The Spice Rack

Forgetta bout it.

2011-07-25T14:40:00.008-04:00

I am a woman of my word and let's just say, we've been having some ice cream 'round here. Big thanks to my babe Henry for healing his gut in time for me to partake in the seasonal dairy deliciousness.

While I've taken the easy way out and just scooped the ice cream out of store-bought containers, the other night when we had friends over for dinner, I decided to try a homemade topping to make it a little more fancy. First, I chose to make a salted butter caramel sauce which looked and smelled so amazing that we were hovering around the pot with spoons. Then we tried it and I'm just going to assume I took the caramel too far because it was incredibly bitter tasting and disgusting. We were in such denial that we thought it would get better as it cooled or better with ice cream. Nope, it didn't. Burnt sugar is burnt sugar, people. I felt defeated. Actually, I was just plain pissed at myself for wasting the cream and butter! I don't take kindly to kitchen failures.

Thankfully, friend time cures all. After a lovely afternoon noshing and chatting, I was up for another try. I changed gears though and went for a butterscotch sauce.

I have to ask you to do something first.

I want you to forget about everything you think you know about butterscotch sauce.

I want you to forget that it is usually an odd brown with a sometimes hint of nuclear yellow.

I want you to forget it usually comes out of a pump or a squeeze tube.

I want you to forget that it's usually so sweet you could go into sugar shock after a bite.

I want you to forget that you don't like butterscotch.

I want you to forget that you ever bought an ice cream topping in a store.

I want you to forget that you think you can't make ice cream sauce at home because it might be 'tricky' or take a long time.

I want you to forget all those things and remember to add dark brown sugar and heavy cream to your grocery list this week. I'm going to assume you already have the salt, butter, and vanilla, ok? If you don't have those things in stock, why are we friends? I kid!

Because here's the deal. Even though 'they' say it's cooling down this week, it's still going to be hot and it's your right to eat a whole lotta ice cream in the summer. And you need to promise me you are going to try this at least once. It's going to take you maybe 10-15 minutes total. Really. That includes fumbling around for the right pot in your 'very organized' cabinet and gathering your ingredients Rachel Ray style.

Seriously. You are going to want to top it on everything, but I highly recommend at least starting with vanilla bean ice cream and topping it when the sauce is still a touch warm. You will thank me and remember how right I was about that whole butterscotch thing.

You're welcome in advance. Now go win friends and influence people with an ice cream topping.

As usual, this is from Smitten Kitchen. You can go there for prettier pictures for sure.

Ridiculously Easy Butterscotch Sauce

I usually hate when recipes are titled with 'ridiculously easy', but this time, it's really, really true.

Smitten Kitchen (She writes that it was adapted from The Washington Post who adapted it from The Perfect Cake)

1/4 cup (or 1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup packed dark or light brown sugar (I used dark)

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp flaky sea salt or 1/4 tsp regular table salt

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Melt butter in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar, cream, and salt and whisk until well blended. Bring to a very gentle boil and cook for about five minutes, whisking occasionally.

Remove from heat and add the vanilla and stir to combine. You can add more vanilla and salt at this point, but I really liked the flavor of the above proportions. The sauce will thicken as it cools. Make it right after dinner and it will be perfect consistency by the time you've digested enough to have room for dessert.

This can be served cold or warm (please, go for warm) and easily stores in the fridge in an airtight container for up to two weeks. Can be reheated in the microwave or small saucepan.

The end.

Travel quirk.

2011-06-30T10:17:00.008-04:00

Hey Y'all! Tell me, why is the southern accent so infectious? After two weeks in the south, The Boss and I were getting pretty impressionable as far as the language goes;)

We were beaching it as well as visiting family and friends over the past few weeks and I just had to laugh at myself after some gentle ribbing by family members regarding one of my apparent travel quirks.

I seem to bring an apron and microplane grater along more often than not.

What? Is that weird?

Such is my life! Well, I don't hear anyone complaining about the cooking that results from this type of travel packing!

And it's no crazier than say, my four year old who refuses to take off swim goggles during dinner!

Beach life was good. Now off to figure out what day it is before I sink any further into this post-vacation brain mush.

Ahh...summer.

I pledge.

2011-06-04T11:29:00.008-04:00

My college roommate recently wrote a blog post about her summer pledge and it mostly involved icy summer treats (she already does triathlons and such so she doesn't need to put things like exercise on her list). It got me thinking about my summer pledges, which coincidentally, also involves a lot of icy summer treats! Especially since I'm leaning back into the world of dairy (woo).

It's going to be an interesting summer. For the first time in our years together, Hank and I will both be home and free of that whole day job thing for the entire summer. In theory, this means a lot of stuff can be accomplished. It also means we can do a whole lot of goofing off if we play it right.

In addition, I plan to say, "Go ask your father." a lot! Bwahahahahahaha.

I've vowed to stop being what I call an "idea gatherer" and will work on putting plans into motion. I've already started on that. Lots of work to happen after vacation. The words Summer Pledge seem so much more motivating than something like New Years Resolutions. I'll be anxious to see my progress come August when I'm shipping Hank off to work and The Boss off to school. The nice thing is that even if we shirk some jobs along the way, it was in the name of good fun with our kids.

We haven't started making popsicles, ice cream, or sorbet yet, because we're still all about crunch. Sweet potato chips to be exact. Yeah, we're still making everything into chips. To go with one of our favorite dips which I just so happened to whip up for Father's Day. It's from one of our favorite restaurants of all time, Kaya. The dip is spicy and so good with the slight sweet and salty flavors of the homemade chips. The restaurant serves this with sweet potato and other root vegetable chips that are fried, but we're all crazy for the baked sweet potato chips around here. The in-laws are crazy about them, too when they were here for Father's Day. Everyone devoured the dip and chips before I could even get outside to take photos. Ahh well, it won't be the last time these make an appearance. The only downside is that these recipes call for turning on your oven which is I think against the law in the summer. Save these in your back pocket if you'd like.

The vacation countdown begins today and somehow I think giving Hank a hammock for Father's Day really wasn't the way to go if I wanted anything to be accomplished this week or during the summer for that matter. Certainly I have no designs on that hammock. Nope, not me. Relax? What? Never! I only bought the hammock for him.

Baked Sweet Potato Chips

Using a mandoline or if you have mad knife skills, thinly slice sweet potatoes (we keep the skin on) and lightly toss with olive or canola oil. Place on baking sheet making sure the potatoes do not touch or overlap each other. Bake at 400 degrees anywhere from 10-20 minutes, depending on how big your pieces are. The edges will start to curl up and turn slightly brown. Remove potato pieces and place on a cookie rack to cool and sprinkle with sea salt.

Kaya's Yucatan Black Bean Dip

I snagged this recipe off of their website years ago before they probably realized they shouldn't put their recipes on their site;)

3 cups cooked black beans

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/2 can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (I typically only use 3 peppers and it's spicy enough)

chihuaha or monterey jack cheese, about a half cup

green onions for garnish

In a food processor, add half of the black beans, mayo, parmesan, chili powder, cayenne, and chipotles. Process until well mixed and smooth. Add in remainder of black beans and pulse a few times. You want some of the black beans to have some texture. Place mixture into a baking dish, sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and dip is bubbling around the edges. Sprinkle with green onions if you wish. Serve with chips of any kind. If you aren't into making your own chips, a bag of Terra chips works really well!

Late to the party.

2011-05-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

If you read any kind of food blog whatsoever in the past year or more, you've probably seen someone rave about kale chips.

Kale? Turned into a crispy chip? Granted, I'm one of those weird people who actually likes her greens, but I can't deny that I got pretty excited that I could possibly make something so incredibly super food healthy and have it taste like junk food.

And one day my husband knocked me over by bringing home kale. It was fate. So we gave it a whirl. I'm going to be honest here. I think my expectations were too high. Just so you know, kale chips will not taste like Doritos. They will not taste like Cheetos. Are you getting a sense of my forbidden snack foods? They will not taste like potato chips either. Shocking, I know.

They were incredibly crunchy and nicely salted. They were fine for a healthy snack, although I thought they were a tad bitter. That could be a result of the type of kale though. They reminded me why I like roasted cauliflower--the browned crispy bits. I think adding some other flavors would help it out for me. The reason I will continue to make them is that The Boss thought they were awesome.

That is a kid eating kale. Willingly.

While we ate our dinner, she asked to crumble the chips into her pasta.

So there ya go.

You can find a bunch of kale chips right here. Crunch.

photo of the day-music lover.

2011-05-24T10:35:00.003-04:00

My girl, lost in her music. The tunes of the day are from the movie Tangled soundtrack.

Reminds me of me and my dual cassette boombox (awww yeah, mixed tapes!).

She listens on her Sweet Pea MP3 player. While it's a little pricey for the storage capacity, this thing is rugged. And since she's my kid, she is just hard on stuff in general. Clothes, shoes or gear of any type. We can ruin things pretty quickly without even trying.

There is a parental lock for volume which is nice so we can set it for bedtime or daytime listening levels. We've loaded audio books and have multiple folders of her favorite music. What I'm trying to say is Santa really knew what he was doing with this music player for kids. Trust me, I'm not even paid to say so!

Believe it or not, I'm even digging some songs from the Tangled soundtrack. Thank you, Grace Potter!

I'm a believer.

2011-05-12T09:40:00.000-04:00

While there are so many stark contrasts between the babe and The Boss, everything from their entry into the world to sleep habits, I have to say as a mom the second time around, one of the biggest differences for me is that I read nothing about babies. It's awesome. I go purely by gut or gather opinions from my pool of trusted moms. Granted, when I suspected something was wrong, I may have sought after Dr. Google's advice, but then quickly closed my screen and asked a pediatrician friend instead. Armed with a trusted mom pool and my own experience, I'm comfortable leaving the books behind and just living life with this baby.

So when unbelievably, we reached that six month mark and everyone started talking about what food he was eating, I think I let out a small groan. Oh yeah, we're supposed to do food! The first time around I was all gung-ho to make my own purees and spoon feed. It was something new to do! This time I need some reminding why other food is important:) I've had a few friends subscribe to the baby led weaning process in which you forego the purees and let the babes have chunks of food that they can control. They'll bite off what they can, chew what they can handle, and spit out the rest. As a first time mom this method would strike fear. "But the baby will CHOKE!"

Since Henry has a milk protein allergy (yeah, that means due to breastfeeding I am off all things cheese and butter and then some! Shocker that I am still alive, I know!) so we were encouraged to go pretty slowly with the food anyway. So far I've done a mix of mashes and large chunks of soft food for him. He wants nothing to do with being spoon fed. It has to be under his control. Will he take a spoon in his hand and try to get the contents off it? Yes. Will he open his mouth like a little bird when I try to feed him. Nope. Will he eat a banana or sweet potato if I give him a large piece of it? Yes he will!

Amazing. I'm a believer. Yes, yes I am. Buh-bye baby books. More fun books for me.

Five years ago if you told me that I'd be a cloth-diapering, non-cheese eating, don't-worry-about-the-baby-food kind of mama, I'd be giggling quite a bit.

Change is good.

photo of the day-sometimes Mother Nature gets it all wrong.

2011-04-20T10:00:00.000-04:00

Really glad we spent all that time/money putting down weed preventing landscaping fabric with a 20 year guarantee! Hello my green little nemesis.

Seriously, I think scientists should look into properties of the thistle for the fountain of youth or something.

Photo of the day-sometimes Mother Nature gets it right.

2011-04-19T10:48:00.002-04:00

Enjoying our own little cherry blossom festival.

Anticipation.

2011-04-15T08:47:00.003-04:00

Things I am currently anticipating:

1) full bloom of my weeping cherry tree. Maybe this weekend.

2) Girls Weekend #1. This year I have to forego the awesomeness of spending the whole weekend away with my local girls because I'm just not ready to leave the lil' guy for three days, but getting to spend a day with all my girls in this now grand tradition will be wonderful and much needed. Operation All Children Left Behind is a go.

3) Girls Weekend #2 (with families). Can't wait to see my other set of girls, the way-too-far- away ones, for a long Easter weekend. The packing list is staggering. It kind of looks like this: See all things in house. Pack it all in car. Don't forget children and food. The end.

4) Teeth: the lil' man is amazingly days away from six months old and two teeth are close to popping through. Can't believe we're already there and food, crawling, and college is not far behind for him! Gah! I think second babies grow faster in a separate space/time continuum.

5) my camera battery charging. Hence, no photo today!

Hope you have something fun to anticipate!

Photo of the day-the first of many.

2011-04-13T12:15:00.002-04:00

Boo-boos that is. Nice weather+lots of running+pavement=inevitable splat+blood.

I hate the injury part of parenthood. This is just the beginning, isn't it?

Boo-boo Bunny to the rescue.

Photo of the day-goodnight story.

2011-04-08T19:53:00.002-04:00

If you know me at all, you know how much I value the act of reading to kids. In fact, this love spilled over into volunteer work I used to do with and early literacy program called Beginning with Books. Due to financial insolvency, the program came to an end last year. A huge loss to low-income children in the Pittsburgh area. Since my stint with Beginning with Books ended, I've spent countless hours reading to that big girl in the picture. Oh did my heart swell when I saw the above take place. She still "reads" by memorization, but she's on the cusp of learning the right way. The babe doesn't care, he's entranced either way. It's all about passing the baton.

Photo of the day-naked guy in charcoal

2011-04-07T11:00:00.003-04:00

Ugly naked guy. That's what I titled this charcoal drawing of mine from 1999. I took a drawing class for fun when I worked at the university and had an education benefit to use. While charcoal is so very messy, I really loved that medium. This was also the first time I ever tried to draw people, let alone naked people.

I would love to do portraits of my children. I'd have to do it by night light when they are sleeping I suppose. No one sits still in this house.

And this drawing has a funny story to it. I had it hanging in my "bachelorette pad" and a friend of mine came over for drinks one day after work. She was the kind of person that seemed to know everyone. She asked "Is that Joey?" I said I didn't know they guy's name as it was just a male model from my art class. I said that the guy really smelled and wore jeans that were held together with safety pins in a purposeful sort of way. She said yeah, that's him. It was official. She really did know everyone.

As I sit in our home office which is slowly becoming my creative space (since really, when do we ever use it as an office?) and where this drawing currently resides, I'm reminded how much more balanced my life is these days. Perhaps it's because the babe is so chill is his temperament and sleep habits are great or maybe it's because I realized my mistake the last time around when I gave up too much all at once. Regardless, I feel like I'm reclaiming parts of myself that were on hold for a while. All of my former extracurriculars are back in full swing. It feels really, really good. And a happy Mama makes for a happy family.

Photo of day-itsy bitsy

2011-04-06T10:00:00.002-04:00

This is today's definition of cute: itty bitty jeans and nifty little socks.

Of course I think baby socks rank up there with Christmas tree pine needles, beach or sandbox sand, and Easter grass. Once these things are in your house you will find them in random places until the end of time.

Photo of the day-the beginning.

2011-04-05T10:44:00.004-04:00

Very rarely a day goes by that I don't take a photo of something. Usually kiddos, but other things do catch my eye. Why not start sharing them with you?

I received this orchid for my birthday a few years ago. It took two years for it to bloom again, but it was worth the wait. It's been in full bloom for nearly a month with no signs of withering. It's a nice contrast to the gray outside.

Sibling love.

2011-03-03T21:16:00.006-05:00

Reasons I love this photo:

1) She is consoling her brother

2) Both my kids love to be naked and that they are

3) Her hands are covered in marker, just like they are every. single. day.

Why I hate the rest of these photos:

1) It makes me want to have 18 more children.

Ok, not really (both on the hating of the photos and having 18 more children). I love these photos immensely.

Very soon, her biggest fear will be realized: there will be slobber on her Legos.

Just call me Cookie Monster.

2011-01-13T21:07:00.006-05:00

I did so little baking for the holiday that I think I am making up for lost cookies lately. Sure, we did our sugar cookie cutouts which may have included a witch and a ghost. I picked up a little trick along with that recipe which calls for you to roll out the cookies with powdered sugar instead of flour!

Anyway, cookies just seem like the winter thing to do. You know, the oven will help heat the house! The Boss is always eager to help! We get cookies at the end! There are cookies waiting for me after the kiddos are in bed! There are just a lot of positives that go along with cookies. Lately, I've been craving those with warm spices and such. Cinnamon. Ginger. Nutmeg. Cloves. These have it all. And if you are in that camp that believe chocolate chips help everything, it has those, too.

The only downside is that you have to chill the dough. Which means waiting. My almost four year old exclaimed "We have to wait TWO HOURS?!" Anything longer than immediately was going to be a long time for her. So we shoveled some snow. 'Cause that's also the winter thing to do.

Martha Stewart's Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

7 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups plus 1 TBSP flour

1 1/4 TSP ground ginger

1 TSP cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 TBSP cocoa powder

1 stick unsalted butter

1 TBSP freshly grated ginger (I omitted this)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup unsulfured molasses

1 TSP baking soda

1/4 cup sugar

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa.

In the bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter and grated ginger about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar and beat until combined. Add molasses; beat until combined.

In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 TSP of boiling water. Beat half of the flour mixture into butter mixture. Beat in baking soda mixture, then remaining half of flour mixture. Mix in chocolate; turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Pat dough out to about 1 inch thick; seal with wrap and refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or more.

Heat oven to 325. Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls; place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Roll in granulated sugar. Bake until surfaces crack slightly, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Santa will like these.

2010-12-19T12:32:00.010-05:00

These aren't a special holiday cookie, but one I spied on the back of a flour bag when making pizza dough one Friday afternoon. Peanut butter. Oats. Chocolate. It had to be a winner.

It was! Definitely eat one warm and then the rest are great dunkers.

And I promise, Henry's double chin is not a product of eating the cookies. Now back to my regularly scheduled program of kissing a chin dimple.

Robin Hood Flour's Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1 cup quick cooking or old fashioned oats

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350. Beat butter, sugars, peanut butter, vanilla and eggs until creamy and well blended. Stir in flour, oats, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown (I made mine big and they took about 14 minutes). Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Otherwise known as.

2010-11-04T11:45:00.005-04:00

Introducing Henry Ellis--

but he is more likely to answer to:

Buddy

Handsome

Big Guy

Lil' Man

Mr. Man

Pooper Pooper

Mister

Honeypie

No matter what he's called, all I know is that we're all madly in love with him, including The Boss, in case you were worried.

Naturally, by the time he hit 7 days of life The Boss noted we had yet to make a birthday cake...a most fabulous idea if you have a baby that sleeps (and this one does! so far anyway). The cake part was this and the icing, one of our absolute faves, was this (see bottom of the page for icing recipe).

Of course, I find myself nibbling on baby cheeks more than anything.

You know you're ready...

2010-10-08T09:49:00.005-04:00

to have a baby when you start considering gluing candy corn to a wreath.I'm not a fan of this candy, so it's not an abomination to "waste" it on such a thing. I think this is adorable as a Halloween decoration though. My other family members and some friends would probably be found nibbling near the front door if such a thing hung in our house. Instructions can be found here and tips on preserving it found here.

If I run out of things to organize in the next week, this might make it to the To Do list. You don't suppose The Boss is capable of helping me with this one, do you? One for the wreath, six for me. That's how I think that one would go.

Excuse me while I go organize the silverware.

What it really means.

2010-09-14T09:26:00.006-04:00

I know this much to be true.

When your 3.5 year old asks "Want to see my super cool new trick?" this inevitably means your husband will get clocked in the nuts some how every.single.time.

When your 3.5 year old asks "how do you spell YOUR name" while coloring nicely in the playroom while you prep dinner, it means she actually endorsed every single check with crayon in the checkbook she found.And when your 3.5 year old asks "what is your account number?" then you run for the hills, or at least ship them off to preschool.
Good luck, preschool teachers! Good luck, indeed.

Before he gets here.

2010-09-08T23:33:00.011-04:00

Before this blog makes room for one more babe....A little ode to The Boss at a most awesome age.
And just because Jen did an awesome job of capturing the spirit of my big (baby) girl and I wanted to share.Pinch me.

When a knitter itches for fall.

2010-09-06T06:30:00.000-04:00

The cool temperatures of the past few days has me thinking ahead in a big way. When I propped my feet up and grabbed the yarn to knit this, my intent was to do a wee version for my October punkin. In walked The Boss. She saw the picture in the book and said, "You should make mine first because he's not even here yet." I had no argument for her. Here I thought she was too much of a big girl for cutesy accessories. I'm pretty sure the days are numbered.But really, can you ever have too much pumpkin the fall? I think not.

Progress.

2010-09-05T08:58:00.005-04:00

From the girl who was determined not to have a blue room just because she was having a boy.
But when the fabric in her head didn't exist in all of Pittsburgh and internet land, she took a new direction. And was happy.

You can see what we've been up to this weekend. Nothing makes me more excited than getting our little one's room ready. Now if he's anything like his big sister, he won't see the amazing light of day in his room for quite some time, but that's ok.

The fabric is Alexander Henry 2d Zoo in Pool which I purchased through Etsy. It will become a crib skirt and who knows where it may show up in other accessories, if at all. I'm not one for crazy amounts of matchy matchy. But I love all the colors (especially my green).
Soliciting your suggestions, of course!And if you know me in real life, I'll demand them of you when you come to my house:)

Living in her left hand world.

2010-09-03T07:23:00.006-04:00

It's pretty apparent my girl is a lefty. Ever since she could hold a spoon or a crayon, it's been in the left hand. She's tried using the other hand, but it just never works quite right for her. Not that this has posed any problems or anything, but lately I've been noticing something peculiar. If she has her paper slanted the wrong way for her (something I'm going to have to get used to since I'm a righty) or if she is starting to write and there isn't enough room in the correct direction, she writes in mirror image in the opposite direction.

Is this a left hand thing or just a crazy brain thing?

Correct
Not enough space? Write in mirror image!
I love brains. I wish I could get into hers.

p.s. I think my blogging needs to become a little more like Facebook status updates. Short and sweet, otherwise, The Spice Rack is on its way out.

Vay-cay-SHUN

2010-07-18T11:11:00.009-04:00

It's been about a million years, or so it seems, since we've returned from our beach vacation in which we shunned all things TV, phone and computer related. The only thing I wanted to be connected to was my family and the surf. Oh my, how delicious it was! Swim, eat, nap, swim, snack, swim or bike, eat, sleep. Rinse and repeat every single day. Not too shabby.
So, I see it's been about a million years since I've visited my own blog, too. Since I'm pregnant in the heat of the summer and it's my job to provide you with some very stereotypical pregnant woman fare, I present to you a most fantastic ice cream recipe. I made this to share with some girlfriends because that's just like a mini vacation in itself. And it was National Ice Cream Day. And it had caramel in it. And it's been on my to-make list for over a year. It was time.

My intent was to make ice cream sandwiches out this, but I didn't for three reasons: 1) because of the caramel in the recipe, it makes for a very soft ice cream. I had to churn this about twice as long as usual and even still I wasn't sure it would freeze properly; 2) the cookie recipe I used was a bomb. It pains me to say this, since I've never had a failed anything come from Smitten Kitchen, but I just thought these cookies were blah. The texture was there, but the flavor was not. Perhaps some hoity toity cocoa powder would help; 3) the flavor of the ice cream stands alone. I didn't think anyone would miss the cookies.

Based on the fact that pretty much everyone said, "oh Michelle! (insert moan and groan here)" as they licked it from the spoon, I think I was right. It's powerful stuff, this caramel ice cream. A way to win friends, or at least ensure they stick around a little longer! A little labor intensive, but worth it, especially knowing that my days may be numbered to fool around with such nonsense as caramel custard ice cream. Oh wait, this one is going to be my sleepy baby. I keep telling myself that. I hope it works that way.

Til then, we're just going to float around as much as we can.

Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream
by David Lebovitz--see his recipe and picture tutorial here

For the caramel praline (mix-in)
I omitted this. I actually did make it, but then could barely get it to release from the pan. Then I tasted the ice cream and decided it was caramel enough without the mix-in.

½ cup (100 gr) sugar
¾ teaspoon sea salt, such as fleur de sel

For the ice cream custard

2 cups (500 ml) whole milk, divided
1½ cups (300 gr) sugar
4 tablespoons (60 gr) salted butter
scant ½ teaspoon sea salt
1 cups (250 ml) heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

1. To make the caramel praline, spread the ½ cup (100 gr) of sugar in an even layer in a medium-sized, unlined heavy duty saucepan: I use a 6 quart/liter pan. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or brush it sparingly with unflavored oil.

2. Heat the sugar over moderate heat until the edges begin to melt. Use a heatproof utensil to gently stir the liquefied sugar from the bottom and edges towards the center, stirring, until all the sugar is dissolved. (Or most of it—there may be some lumps, which will melt later.)

Continue to cook stirring infrequently until the caramel starts smoking and begins to smell like it's just about to burn. It won't take long.

3. Without hesitation, sprinkle in the ¾ teaspoon salt without stirring (don't even pause to scratch your nose), then pour the caramel onto the prepared baking sheet and lift up the baking sheet immediately, tilting and swirling it almost vertically to encourage the caramel to form as thin a layer as possible. Set aside to harden and cool.

4. To make the ice cream, make an ice bath by filling a large bowl about a third full with ice cubes and adding a cup or so of water so they're floating. Nest a smaller metal bowl (at least 2 quarts/liters) over the ice, pour 1 cup (250 ml) of the milk into the inner bowl, and rest a mesh strainer on top of it.

5. Spread 1½ cups (300 gr) sugar in the saucepan in an even layer. Cook over moderate heat, until caramelized, using the same method described in Step #2.

6. Once caramelized, remove from heat and stir in the butter and salt, until butter is melted, then gradually whisk in the cream, stirring as you go. The caramel may harden and seize, but return it to the heat and continue to stir over low heat until any hard caramel is melted. Stir in 1 cup (250 ml) of the milk.

7. Whisk the yolks in a small bowl and gradually pour some of the warm caramel mixture over the yolks, stirring constantly. Scrape the warmed yolks back into the saucepan and cook the custard using a heatproof utensil, stirring constantly (scraping the bottom as you stir) until the mixture thickens. If using an instant-read thermometer, it should read 160-170 F (71-77 C).

8. Pour the custard through the strainer into the milk set over the ice bath, add the vanilla, then stir frequently until the mixture is cooled down. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or until thoroughly chilled.

9. Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

10. While the ice cream is churning, crumble the hardened caramel praline into very little bits, about the size of very large confetti (about ½-inch, or 1 cm). I use a mortar and pestle, although you can make your own kind of music using your hands or a rolling pin.

11. Once your caramel ice cream is churned, quickly stir in the crushed caramel, then chill in the freezer until firm.

Note: As the ice cream sits, the little bits of caramel may liquefy and get runny and gooey, which is what they're intended to do.