these are a few of my favorite things

And by that I mean ... ice cream and booze.

By now, I'm sure you know that I'm obsessed with my ice cream maker.  I got such a great deal on it, and hey ... ice cream.  Preservative and additive free.  Whenever I want it?  WIN.

So, I got bored (that's how these things always get started).  I rummaged in the fridge, and came up with some vanilla Greek yogurt, some frozen strawberries, a South Carolina sized bottle of low-proof rum (don't you judge me), and a few limes.  Huh.  What could I possibly do with this bunch of misfit food?  I KNOW!  Put it in the ice cream maker!

So, I present to you ... Strawberry Mojito Fro-Yo.

I realize that most booze won't freeze, but hey.  This was some quality stuff.  I think it may have been like, 20 proof.  So I rolled the dice.  I "sampled" the rum, and dumped the other half of the bottle in a blender.  Then I added about a cup of yogurt.  Then I added the bag of frozen strawberries (they were about a pound, it seems).  Blended till smooth, dumped in the ice cream maker.

At about that point in the photo (about ten minutes in), I was all "OH SHIT THE LIMES!"  I squeezed half of a lime into the top of the ice cream maker and prayed to baby Jeebus that this mess would come out okay.

Let me tell you - that was some of the most DIVINE stuff I've ever had.  I had to tell the kids "that's mommy's, don't eat it."  Of course, my oldest (the almost thirteen year old female garbage hole) just had to know why.  I finally told her "it's got booze in it.  And if I catch you eating it, you'll be eating from the litter box.  And since you never clean it, your ice cream will be mighty crunchy.  Got it?"

Score one for me and my stellar parenting skills.

i scream, you scream, and then i'll smack you with a stock pot for making that unholy racket.

Do you have a Big Lots near you?  We have one just a few blocks away, and let me tell ya ... there is some crazy shit in that place.  I found clothing that was clearly not meant for human consumption, odd sorts of snack foods, and aisles of uber-tacky home furnishings.

However, nestled amongst the insanity was this little gem, for the bargain price of $24.99:

Yep, that's a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker!  Squee!  Of course, I snapped it right up.

Since then, I've been freezing everything that isn't nailed down.  However, the Vanilla Bean Supreme has been everyone's favorite.

I used this recipe from About.com, mainly because the Food Network site pissed me off.  Every time I tried to open it on my iPad, it crashed the browser.  Screw that.  I was perfectly pleased with what I used. 

As a side note, the author of the About.com recipe? Diana Rattray.  Which made me all "oooh, like the bad people that were dealing V and were going to drain Bill on True Blood before Sookie intervened.  That's a sign.  Self, you should make this one."

At any rate, here's the recipe.  My family gave it a total of five vanilla beans out of five.

Vanilla Bean Supreme Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 7 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cup sugar
• dash salt
• 1 vanilla bean
• 2 cups half and half
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Preparation:

Whisk egg yolks with sugar and salt in large bowl; set aside. Split vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out seeds (note: it works really well if you act like you're curling Christmakwanzzakah ribbon). Combine beans, seeds, half and half and heavy cream in a large saucepan. Bring just to a simmer.

 

Gradually whisk hot cream into the egg yolk mixture. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon (do not let it boil - (this is 170 degrees Fahrenheit if you're all about the science like me). Strain through sieve into large bowl. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions.