For the Kentucky Derby, you need Mint Juleps, right? Well for the Derby, or any time, this is a fabulous ice cream recipe for those Summer (or almost summer) days…

This gelato was inspired by our neighbors, Sara & Paul, and their wonderful mint juleps that they make for the Derby.  Their recipe is a little nontraditional, as it calls for lemon, but I like their version even better than then typical Mint Julep drink.

Gelato is healthier than ice cream because it has less fat in it, and it’s texture is just wonderful.  And while I don’t have a real gelato maker, I fake it by using my Kitchen Aid’s ice cream freezer attachment, and using the lowest speed.   (And if you like this, check out my Southern Iced Tea ice cream over on Foodwhirl, it uses a similar process.)

The instructions below take three days, but you can cheat and start today on this, to  have it ready for tomorrow.  Just skip to Day 2, and add your lemon/mint after you add your milk.

Ingredients

• 2 cups milk (I used 2%)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• ~3/4 c mint sprigs, loosely packed
• 1 to 2 oz bourbon
• 1 teas vanilla extract
• zest of 1 lemon

Method

I took many of these instructions from the Ice Tea Gelato recipe, so refer to that more instructions, and more photos of the actual freezing process.

Day 1: Infuse the milk with mint & lemon zest

(Photos 1, 2, 3) Zest 1 lemon. Crush your mint leaves in your hands to release the flavors, and place all  in large glass jar with 2 cups milk.  Let sit overnight.

If you’re using an ice cream maker that requires freezing the bowl (like my Kitchen Aid) don’t forget to freeze your bowl.

Day 2: Make  your custard:

(4) Strain milk to remove mint /lemon (put the lemon/mint back in the jar and stick it in the fridge for later use).

(6) Combine egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and beat thoroughly with a whisk until lightened in color and smooth.

Heat milk and cream on stovetop until bubbles are just forming around the of your pot.  (7) Slowly add the hot milk mixture, a little bit at a time, continuing to stir.  When the all the milk has been added and the mixture is combined, return to the pot.  Cook over medium heat until mixture reaches 160 degrees, or had thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon – note, for this recipe, mine never gets that thick, so don’t worry too much about it.

(8) Remove from heat, and place custard in an ice bath to chill.

(9) Return the mint and lemon to the mixture, and add your vanilla and bourbon.  Refrigerate overnight.

Day 3:  Make Gelato!

Strain your custard, and place in your ice cream maker (assuming your don’t actually own a gelato maker, of course).  Use the lowest speed possible–gelato ideally should be made at a lower speed, incorporating less air than icecream, to achieve it’s texture.   Freeze until a soft serve consistency is reached. (similar photos here.)

Either serve immediately soft-serve  if you like, or freeze for several hours to a more solid consistency.

(10) Garnish with a sprig of mint, and offer your guests a little extra bourbon for the top if they so desire!

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3. Iced Tea Gelato, and more Summer Recipes!

For some reason Mother’s Day is always about a *light* brunch, yeesh -what if your mom likes super-heavy fried chicken+mashed potatoes+biscuits like me?? Hm. Whatever – tradition says dainty, light ‘brunch, brunch, brunch’ so here are a few of my fave sweet brunch recipes. (You can always serve it with a side of fried chicken.)

Go get them all here:  Mother’s Day Brunch

 

I love this idea – which would be perfect for a brunch, especially if mom is a fan of bacon:

At Can You Stay For Dinner:And no, I’ll never again share a photo of two sweet ‘n’ gritty cornbread pancakes acting as the bread in which I stuffed crisp applewood smoked bacon strips, thick slices of vine ripened tomatoes, crispy green leaf lettuce, and crumbly blue cheese.

I just won’t, okay?

And I’m not going to tell you how delicious it was.

Go read the whole thing and get the recipe: Cornbread BLTs

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This is a fabulous idea!

Check out this adorable ‘carrot’ filled with egg salad from Hungry Happenings- a fun addition to an easter brunch, maybe?

From the site: There is only one spring day that starts off with your family running around the yard in search of decorated eggs. Easter Sunday is quite unique in that respect.  After our Easter egg hunts we have always gathered up our decorated eggs and whisked them off to the kitchen to add some Miracle Whip before turning them into deviled eggs or egg salad.  It’s a simple recipe, just two ingredients, but one I still enjoy even though my palate has been expanded immensely over the years. I know everyone has their own favorite recipe for these classic dishes and am certain that many (most, maybe) of you enjoy them on Easter.

Go read the whole thing and see how to make it..:  Carrot Crescents Filled with Egg Salad

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Love this idea from Duhlicious!

Jello Easter Eggs made in the shell… and plus the idea of making them into Jello shots?  Awesomeness.  Will have to try these!

Go read the whole thing and get the instructions: Jello Easter Eggs

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1. Easter Egg Prep – How to blow eggs!
2. Easter wrapup, and Share your easter eggs!
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Love this idea… Should definitely come up with some variations using other types of Peeps :)

From Babble:

Until this Sunday, when the kids and I dressed them in little tuxedoes of white and dark chocolate.  Suddenly, I couldn’t get enough of them. I’m not embarrassed to admit I let each of the kids eat one, while I bit the crunchy little tuxedos off of a handful of Peeps all by my lonesome.  Turns out, plain old Peeps are kinda cute to look at, but dress them up with a dandy coat of chocolate, and suddenly you’ve got a treat you won’t be able to resist.

Go Read the whole thing and find out how to make them! Tuxedo Peeps

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Guiness Corned Beef

Irish Car Bomb Bread Pudding

Niki’s Homemade Corned Beef and Cabbage

St. Patty’s Ideas – Corned Beef & Cabbage Tacos

Irish Car Bomb Ice-cream Sundae

Spotlight- Guinness Spiced Muffins

Leftover Potato Pancakes

How to Cook Greens……for St. Patricks Day!

Happy Saint Patty’s day: just add pesto.

Spotlight: St Pats Day Maki!

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There were some awesome ideas in the comments for neat things to do with the cards… Thanks to all who entered! I’ll be emailing the winners.

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• I first heard about Leprechaun traps a few years ago when we used to get Family Fun mag. Here are their ideas..very kid friendly to make.
• Not Martha’s awesome Leprechaun trap CAKE!  (pictured)  There’s a rainbow inside!
• Geeky and fun to build Leprechan traps at Wired.
• Here’s the whole process of catching a leprechaun at Raising Southwells
• Another roundup of trap ideas at How Does She.

More leprechaun/St. Pat’s links:

A Leprechaun Lunch (he stole a bite!) from Gourmet Mom on the Go

Rainbow pudding from Craftzine

Chica & Jo make (Harry Potter) Butterbeer, green for St. Pats!

40 Crafts for St. Pats at Dollar Store Craft

Rice Krispie Shamrocks at Little Birdie Secrets

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1. St. Pat’s recipe roundup
2. St Patrick’s Day cooking…
3. Linky goodness…

As a blogger, I get offers all the time to do a giveaways or sample a product.  Most of them I don’t deal with, but this one was one I had to pass along.  I’ve been a fan of moo.com for ages, and when Moo offered to let me giveaway some of their business cards to you guys, I was thrilled.  Because these are some really cool cards.  First off, you can put a different image on every card in the pack!  Because of this, these are great not only for business cards, but also for a ton of other uses.   You could make a custom playing card deck, or a ‘concentration’ type game (here’s an alphabet game), or a cool piece of art.  A few years ago I got my Mom mini cards with different pictures of The Boy on them, so she could hand out photos of the grandchild when she met knew people :).

I, however, decided i really needed some new business cards for my web design business, but I wanted some that were more ‘corporate’ looking, and some that were more clever and fun.  Check out all the options here!

So I designed some that reflect my dandelion branding, and some others that use some of my artwork.  Aren’t they nifty?  I repurposed the art from my Robot World 1.0 series and put the poor bots to shilling for my web design services.

The cards came out wonderfully.  They are thick, glossy, and lovely, much better than the average cards that I have ordered in the past from other companies.  Check out all the options here!

So, what would you do with your cards?  Leave a comment here!  I’ll pick 3 lucky winners to win 100 cards themselves!  A tweet or a blog post linking to this will also show up here in the comments, and will get you another entry.

Disclosure: Moo provided me a credit to order the cards to review, but my opinions are my own!

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So Sunday evening, after a marathon session of watching Series 2 of Doctor Who with the Boy (who between that and Harry Potter is becoming quite the Anglophile), we had the sudden realization that Tuesday was Valentines Day… oops!  I guess we need a bunch of cards for the classmates!

Yesterday after school we sat down to come up with Vday cards, and the Boy (first grade) has been obsessed with the idea of Valentine’s Monsters.  Well, he’s a boy, so monsters just come with the territory.  He had a blast designing his own cards, and with a little help from mom & Photoshop, here are the results!

How to make your own easy and personal homemade monster cards:

1. Have the kid design his own monster on a full sheet of paper.  We used pencil for the lines and colored with light colored markers. Have the monster hold his hand out, so that you can add your own real-life lollipop. (The Boy insisted on 3 different designs)
2. Write a pithy saying.   The boy decided on “Have a Yummy Valentine’s Day” for one, and “I’m watching you, Valentine” for the one with all the eyes.  OK, a little stalker-y, but he’s 6.  This isn’t supposed to be Hallmark!  He wrote out the saying, and signed the cards.
3. Scan the drawing and the words.  If you have photoshop or something similar, you can make the scanned drawing look a little cleaner by adjusting the Levels.  (Slide the left most slider slightly to the right, and the rightmost slider to the left, to remove shadows from the scan and darken the lines.)
4. Use a photo editing program to shrink down both pieces so you can fit approximately 8 cards on a page.  We used the same words with 2 of the monsters, to save time, since his writing isn’t exactly speedy.
5. Print on cardstock, and cut apart.
6. Use an exacto knife to cut two slits near the hand, and slide the lollipop through.

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