Double Layer Ice Cream Pie

Everyone likes ice cream, right?  How about two flavors and hot fudge? Yum!

We celebrated Mother’s Day a week late on my side of the family.  We had everyone over to our house and I made lasagna (btw, don’t use Barilla oven ready pasta – blech. I’ve used Mueller no-boil pasta many times before which turns out great) and dessert.  My brother was nice enough to bring the sides.

I made two ice cream pies for dessert.  The 9” pie shell looked just a smidge too small for eight people.  And, it’s not like extra ice cream pie would go to waste in our house.

Each pie has two flavors of ice cream with a layer of hot fudge in between. I made one with vanilla and English toffee caramel and one with chocolate and black raspberry dark chocolate chip.

They turned out great and couldn’t be easier to make.  Forgive the photos.  I was either simultaneously making lasagna and fruit salad or had hungry people waiting for their pie!

Ingredients:

• Pre-made chocolate cookie crust pie shell
• 2 pints of ice cream – any two flavors you think will work well together
• Jar of hot fudge sauce- a 12 oz. jar is more than enough.  I used one jar for two pies.
• Tub of Cool Whip – I always use the light version and notice no difference. One tub covered two pies.

Set out your first flavor on the counter for about 5 minutes.  I put it in a bowl and stirred it a bit so it was soft but not melted. 

 

Pour into pie shell and spread into the first layer.  My pie shell was pretty shallow so I only used just over three quarters of the the pint.

 

Freeze for about a half hour or until solid. I’m not sure exactly how long it was in the freezer since I was doing other things in the kitchen.

 

Layer half the jar of hot fudge on the ice cream. 

 

Don’t let the ice cream get soft – this is what happens when you try to spread the fudge on even slightly soft ice cream.  Still tastes fine and no one will know so no big deal…  Place in freezer for half hour.

 

Spread second flavor of slightly softened ice cream on fudge layer.  Freeze.

 

Top with layer of Cool Whip.

 

Add sprinkles if you want! Place in freezer until ready to serve.

 

 

Enjoy!

Summer Salad–Panera Berry Salad Knockoff

I have been in a real cooking funk lately.  I just haven’t felt like spending the time to make meals which is pretty unusual for me.  My husband and I have irregular schedules with my sporadic travel and his late hours.  When you combine that with my total lack of motivation it results in a lot of take-out.  I have cooked a bit, but nothing worth noting and/or I forgot to take pictures.  Oops.

Not today! Well, actually I did forget to take pictures when I initially made this for Mother’s Day dinner but I had leftovers today so that counts, right? I snapped a couple shots before I ate.  A food stylist I’m not.

I pinned this ages ago.  It’s a knock-off of Panera’s Summer Berry Salad which I love.  I have to admit, Panera is one restaurant that drives me crazy.  I like the food and I go there often when I travel because it’s predictable and has wi-fi.  But every single time I am shocked at how much I spent and the fact that I’m still hungry when I leave.

Anyway…

I just tore up a few hearts of romaine and added strawberries, blueberries, mandarin oranges, and pineapple. I left off the candied pecans because I was making this for dinner at my step-mom’s house and she hates nuts.  The key to this is the Orange Poppy Seed Vinaigrette dressing.  It is so good!  Citrusy and sweet with just a bit of tang. For my lunch I added some leftover rotisserie chicken.  Delicious!

Here’s the link to the recipe.  Enjoy!

Sadie Saturday– A Sneaky Week

I’m just sitting here remembering the awesomely sneaky week I had.  Somehow my parents got lazy about the counter, pantry and trash and I took advantage of that!  Here are all the things I ate just this week:

• An entire loaf of wheat bread
• An entire package of fig newtons (apple cinnamon – yum!)
• 1/2 jar of peanut butter – even got the lid off!
• and one that still has my parents stumped – the crotch out of three pairs of underwear!

Sadly, now there are more closed doors and a renewed vigilance by mom and dad.  Don’t worry, I’ll lull them into complacency in a couple weeks…

Simplicity 1693

Doesn’t it always feel like you never have anything to wear (while you stand in front of a closet of clothes)?  One big hole in my wardrobe is dressy-casual.   I’m on a mission to make some versatile blouses that I can dress up or down.  You would think I would make something other than a blouse since that seems to be all I sew.  I’m a little bit chicken to try a nice dress which is my next goal.  And, I wear jeans almost every day – making some blouses is practical (I tell myself).

(It was windy when I took the pictures!)

I was initially attracted to Simplicity 1693 for the version I made but I think the tank could be a nice option too. I debated taking the elastic out since I’m so high waisted (it rides up to sit on my natural waist) but I figure I can make another blouse in a different style if this bugs me.

I made the blouse exactly according to the directions and it went together fine.  I added four inches but but ended up chopping off two of those.  This blouse is pretty short – I’m 5’6” and short waisted and still needed an extra couple inches of length.

I’m still figuring out when in the construction process to serge the seams.  I forgot to do it on the back seam so had to pink those.  One question on sleeves – how do you finish those seams?  I used the serger but it was messy and could have easily turned into disaster with such an awkwardly shaped seam. Should I have serged the pieces before putting it together?  I had to gather at the cap so I wasn’t sure.

I had some new experiences with this project.  It was my first time working with rayon challis.  I really liked it but it will run if you’re not careful (I have one right in the front) and it frays like crazy. I wasn’t crazy about the print when it arrived in the mail- that’s why I used it for my first try.  It has grown on me since then.

It was my first time adding elastic to a sleeve.  The pattern calls for making a casing with bias binding.  I won’t do that again.  It took a lot of time when it could have been done quickly by making a casing out of the sleeve itself.

 

I made my first thread loop. I used this tutorial from Pattern Scissors Cloth. I should have made it smaller but I think this is one of those skills that gets better with practice.  Mine’s really messy (so is the binding at the ends too). While the keyhole is a pretty detail, next time I make the blouse, I probably will save some time and just sew the entire back seam top to bottom. Or maybe cut the pattern piece on the fold?

 

The casing for the elastic waist was very easy using premade bias binding.

Overall I like the top.  I’m not sure I would make it again since it might not be super flattering. I would recommend the pattern, though.

Obligatory photobomb

Have a great week!

Sadie Saturday–I Feel Great!

I guess it’s true that “you are what you eat” because I must have been eating some yucky stuff.  I have lots and lots of allergies.  It’s no fair because it’s all the good stuff: chicken, potatoes, corn, and all kinds of other delicious things.  Mom has been depriving me of all those yummies for so long you would have thought the problem would go away.  She even had me on this expensive prescription food.  It stopped the ear infections but I still scratched and scratched and licked my paws until I made myself yelp.  I would bite into my back to scratch it which would then make my neck all sore. I never wanted to go for walks or move too much.

I guess Mom was worried I wasn’t getting better so when it came time for a new bag of food, she called the doctor to see if there was a different option.  We got new prescription food and within a few days I stopped scratching.  I don’t lick my paws anymore which means I don’t stink (I never noticed that in the first place but Mom and Dad always had to comment on it). 

I feel like a new dog!  I’m so energetic , I actually like going outside and even walk fast or run sometimes (let’s not get too crazy– I am still a Newfie with neck issues so my bursts of energy are pretty short)!

The only problem is the food.  Mom says it looks like Corn Pops, whatever those are.  I just know it doesn’t fill me up so I constantly have to remind them I’m STILL hungry.  Granted, I would eat anytime, anywhere, but it’s true this time!  I’ve had to step up the whining to levels never reached before. I will not relent.  Every afternoon I stay right by her side with a constant whine so she won’t forget me.   I’m getting a little more food every day but maybe I can trick them into lots more!  Wish me luck!

Feline friday–Livin’ on the Edge

All cats have their quirks. That’s part of their charm.  One of Kirby’s quirks is that, no matter where he’s sitting, he has to be on the very edge.  He’s been like that since a little kitty 15 years ago. 

Look at those cute wittle paws!

 

 

 

 

Every morning, Kirby makes sure to get in the way hang out on both my husband’s and my sink.

 

Seek and Find, Bird Edition

Over the past two months I’ve been taking photos as I see more and more birds out our back window.  My husband and I laugh at each other about how excited we get when we spot a new bird. When did we become birders?  It has been interesting to see new types show up as it gets warmer.   Well, theoretically it’s supposed to be warmer but here in Ohio it’s still freezing and we’re even supposed to get 5 more inches of snow tonight!  With the cold weather and the snow, the birds flock to the feeders since they need so much food to stay alive.

I’ll do a future post identifying the various types we’ve seen but I wanted to share some photos from when we get huge gatherings at the feeders. That’s my favorite – when you look out and see 10-15 birds just hangin’ out. All-you-can- eat buffets draw a crowd in the bird world too!

The photos aren’t always the best quality since I’m taking them with a long lens and through my living room window (which only gets washed outside when it rains). Even so, it’s great to have a record of the little visitors.

Let’s see how many birds you can spot….

Answers at the bottom.

We’ll start out easy.

All kinds are welcome here.

A little harder.  Two pairs of cardinals on a double date at the buffet.

So colorful, aren’t they?

The male cardinals are easy.  Look beyond those.

12 and 2 squirrels!!

Can you find 22? The picture doesn’t do it justice – birds were everywhere!

Have a great week, everyone!

Bird counts: 7,8,4,6,6,12(and 2 squirrels),22