Ice Cream, I Lub It.

This year, for Mark's birthday, I bought him an ice cream maker. He's hard to buy for, and I usually dread figuring out something that he will like that isn't out of my price range, but this year, it just came to me - ice cream maker! Ice cream is definitely one of his favorite foods and I knew that he'd really love to make his own. So, I stole him one. Okay, I didn't really steal it, but that's what everyone who thinks they are oh, so funny tells me.

I went to Linens and Things near my house, which is currently having a going out of business sale. I was hoping to get a deeper discount than the 20% I could get at Bed Bath & Beyond. Turns out, their kitchen appliances were only 20% off at LnT, but I got deals on a few other things so it didn't turn out to be a wasted trip. According to the price tag and the sales chart, the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker that I was going to purchase was 20% off the $49.99 retail price.

Weeeeeell, when I got up to the register, I watched the salesperson scan all of the price tags, but I wasn't paying complete attention to what was wringing up because at the time, I was trying to organize several large storage bins in my cart. My total was around $48, and I figured something had a deeper discount than I had originally thought, but I didn't really think about it. Once I got home and checked the receipt, I found out that the $50 ice cream maker rang up at $14.99! Steal!

I don't know how I ended up with that price! All the sticker on the box says is "Linens and Things, (barcode), $49.99". I'm not sure if the tag got switched with something else that had a deeper discount, or what, but I sure benefitted! I'm so excited, it's so much more fun to use knowing that I got it for 70% off the retail price! Woohoo!

So, anyway, Mark made ice cream for the first time, yesterday evening. Coffee ice cream, or course - it's his favorite. It turned out VERY good, much better than what you purchase at the store, but there was a little bit of a mishap.

Here, Mark is joyously waiting for the ice cream to be ready.

We each treated ourselves to a bowl of ice cream while watching TV before bed last night. We got into bed around 10.15PM (this is about when we go to bed every night, and we're usually asleep by 10.30 - 11.00). Well, by the time 12.30AM rolled around and we were both still awake, not just awake, but WIDE awake, not even tired, we finally figured out that it was because we had eaten the coffee ice cream which had caffeinated coffee in it. I didn't get to sleep last night until after 1AM, then had to be up for work today by 6AM. All of the sleep that I caught up on over the weekend has been wiped away, I'm so tired this morning, I could use some of the ice cream to wake me up!

Moral of the story... when making coffee ice cream, use de-caffeinated coffee unless you intend to use it as an energizer.

And the final product. Yum!

Coffee Ice Cream

Source: Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker Recipe Booklet

Prep: 5 mins, plus 20-25 mins chilling time; optional 2 hours to ripen. Makes ten 1/2-cup servings.

1 Cup whole milk, well chilled

3/4 Cup granulated sugar

2-3 tablespoons instant espresso or coffee, to taste

2 Cups heavy cream, well chilled

1 Teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a meduim bowl, use a hand mixer or a whisk to combine the milk, granulated sugar, and espresso powder until the sugar and espresso are dissolved, about 1-2 minutes on low speed. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla. Turn the machine ON, pour the mixture into freezer bowl and let mix until thickened, about 25 - 30 minutes.

Nutritional Analysis per 1/2 cup serving:

Calories - 241 (67% from fat)

Carbohydrates - 18g

Protein - 3g

Fat - 18g

Saturated Fat - 11g

Cholesterol - 69mg

Soduim - 30mg