Kitchen Fun With Carol

Hello everyone! Whew! This summer sure has been one of the hottest that I remember in a long time. We have been running the air conditioner and grilling out as much as possible. How have you been trying to beat the heat?

My husband and I visited the new polar bear exhibit at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. It’s been a long time since we have had polar bears at our zoo. The last time was about 20 years ago and I remember taking my daughter, Amanda, there to visit. The new exhibit space is wonderful. They have a swimming area where the polar bears, Aurora and Anana, play. You can view them from above the water or from a glass enclosure below.

The day we visited the zoo they had exhibits where they talked about the enrichment activities they have for the animals. They had all sorts of piñatas filled with treats for the animals, boxes the animals would try to open, and we even saw the big play balls the elephants push around. We got to see one of these activities first hand when we visited the polar bears. They make large “popsicles” for the bears in five gallon buckets. They placed them in the exhibit area and we watched as the bears interacted with the frozen treats. It was fun to watch plus it made me think of all those frozen summer treats people enjoy!

Frozen Summer Treats

If you have been following us on the 30 Day Gourmet Facebook® fan page, you know that I picked up an ice cream maker on clearance a couple of weeks ago. A special Thank You to everyone who posted recipes for me to try! I have used an ice cream maker before. I borrowed my brother’s last year to try some recipes but I have never owned one myself. My husband and I have been testing recipes the last two weekends. It has been fun! I would not deem all the recipes we tested as a success (isn’t that the way it usually works!), but it was still fun to try them.

I have always wondered what the difference is between sorbet, sherbet, and ice cream. After some research, I have found out that according to the FDA:

• Sorbet is a frozen dessert made from sweetened liquid and fruit juice or fruit puree. There are no dairy products in sorbet.
• Sherbet is a frozen dessert containing between 1 percent and 2 percent milk products.
• Ice cream is a frozen dessert containing more than two percent milk products. It must also contain at least 10 percent milk fat and weighs not less than 4.5 pounds per gallon.
• Ice milk contains less than 10 percent milk fat. Most of the time you will see this labeled as low-fat ice cream.

I’ve always been leery of making homemade ice cream recipes that use raw eggs. I’ve found a solution for this issue. You can use a pasteurized egg substitute product, such as Egg Beaters®, instead. All bacteria are killed during the pasteurization process so it is considered safe to use.

I also experimented using different dairy products including lower fat or fat free milk, evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and half and half. Using the lower fat products will change the texture of the dessert but they were still very good.

Contest Winner

Our Freezer Cook of the Month is Peggy! She posted a recipe on the30 Day Gourmet Facebook® fan page for Homemade Ice Cream. We tried the chocolate version with chocolate pudding and chocolate milk. My husband loves it and he is not really a die hard fan of chocolate ice cream. This recipe is very creamy and it makes a lot. We only made a half batch and ended up with 8 cups of ice cream. Try it yourself! I think you will like it!

You too can get in on the winning by posting your funny story, good deed, cooking tip, assembly day story, favorite recipe, etc. on the 30 Day Gourmet Facebook® fan page, or click here to email it to me to be entered in our contest. Next month we are looking for your favorite back to school recipes!

Good luck, everyone!

Post Your Review And You Could Win A Gift Card!

Nanci just added a “Reviews” tab to the 30 Day Gourmet Facebook® fan page, so let’s have a contest! Here are the rules:

1. Post your 100+ word review of our new cookbook (30 Day Gourmet’s BIG Book of Freezer Cooking) under the Reviews tab on the 30 Day Gourmet Facebook® fan page by midnight on August 1st, 2010.
2. Nanci will put all of the “posters” names into a hat and have her 17 year old daughter pull out a winning name.
3. The winner will receive a $25 gift card to Olive Garden/Red Lobster/Longhorn Steakhouse/Bahama Breeze!

Let the reviewing begin!

Bonus Recipes

Mango Sorbet

Mangoes are one of my favorite fruits. I’ve just started cooking with them and they are amazing. They are sweet and very flavorful! The first time we had Mango Sorbet it was served with fresh blueberries. It is a wonderful combination. Serve it at your next backyard gathering.

Sherbet Your Way

This recipe is very versatile. You can change the flavor of gelatin and juice concentrate that you use to create your personalized flavor of sherbet. Try orange juice concentrate and orange flavored gelatin, limeade concentrate and lime gelatin, pineapple juice concentrate and pineapple gelatin, or grape juice concentrate and grape gelatin. The combinations are endless!

Closing Comments from Carol

I hope you enjoy the frozen dessert recipes. Next month I hope to share some back to school recipes. School starts in the next couple of weeks for lots of families. I know from experience that packing lunches and having homemade snacks on hand for after school can save you a lot of money. So I’m looking for your lunch or snack recipes and for your stories of your back to school cooking days.

You can post your recipes on the 30 Day Gourmet Facebook® fan page or click here to send me an email. Or do you have any other topics that you would like me to cover? Click here to send me an email. I enjoy hearing from you!

Have fun in your kitchen!

Carol