Homemade Ice Cream: Take 1

For my bridal shower a few weeks ago, I received an ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid mixer from my Aunt Penny and my cousins (awesome, right?). And I have been dying to try it out since I opened it.

Well, I got the ingredients for the French Vanilla ice cream recipe I found in the instruction packet (I included it below) on Monday and I was so excited!  I mixed everything up Monday after work, and then I froze the bowl and chilled the cream mixture overnight. Last night, after work I took the ice cream maker on its maiden voyage.

The results were delicious (although a little too soft/runny in my opinion), and it was a welcome distraction from working out a monthly budget and arranging car insurance (apparently, you can't insure a car on a plan that is separate from the person on the title, and since my car is technically owned by my mom and step-dad ... anyway, its a work in progress thanks to some amazing help from my wonderful Mother in Law :).

Here are some pictures of my latest culinary endeavor and the recipe.

Even Sabrina wanted some :)

Now, I ran the ice cream maker an extra 10 minutes and also froze the ice cream for about 3 hours after I made it before eating it, but it was still a touch runny for my liking, any tips would be most welcome!

French Vanilla Ice Cream

2.5 cups half-and-half

8 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

2.5 cups whipping cream

4 teaspoons vanilla

Dash of salt

 In medium saucepan over medium heat, heat half-and-half until very hot but not boiling, stirring often. Remove from heat; set aside.

Place egg yolks and sugar in mixer bowl. Attach bowl and wire whip to mixer. Turn to Speed 2 and mix about 30 seconds, or until well blended and slightly thickened. Continuing on Speed 2, very gradually add half-and-half; mix until blended. Return half-and-half mixture to medium saucepan; cook over medium heat until small bubbles form around edge and mixture is steamy, stirring constantly. Do not boil. Transfer half-and-half mixture into large bowl; stir in whipping cream, vanilla, and salt. Cover and chill thoroughly, at least 8 hours.

Once thoroughly chilled and freeze bowl is properly frozen (at least 15 hours in the freezer), assemble the bowl and proper attachments. Turn to STIR (Speed 1). Using a container with a spout, pour mixture into freeze bowl. Continue on STIR (Speed 1) for 15 to 20 minutes or until desired consistency. Immediately transfer ice cream into serving dishes, or freeze in an airtight container.

Recipe courtesy of KitchenAid® Ice Cream Maker Instructions and Recipes

A FairyTale Wedding

Well, here I go again. Fair warning - I'm a terrible blogger. However, I'm really going to try this time.

I really want to document the first year of my Happily Ever After with my amazing husband (a collection of stories, revelations, recipes, pictures, etc.), so I'll start at the very beginning (a very good place to start, right?).


4 Days ago I was fortunate enough to marry the love of my life and my best friend at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida! It was a dream come true (I promise I will stop with the cliches eventually, but don't hold your breath). As with most weddings we started with a plan, but fate had other ideas.

Here was the plan:
The Setting: an outdoor 5:00pm ceremony at the beautiful and serene Sunset Point at Disney's Polynesian Resort with dinner to follow at O'Hana also at the Polynesian.

The Players: 8 guests (10 including ourselves) consisting of the Bride (me), the Groom, the Mother and Father of the Groom, the Mother, Step-Father, Father, and Step-Mother of the Bride, Sister of the Groom and Brother of the Bride were all that there was room for at the planned setting. But to be joined at the reception by the best friend of the grooms sister, the bride's sister in law, niece, step-sister, and aunt.

The Script: a short and reasonably traditional civil ceremony with personalized vows to be read by the Bride and the Groom.

But then...

Fate stepped in and threw an 80% chance of rain at us, so the wedding had to be moved inside. The original "rain location" was Tangaroa Terrace at the Polynesian, but our Fairy Godmother of a wedding coordinator was able to work some magic and get us into Disney's famous Wedding Pavillion. A stunning chapel with grand windows overlooking Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom. Not only was this a much more beautiful location, but we now had room to include the other guests! The other major alteration was that no personal vows were read (it seems that in all of the confusion the officiant forgot that part :) - but he was absolutely great)!

Anyway it was magical and beautiful and we both said "I do," so here we are, old and married.

 The Chapel (where we went and got married)

 "We Do"

 We Did

 And then we ate cake!

Anyway, there it is, the beginning of our Happily Ever After Part. 

Hopefully I can remember to post regularly.....