Raw Milk Ice Cream: Jamocha Almond Fudge

A new recipe has started for my Raw Milk Ice Cream stash.

My good friend mentioned that she would do my laundry for a year (or something like that) if I would only whip up a batch of Jamocha Almond Fudge Ice Cream.

In the event that you have a sudden craving for some yummy ice cream that is not vanilla, here is the recipe!

Make my Coffee Ice Cream but at the end, just before it's all firm, add some chopped almonds and some chocolate fudge sauce.

It's pretty great and I am thinking my laundry load will be lighter this year:-)

Did you mention Kahlua? Yep, it's great in the coffee ice cream too. Add a tsp to the mixture and you will thank me later:-)

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Tomorrow I will be at Firestone. Remember that incident?

I will be here Wednesday to fill ya'll in on what's going down. Until then....

What Ice Cream Flavor do you want?

It's a Beautiful Thing

We woke up this morning earlier than usual, ate breakfast, got everyone dressed and brushed hair too. This morning the adoption social worker from DFCS came by for her quarterly home visit. It went fine.
She met the children and got to see where we lived. We had to sign ANOTHER form and she went through our list AGAIN of what specifics we were looking for in a child. Now we again wait. Although we do have some specifics (such as a child 5yrs or younger) we are basically pretty flexible, so we will see what happens as we wait. In His perfect timing.

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The week has been one of preparations for not only Christmas, but also for Devin's birthday. We are having a family party tomorrow night complete with his favorite meal and desserts. The younger children decided to make some decorations.

 What's a party without awesome decorations? Handmade banners are the most beautiful thing...

Indiana excitedly crafted a construction paper chain to hang up in the kitchen as well.
On top of the decorating, the kids all bathed and washed their hair and picked out some "fancy" clothes to wear tomorrow night! Daddy is going to have a blowout of a celebration tomorrow!

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Yesterday I spent a good portion of the afternoon sewing some gifts. Let me share.

 These are bowls that I made from cotton clothes line and strips of scrap fabrics. I am filling them up with nice chocolates for gifts. I really enjoy making these because they are easy, fast and beautiful. Each one is also unique in color and size. If you live locally, you can take a class to learn how to make these at Sew Bee It. Of course I encourage you to take the class because you will love it!

 These I actually made for the two little boys of the house. These zippered bags are the perfect size to carry toy cars and trains around, especially on trips to grandma's house.

Finally, I made these earbud cases. This was my first one I made and it doesn't look as neat as I like, but my next several looked great. I have teenagers who are using them for earbuds, a child who is keeping guitar picks in one, and my youngest girl is using hers as a change purse. The tutorial to make these is done very well, and you will really enjoy it!

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It is a well known fact that many holiday traditions include certain foods. I know that I have certain dishes that I only make at Christmas or during this holiday season. One item that is a MUST is our Frost Holiday Punch.
My kids insist on it. They expect it. They ask me everyday if I am going to make it for Christmas Eve. It's that yummy. I also like that I can put it in my punch bowl and it stays cool and slushy. It goes great with a night of finger foods and movies too.

Frosty Holiday Punch

8 C water , divided
3/4 C sugar
6oz package of cherry gelatin powder
46oz can of pineapple juice
2L ginger ale or lemon lime soda


Combine 2 C of water and sugar together in a large pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Add the gelatin and stir until the gelatin and sugar dissolves. Add the pineapple juice and the remaining 6 C of water. Stir well. 
Put the mixture into small containers or freezer bags and freeze. When you are ready for punch, remove frozen punch base from freezer and allow to stand at room temp for about 2 hours. Place in punch bowl and add 2L of ginger-ale or lemon lime soda.

I usually make up 2 or 3 batches at a time so that I always have a quick punch to make for family movie nights as well as the holidays.

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With my grocery shopping done and the social worker visit through, the only other large chore on my "to do" list was house cleaning. I must admit that it went fairly smoothly. It helps that we are all excited to celebrate Devin's birthday party tomorrow and that was a positive motivator.

 Of course there is that old saying about cleaning house with young children and shoveling sidewalks while it is snowing. Fletcher is NOT organizing my cabinet in this picture. Life with curious toddlers.

Have a colorful, beautiful week!

Strawberry Cream Trifle

So my favorite place to eat out, when I am lucky enough to go out, is The Olive Garden. I LOVE that place. I have only a couple of things I eat there, I am so adventurous.:-)
One thing that I REALLY, REALLY love is a strawberry dessert that comes in a little dish. It only take me a few bites to eat it all up....the name of the dessert escapes me. It has strawberries and syrup and white chocolate pudding in it. It is so good.

Well, because I am so desperate creative I have come up with my own version, a copycat. We are having some tonight too, since I loaded up on cheap strawberries yesterday.

Excuse the poor lighting in the photos. We have been having some crazy stormy weather today and therefore it was dark outside.

Start by slicing strawberries into quarters and then stir a little sugar in them. I usually cut up about 2 pounds of berries.

Now in another bowl pour in a can of sweetened condensed milk and 1 1/2 C water. Mix it with a whisk.

Add to the milk mixture a box of Cheesecake Instant Pudding.

Whisk it all together and let it set for 5 minutes.

Add 8 oz of whipped topping. You can also whip some cream and use that( it's always better with whipped cream!). Stir it all together well.

Get yourself a pound cake and cut it into cubes. I buy the large cake and let it sit on the counter several hours to defrost.

Now all you need to do is put some cake in the bottom of a pretty bowl. Drizle some strawberry syrup over the cake cubes.

Put some strawberries on top.

Now put some of the pudding mixture on next.

Repeat until you are all done. You can now leave it with pudding on top or smother some more whipped topping on top. Grate some white chocolate for garnish if you are feelin' a little crazy.

Now, isn't that pretty? All that needs to be done is to cover it and put it in the fridge until dessert time. Oh, don't forget to lick the bowl! Yeah, I didn't think you would!


Strawberry and Cream Trifle

1/2 C strawberry syrup
2 pounds Sliced strawberries, sprinkled with sugar
1 prepared pound cake, cubed
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 C water
1 box instant pudding, cheesecake flavor
8 oz whipped topping, plus more for garnish if desired


Combine milk, water and pudding mix in a bowl. Whisk well and let stand 5 minutes. Add whipped topping. Combine well.
Place some cake in bottom of bowl. Drizzle some syrup over the cake. Put some strawberries on next and then add some pudding next, Repeat layers until all gone. Top with whipped topping and grated white chocolate if desired. Store in the fridge.

Biscuits By The Dozens

Oh my, was I productive today! Not only was I cleaning, schooling and prepping for Rose's birthday party tomorrow, BUT I just happened upon a great recipe posted by a mom of many children.
Biscuits. 100 of them. At a time. To freeze. And eat one hectic day with breakfast. Or dinner.

We had some with lunch and then I froze the rest just like the recipe says.....pre-cooked.
Now I have a freezer stocked with these delights and it really took no time at all to make.
HERE is where you will find it all.
Have a great Halloween!!!
Love,
Sam

The Daily Details

I am here. I have been very, very busy taking care of the kiddos while also taking care of the new little guy. He nurses. A. LOT.
He also requires at least 23 hours of being held a day. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it.

Today I decided to take a break from just being a baby holder/nurser and actually tend to the house and all the details it requires.

The verdict?  I will be doing  laundry for the next 20 years. Who moved Mount Rushmore into the laundry room and covered it with dirty clothes and towels?

Well, there is no need for despair. I also have a few bright spots to share from my day.

 1. The dust is gone!...for a day, anyway. When you live on a gravel road and have a gravel drive then you also have a ton of dust in the house. I love wiping it off and admiring the clean surfaces, until it comes back the next day. I rejoice in the moment!

2. I am actually knitting something other than a dishrag! Yippee! Doesn't the yarn look beautiful and soft? (pat on the back for trying a new skill)

3. These are some of my new FAVORITE cookies. I found a nice cooking blog and you can get the simple recipe to these on the blog HERE. Note: I could not find the espresso powder so I used instant coffee. I actually could not taste the coffee at all. You gotta try them, though. WOW! :-)

4. The boy is happy to always have someone to hold him. I am happy to have someone to hold him so I can cook dinner. Speaking of which, I live in the South and therefore love fried chicken. I happen to make very yummy chicken nuggets

I promise to share all the glorious details and the recipe soon.

Love,
Sam:-)