Orange Jalapeno ice cream...

orange jalapeno ice cream

Last November I had an ice cream like this at a Peruvian restaurant in Portland Oregon. It is creamy and sweet and orangey and then after you swallow your first bite you get this little kick of heat...just a little.. It was so  memorable that I decided to recreate it here...I researched a little on the internet, after several different recipes, I created this one. I found that it really is just a matter of infusing the milk, to impart the flavor that you want..this same recipe and procedure can be used to make many different combinations of ice cream...I love the fact that there are so few ingredients. Have you ever read the carton of ice creams ingredients? I feel pretty good about eating only 6 ingredients. Do you think 3 bowls in one day is to much? Naw...


Orange Jalapeno ice cream
2 cups cream
2 cups milk
3 oranges
1 jalapeno..seeded and cut in small pieces
1 cup muscovado sugar or light brown
5 egg yolks

grate the peel off of 2 oranges. Put 2 cups of milk..3/4 cups of cream...and sugar in a saucepan. bring to just under a boil or 175 degrees, pull of the burner. Do not boil!  add the grated orange peel and the chopped jalapeno, cover and let sit and  'steep' for 1 hour...you are infusing the milk with the jalapeno and orange flavor, then strain, place the flavored milk back in the saucepan... put back on burner and cook again until just under a boil, whisk the egg yolks with 1/4 cup of cream, slowly add some of the hot milk to the eggs, whisking the whole while, about a cup, then slowly add the egg mixture back into the pan of hot flavored milk, add the additional 1 cup of cream..put back on the burner..and whisk until just under a boil again, never let it boil.. take off the burner and cool slightly and transfer to a bowl to put in the refrigerator at least 4 hours or overnight..

making the sweetened orange peel...
peel thin strips of the peel off the orange and cut into thinner strips,place in small saucepan with 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water..bring to a boil and then turn down and simmer for 1 hour or until peel almost looks translucent..
drain, and spread out the peel on a plate to cool... when cool dice very small...

Process the ice cream as your ice cream maker recommends...add the chopped candied orange peel right at the end and place in the freezer until hardened (several hours).

heat milk and some of the cream until just under a boil...

chop up one jalapeno....for more heat in the ice cream use Serrano peppers and less heat Poblano peppers....jalapeno is a medium heat,,,

fine grate the outside of 2 oranges....add to the hot milk with the peppers...cover and let rest for 1 hour...

make the candied orange peel.....

this is the sugar I used...I did not have light brown...this is a course grind natural sugar...

farm fresh eggs...(thanks buttercup and mama)

whisk 5 egg yolks...

with a 1/4 cup of cream...then time to temper....

when making ice cream it is important to use heavy cream and whole milk, not half and half....

this is the infused milk....I stopped taking pictures....sorry...I had to whisk constantly...

candied orange peel

finished ice cream, ready for the fridge...mine sat in the fridge over night..

chop the candied orange peel very fine....about 1/4 cup

this is my ice cream maker....I bought it at Target for $25...I  did a little research and great ice cream is not in the ice cream maker, just in the recipe....so I choose one with a 4 cup capacity and a counter top model. the liner comes out and you put it in the freezer over night. So no ice or rock  salt needed.

(or mess)...

whirling around....it took about 25 minutes, add the candied orange pieces right at the end and then I transferred to a plastic container and put in the freezer for about 4 hours....If you would like you can add a tablespoon of vodka right at the end....it will keep the ice cream from freezing to solid and you can scoop it a little easier....

now you see it...

Now you don't...yes I had my share and your share too...sorry...

Cheers To Happy  !!

Kitten update...

This is kind of like a slide show that you have to suffer through...or a new grama with a million pictures to show you....but I just knew you would want to know how these two are doing....right?

Remember these two? They are the two kittens I found in my chicken coop on October 11th....they were abandoned and sick and very cold...they were only a couple of weeks old and just opening their eyes. I took them to the vets and learned to bottle feed them....I am not a cat person. They were the last animal I would of had...Where I live there are many ferral cats that live out in the woods. They come waltzing through my yard often and I am always chasing them out. I once saw a huge black cat in my chicken house and bought a pellet gun to shoot him if he came around my beloved chickens again. These two softened my heart about kittens. I love them so much. They give me a reason to come home. For that I am grateful. I have learned to never say never.

This is when they were here for a few weeks..they are sleeping with their baby...The boy I named Jack, he is very laid back..so laid back Jack...he is afraid of everything...when I holler at them he takes off and hides...not Elsa she was named because as a baby she was the most ferocious..she would look right at you and roar, so she was named after Elsa the lion in the Born Free movie....she is still not afraid of anything....now they make no sounds...they have never meowed, sometimes they make a crying sound, but no meow...I don't think I want them to learn....

This is Elsa at about 6 weeks old..I got Elsa a pink collar ..

This is Jack about the same age...Jack got a blue collar...I could not tell them apart..It was a problem as they were still on antibiotics and I needed to make sure I gave the right one the right medicine...

This is their Christmas photo...after 177 shots, I finally got them both in the same picture and looking forward...there eyes are turning green...there Christmas collars are a little big....

This was in February...they were sleeping on my bed, on wash day and just waking up..they made a heart shape!

This is funny Elsa playing in the paper recycling bag...she got that paper stuck around her neck...they play with everything...they prefer my cell phone ear devices, whole pecans, my glasses and once my hearing aid...I spent a very quiet couple of days until I found it...

This is Jack with a basket stuck around his neck....the down side to these two? They make holes in the leather furniture...they break things....and they are not sorry...ever...I learned the hard way it does no good to swat them. they just think you are scary, they don't put two and two together...they do respond to a spray bottle...you just have to have it near you and they will stay back, you never really have to use it...so during dinner there is always a spray bottle at the edge of the table.

Jack last month, window sill sitting....

Jack and the computer...If I am typing he is right there typing too...if I make him stay down he unplugs it from the wall...and yes he really knows what he is doing...

What is Elsa so intent on looking at?

The chickens out in the yard...They are in awe of those big birds...They have never been outside. They don't know what grass feels like. I made that decision to protect them from the predators outside...I felt sorry for them and took them one at a time, held tightly in my arms, on a walk trough the yard and to the back of the property to see the chickens and where they live...their heads were spinning, trying to take everything in. They didn't try to get down, they were holding on for dear life...

besides running wildly through the house, they love to window sit..they sleep on this bed on their fuzzy blanket...when I come home they are always right in front of the door, laying on the floor all stretched out waiting, for me to pet them...or trip me, not sure which...

This is their latest picture, eight months old...Elsa on top of the corner cabinet and Jack trying to help her down...or he is wondering how in the heck she got up there...oh and remember the huge black cat? He still lumbers through the yard...the kittens look surprising like him...hmmmmm....

Cheers to Happy  !!

Happy Mother's Day...

 


M-O-T-H-E-R
"M" is for the million things she gave me,
"O" means only that she's growing old,
"T" is for the tears she shed to save me,
"H" is for her heart of purest gold;
"E" is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
"R" means right, and right she'll always be,
Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER,"
A word that means the world to me.

Happy Mothers Day to all of the most wonderful women I know! My sister's, my daughters, my Aunts,
my friends and co-workers....Happy, happy Mothers Day!!! And to the most important mother of all, my mother! The best mother in all the land!!!!

We used to sing the following song to our Mom when Dad was still here to direct us...  We might need to imagine his direction and sing again.

Back in childhood days, 
I can remember loving caresses showered on me.
Mother's eyes would gaze at me so tender, 
What was their meaning? Now I can see.

One bright and guiding light, 
That taught me wrong from right,
I found in my mother's eyes.
Those baby tales she told,
That road all paved in gold,
I found in my mother's eyes.

Just like a wandering sparrow,
One lonely soul.
I walked the straight and narrow,
To reach my goal.
God's gift sent from above,
A real unselfish love,
I found in my mother's eyes.

When I'm all alone, no one around me, 
I find the future dark as can be.
Sorrows I have known, always surround me, 
Then through the shadows, I always see.

One bright and guiding light, 
That taught me wrong from right,
I found in my mother's eyes.
Those baby tales she told,
That road all paved in gold,
I found in my mother's eyes.

Just like a wandering sparrow,
One lonely soul.
I walked the straight and narrow,
To reach my goal.
God's gift sent from above,
A real unselfish love,
I found in my mother's eyes.

the coolest Mother in all the world!!!

Happy Mothers Day,

 all you all!!!

Cheers to happy  !!

my secret garden...

I am not a gardener, but yes I do garden....I don't have a green thumb...I like the gardening done, just like the laundry, the dishes, and beds made...I want it done. I just don't like doing it! And by the way, I am also a reader who rarely reads and a quilter who never quilts.....So, that being said...I try my best to just get the job done! I have moss on everything...truly everything in the garden...I have spent the last several weeks 'scraping' off the moss and putting down 'preen'.....so the other day when I came to this Rhododendron, that was cloaked in moss. I remembered a picture I saw on Pinterest....It was of a moss covered castle...under a bush...so I got out my knife and hand tools, gathered a few props..and within minutes had the most magical surprise in the garden!

this is a picture of the moss...so much moss!!!

and under the Rhodie you can see the little 'house' I built...

here it is ...a little elf retreat!!!

just a little scrape down the front and a few rocks and little door and viola!  a perfect cottage!!!

Here is the cottage a little closer......

and a super close picture! I added some mini pine cones and clam shells.....see the heart shaped rock over the door? Yes, this is significant!

and there you have it! A whimsical little fun fantasy place....I am still looking for a little clip-on dragonfly to put on one of the branches of the Rhododendron....I love this little piece of paradise!!!

Cheers to Happy  !!

Quinoa Salad...

By now we know the plus of the most ancient grain Quinoa, and it's nutrition values...but the nutrition of red lentils is unbelievable!!! Red lentils are one of the 5 super foods...it is third from the top in protein! and with the Quinoa it is a perfect protein...easy to digest! They take only minutes to cook and add to any salad or dish you wish! The most fun is listening to people try saying Quinoa...

This is the most fantastic dish! you can add anything you want to this salad, sky is the limit!

I used red Quinoa...it cooks like rice and takes about the same about of time...1 cup of quinoa to two cups of water, bring to a boil and then simmer until done...

red lentils are really orange, just cover with water and bring to a boil, turn down and simmer for about 15 minutes!!!

I pulled out everything from the vegetable bin in the refrigerator....I shaved off some cauliflower...

fried it in some coconut oil until browned....

drained the red lentils

this is the browned cauliflower, ready to go...

browned corn in coconut oil....

red Quinoa done....ready to  cool....

added everything to the bowl....Quinao...red onion, fried corn, red lentils, grated carrot, avocado, lots of parsley....

to make the dressing...add the juice from half of a lemon....

add a heaping tablespoon of grey poupon mustard...and salt and pepper...

add about a half a cup of olive oil and whisk...

add to salad...and stir!

Enjoy!!! This is so good, and healthy, it has a nutty taste and you can taste the hint of coconut from cooking in the oil...

Cheers to Happy !!