Espresso Ice Cream

As most of you know, Josh and I love coffee. So it was only natural that after Josh got me an ice cream maker I would make an espresso ice cream. Plus, Josh has been asking me to for a while now! So what did we do? We ordered some ground espresso coffee (Ethiopian Harrar) through Just Love Coffee and got to it. 

My ice cream base 

This is the finished product! And delicious it was with chunks of chocolate covered coffee beans running throughout the ice cream! You should give it a try.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
3 cups half-and-half
6 extra-large egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
Pinch salt
2 1/2 tablespoons ground espresso coffee beans, decaffeinated or regular
1 tablespoon coffee liqueur (recommended: Kahlua)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 ounces (1/2 cup) chocolate-covered espresso beans, chopped

Directions
Heat the half-and-half until it forms bubbles around the edge of the pan and steam starts to rise. Meanwhile, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the egg yolks, sugar, and salt until mixed. Slowly add the hot half-and-half until combined. Wipe out the pan and pour the mixture back into the clean pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 5 to 10 minutes, until it's thickened and the cream coats the back of the spoon.

Pour the cream through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl. Add the ground espresso beans, coffee liqueur, and vanilla and refrigerate until completely chilled.

Pour the espresso cream into an ice-cream freezer and freeze according to the manufacturer's directions. Mix in the chopped espresso beans, spoon into a container, and allow to freeze for a few hours. Soften slightly before serving.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/espresso-ice-cream-recipe3/index.html?oc=linkback

Fun at The Corn Maze

Recently a friend asked me to join a group called MOPS (Mothers Of Preschoolers) so I went and checked it out. I had heard of MOPS before, good things in fact, and after the first meeting decided to join. MOPS is an international organization which is done in cities all over the world. We have a group of women here in Lubbock that have formed a group and planned out all sorts of fun play dates and girls nights out for us. Basically it's just a great way to get together with other moms and believers and share life with them. It's good to know other women are going through the same things you are and that you aren't the only one who is sleep deprived and covered in snot and poop! Yay for MOPS! 

So today we went on our first play date to the corn maze. Grayson had such a good time! 

Grayson going through the hay maze

Going on a train ride through the corn

Now we're on the hay ride going to pick pumpkins

Pumpkin donuts with a Maple syrup glaze

Oh... These are delicious! I told you I was ready for Fall. It's not even Fall yet and I've started my pumpkin baking. It was time though, because I've been saving this recipe for over a year (mainly because I didn't have a donut pan!). Lucky me - Bed,Bath & Beyond had clearanced out their Wilton donut pans so I snagged one! 

These are fairly simple to make and Deeeeelicious!

Here's Grayson chowing down! We kept asking him if he liked them and he would say uuummm hmmmm! 

Here's the recipe website if you want to try it! 

http://www.tasteandtellblog.com/baked-pumpkin-doughnuts-with-maple-cinnamon-glaze/

Ethiopian New Year

Today Ethiopia celebrates their New Years Day also known as Enkutatash. Enkutatash means "gift of jewels". This holiday marks the end of the rainy season for Ethiopia and the beginning of Spring. If you were to be in Ethiopia on this day you would see nothing but children and people dancing and singing in every village in the countryside.

According to an article I read online the story goes like this:

            " Almost 3,000 ago, the Queen of Sheba of ancient Ethiopia and Yemen
             were returning from a trip to visit King Solomon of Israel in Jerusalem,
             as mentioned in the Bible in I Kings 10 and II Chronicles 9. She had gifted
             Solomon with 120 talents of gold (4.5 tons) as well as a large amount of
             unique spices and jewels. When the Queen returned to Ethiopia her chiefs
             welcomed her with enku or jewels to replenish her treasury."

For the people of Ethiopia this is both a religious and secular event. The day begins with church services and is followed by the family meal time. On this day the girls gather flowers and sing in there newly made dresses and the boys paint pictures of saints. After this, the children fill the villages giving bouquets of flowers and painted pictures to every household. And when that is done, the children will receive small gifts of money or bread.

This is just a little insight to the culture of Ethiopia. This is more than likely a day we will celebrate with our child from Ethiopia. We hope to allow avenues for him to learn about his culture and where he came from.

Fall Crafting

Fall is my favorite time of year. I look forward to it so much each year that by July I start lighting my fall candles, stocking up on pumpkin, and I began my fall crafts. I even confessed to Josh the other day that I pretended like it was fall outside. It was a little overcast, so I lit the fireplace (with no heat, of course) and lit my favorite fall candle. Sounds silly but it's fun to me! 

Normally, in the past, I have had no desire to make any kind of wreaths. I just assume buy them because they entail a lot of work. BUT I didn't really like any of the ones that I had seen, they were expensive, and I had been inspired by Pinterest (who isn't) to make my own! So I decided to attempt it. 

All in all - it didn't take that long to make, it was fairly inexpensive ($13), it was fun and relaxing, and I think it turned out rather cute! 

Here's the finished product!