April 29, 2009

The Most Wonderful...Magic Chocolate Ice Cream EVER!!!


Start with these delectable ingredients...



Mix one of them with hot water...



And chop the other one up fine like...


THIS!

p
There now! Good job... :)




Cream!! What is ice cream without cream anyway?!



And that cream needs to be whipped of course...



Then you fold the whipped cream in with the chocolate/coffee mixture...



And it looks likes this.... (At this point the "no snitching" rule is out of the question!)



Freeze it for a long time... (6hrs is way too long to wait...)
BUT if you DO wait, the results are tantalizingly delicious!!!


Here's the recipe:

Magic Chocolate Ice Cream
Yields approx. : 1qt


Ingredients:
1tsp instant coffee or espresso powder
1tbl hot water
4oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
1/2c sweetened condensed milk
pinch of salt
1 1/4c cold heavy whipping cream

Directions:
1. Melt Chocolate Base
Combine coffee (or espresso) powder and hot water in small bowl. Let stand until coffee dissolves, about 5min. Microwave chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, and coffee mixture in bowl stirring every 10 seconds, until chocolate is melted, about 30sec-1min. Stir in vanilla and salt. Let cool.
2. Mix and Freeze
With electric mixer on medium-high speed, whip cream to soft peaks, about 2min. Whisk one-third of whipped cream into chocolate mixture. Fold remaining whipped cream into chocolate mixture until incorporated. Freeze in airtight container until firm, at least 6hrs or up to 2 weeks. Serve.

**Hint: If you plan to store the ice cream for more than a few days, place plastic wrap directly on its surface before freezing.**

April 28, 2009

An April Evening

Sunday night was beautiful!
I finally had a chance to grab the camera and take some pictures again.


In all those millions there was one...

That just seemed to stand out by itself!




Clover's weren't the only thing of interest! Miss Kelly was being photogenic as well...


It was sooo cute!



She was wearing her favorite new dress from Wal-mart.



Meanwhile...Kayla sat nearby looking at the view...



And what a view! I love our backyard.
By the way, I have identical pictures taken in the fall and winter as well. I've still to take a summer one!

Allie waited for me to finish nearby being cute and have fun with the kitty.


Finally, the sun goes down behind the pond.

April 20, 2009

Allianna...


Our Allie started out so tiny almost seven months ago!
Now she's such a big girl and and she had her first haircut April 1.

This is what she looked like a few weeks before she got her haircut....

And this is what she looks like as of a few days ago...

She's my sweetie!

Isn't she still just so adorable?!


And she's the PERFECT puppy....most of the time...*wink*
I suppose puppies WILL be puppies and I LOVE IT!!!







April 6, 2009

Duck Stamp Judging!

The judging for the Jr. Duck Stamp competition was April 2nd this year. Our state coordinator invited some friends of ours (who also had kids competing) and our family to come for a private tour of the Big Muddy Wetlands facility/grounds and to watch our art be judged.
I preoccupied myself with the camera most of the time (of course) dedicating myself as THE PHOTOGRAPHER. However, after we got home I realized that THE PHOTOGRAPHER never got very many pictures of her family! So, these are what I've got....



We started with the tour led by Mr. Kemble. He was a great guide and made everything very interesting for everyone!



Kayla with her hat... I might add that one of the pictures I missed was of all three girls in matching dresses and hats....tsk, tks, tks...


Our friends, Joy and Anna, standing by the Sturgeon tank.


Some of the lucky kids got to look in the microscope!
From there, we went outside (where it was drizzling) and also to another building that was too dark to get good pictures where they had great big tanks of Sturgeon in various stages of life and sizes....

After the tour, we went back to the building where the art work was being judged.
We were greeted by this hilarious cooler that was stashed under the volunteers food table.

There were hundreds of pictures to be judged. I think this is two categories laid out.


Brady's pictures is being judged! ( I probably shouldn't have taken pictures during the judging as it must have been a dead give away of whose it was but I WAS told that I could take as many pictures as I wanted sooooo....)


After the judging, those present were given the opportunity to talk to the judges (several were wildlife artists themselves) about their artwork and how to improve. It was a very neat experience!!!




Me with my entry. WOW. There is a BIG difference between the first place pictures and the second place ones like mine. Lots of room to improve!!!


And finally, after some nail biting and nervous giggling on my part (again another give away!), the BEST OF SHOW winner was picked. It was drawn by Rebbecca Nastave. (sp!) She's won once before as well and even has gone on to win nationally!

The Ymker results were:
Abby 2nd
Brady 2nd
Kayla*HM
Libby HM

It was a good day and lots of fun!!!

*Honerable Mention