Today, I’ve got a double-scoop for you. I’ve been away from the blog for a few days, and all of my energy has been spent fighting for the teachers in my district ~ for the teacher’s my son has had, and the ones that he will have. I’m a parent, a teacher, and a leader in the school district, and I have never been so fired up for a cause in my life.
Unfortunately, it’s not over. 51,000 students, 2,200 teachers, and thousands of families are at the mercy of seven members who do not support public education. Board members who don’t support public education? It doesn’t seem right, and it isn’t right. We’ve got support and momentum, and our kids are learning important lessons that they could never learn inside the four walls of a classroom. I’m still crossing my fingers we will settle this soon.
I’ve gone into my kitchen every night with the intent on baking something, but it just hasn’t happened. I even went so far as to take all of the ingredients I needed out to make a batch of cookies last night, but by the time I was organized, I wasn’t up for it. I know my Kitchen Aid will forgive me, and hopefully I’ll be back to baking and working soon. Not so sure my bank account will be quite so forgiving.
Here’s the second scoop…I made this fabulous ice cream pre-strike. It’s Caramel Roasted Banana Ice Cream, from David Lebovitz’s, The Perfect Scoop. If you like home-made ice cream, this is a must-have cookbook. It’s coming out in paperback for only $12.00 next week.
One bite took me right back to my childhood. Isn’t it funny how certain foods can do that. My sister and I always used to get banana ice cream from Swensen’s as kids. This was exactly how I remembered it.
As far as home-made ice cream goes, this is now my absolute favorite. It was so smooth in texture and not at all gritty (which I find some recipes are). The Picky One didn’t like it, but he did like the idea of having an ice cream sundae movie night.
Check out the bowls, they’re 100% edible, chocolately, divine brownies. I used my Wilton pan to make these, so simple. Strawberries shortcakes are also great to make with this pan. For $8.99 and a 50% off Michael’s coupon, this pan is under 5 bucks and totally worth it.
I’ll be praying to the baking gods for inspiration this weekend, and will forge ahead with my cause. Happy Weekend!!
Roasted Banana Ice Cream
The Perfect Scoop, by David Lebovitz
Yield: about 3 cups (double if you plan on sharing with more than one)The Perfect Scoop
3 medium-sized ripe bananas, peeled
1/3 cup, packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cups whole mik*
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt (fine salt is okay too)
*I substituted with 3/4 cup 2% milk and 3/4 cup heavy cream
Preheat the oven to 400F. Slice the bananas into 1/2-inch pieces and toss them with the brown sugar and butter in a 2-quart baking dish. Bake for 40 minutes, stirring just once during baking, until the bananas are browned and cooked through.
Scrape the bananas and the thick syrup in the dish into a blender or food processor. Add the milk, granulated sugar, vanilla, lemon juice and salt, and puree until smooth.
Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze in your ice cream mixture according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If the chilled mixture is too thick to pour into your machine, whisking will thin it out. Freeze until firm.
