When we opened the first gift, it was a book -- Chicken Soup for the Romantic Soul, which is full of inspirational stories about love and romance. It alone is a lovely gift.
But, as I looked further into the book, I noticed that page 160 was dogeared. The title of the short story was "The Frosty Moment Called for Ice Cream."
Next came the card with a sweet note as well as a "pass it on" kind of sentiment, that went along with the story and the next gift -- A homemade Ice Cream maker.
I won't tell you the entire story (you'll have to buy the book), but I will recap it for you. It goes a little something like this:
"Every time I receive a wedding invitation, I envision the unique personalities of the two people about to wed. I think of what they love, what they share, what makes them laugh. Then I go to the store and buy them all the same thing: an old-fashioned ice-cream maker. Every couple's response is the same. First they look puzzled, then they recover to utter a quick pair of "thank yous." Then they set the thing aside like a book opened at Christmas amid a mount of toys. The newlyweds will head off on their honeymoon, then return to settle into the day to day business of being husband and wife. They'll unpack the ice-cream maker and set it on a closet shelf or in the garage and forget about it. Time will pass.... and somehow, life will seem too ordinary. Then one of them will think about ice cream (or in my case, frozen yogurt!)..."
I'm sure you can see where the story goes from here. Unfortunately, I must say that the ice cream machine remained tucked away for too many years. The box, though never opened was a bit water damaged, but as my longing for home (specifically Yogurt Mill) seemed a bit too much, James stated quite simply "Why don't you just make your own?"
And so I did. And I would like to share with you my very first recipe. This recipe comes from a combination of a website called Yummly.com and the manual that came with the ice cream maker on the best methods to make your own ice cream. Enjoy!
Fat-Free Espresso Frozen Yogurt
Ingredients:
2 cups milk (I use Vanilla Soy Light)
1 1/2 cup sugar (I use Splenda for baking)
2 eggs beaten
2 shots of espresso (or one cup strong cold coffee)
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 yogurt plain (I use fat-free)
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp Kahlua (I sub(d) Baileys)
Directions:
1. Cook milk over low heat, keeping it below the boiling point. Remove pan from heat and add in sugar, stirring until it dissolves.
2. Gradually poor the milk mixture over the beaten eggs, stirring constantly until well blended.
3. Transfer mixture to the top of a double boiler and cook, stirring constantly, until thick and smooth
4. Cool to room temperature, then add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly (DO NOT ADD THE ALCOHOL YET!)
5. Chill for 2-4 hours (or overnight)
6. Freeze in Ice Cream maker according to manufacture's directions.
-- Initially when I tried this recipe, I added the alcohol in step 4, but I later read in my manufacture's directions to add any alcohol near the end of the freezing stage. My ice cream maker allows you to add it into the top. This will help the ice cream increase in volume and freeze like it should. Also, I didn't let my ingredients chill long enough so my yogurt didn't freeze to the consistency that I wanted it to. I had to freeze it overnight in the freezer bowl,which made it difficult to scoop out -- but after it froze up, the flavor was delicious!!!
I can't wait to try new flavors, but most importantly, I have to thank Brian and Emily who shared this special tradition with us. We in turn still need to pass it on, but for now, it is a great reminder that few things in day-to-day life can't be improved with ice cream :)
Enjoy, but most importantly, have fun!
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