Just popping in real quick to tell you about this little dessert I recently discovered…
You will want to make it ASAP. Perfect for last minute gatherings or for your kids’ birthday parties as an alternative to the usual birthday cake!
Inspired by this post. Here is another variation, too!
Ice Cream Sandwich Cake
12-15 ice cream sandwiches
{variety of your choice ~ I used mini ice cream sammies found at Ralphs, their brand, 16 in a box}
Chocolate syrup, caramel sauce, or even Magic Shell would be fun!
Tub of Cool-whip
M&M’s or candy bar of choice {chopped up}
Use a tray or large dish to assemble this dessert. Lay a row of ice cream sandwiches onto your plate, tray or dish side by side. Spread on a layer of cool-whip, drizzle with chocolate syrup or caramel sauce and then sprinkle your candy of choice on top. Repeat with the same number of ice cream sandwiches followed by another layer of cool-whip, syrup and candy. Repeat one last time and you’re done! Place in freezer for a couple hours before serving and cut with a serrated knife.
Easy, right?
This would be fun at Christmas with the mint ice cream sandwiches and the red and green M&M’s or chopped peppermint bark.
Or what about neapolitan ice cream sammies with slices of banana in-between and topped with sliced almonds and cherries for a Banana Split Ice Cream Cake?
And I do know that they have cookie and cream ice cream sandwiches, too!
Have fun with it!!!
You must make one before summer officially ends.
Um, that’s what’s dangerous about living in So Cal…….
I’ve been working on a simple, yet festive dinner menu for Cinco de Mayo.
Let me start by saying that I think we’re going to have to fetch the ice cream maker from the garage rafters and make some Dulce de Leche Ice Cream with Salted Pecans for dessert!
Secondly, I saw these cactus glasses at Dollar Tree a couple weeks ago and have been thinking about them ever since…..went today and they had ONE left!
Wah.
I just think they are so cute and the perfect vessel to hold these gorgeous pink Cactus Pear margaritas…
Jay and I enjoyed sipping these margaritas at Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill in Vegas and they are definitely something worth trying to recreate at home ~ the problem is where to find the cactus pear juice?!?
Tomorrow I will be tracking down some more of these {prickly} glasses and the ingredients to fill them on Saturday evening.
Meanwhile, we have our vibrant papel picado hung across the kitchen and are ready to celebrate!
{as seen here on our trip to Olvera Street over Spring Break}
*****
Kicking myself that I didn’t pick up a set of those glasses when I first saw them.
Sooo glad these don’t exist in our neck o the woods. I would be there daily…they have some incredible flavors.
So long Baskin-Robbins.
I’ve discovered 31 new flavors!
{If you’re under 40″, you get a FREE kiddie cone with rainbow sprinkle hair, two little eyes and a mouth ~ this is Purple Dinosaur which is just vanilla taken up several notches on the color wheel!}
Last time we were in San Diego we went to a cupcake shop called Batter Up. It’s the cutest concept and the cupcakes were delish, but the store decor needed a grand slam.
It was pretty blah.
By the time we walked out, I had already redesigned the place and had a blueprint in my head.
Real live stadium seats bolted to the floor.
Old lockers filled with fun cupcake liners, cookbooks and all things cupcake related for sale.
Astroturf on the floor.
Pennant buntings hanging from the ceiling.
Apothecary jars filled with peanuts and cracker jacks.
Large glass vases holding baseballs.
The cupcakes needed some fun, festive baseballin’ names, ya know?
But I digress…
Now…back to Cake Batter Ice Cream.
This recipe is SO easy and SO out of this world…er…ballpark?!?
I ended up using whole milk for one of the 2 cups of whipping cream…made it a little lighter. Ha!
I tapped the cake mix through a mesh strainer to make sure there were no clumps.
Next time I will add rainbow sprinkles into the ice cream the last few minutes while the machine is running.
I only wish that I had red, white and blue sprinkles instead…
But, this ice cream was more than I imagined it would be. If you’re an ice cream lover and you don’t have one of these, you need to treat yourself to one!
Next up….some refreshing summer sorbet in our new sorbet cups!
Sliced bananas, freshly churned soft vanilla bean ice cream, a drizzle of Hershey’s syrup, a swirl of whipped cream, some rainbow sprinkles, coconut {for me}, peanuts {for Jay} and the proverbial maraschino cherry on top.
These would also be fun served in small mason jars!
*****
The slip n slide also came out this afternoon after a brief hiatus…
Last week was filled with necessary errands in the beginning of the week and a couple pool play dates at the end.
Tomorrow this guy starts summer camp thanks to his grandparents and sweet friends…for his birthday in February, we decided in lieu of {more} toys a nice gift would be a 3-day a week summer camp at his preschool. Three of his best buds chipped in and gave him a week as well! It’s a win/win situation ~ a fun 3 hours for him and 3 hours for me! We’re so grateful….thanks again.
This girl is going to gymnastics camp mañana. Same thing…for her b-day, the grandparents generously gave her the same 3 days a week to tumble and jump this summer. Again, it gives me a little time to myself and his preschool and the gym are right near each other so it’s perfect.
It’s a GREAT way to break up the summer.
I’ll say it again ~ thank you Lolo & Lola, Gramma, Popsi, Emma, Landon & Dylan.
This gift is truly the cherry on top of this mama’s banana split!
Please pause the music to fully enjoy the short video below. Thanks!
*****
Gramma is visiting today.
She’s nice and says, “Yes!” to the ice cream man.
I am mean and say, “No, not today” every. single. day. Our ice cream man comes rain, shine, snow, sleet or hail. He’s faithful like that.
Today was the first day ever that they got to pick something out of the old beat up van…Elliott, a snow cone and Holden, a Spiderman popsicle thingy with gum ball eyes.
{Did you know that Spiderman’s real name is Peter Parker? That was news to me…}
Gramma is so fun. It’s a treat to have her here during the week. Lots of fun was to be had this afternoon.
We finally uploaded our Thanksgiving Weekend pics to the computer and YES we did feed marine life on Turkey Day.
We took the kiddos on their maiden voyage to Sea World ~ many thanks to Gramma K for treating!
Getting his bearings:
A quick whirl on the Elmo ride:
You’d of thought we were at Disneyland with the permagrin on his face!
Gramma & Elliott bringing up the rear in the zebra Elmo:
“Petting” the manta rays:
Then it was lunchtime {for them not us!}:
Do I have to touch it?
I rolled up my sleeves and got in there:
Then we went to “Blue Horizons” {dolphin show}. I must say that they have stepped this show up and it {almost} has a little Cirque du Soleil feel to it. Costumed acrobats swinging & twirling over the tank. Divers. The whole nine. I was pretty impressed.
{Sorry. No pictures of that part, though.}
We then ventured to see the sharks followed by the sea lions.
This guy {gal?} was quite vocal:
Holden LOVED feeding these guys.
First you hold a mackerel in your hand and bring it up over your head:
…then fling it into the exhibit:
{I was thankful for warm water and antibacterial soap at this point}
We then saw the Holiday Paws show and got to pet the pot belly pig:
Then it was another visit to Santa and then some face time with Shamu.
Elliott really wanted to ice skate.
If you’re going to feed a sea lion on Thanksgiving, why not go ice skating, too?
A tuckered Holdy cuddling with Gramma:
All laced up and ready to roll….I mean skate!
If this isn’t Southern California I don’t know what is….the sun setting over the Pacific, palm tree silhouettes, sea gulls in flight:
Gorgeous!
{This part really made me miss my hometown}
Holden awoke from his power nap and was ready to join in on the rink action:
After the drive to SD and an afternoon at Sea World, we capped off our Thanksgiving with Panda Express!
It was a departure from the norm on Turkey Day, but so welcomed.
My Dad made it into San Diego late that evening and we ended up having our feast and giving our official thanks on Friday evening. We had some family friends {who my parents have known for 50 years!} join us. Holden came down with a low grade fever that afternoon so between giving him doses of Advil, making sure Toy Story 2 was playing, visiting with dear friends and eating, we didn’t get any pics of the spread! But Elliott did help Gramma earlier in the day with the stuffing:
She added plenty of pepper!
Friday afternoon before dinner we also took a drive through Balboa Park. I love driving down the 163 corridor past the zoo…so beautiful. We drove by the organ pavillion and across the bridge and reminisced about our wedding day 6 years ago.
On Saturday we were able to catch up with more old friends. Jay and Elliott went to visit one of the groomsmen in our wedding while I stayed home with Holden and kept his fever at bay. I also ran/walked to the mall near my Mom’s place to fetch our holiday ornaments which you can read about here. It was literally over the bridge and under the freeway to the Westfield mall I go! There is a trail that goes along the lake {Lake Hodges} and under the 15 freeway and puts you right at the mall. So yes, I got this year’s ornaments “on foot”.
Saturday night I met up with my high school besties and we went to a 40th surprise party. It’s so nice to just be able to pick up where you left off so to speak. We met up for a pre-party libation and then their lovely 16-year old daughter drove us to and from the party. It was great to get caught up with old faces and celebrate more folks turning the BIG FOUR-OH!
A couple summers ago my good friend, Melanie, introduced us to her “Gram’s” pink lemonade ice cream.
I was instantly hooked and I think that is when I longed to purchase our own family ice cream maker.
2 years later….
Beverly’s Pink Lemonade Ice Cream
1 can pink lemonade frozen concentrate, thawed
5 cups half & half (I used 2 cups h&h, 3 cups whole milk)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
On the stovetop, dissolve sugar & salt in 2 cups of h&h/milk in a saucepan (takes just a few minutes). Combine concentrate and the other 3 cups of h&h/milk and refrigerate for 2 hours. Pour into ice cream maker for about 20-25 minutes.
{The amount above had to be done in two batches}
Enjoy the taste of yesteryear!
The perfect blend of tart & sweet.
*****
As I prepared the mix for this ice cream, I couldn’t help but think how special this recipe is. Not one that I googled or read about in a current magazine, but one that probably is still written in an old leather book with yellowed, musty smelling pages…bent, torn and wrinkled over the years.
The kind of recipe that makes it’s way from one generation to the next.
It put a smile on my face thinking that Mel’s Gram enjoyed this same tart, yet sweet creamy goodness years and years ago.
I am honored to try this recipe and excited to file it away in my book of keepers.
I hope that Elliott and Holden will enjoy these tried and true recipes in years to come out of my special book…
…also sure to be tattered, sticky, spotted, dog-eared, but most of all LOVED.
