Ice Cream Without an Ice Cream Maker

homemade peach ice cream without an ice cream maker

You might recall me mentioning the many peaches I had to deal with when the peach tree decided to go crazy last year. I STILL have peaches in the freezer, so today I decided to make peach ice cream. It’s a flavour I can rarely find in the grocery store,and I love it.  I was also feeling a bit lazy, so I decided to make ice cream without an ice cream maker. I DO have one (somewhere), but I didn’t feel like rooting about in the cupboards looking for it.

I started by making a custard base:

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Banana Bran Muffins

banana bran muffins

These banana bran muffins are my very own creation. When my daughter was a teenager, it was sometimes hard to come up with things that were relatively healthy that she would eat. The combination of banana and chocolate chips is one of those flavours I could usually rely upon, so I added some oat bran and flax seeds to make it it a tad healthier, and it was a hit:)

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Raspberry and White Chocolate Scone

raspberry and white chocolate scone

I first encountered a raspberry and white chocolate scone at the local coffee shop. It was delicious and my mouth was in ecstasy. After I had eaten it a couple of days in a row, and found my desire for it unabated, I decided to try to replicate it. I think I have been successful.

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Mmm…crab and quinoa “fried rice”

red rock crabsMethinks I may have occasionally mentioned just how much I love crab? Yesterday we got four of the yummy little guys. Steve cleaned them up, and I steamed them for supper (takes about 10 minutes in a bamboo steamer over boiling water).

raw crab in steamer

cooked crab in bamboo steamer

We had them with a little melted butter and some quinoa “fried rice”.

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Crabbing again (with jellyfish and other sea critters)

Today we went crabbing again. Got up slightly after the crack of dawn (dawn comes a bit too early these days) and tootled off to the nearest pier. We brought chairs for comfort, and set them up before baiting our traps and chucking them into the briny deep (shallows, actually- but deep sounds better).

Screenshot 2015-07-18 15.48.10

 

Pretty place, isn’t it? There was a LOT of seaweed in the water, along with jellyfish…I made a video of one about the size of a dinner plate, opening and closing up. Looked a bit like a sunflower, or a fried egg:)

 

I also saw a couple of seals, a heron and quite a few Canada geese.  Back to crabbing…

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Watermelon Cucumber Salad

watermelon cucumber salad

Today was a little bit hectic first thing in the morning…getting the recycling out to the curb, emptying the dishwasher, making my breakfast and prepping a lunch. All of a sudden it was time to dash, and I rushed out of the house and was halfway to work before I realized I hadn’t taken anything out for supper. By the end of the day, I was tired and hot, so I decided to buy a cooked chicken , fry some potatoes and experiment with this watermelon cucumber salad.

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Shrimp White Sauce

shrimp white sauce

When I left the house this morning, I had decided that cod would make a nice supper, with some new potatoes, corn on the cob and a watermelon-cucmber salad.  I thought about frying the fish, or poaching it with milk and onions. I finally decided to steam it and serve it with a shrimp white sauce. A quick meal, that would take less than half an hour.

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Peach Bran Muffins

peach bran muffins

Last year, we had a bumper crop of peaches. I would up making jam, salsa, pies, crumbles…you name it. I also froze quite a lot, and this week my husband asked if I could make muffins with them. Why not, indeed? So, I played around with my recipe and came up with this fat-free peach bran muffin. We really enjoyed them.

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Adventures in Crabbing (part deux)

red rock crab

On Canada Day, we attempted to go crabbing, and failed miserably. We were not even able to get into the ocean. Since then, it seems the fates are against us. Every time we are able to get out (day off from work), something happens to prevent us getting the boat in the ocean: the sea is too rough, it’s too windy, it’s too foggy, there is no access, there is no parking…ad infinitum. It seems some people (us) are not meant to get out on the water. Perhaps the Fates are trying to tell us something? Perhaps we should cut our losses whilst we can- sell up and remain landlocked?

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Iced Tea

iced tea

Something that absolutely screams summer for me is a glass of nice, cold, refreshing iced tea. It’s so simple to make it and keep a container of it in the fridge for those hot days. Can’t stand using the powdered stuff, as I don’t want all those chemicals in my body. Just lovely, sweet iced tea.

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