Eerie Eye-Scream

In keeping with the Halloween theme, I thought you guys would get a kick out of these vanilla scoops made to look like eyeballs.

Ingredients:

Vanilla ice cream
Strawberry syrup
M & M sweets (brown,blue or green)
Black decorating gel


1. Scoop the ice cream into balls and set on a wax-paper-lined cookie sheet or greaseproof paper.  Than freeze until ready to serve (minimum 20 minutes).
2. Place two ice cream balls on a plate, an inch apart.
3. Drizzle syrup onto each ice cream ball to create a bloodshot effect. Put an M&M with the logo facing down at the center of each and top with a drop of black decorating gel to form a pupil. If you do not have black decorating gel than use black licorice instead.

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Mudslides

Ever wonder what to do with all the left over pumpkin after carving a spooktacular lantern? Me neither, until now! Yea found this recipe which is a regular mudslide with a bit of extra pumpkin juice. And this Halloween tipple aint for the kids with slashings of Vodka, Kahlua and Baileys thrown in. Oh yeaa- wickedly good!

Recipe yields 2

Ingredients:

2 ounces Vodka
2 ounces Kahlua
2 ounces Baileys
8 ounces vanilla ice cream
8 ounces pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
Whipped cream, to taste
Chocolate syrup, to taste

1. Blend all ingredients except the whipped cream and chocolate syrup.
2. Drizzle chocolate syrup along the inside edges of  the chilled glasses.
3. Pour the pumpkin mudslide into the glasses.
4. Top with whipped cream and more chocolate syrup.

Bottoms up!

Halloween Dirt Ice Cream with Wriggly Worms

All Hallow's Eve is fast approaching so I thought I'd dig out an icky looking recipe for you guys. It's super quick and simple.

Ingredients:
4-6 Oreo cookies
Scoop of chocolate ice cream
Scoop of vanilla ice cream
gummy jelly worms

Place the cookies in a ziplock bag and crush using a rolling pin. In a glass cup or bowl place a layer of the cookies on the bottom followed by a layer of chocolate than vanilla ice cream and top off with the cookies and stick the jelly worms into the 'dirt'.  You don't have to be exact, keep layering until the glass is full. 

Ben and Jerry's Flavour Graveyard

This wacky cemetery is located in Vermont, North America and is unlike any cemetery you've seen. It's where Ben & Jerry's defunct flavours are laid to rest! RIP 'Miz Jelena's Sweet Potato Pie' and same goes to 'Coffee,Coffee,buzzbuzzbuzz!'. The factory and flavour graveyard has become the states most popular tourist attraction with free samples being offered with the guided tours. In the graveyard, each of the 27 plastic tombstones has a rhyming epitaph and a cartoon picture of the ice cream with wings. The wings I'm guessing represent its ascent to dessert heaven. Since the company's inception 200 flavours have failed to tickle the tastebuds of their customers. But there's still hope for the deceased flavour you still fancy. If they get enough votes on their website they will happily resurrect the flavour.

Cinema & Ice Cream - Movies that satisfy your sweet tooth!

For me the big screen and snacks go hand in hand but I'll always choose a delectable ice cream treat over popcorn. As a veracious foodie, I like to feed my obsession further by watching films with enticing food scenes and if the food happens to be ice cream, even better! Here, I've compiled my top 5 movie list. If you guys can think of any great movies which involve ice cream feel free to drop me a comment.

1. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Make sure you're not on any sort of a diet when you watch this movie.There is no scene sweeter than waking up to gigantic scoops of yummy ice cream covering your house and neighbourhood. In this scene, Flint discovers how much fun it is throwing snowballs made from ice cream.

2. Hot Fuzz

Simon Pegg plays a super cop who is unwillingly transferred to a sleepy, small village because he's making the force look bad. As you know in cartoons when a light bulb appears above a characters head it signifies an idea or breakthrough. Well this scene illustrates how a Cornetto replaces the light bulb analogy and goes by the name of "brainwave". This is my most favourite scene in Hot Fuzz.

3. Little Miss Sunshine

http://movieclips.com/u3EYr-little-miss-sunshine-movie-olives-ice-cream/

Here, Greg Kinnear plays a well-meaning but deranged kind of a father who informs his 7 year old daughter Olive eating ice cream will make her fat and will inevitably damage her chances of winning Miss America. I recall rolling my eyes to heaven when I watched this scene and in defiance I helped myself to a second scoop of the good stuff. But I also found it very funny and touching when the rest of  the family rally around Olive and tempt her by diving into the ice cream until she can't resist anymore.

4. City Slickers

 
In this scene, we have an ice cream mogul who brags he knows the right ice cream flavour to suit any food for every occasion. My favourite quote City Slickers “Scoop of chocolate, scoop of vanilla, don’t waste my time” Oh to have that special skill- dinner parties will never be the same again. Certain wines complement the food it is eaten with, why not ice cream?

5. Not Another Teen Movie

Before Chris Evans was Captain America, he played a high school football star who tries to impress a girl by dressing up as a banana split. This scene cracks me up everytime.

Ice Cream Around the World

 As a foodie at heart, I tend to eat my way through any country I visit. One thing I noticed is that each culture has their own take on the frozen sweet. It's such a universal treat I thought I'd do a quick run down of the different flavours enjoyed in a select few ice cream guzzling countries.

America
It comes as no surprise that the US are the top consumer for ice cream world wide. 2011 estimates from the Helium website show that a whopping 98% of households have ice cream on their grocery list. Well known American brands are Baskin Robbins and Ben & Jerry's. Rasmussen media company reports that Americans like to keep it simple when it comes to their ice cream of choice with vanilla and chocolate ranking number 1.

India
Kulfi is India's version of ice cream and is traditionally made by carefully boiling milk until it has been reduced down to one-third its original quantity. Traditional flavours include cardamom, saffron, rasberry, cinnamon, pistachio and rose. Newer flavours are peanut and avocado.







France
When it comes to ice cream the French got it right. 'Glace' is available in a wide variety of flavours. Nice being a beach town has the widest selection. Classic flavours are nougat, cinnamon, caramel and dark chocolate. For fruit lovers they have pear, pineapple, grapefruit, blackcurrant and many other fruits. For more unusual and interesting flavours, southern France is the place to find them. To name but a few they have lavender, black olive, orange blossom,  thyme, vanilla and pink peppercorn.

New Zealand
In 2011, NZ came second to America for ice cream consumption. New Zealanders most popular flavour is the locally produced Hokey Pokey which is vanilla with bits of spongy toffee. I think it's a great name for ice cream.





 

Japan
Ice cream or 'Aisukurimu' is a popular dessert in Japan. Japanese delicacies have been incorporated into their ice cream to suit the local palette. Green tea, black sesame, tofu and sweet potato are some common flavours. However you can't fault the Japanese for lack of creativity as they have invented many unusual and unique flavours. Anyone fancy pit viper or octopus? Or how about chicken wing, beef tongue or caviar flavoured ice cream?

Turkey
The Turkish people like their ice cream or 'Dondurma' stretchy. Salep a ground orchid root is the key ingredient. Popular flavours include tangy plain and mastic (natural gum in eastern mediterranean), herbs, pistachio, strawberry and chocolate. 

Ice cream man puts on a show!

The video has become a big web hit on you tube. This actually happened in Turkey. An unsuspecting tourist gets taunted by the vendor albeit for a bit of a laugh. I think it's hilarious and the tourist just looks surprised. Though, if it was happening to me I'd probably have a grrr expression as nobody comes between me and my 99 ;0) 

Mushroom Ice Cream!!

Yes, you read it right! And if you are a foodie like me who loves mushrooms than this is perfect for fitting in one of your five a day. I do realise that the other ingredients do far outweigh the mushrooms but hey every little bit helps. According to the MorningStarr and Isle of Man website Greeba Farm and Davisons Manx dairy ice cream manufacturer have created a great tasting mushroom ice cream that was recently launched at the Isle of Man Food & Drink Festival and was a complete sell-out! Apparently even the local restaurants want to start serving it in their menus. Did a search on the web and most recipes used the candy cap mushrooms which have a sweet maple syrup like flavour. Davison use the chestnut mushrooms and it's a pity they don't share the recipe on their website. However I shall keep on the look -out for a fungitastic mushroom ice cream recipe to test out and share with you fine folks.

I found this nifty instruction video on how to make ice cream using a food processor. Real handy if you don't have an ice cream maker.

Venison Ice Cream

 Venison Ice Cream

As I was surfing the web an article in Digital Spy caught my attention. A scottish chef has created the world's first venison ice cream. Julien Miran of the Cow Shed restaurant in Banchory, Aberdeenshire "We were just trying to make something different from the usual venison dish and thought about ice cream," He goes on to say it is more suited to a side dish than a dessert. I'm all for creative food but I'm not sure this ice cream would please my humongous sweet tooth. However If I did find myself in that part of Scotland and dining in that particular restaurant -why not? So what are your thoughts on this meaty new ice cream, yay or nay?

Lemon Ice cream

Today I was in the mood for something zesty and zingy and I couldn't think of anything more refreshing than ice cream made from lemons. You can serve it with hot lemon sauce, fruit and wafers. But I find the lemon rind bits enough to keep me happy. I have to admit my ice cream doesn't look like the picture on the website but as long as it tickles my tastebuds than job well done!

The recipe used comes from tesco realfood website.
http://www.tescorealfood.com/recipes/easiest-ever-lemon-ice-cream.html


Ingredients:

finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
100g icing sugar
600ml whipping cream

Mix together the sugar, lemon zest and juice and set aside. In a large bowl, use an electric whisk to whip the cream until it forms soft peaks.
Stir the lemon mixture into the whipped cream until well mixed. Spoon the mixture into a freezable container and freeze for at least 4 hours or until firmly frozen. Remove from the freezer 10-15mins before serving to soften slightly. Alternatively if you have an ice cream maker just pour the mixture into the machine.