letterpress and offset lithography printed cards. As far as deciding which gets what, I usually let the design tell me as I create it. This may sound ethereal but, it is part of my creative process.

Scoopalicious: Any plans to expand to more retail stores in the future? (I can see your stuff at the Paper Source in an instant!)
Motormouthpress: Yes, my goal is to reach as many food and stationery lovers that I can through out the world. So ifyou all have any retail store suggestions, I would love to hear about them at info@motormouthpress.com

Scoopalicious: What is your favorite dessert?
Motormouthpress: I don't have one in particular, but my Grandma's blueberry cobbler with a scoop of Breyers Vanilla Bean at the top.

Scoopalicious: Do you print the cards yourself?
Motormouthpress: I am trained in all the print processes that I use, which makes working with local printers a easy and exciting.

Scoopalicious: How did you get started in the card business?
Motormouthpress: Serendipitously. A colleague invited me to design some greeting cards. I really enjoyed it, and wondered if it was possible to do it professionally.

Scoopalicious: Did you go to school for art/design?
Motormouthpress: Yes, I earned a BFA in Graphic Design and a MFA in Book Arts/Printmaking.

Scoopalicious: I notice you sell note cards, notebooks and teeshirts in your store (I am not missing anything, am I?)
Motormouthpress: Nope.

Scoopalicious: One of the coolest things you make are your poster cards. This is a totally creative and unique idea that has so many layers and aspects to it, and practically guarantees that the recipient will not throw away your cards (though in my book any of your cards would find a place on my wall!). Anyhow, can you tell us a little about these cards and how you came up with the idea for these? Any plans to make ice cream poster cards?
Motormouthpress: The Postercards are what actually inspired me to become a Stationery and Greeting Card Designer. It encompassed everything that I hold dearly about graphic design folded into one greeting card. It is a memorable and engaging design that not only sends you a greeting but leaves you with a memento.

You have a cute image on the front that leads into a greeting or place for you to write. Unfold the a second time, and it shows a recipe to share. Unfold it all the way, and it reveals a poster of the visual instructions of the recipe and you and your friend making the recipe together. It is a double layer story. One is the greeting and sharing of the card itself, and the second is the card acting as a memento and the memories it may evoke.

The idea of the Postercard came from the desire to create a card that someone would cherish and save rather than recycle. Sometimes, it is hard to find a card that says exactly you want, and sometimes you don't know really what to say. This card resolves both these issues.

Scoopalicious: Any plans to make ice cream poster cards?
Motormouthpress: I would love to do an ice cream Postercard; but any new Postercards most likely won't appear until 2009.

Scoopalicious: Do you have a best seller?
Motormouthpress: No, I actually have several. The most popular are the Letterpress Birdies and Ice Cream Sandwiches and Bars followed by the Sweet Treats Line of Cupcakes, and Ice cream Sandwiches.

Scoopalicious: What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Motormouthpress: I don't really have a favorite; it is too hard to choose, but right now I like coconut or coconut praline.

Scoopalicious: What is your favorite ice cream treat?
Motormouthpress: I don't really have just one. I have favorites. I like hot fudge brownie sundaes, push-ups, dreamsicles, ice cream sandwiches, ice cream cone sundaes, malts, and ice cream cookie sandwiches the most.

Scoopalicious: Your company is located in San Francisco, yes?...do you have a favorite ice cream spot to go when you want that perfect scoop?
Motormouthpress: I usually go to Maggie Mudd's because they offer Vegan Ice Cream. I am lactose intolerant. But if I pop a few lactose pills, Bi-Rite Creamery makes a killer peach pie sundae in the Summer.

Special thanks to Laurie for answering all of our questions!

All images © Motormouthpress, LLC.

And I'll leave you with a mouthwatering image of raspberry fudge swirl and the detail of the little girl...(and, I suppose, some poetry.)

Vegan Ice Cream Party in Boston Tommorrow Night!

Quick Sunday night note: Just wanted to let you know if you are in the Boston area, there is a tasting tomorrow night of Boston-based Wheeler's Black Label Vegan Ice Cream! Check it out! Not sure if I can make it, so please report back if you attend!

On another note, please feel free to let us know if you know of an upcoming ice cream event in your area!

Cake Batter Ice Cream

This one is good competition for Coldstone Creamery...and was a hit at the birthday party!

1 cup half & half

3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup cake mix (I used confetti with the sprinkles)

Directions

Whisk the half & half and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla and then stir in cake mix (to avoid lumps sift in). Pour mixture into the freezer bowl and churn as directed by your machine. Remove ice cream from freezer bowl and place into a freezer proof container and freeze for 8-10 hours.

(I was pleasantly surprised by the creaminess since it does not contain eggs)

Enjoy!

Saigon Mexican Chocolate

A while back*, my friend Claudia and I made some Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream out of Bruce Weinstein's The Ultimate Ice Cream Book. Instead of regular cinnamon, we used Saigon Cinnamon in its place. I thought the ice cream would have a bit of a "spicy hot" taste, but really, the ice cream just tastes like rich chocolate, not even cinnamony chocolate. It was very smooth and decadent either way. However, I wonder if I should use more cinnamon the next time I make it. That might be a good idea since I talked my husband into getting a big Costco sized bottle when we were there a while back -- gotta use it sometime!

What was fun about this project was that since there wouldn't be enough time to make the base and then chill it with Claudia, I made the base in advance so we could chill it together, and when she came, we made another base which she took home with her. It was just like a lesson on a real cooking show! Claudia and I also prepared (for her to freeze at home) my very own Lisa's White Chocolate Cranberry Cookie Ice Cream, which I will blog about and include a recipe in a future post!

*A while back was January 23. As this was almost a month ago, I'd like to note that this ice cream seems to be keeping very well -- it tastes and looks like it was made yesterday!