Easy Vanilla Ice Cream

from the kitchen of Jewal

1 qt heavy whipping cream
1 lg pkg instant vanilla pudding
3 c sugar
1-2 T vanilla
add milk up to the fill line in your freezer

Mix and freeze according to your ice cream freezer directions.
Can add any fruit, berries  and crushed oreos if you want.
Very easy and very good!

Pistachio Ice Cream

from the kitchen of Sherry


3 eggs
1 pint 1/2 & 1/2
1 pkg instant pudding

Blend in a blender and freeze. Can double.

Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

from "Our Best Bites"

I won't lie, this recipe is quite time-consuming. But it's so worth it.

3 c. fresh blueberries (or frozen works too)
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. water
2 c. sugar
6 oz. light cream cheese, softened*
4 egg yolks
3 c. 2% milk*
1 c. half and half*
Optional: 1 prepared graham cracker crust

*If you don't care about the calories (and you really shouldn't when making home made ice cream!) use full-fat cream cheese and substitute heavy cream for the half and half and whole milk for the 2%. It makes it soooooo good.

In a small saucepan, combine blueberries, powdered sugar, and water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes and then remove from heat and allow to cool completely.

In a large saucepan, combine milk and half and half (or cream and whole milk if you're taking that route). Bring to a boil and then remove from heat.

While milk is heating, combine cream cheese, egg yolks, and sugar in a bowl and mix well.

After you have removed milk mixture from heat, very slowly pour half of the milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture while the beater is running. This is called tempering the eggs, meaning that you're slowly acclimating them to heat so you can cook them without them curdling. Mix the egg mixture well and then add the tempered egg mixture back into the hot milk mixture. Over medium-low heat and stirring very often, cook to 160 degrees (use a candy thermometer; 160 degrees is considered safe for most animal products, eggs included). Remove from heat.
Place pan in ice--I actually just put the pan in my sink and then dumped a whole bunch of ice all around it; hey, it's one less dish for me to clean!

Allow to cool to a touchable temperature and then add those gorgeous blueberries and all of the liquid with them.

Combine completely and put in the fridge for several hours until well chilled. Because this ice cream is a little more labor intensive that most, I make it up to this step one or even 2 days ahead of time. That way when you're ready to freeze it, it's well chilled and will be ready faster!

Freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. After churning it will be like soft-serve. Place in an air-tight container in the freezer to let it set up.

If you're adding the graham cracker crust: While the ice cream maker is working its magic, go ahead and break up the graham cracker crust. Leave some bigger chunks--the ice cream maker will break them down and the texture in the frozen ice cream is awesome!

When the ice cream is very thick, add the pieces of graham cracker crust and then stop the motor as soon as the crust pieces have been mixed in. Transfer to a freezer-safe container (I just use a plastic food storage container) and freeze for at least three hours. The REAL beauty is that for about a week, the longer this sits in your freezer, the better it tastes. So you can make this well in advance if you're having a party--and THANK GOODNESS for that, since you're pretty much guaranteed to be spending at least 1 hour working on this stuff, not counting all the waiting time!

Another reason why you want to freeze this for as long as possible is because this is pretty soft and seems to have a lower melting temperature than most commercial ice creams. Even after an overnight in the freezer, it's pretty easy to scoop up.

The flavor is rich and creamy, the berries are sweet, the cream cheese adds a tang and the finished product is so worth the time you put into making it!

Try it in a little homemade waffle cone

Pesto Chicken

from the kitchen of Christine
chicken breasts
eggs, beaten
bread crumbs
mozzarella cheese
pesto

Flatten the chicken by pounding it between two pieces of plastic wrap until even thickness throughout. Spread pesto on one side of the chicken breast and put mozzarella cheese on top of pesto (you can use shredded, sliced or a string cheese). Start at one side and roll up the chicken breast. You can put a toothpick in to secure if you want. Dredge in egg wash and then in the bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for 35 - 40 minutes.

Homemade Ice Cream

from the kitchen of Stephanie
Our all time favorite!!!!

4 eggs
2 c sugar
4 c heavy whipping cream
1-2 c milk
4 c fruit ( our favorite is using 2 comtainers frozen raspberries with syrup and about 3-4 cut up bananas)
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt (opt)

Beat eggs and add sugar.  Beat some more.  Add in cream and milk, mix together.  Add fruit, vanilla and salt.  Put in ice cream freezer and freeze.
This is our favorite to have at birthday parties!