Sunday, September 22, 2013

Day of Cooking Trials: Anise Ice Cream & Garden Fresh Tomato Soup


I've had a few recipes on my to-do list for a week now and was finally able to try them out this afternoon. 

This past week was my friend Lesley's birthday and she's a huge black licorice fan. Once day while I was praising my attempt at homemade ice cream, she asked for Black Licorice Ice Cream. Well, any recipe these days is just one search away. Google and Pinterest are always a cooks best friend. It might be easy to find a recipe, but it's HARD to decide which recipe to try. In this case, there was "white" black licorice ice cream and "cement grey" black licorice ice cream. The second is a bit more detailed and requires alot more work, so I went with the first choice and a simple NO COOK recipe. I have no photos (sorry), but I highly recommend the recipe. The prep was easy and it actually tasted great. I'm not a fan of anise flavoring, but I wasn't going to give it to someone without trying it first. I had a few spoonfuls and that was enough for me, but I knew I struck gold when Lesley called and offered another marriage proposal. So far, I've received a marriage proposal, for my mashed potatoes, my shepard's pie and now THIS.


Anise (White) Licorice Ice Cream

1 1/2 c. Half and Half
3/4 c. Sugar
1 1/2 c. Heavy Cream
2 tsp Anise extract

Mix all ingredients together until sugar is dissolved. Pour into ice cream maker and then follow manufacturing instructions for your ice cream machine. * I doubled my recipe and it made 3-4 quarts once churned 



Now, my next adventure was making some homemade tomato soup. I had about 12 or 14 medium size Roma tomatoes from my garden I wanted to use.  Now, I will say, the recipes calls for 4 cups of diced tomatoes and after I peeled mine, I was left with only 2 cups of tomatoes. That's obviously not enough for a full batch, so my photos only reflect half of what's listed in the recipe. And I'll also note, that recipe reads "6 servings" and unless you are going to drink a half cup of soup, that's not accurate. When I was done with a half batch, I had ONE nice size bowl of soup for my husband. I'll show you the recipe as it read and then talk you through the adjustments I made. 


Garden Fresh Tomato Soup

4 c. chopped fresh tomatoes (I peeled mine with the Hot Water method)
1 sliced whole onion
4 whole garlic cloves
2 cups chicken broth
2 TBSP butter
2 TBSP all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp white sugar or to taste

Directions

In a stockpot, over medium heat, combine the tomatoes, onion, cloves and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, and gently boil for about 20 minutes to blend all of the flavors. 



 Remove from heat and run the mixture through a food mill into a large bowl, or pan. Discard any stuff left over in the food mill. 

(I don't have a food mill, so I first used a submersion blender and then ran the mixture through a small strainer and pressed the mixture until I was just left with the juice) 







In the now empty stockpot, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour to make a roux, cooking until the roux is a medium brown.






Gradually whisk in a bit of the tomato mixture, so that no lumps form, then stir in the rest. Season with sugar and salt, and adjust to taste.  

I go through all that and forget to take a picture of the final shot and finished dish. But I quickly grabbed my husband half finished bowl and took a snap shot. He's the big tomato soup fan in the house, so I selfishly gave him the one bowl it produced. H did tell me that I can waste 12 tomatoes on him any time. He wanted me to know he really enjoyed it and "wasn't just telling me that to make me happy". So I think I officially got a thumbs up on this recipe.




Thursday, September 12, 2013

More Stamp Releases for 2013...

Things sure do seem to be a bit different with holiday stamps this year. They definitely are covering their basis for all kinds of mailings. There are 2 traditional Christmas stamps available, 1 International, 1 Presort set, and 2 contemporary options. Here are the releases I've not covered yet. 



  Virgin and Child Traditional Christmas Stamp
— October 11, 2013 | New York, New York 10199 | Forever stamp in PSA booklet
of 20

The 2013 Traditional Christmas stamp uses a 1531 Madonna and Child painting by Jan Gossaert. Draped in purple and blue, the Virgin Mary supports her own head by leaning on one of her hands, an unusual pose that art historians see as a sign of sadness and contemplation. In her other hand, a curly-haired infant Jesus draped in white holds a bunch of red currants, which scholars believe are meant to foreshadow his future suffering.
Gossaert's painting is currently in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Richard Sheaff was the art director and designer for this stamp. 








Snowflakes Presort Standard Rate Holiday Stamps [Click to see 4 designs]
— October 1 | Weston, MO | Presort Standard Rate stamp in PSA coil of 10,000

One of the new entries in the annual USPS Holiday issues rollout is a set of five different Presorted Standard rate Snowflake stamps. Each snowflake is set against a background of colors that fade from white at the bottom to icy blues and purples at the tops. The designs are reminiscent of the 2005 Snowflakes Holiday First Class stamps. 
Presort Standard Rate stamps are intended for use by volume mailers who have found that mail with a postage stamp affixed instead of a printed indicia has a better chance of being opened by the recipient.


 As someone who sends Christmas cards  internationally each year, I do like the fact that they have an option for that now. I always have to start with one Christmas stamp and then add varied "non festive" stamps with it, to make up the difference. This just makes it FUN! 

The snowflakes aren't something most are going to use and that's too bad. I'd love to have those on Forever stamps to use in the winter for my everyday mail. I really, like the artwork. 

The traditional stamps are never my favorites, but for those that prefer them, I think having two options is great!

I'm still waiting to see what that Harry Potter Forever stamp is all about, but no information just yet. 


Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Kelly Clarkson to Release Christmas Album This Year!!

In early August Kelly Clarkson announced she'll be releasing her first Christmas Album titled "Wrapped in Red"




On September 5th, she tweeted the official track list.  She'll be singing some classic favorites, but does have 5 original songs on the album. How exciting is that!! In her press release she says "I'm super excited to put out my first Christmas record. I absolutely love Christmas music and have had a total blast recording and writing for it. I can't wait for y'all to hear it,"





 The release date is set for October 29th and I'll definitely be picking up my copy early.

“I’m super excited to put out my first Christmas record. I absolutely love Christmas music and have had a total blast recording and writing for it. I can’t wait for y’all to hear it,” revealed Clarkson in a press release.

Read more: kempiredaily.com/kelly-clarkson-announces-first-christmas-album-wrapped-in-red-unwraps-artwork | KempireDaily.com (@KempireDaily)
“I’m super excited to put out my first Christmas record. I absolutely love Christmas music and have had a total blast recording and writing for it. I can’t wait for y’all to hear it,” revealed Clarkson in a press release.

Read more: kempiredaily.com/kelly-clarkson-announces-first-christmas-album-wrapped-in-red-unwraps-artwork | KempireDaily.com (@KempireDaily)
“I’m super excited to put out my first Christmas record. I absolutely love Christmas music and have had a total blast recording and writing for it. I can’t wait for y’all to hear it,” revealed Clarkson in a press release.

Read more: kempiredaily.com/kelly-clarkson-announces-first-christmas-album-wrapped-in-red-unwraps-artwork | KempireDaily.com (@KempireDaily)