Ice Cream Recipe Swap on Swap-Bot

I know Tina and EB and I share some good recipes on this site, but as I am a huge fan of Swap-Bot, I thought it would be fun to exchange some recipes via snail mail.

It's very simple:

Visit this link by May 15. You will be assigned 5 partners and need to send a postcard to each with your favorite ice cream maker recipe by June 6.

Mail and new ice cream recipes...what could be more fun?

Celebrate 75 Years of Carvel with a Free Iceberg!

It's that free ice cream time of year. All the shops seem to want to get on board.

Join Fudgie the Whale in celebrating 75 years of Carvel by going to your nearest Carvel shop on Thursday, April 30th from 3-7 pm for a free Iceberg!

What is an Iceberg? I didn't know either. An Iceberg (in the Carvel sense of the word) is soda with ice and vanilla flavoring blended together, then topped with a scoop of ice cream. Sounds good!

Happy birthday to Carvel! Thanks for years of fabulous birthday parties with ice cream cake!

Oh, as an added silly note, check out the Carvel Management page. Scrolll down to learn more about Cookiepuss and Fudgie the Whale!

Seattle's Molly Moon's Opens a Second Location

Celebrate the grand opening of Molly Moon's second shop located on Capitol Hill this Saturday, April 25th from 3-5 pm with a free cone for the kiddies!

Also to be revealed that day are four new flavors...Ginger, Salted Black Licorice, Baby Beet Sorbet and Pomegranate Curry Sorbet. Though the first two are flavors I don't care for, I have to say I absolutely love beets, so if I were in the area, I'd for sure try that one.

Not being from Seattle, I have never tried Molly Moon's, but their artisanal ice creams sound pretty good, so when I finally get around to visiting CakeSpy, we'll have to go. Their list of interesting flavors is endless...from those listed above to salted caramel and maple bacon. I've made maple bacon ice cream before and I highly suggest it!

P.S. Love the logo!

Baskin Robbins 31 Cent Scoop Night 4/29

You can tell the weather is getting better...April is chock full of Scoop Specials at all our favorite shops. Coming up next week is Baskin Robbins' 31 cent scoop Night and its for a good cause too. I was lucky enough to make it last year and remember patrons filling quart containers with 31 cent scoops. What a deal!

Visit any Baskin Robbins on Wednesday April 29 from 5pm to 10pm for 31 cent scoops and as a thanks to all volunteer firefighters in America they'll honor them with a $100,000 donation to the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) National Junior Firefighter Program. Your local volunteer fire departments also get the benefits as they partner with your local Baskin Robbins to showcase community support and raise funds for your own department. So get out there next Wednesday and get your 31 cent scoop and help support your local and national volunteer teams. I know I will as my husband is one of the loyal guys giving his time each week (and at 3am calls!) to our local department.

Pickles & Ice Cream anyone....lip gloss that is!

Now officially into my third trimester (yes baby on the way and believe it or not I had an aversion to ice cream in my first trimester..thankfully that ended!) I not too long ago received a sweet surprise in the mail from my favorite coblogger, Bethany. It was these wonderful lip glosses she found on another one of our favorite sites, Etsy, and the flavor of the gloss was so appropriate for an ice cream loving mom to be....."Pickles & Ice Cream"!

I know, sounds gross for lip gloss and I can't say I've actually had pickles and ice cream yet during this pregnancy but if I did I hope it tastes as yummy as this lip gloss does. It's super soft and sweet just like I like my ice cream and it is from her so fun "Gift in my Belly" gloss collection...I love it!! Check em out....Ella Dean's lip glosses are super fun and are made from scratch with all natural vegan friendly ingredients and have the best creamy texture. Oh and fabulous illustrations and quirky stories to go along with each flavor. I love how creative these are and there is a gloss for every occasion...after a long New England winter and 7 months of no cocktails I think I need to get myself the "Summer's Pina Colada at the Beach"....ahhhhhhh can't wait!

SpiceDish Saturday {April}: Lemon-Rose Petal Ice Cream

It's time for April's SpiceDish Saturday. I'm particularly excited for this one. It's an exotic flavor and just so beautiful looking. It reminds me of those Brach's Jelly Nougats I used to LOVE when I was a kid. I recently rediscovered them at Chutter's (home of the longest candy counter) in Littleton, New Hampshire. But, I digress. Back to the subject at hand -- SpiceDish's amazing looking ice cream...

The world is thawing, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping and new fresh flavors are everywhere. I was gifted with a large stash of lemons so perfect, they looked like plastic. Their fragrant, oil packed skin called out to be blended with rich cream an a little something special. I found the perfect something special at Bi-Rite the other day. Candied rose petals! This recipe would work fantastically with candied violets too.

Lemon-Rose Petal Ice Cream

3 Large lemons (zested & juiced)
½ cup sugar
1 ½ cups ½ & ½
Pinch of salt
3 egg yolks
4 tbs candied rose petals

Warm the ½ & ½, sugar, salt, and lemon zest in a saucepan until just simmering. Remove from heat and let sit for1 hour. Re-warm mixture. While it warms, whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice together in a large bowl. Add several tablespoons of the cream mixture into the yolk mixture and whisk. Repeat procedure until the two mixtures are completely blended together. Return mixture to the saucepan and heat on medium, stirring constantly. The custard is cooked when it thickens and coats the spoon.

Pour the mixture through a strainer back into your mixing bowl. Chill the mixture in the freezer for 20 minutes. Stir thoroughly and put into mixer. While the ice cream churns, crush 2 tbs of the rose petals (or lavender, or violet). 5 minutes before the mixture is finished churning add both the crushed and whole candied rose petals.

Bonus...FREE ice cream on Tax Day

So there's nine more days til tax day and I still don't have a tax guy, my expenses are not itemized, and for once I might actually get something back from good old Uncle Sammy but seriously FREE ice cream is way more exciting to think about!

Head on down to a MaggieMoo’s Ice Cream & Treatery on Tax Day, April 15th, and take advantage of another great“E-CONE-omic” Stimulus Package for upcoming Tax Day. Maggie Moo's will offer free ice cream to ALL its customers across the country to well, just make it a happy, non-stressful day. I am not lucky enough to have a local spot to run to and would love to hear what you think. Leave us a note if you've been to Maggie Moos and better yet if you were lucky enough to make it on the 15th for this great deal.

Enjoy!