Suess's Pieces

When I’m not working, Dan and I plot the many ways we can stuff our heads with deliciousness. If that wasn’t already apparent, it will be soon enough.

My apologies if you were hoping for a post about the freelance biz this time around. I promise more writing about writing soon.

Now back to food.

One of the things Dan got me for Christmas was the ice cream maker attachment for our KitchenAid mixer. It was money very well spent. I mean, I could easily eat a half gallon of ice cream all by myself.

In one sitting.

Before anything melted.

The following recipe is adapted from the French Vanilla Ice Cream recipe in KitchenAid’s ice cream maker manual, so make the necessary adjustments for a different ice cream maker.

Homemade Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

2 cups half-and-half
1/2 cup 2% milk
8 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (or more if that’s how you roll)

In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, heat half-and-half and milk until steamy and hot but do not boil. Remove from heat.

In the mixing bowl, mix egg yolks and sugar with whisk attachment about 30 seconds. Temper the egg mixture by very slowly adding the heated half-and-half and milk and continuing to mix until all the liquid is blended. Return mixture to the medium heat and heat until steaming, stirring constantly. Do not boil the mixture.

Once heated, return mixture to the mixing bowl and add the heavy cream, vanilla extract, peppermint extract, and salt until combined. Cover and chill for a minimum of 8 hours.

Using the ice cream maker attachment, pour chilled cream into the freeze bowl with dasher attachment and mix on the lowest setting. Churn for 15 to 20 minutes or until the ice cream reaches a soft serve consistency, adding the chocolate chips in the last 2 to 5 minutes of mixing. For soft serve ice cream, transfer to dishes immediately. For hard ice cream, transfer to an airtight container and freeze for 2 to 4 hours.

Notes

• Steep mint leaves in cream instead of using peppermint extract if, you know, you’ve got that kind of time.
• Add green or red food coloring (but please, not both) if artificial coloring turns you on. If you use the mint leaves, you’ll color the ice cream naturally.

If you follow me on Pinterest, you may have become quite alarmed by my pinning yesterday. In all, I have bookmarked something like one dozen different recipes for baked French toast.

Here’s what happened. I pulled one of those I-thought-I-pinned-that! numbers on a particularly yummy looking recipe. When I realized I hadn’t pinned it and may have lost the recipe forever, I decided to search all pins for “baked French toast.”

If you’re a Pinner, I probably don’t need to explain the rest. If you’re not a Pinner, you probably don’t care.

So this is the first of several cooking posts you’re going to see about baked French toast.

Today’s recipe is inspired by Kimberly Danger’s recipe at Mommy Savers. However, due to a number of “gross! it’s soggy” type comments, I changed things up a bit. I also scaled down the recipe. Because Dan and I have no business eating a calorie-laden breakfast that serves 8 freakin’ people. That’s why.

Frugal Baked French Toast for Two

• 1/2 to 3/4 loaf of French bread, cubed
• 4-oz. cream cheese, cut into small cubes
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 3 Tbsp. butter, melted
• 3 Tbsp. maple syrup
• Cinnamon sugar

Cut French bread into cubes and set out for a few hours or until it gets stale. Grease an 8×8 casserole dish. Spread half of the bread cubes into a single layer in the casserole dish. Top with cream cheese cubes. Add remaining bread cubes. In a separate mixing bowl or large measuring cup, combine the eggs, milk, melted butter, and maple syrup.

IMPORTANT: For the next step, you may not need all of the liquid. Pour liquid mixture over the top of the bread cubes and cream cheese, and—using a spoon or spatula to press down on the bread—make sure all cubes are well covered and there is a thin layer (about 1/4-inch) of the liquid coating the bottom of the casserole dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle the bread with cinnamon sugar just before baking. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown on top. Serve with warm maple syrup. Garnish with bacon.

Mmm…bacon.

Tips for Keeping the Soggy Away

• Don’t use plain white sandwich bread. It’s structural integrity will disappoint.
• Don’t forget to let the bread cubes get stale.
• Don’t just dump the liquid mixture over the bread willy-nilly. How much you need depends on how “thirsty” the bread is. I had about a 1/2 cup of the egg mixture left when I was finished, and I plan to adjust the recipe accordingly if I make it again.
• Don’t skip the whole “refrigerate 8 hours or overnight” thing. I mean it. The bread needs time to soak up all that egg-y goodness.

Our Opinions

Dan: Meh. I’m not sure about the cream cheese and it needs something.

Emily: Yum. Love the cream cheese, I just should have cut it up smaller before adding it. The crispy on top and chewy in the middle textures are lovely. I’d make it again if I didn’t have 11 more variations of baked French toast to try.

So, if hobbits can have second breakfast, Dan and Emily can have second Thanksgiving.

And that’s exactly what we did tonight.

With the china.

After family Thanksgiving last week, we still had a turkey in our freezer. I guess that’s a fringe benefit of having a day job — I get a free 12-pound turkey for the holidays. So we did the cranberry sauce, three kinds of stuffing (oyster, sausage, and Stove Top), turkey, gravy, butternut squash, green beans and pumpkin pie tonight. We also threw a log on the fire and enjoyed the twinkling lights and ornaments on the Christmas tree.

I don’t think I could be more content.

The Donut Fairy used to stop and visit Dan and me on a rare Sunday morning. But with Krispy Kreme shops closing and the local convenience store replacing their Krispy Kreme stash with generic bricks of yeast and sugar, we told the Donut Fairy not to bother anymore. We’d just try making our own.

The Donut Fairy laughed at us, saying, “You’ll never be able to do it!”

We tried anyway.

Understand that, despite the recipe’s name, they taste nothing at all like a Krispy Kreme. Also understand that there is still nothing more divine than a warm, homemade, glazed doughnut.

So, suck it, Donut Fairy. We don’t need you anymore.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Copycat