I Scream ..... You Scream ....

We all scream ..... but at least it's not about biting and stinging critters today.  YAY!!!   It's about ICE CREAM!!

My plan definitely wasn't to stay home yesterday.  The Food In Root (I know, funny name) farmers/artist market was on my schedule.  Unfortunately, the trains are finally catching up to me.  Even with ear plugs and Advil PM, I just can't seem to sleep much at all.

So once I was up and about ... at 3:45 ... YAWN ... I quickly decided it should be a stay home and clean the house day.  Jonathan thought that meant it was BATH day.  As soon as the vacuum roared to life, he began his monthly ritual of dunking his head in the water bowl and vigorously shaking it to provide his own mini shower.

He spent the next hour preening and cleaning each and every feather while I tried to clean the vacuum cleaner.  While finishing up, we had a rock fest in the living room, the likes of which I'm sure the neighbors could hear.  Jonathan screamed, I screamed and the dogs howled along at the top of their lungs.  It was Woodstock relived.

I spent a little time sewing on a new quilt before catching up on the news, whereupon I crashed big time.  Zzzzzzzzzzzz!  I did finally gather up enough energy to hit the grocery store for some dessert supplies.  You know I can't go long without dessert!!

So here's my latest and greatest recipe.  It just might make you scream for ice cream too.  TWO ingredients ... well five, but the ice cream part only has two.  Here's how it goes.

Whip two cups of heavy whipping cream until it has soft peaks.  Dump in one can of sweetened condensed milk (or you can go with the low fat version) and beat until it gets thick.  That's it!!  Can you believe it?  Go ahead ... take a taste!  Amazingly, it tastes just like really good vanilla ice cream.  How can that be???

I crushed a box of gingersnap cookies with a hammer, since I can't seem to find my rolling pin and mixed it up with a little less than 1/2 cup melted butter.  I pressed that into the bottom of two 6" springform pans and stuck them in the fridge for a few minutes.  For a crowd, I would use just one 12" pan.

Next up, I actually MADE candied pecans ... all by myself.  I admit, they didn't come out exactly as the recipe said ... some of the sugar didn't want to melt, but it made no difference to me.  I chopped up half a cup and stirred it into the ice cream mixture.

Place half of the mixture into the pans and sprinkle with more gingersnap crumbs.  You really could leave this part out.  Fill the pans with the remaining mixture, trying not to eat it by the spoonful.  Top with remaining candied pecans and put in the freezer for at least four hours.

Looks like whipped cream, right?  But no .... it's now a frozen concoction like none other.  You should let it sit for a few minutes to soften up, but I dove right in with a sharp knife and cut a big chunk off for me.

I'm here to tell you, this was AMAZING!!  Yes, it's sweet ... but that's how I like my desserts.  Sweet and chilly cold for this hot Arizona summer!!  By the way, you can flavor this any way you like.  You can stir in strawberries, chocolate syrup, moth balls ... or rather malt balls, peanut butter ... anything you like.  Ice cream with just two ingredients!!!  Whoever came up with this recipe was a genius!!  You don't want the crust?  No problem .... leave it out.

I have to admit, next time I won't go to all the trouble of making the pecans.  I'll buy them at the store.  That would be MUCH easier!  One last tip .... it's VERY rich, so you may want to cut the slices smaller than I did!!  

I'm determined to get out of the house today and hit that market.  I'll let you know tomorrow if I succeeded!!