Peach Tea Ice Cream

Can I just put something out in the universe? Anyone who leaves a container of 4 dozen sandwich cookies open all night should be put in the stocks. 4 dozen. That's 8 dozen individual cookies that someone spent an entire day baking, and then woke the very next morning to find every single one gone stale.

Also, I should probably be put in italics-users anonymous.

And we know it wasn't me the baker that did it because I she closed the lid securely after putting the cookies in, and didn't touch it again until I she started sobbing in frustration over the open Tupperware this morning.

I'm pretty sure I know who did it, because his only defense was, "It was already open when I went in." I don't care that it was already open. I care that it wasn't closed.

Seriously, someone keep me away from the italics button. I can't stop.

I was very proud of those cookies, too. They were roll-out cookies and everything. You know how much I hate roll out cookies. I used a cutter and made them cute, and I was going to bring them into work and give them out. I can't give people stale cookies. Nuh-uh. Well, I brought some for G, but I can explain to her what happened, and her son and boyfriend will probably still gobble them down.

So I made myself ice cream (yeah, yeah, I gave up the pretense. I spent all Sunday making cookies, and I woke to stale cookies Monday morning. And I was ready to either murder someone or burst into tears). And it's ice cream that only I like so I don't have to worry about anyone else leaving the lid off or leaving it on the counter to melt or eating it all up even when I tell them not to (like with my Oreos that I specifically said, "Do not open these. I am using them for something.").

No. This, this is my ice cream. It tastes like tea and peaches. But like, cold and creamy and decadent tea and peaches.

The original inspiration for this was Peach Snapple, because Peach Snapple is my liquid crack. I'm even more addicted to it than to italics. I drink it almost everyday.

My original thought was to add some instant tea that I had leftover from making drink mixes to an ice cream base, along with some syrup from canned peaches. But when I had everything prepped and went to grab the instant tea, it had all clumped together in the middle, in a surprisingly uniform shape. Yeah, no.

So I went with real tea. And the ice cream, it tastes like real tea. The peach flavor is subtle, but there. It's not really sweet, which is the way I take my tea. I prefer the sugar to enhance the tea flavors, not cover them. (Yes, I am a snooty tea lady. Got a problem with that?)

It tastes like the sort of thing that you eat in a sunny little conservatory, sitting at a wrought iron bistro table, covered in a lace tablecloth. And there are pretty little tea cakes, and ladies in fancy clothes, sipping their tea with their pinkies up, and chatting about fancy things. And cucumber sandwiches.

And meanwhile you're just like, "Omnomnom, ICE CREAM!!!"

I said the ladies were fancy. I didn't say you were.

This is definitely an ice cream for tea lovers only. All others need not apply. And you know, it's tea, so you totally have my permission to eat it for breakfast. Just remember to put the lid back on.


Peach Tea Ice Cream {Printable Version}

Ingredients
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup half and half
3 black tea bags (I used English Breakfast)
1 green tea bag
½- ¾ cup sugar*
6 tbsp. syrup from canned peaches
3 egg yolks
½ cup peach chunks

Directions
In a saucepan, heat the cream and half and half over low heat until it just begins to steam. Add the tea bags, remove from heat, and allow to steep about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent a skin from forming. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and peach syrup.

Strain out the tea bags** and return the cream to medium low heat, until it just begins to simmer, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Add the cream to the eggs about 1 ladleful at a time, whisking constantly. When all the cream has been added, return the entire mixture to the saucepan, and heat over low, stirring constantly, until it reaches 160°F on a food-grade thermometer. Do not let it boil.

Cover and refrigerate until fully chilled, about 3 hours or overnight. Add to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s directions. When the ice cream is a few minutes from being done, add the peach chunks. Freeze completely in an air-tight container

*I liked it with ½ cup sugar, but others found it to be not sweet enough

**I left the tea bags in the cream until it came time to temper the eggs. This results in a stronger tea flavor; however the second heating can make it bitter

Recipe by Kim

K-9's Italian Hot Dog

It's Doctor Who Saturday! And guess who we're featuring today? Probably my number 1 favorite character in the entirety of time and space: K-9!

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Can I just tell you guys a secret? I love robots. I think they're adorable. When I was a little girl, R2-D2 was my favorite. I had a little R2 gigapet. (Remember those things?) Except it was really upsetting because you had to shock him when he was bad, and I never wanted to do that. So R2 pretty much did whatever he wanted. Kind of like in the movies, actually.

You know what else I love. Dogs. Well, all animals really. I'm an animal lover. But there's just something about a dog.

And when you put the two together: epic squee!

K-9 with the first 5 doctors. Because K-9 is BAMF

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Now, I actually haven't watched much of classic Who (I know. I fail as a fangirl), so my first introduction to K-9 was in the episode School Reunion, which also brought back one of the most beloved companions, Sarah Jane Smith.

And let me tell you, when I first saw K-9, it was love at first sight.

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Sarah Jane and K-9

Not only was he an adorable robot dog with a good measure of sass, but in that first episode I saw with him he pretty much singlehandedly (pawedly? doggedly?) saved the Doctor, Mickey, Rose, and Sarah Jane. And he was willing to sacrifice himself to do so.

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So in that one single episode, I fell in love, I squee-d, I cried, and then I squee-d again when the Doctor fixed K-9.

It was an emotional roller coaster, let me tell you that.

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So. Much. SQUEE!!!

So my original thought for K-9 was to do a sort of replica made out of bread, wrapped around a hot dog. That's my favorite way to make hot dogs, and I thought it would be fairly easy, since K-9 is such a simple, blocky, shape.

It really wasn't. Although I did get one that kind of looked like Falcor from the Neverending Story.

I'm really exposing all my geek today, aren't I? K-9, it's all your fault.

That's my K-9 from ThinkGeek. Isn't he just the cutest?

Anyway, do you know what I just recently realized? That Italian hot dogs are a strictly New Jersey thing. I mean, you might find them in Pennsylvania or New York (cultures tend to bleed a bit in the tri-state area), but not like in New Jersey where you can get them at any pizza joint or burger place.

So for my K-9 post, I decided to do an Italian hot dog. Not that K-9 really has anything to do with New Jersey. Or hot dogs. Or Italians. Or that he eats. He's a tin dog, it's a hot dog, you can see where I'm going with this.

An Italian hot dog is just a hot dog with fried potatoes, peppers, and onions. Spread some deli mustard (spicy brown) on a torpedo roll, or a chunk of Italian bread. Hot dog buns are far too wimpy. Get yourself a quality hot dog- all beef, natural casings, no mystery meats here, please. Sausage works, too. Then grill or fry or cook it on a skillet. No boiling. This is a Jersey dog, it's hardcore. Cook up some peppers and onions just until soft. Fry up some potatoes- or, if you want to be lazy, you can do what pizza places around me do, and just use French fries. Layer it all in the prepared roll, then fuhgeddaboudit and stuff it in yer face.

For the rolls, I actually bought refrigerated Italian bread dough, and shaped it into 4 rolls before baking. Then I prepped the other ingredients while it was in the oven, so when I fixed it all up, every thing was hot and fresh and yum. And then I had to take pictures. Sometimes being a food blogger kind of sucks, you know?

But then I totally had to chow down so I could show you a picture of the inside. Totally imperative.

So it's a hot dog. And K-9's a tin dog. They're not really related except that if I had a K-9, he could totally cook the hot dog for my with his little shooty nose laser. He has a laser in his nose. Bet you didn't know that could ever be adorable. But it is. Because K-9.

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Italian Hot Dogs {Printable Version}
Yield: 4 hot dogs

Ingredients
2 large potatoes
2 bell peppers
1 large onion
4 quality hot dogs (all beef, natural casings preferred)
Vegetable oil
Salt
Deli mustard
4 torpedo rolls, or 1 loaf Italian bread, divided

Directions
Peel the potatoes and slice into thin rounds. In a large skillet, heat just enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom over high heat. Add the potatoes in an even layer and cook on either side until golden brown, 1-
3 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels, and salt lightly if desired. Reserve about 1 tbsp. of the oil, and
discard the rest.

In the same skillet, cook the hot dogs over medium heat until browned, turning occasionally to cook
evenly. Remove and cover to keep warm.*

Cut the onion and peppers into strips and add to the skillet. Cook on medium-low heat until softened to
your liking.

Slice open the rolls and spread generously with mustard. Line with the fried potato rounds, and add 1
hot dog, and peppers and onions to your liking. Serve hot.

*Or grill the hot dogs, if you'd prefer.

Recipe adapted from various sources

And because this is my new favorite gif in the entire world:

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