strawberry smoothie

Ever had Trader Joe's nonfat plain frozen yogurt? Oh, it's sooooo good. Sooo tart and sooooo softy. It's nearly perfect. Plus, it has zero fat. That's a BIG plus.

Anyway, at night when David gets home and I'm hankering for a treat, I whip out about 4 frozen strawberries, one banana, rougly 1/2 cup of skim milk, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 2 big scoops of this froyo and blend it together . . . sooooo good. Don't doubt. Just make.

oatmeal cookie cinnamon ice cream

so, basically, it’s november and I’m blogging about ice cream. but this is no ordinary ice cream, sister. it's actually perfect fall ice cream. for example, don’t you make oatmeal cookies in the fall more than any other time? I do. don't you also love things with cinnamon in the fall more than any other time? I do. so, without further ado, I give you my version of the best ice cream on the planet:oatmeal cookie cinnamon ice cream

4 cups half and half
1 cup sugar
Pinch of Kosher salt
5 egg yolks
2 teaspoons freshly ground cinnamon
4 oatmeal cookies (need to be homemade and soft), crumbled

In a non-reactive saucepan, combine the half and half, sugar and salt over medium heat. Bring the cream to a boiling point and scald it. Remove from the heat.

Beat the egg yolks and cinnamon in a bowl. Add the half and half mixture, about ¼ cup at a time, to the beaten eggs, whisking in between each addition, until all is used. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook, stirring, over medium heat for about 2 to 3 minutes or until the mixture becomes thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and cool completely in an ice bath. Pour the mixture into the ice cream machine and follow the manufacturer’s instructions for churning time.

While the ice cream is churning, crumble the cookies into small bite-sized pieces. After the ice cream is thick and finished churning, gently add the pieces of cookies.

note: I also suspect that you could use your leftover gingersnaps in this recipe instead of oatmeal cookies and it would be fab. whoa, I might have to try this!