Monday, August 17, 2009

Buttered Almond Ice Cream

You know your weekend won't be serene when your daughter goes to her best friend's house to sleep over on Thursday night, then calls at 11:30PM and says, "The wheel came off my car in the Waffle House parking lot." Yes, she said that. Of course, I couldn't remain sane without AAA, so she called the tow truck and had the car taken to one of my favorite repair shops. A miracle occurred, and Bobby had time Friday morning; the front ball joints were replaced before noon that day. At under $250, I felt lucky. Of course, the rest of the weekend was spent with her whirling around me trying to get everything packed to return to WVU, Thor, knowing something was up, was whirling around, and the house was a circus. So, I did what any sane person would do: I sewed and made ice cream.

This dress, and one of identical fabric except that the background is dark olive. And I look like crap in this picture, because it was about 4AM - sorry.

I also made an A-line skirt of the same fabric as the dress above. The olive skirt is cut but not sewn.

But you really want my ice cream. I promise.

BUTTERED ALMOND ICE CREAM

2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup slivered almonds
3-1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp almond extract

Melt the butter on a cookie sheet, then stir the almonds into it. Toast the almonds at 325 for 5 to 8 minutes, stirring every 3 minutes or so, until they're nicely toasted. Se
t the sheet aside to let the almonds cool. Meanwhile, combine the milk, cream, and brown sugar. Beat vigorously with a whisk until well combined, then stir in the almond extract. Pour into your ice cream maker, and process according to the manufacturer's directions. A minute or 2 before the ice cream is ready, add the almonds and butter. Just scrape the whole thing off the sheet into the ice cream machine. When the processing's finished, put it in the freezer until you're ready to eat it. Or, if you just adore the smell of almond extract, set a little aside to enjoy right away.

I also made an orange sauce for this. Actually, it was for an applesauce snack cake, but who's counting? 1/2 cup brown sugar stirred with 1 tsp cornstarch and 1/2 cup orange juice, then microwaved until it thickens, less than 3 minutes. My dearly beloved greatly enjoyed it.

Sadly, we're out of both ice cream and sauce. Something else will have to appear soon. And as long as all remains calm in my little corner of the world, I'll be back tomorrow! Hope you all had wonderful weekends, and no one else lost a wheel from their cars!

10 comments:

Miriam in KS said...

Cute dress. Delicious looking ice cream. Good plan to do both when all around are scurrying.

It has been an awfully fast summer. :(

Paula said...

I had that happen to me once ... on the Ohio Turnpike with just me and my sisters in the car. I was at the wheel. Not fun. Didn't have AAA then; you bet I've got it now! Glad that you have a great mechanic that doesn't charge and arm and a leg to fix stuff. The ice cream and sauce is lovely! As are you even at 4:00 am!

Claire S. said...

4am? I don't see 4am unless the creatures decide they have to go out - and not even then if I can chase them back to bed for another hour :-)

Have to try that ice cream - it sound delicious and maybe it'll ease the sore throat I came down with. Blech - a summer cold is horrible!

gMarie said...

I can't believe you were still standing at 4am. Very lovely dress and the ice cream looks fabulous. Good thing I'll be doing lots more walking soon. g

buffalodick said...

Ice cream sounds great, and you certainly don't look like crap!

SissySees said...

Cute dress. You don't look like crap. Luckily the Knight isn't in the office this morning, because he still hasn't found the ice cream maker and I'm getting grumpy about it.

Wait - didn't I threaten to just buy the attachment version for my KitchenAide mixer? Hello, google...

Pam said...

You are so talented! I wish I could sew like you. My 6 year old daughter is just now learning to sew by hand and loves it. I guess I better drag out my sewing machine and we can both learn together.

The buttered almond ice cream and sauce looks amazing - it wouldn't last long in this house.

Lakeland Jo said...

that ice cream and sauce looks fabulous

pam said...

Well, look at what all that stress did for you, a cute dress AND ice cream!

Anonymous said...

What I'd like to know is how you look as great as you do when you make the kind of foods that you make? I'm adding this to my Marjie collection!