Frosty's

I used to have a big old-fashioned ice cream maker and we used it so much that we completely wore it out within a couple of years. It made the best ice cream.  It had a hand crank that incorporated more air into the cream and that made it really deliciously creamy and fluffy.

The down side was that it took a lot of manual labor, a lot of ice, rock salt and it had to be made outside because it also leaked water.

This is a picture from a family reunion a few years ago.  It was great to have all that help to crank the ice cream.




The ice cream maker came with an electric attachment as well and I the longer I had the ice cream maker, the more I found myself using the electric option as opposed to the hand crank simply for convenience purposes.  When the time came to replace the ice cream maker, I debated about whether to replace it with another hand cranked maker or an electric model.  In the end I opted for a smaller ice cream maker without a hand crank option. (Mainly because the electric ice cream maker was cheaper.)









The downside to this ice cream maker is it's small size.  I can only make about half the amount of ice cream that I could in the old ice cream maker.  The good news is that it freezes about twice as fast.  I don't have to use ice or rock salt in this model and I can plug it, set it on my kitchen counter and I don't have to worry about humidity interfering with my ice cream making. 








To initiate my new ice cream maker I whipped up a batch of Wendy's Frosty's for my family.  This recipe is super simple and it's all over the internet.  I made a 1/2 recipe - to accommodate my smaller ice cream freezer.

Frosty
8 ounces cool whip
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 gallon chocolate milk







 Blend ingredients together.









Pour into the ice cream freezer and freeze.  Mine took about an hour to freeze.

Once it was slushy consistency, I poured it into glasses and gave it to my family for the taste test. 

The results - they really liked it.  The truth is that it didn't look and taste exactly like a Frosty - but it was pretty darn close.  

There aren't a lot of things to take pictures of when you're making Frosty's so I decided to take pictures of my family enjoying their Frosty's.

Aren't they cute?

Ciao!

Sweet and Salty Granola Bars

Yesterday, we hiked part of the Appalachian trail. 

There's nothing like a hike through the Blue Ridge mountains in late September to heighten the senses.   The smells and the sounds and the beauty of the mountains are spectacular.  We really couldn't have asked for more perfect weather to help launch us into the spirit of Fall.

Hiking requires a lot of energy so I packed a picnic lunch for us to enjoy before we embarked on our journey.  Turkey sandwiches and roast beef sandwiches, homemade trail mix, soft chocolate chip cookies (recipe to be posted on the blog soon) and sweet and salty granola bars were all on the menu. 

These granola bars are really good - even if you are not planning to hike the Appalachian Trail anytime soon.

Sweet and Salty Granola Bars
1 cup oats
1/2 cup pistachios
2 Tablespoons sunflower seeds
2 Tablespoons pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup dried craisins
2 Tablespoons butter
1/3 cup honey
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla








Place oats on a baking sheet and bake 6-7 minutes at 350 or until golden
brown.





Pour oats into a bowl and add pistachios, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and craisins.







Place butter, honey and brown sugar in saucepan.  Bring to a boil and boil 30 seconds.  Stir in vanilla.









Pour over nut mixture.  Stir to coat.

Pour mixture into a greased 8” square baking pan.  (I doubled the recipe because I eat them really quickly.  I put mine in a 9x13 pan.)  Press into pan evenly.

Bake 20 minutes at 350.
Remove from oven and cool completely.  Cut into squares or bars. 











I wrapped each individual granola square in a strip of waxed paper and tied it together with twine. 
Perfect for taking on a hike.

I first posted this recipe on the blog last September but I didn't feel like I really did it justice.  (That was back when I only included 2 photos with my recipes.)  In order to give these granola bars the exposure that they really deserve, I decided to re-blog them with LOTS more pictures.  (Okay, so I may have gone a little overboard with 41 pictures this time!) 

Just in case you missed these granola bars the first time around, you get a second chance to print the recipe and start baking. 

Ciao!