mint

Freeze State of Jones: Chocolate Mint Ice Cream Sandwiches

April 19, 2016 by biz.w.harris@gmail.com 1 Comment

When I was a kid, the ice cream truck (called The Bootsy Wagon) would drive around our neighborhood maybe once a week in the summer, and I would FREAK OUT. I never had money–I mean, I was outside playing in the dirt. What seven year old has money in that situation?– and it would inevitably speed by my house too fast for me to get it to stop, but when I did catch it I’d get a mickey mouse bar or chocolate-vanilla ice cream sandwich and eat it as it dripped down my fingers and chin.

Pure summer kid joy.

Brett would giggle and didn’t believe that the Ice Cream truck company was called the Bootsy Wagon, (He thought my references to it were some folksy, Mississippi way of saying “Ice Cream Truck” like I say “buggy” instead of grocery cart.) Then he read in a corporate donor report that The Bootsy Wagon was a Mississippi Black Owned Business based in Ellisville, Mississippi. 😉 Vindicated.

Anyway, since I started making my homemade ice cream six years ago, I’ve been nursing this crazy unlikely dream that one day I’ll own a tiny ice cream truck and be able to bring joy and happiness to children in the summertime.

I don’t know about all that (yet.) but I DO know that I’m having some progress on the portable ice cream sandwich situation… This chocolate-mint ice cream sandwich is WHERE it’s AT. Make them knowing full well you’ll want to eat them all in one sitting.

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Homecook How-tos: The Ice Ring

March 3, 2016 by biz.w.harris@gmail.com Leave a Comment

What you need:

3-5 lemons, sliced in rings

green herbs (mint and thyme are my faves)

6-10 cups of boiled water

1-2 cups of ice

A bundt pan

Now, there’s something to know about ice rings… whatever you want to show up on the TOP of the ice ring should be on the bottom of your bundt pan. This means that unless you have a clear glass bundt pan you won’t really know what the ring will look like until you unfreeze it. As you’re positioning your lemons and herbs, just be sure to put enough greenery underneath the lemons so it shows up. Then, you’ll want to add some water (just enough to freeze all your stuff together NOT enough to float the lemons and herbs). You’ll also want to add about 1-2cups of ice to weigh all the lemon slices down and make sure they didn’t float. Then, you’ll put the whole shebang into the freezer for about an hour.

At this point pull out any ice that didn’t freeze, and add another layer of water, then freeze it. Do this two more times.

When it’s time to remove your ice ring, flip the bundt pan over into your punch bowl, wrap a warm, wet towel around it, until the outside of the ring melts and it falls out.

You may find that your lemons/herbs/whatever else you used to decorate your ring may be covered in a bit of water. You can use a hair drier to melt a bit of that water so that your ring looks snazzy. This isn’t totally necessary as the whole thing will slowly melt into your punch anyway. 😉

it’s so easy, right? and so lovely…. I wish punch in bowls was more of a thing! I think I’m going to try to bring it back since punch in jars is so popular at swanky bars.

Your New Summer Staple: Bourbon-Peach Ice Cream

June 2, 2015 by biz.w.harris@gmail.com 2 Comments

There’s one thing every good southerner knows… know matter how you take your bourbon, it’s going to be so good.

Some people like it in a pecan pie, others on the rocks… my friend Shelton introduced me to a Bourbon and Ginger cocktail a few years ago and something about that combination is dynamite. In fact, it’s my winter go-to cocktail. But then, there’s this other summertime combination that really knocks my socks off… bourbon and peaches. The sweet juiciness of the peaches is just complimented so beautifully by smooth, warm bourbon and this is definitely true when they come together in a silky, simple custard-based ice cream .

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Peaches, Berries, Mint: Summer in a Bowl

June 2, 2015 by biz.w.harris@gmail.com Leave a Comment

Aside from homegrown tomatoes, fresh corn, and swimming pools, I think homemade ice cream is the best part of summer, hands-down. Which is why I’m sharing 3 ice cream recipes this week… get churning!

I was taking dinner to a friend with a new baby, and figured that dessert was the best part of any meal. I had a ton of peaches and Louisiana strawberries, and had a huge mint patch in the backyard, so i figured I’d see what happened if I made a mint-fruit combo. I didn’t want to risk making it too wild and crazy since it was for someone else, so I made a mint base, then made two separate combinations… and it was one-thousand percent worth it. Something about the mint ice-cream base brings out the summery-ness and freshness in the fruit. After tasting this, I’m not sure that I’ll ever make strawberry ice cream again without it. Or peach.

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