The Start.

If you know me you know I have a massive sweet tooth...actually I think I have a tooth entirely made out of sugar. This also leads to the fact that I have a DEEP affinity for ice cream... particularly Ben & Jerry's. Most people who have eaten at my place or looked into my freezer know I have anywhere from 1-4 quarts of B&J's ice cream at any given point in time. My boyfriend once asked me, "If you were stranded on a desert island and could only have one type of food to sustain yourself what would it be?" With no regard to nutritional value I immediately scoffed at him and replied, "Ben & Jerry's ice cream. duh." It's not even that I think their brand or packaging or anything else is that special ...it's just that no other company makes ice cream in such creatively DELICIOUS (as in eat a pint and a half in negative 2 minutes delicious) as they do AND is as readily available as theirs. It's stocked in just about every grocery store and 7-Eleven around.

So, after spending too many of my hard-earned dollars on B&J's pints , I saw an electric ice cream maker on sale at Target for about 30 bucks and decided to buy it. This way I could make my own flavors EXACTLY the way I like them: with more of the goodies (a.k.a. a MUCH higher mixed in toppings to ice cream ratio), only the richest ingredients (no fat-free or diet stuff here) and none of the unpronounceable stuff. Over the past few weeks, I then started a nightly obsession of scouring the internet for the most scrumptious ice cream & sorbet recipes.

Now, I already pride myself in being a pretty good cook (I mean I'm only 24 and cooking in my generation is a dead art you could say. The only other person I know around my age that cooks is my best friend Deanna, and she's 28 and is married so I don't know if that counts or not), but I must note that I wasn't always so good in the kitchen (but that's a topic for a different day). So anyways, being confident in my abilities, I wasn't looking for easy recipes, I was looking for DELICIOUS recipes i.e. cherry cheesecake, coffee chocolate chunk, pumpkin pie etc. I amassed quite a collection of ice cream & sorbet recipes (to add to my already existing collection of other recipes (...mostly desserts, but other meal items, as well).

Being a bit of a perfectionist afflicted with OCD, I always layout any recipes I find in a template I made on the computer to include a clear description of the recipe name, date i found it, URL link or book name, ingredients, directions, and any photos. My boyfriend, and my most readily available (and willing) taste tester was walking out of the kitchen and passed by me for the millionth time as I was hunched over the computer desk editing my recipe collection. He suggested I start a recipe blog since I already have a ton of recipes. I thought it was a good idea, but my lazy subconscious told me it'd be too much work.

So, since starting the ice cream recipe collection, I've attempted coffee ice cream thrice, lemon sorbet and pomegrante pear sorbet. As I mentioned before, I have become a rather good cook and really don't make anything anymore that doesn't come out less than awesome. But man, ice cream making is a whole other ball game. THERE ARE SO MANY STEPS! You have to scald this, make that custard base, cool this, reheat that, prepare this on the side, while being cautious to not go over certain temperature marks. FOR GOD'S SAKE MAN?!?!!! I JUST WANT TO EAT SOME ICE CREAM!!!@#$%&^%&

Admittedly, I totally botched all of the coffee ice creams. The first never even made it to ice cream state, the second didn't set right in the ice cream maker due to the fact that the paddle was rotating backwards unbeknownst to me until after it was "done" and the third was an icy disaster. In fact, the third batch is STILL sitting in the fridge and the only use I came up for it was disguising it via a homemade frappuccino ...wwwwhich I only made once. Needless to say, I was very disheartened as I was not used to making something that didn't come out a 10 out of 10. So I moved on to sorbet's thinking the simplier process would be a much better starting point. (Now you might be asking "Cassi, why didn't you just start by making vanilla" as many before you have asked ...BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT VANILLA ICE CREAM! I DON'T BUY IT IN THE STORE PREEEE-MADE SO WHY WOULD I WASTE MY TIME MAKING IT AT HOME?!!?!?!? anyways.......) So, thankfully, my lemon sorbet came out freakin' awesome! I made 4 lemon cups filled with mounds of lemon sorbet and the rest filled up a quart sized tub that was gone as quick as an Asian man's comb-over on a windy day! I followed that up by making pomegranate pear sorbet, which came out perfect, but just a bit too grainy (from the pear) for my taste.

In any event, I decided "What the hell!?" and to just go ahead and do this recipe blog thing. I'm always taking proud pictures of what I make to send to my mom (as she knows I wasn't always such a hot-shot in the kitchen), calling my mom and grandmother for their recipes and I've started branching out and formulating my own creations with what I know of how food tastes and works, not to mention the fact that my boyfriend is always going back for thirds and fouths after I make meals (like with my death-row-last-meal-request-worthy Bacony Pot Roast). Now, I take my food photos with my humble little digital camera, but since my boyfriend is a photographer, he said I could use his camera to take some higher quality pics. I do know my way around not only food, but also used to work as a computer tech, and am a novice photographer, to boot! So, I have all the pieces, why not put them together to make a new-age "cookbook" online and show my kitchen creations off to my friends, family, and any other cooks out there on the web! I'd love to share my recipes, receive feedback, and just further my enjoyment of all things food!

PS- I'd like to thank my Grams for her every meal that's always utterly delicious and thus inspiring me to learn to cook, my Mom for her meals that remind me of Home, Sammy for always being my #1 fan in the kitchen and always being my most readily available and willing taste tester and lastly Monica of Lick the Bowl Good, a blog that I found randomly in search of a cherry cheesecake ice cream recipe and always seem to go back to for her other delicious recipes, beautiful presentations and photos ...and now, some inspiration in creating my own blog. She doesn't know I exist but sure know who she is ...and that her recipes are mouthwatering. If you don't believe me, go check her out for yourself!