Ice Cream Review: Key Lime Pie by Blue Bell

Natural light is the best light!

Key lime pie is a top-three kind of dessert for me. The best I've ever had was at the Palm a couple of years ago when I met my dad for an awesome and boozy lunch one day during the week (my dad is mega cool like that). Something magical happens when you transform tart key lime juice into a creamy custard that sits in buttery graham cracker crust OH MY GAWD GET IN MY MOUTH RIGHT NOW!

..........yeah, sorry about that.

Needless to say, I'm pretty picky with what I label as "good" or "great" and I think that Blue Bell knocked it out of the ballpark with this one.

If you live in the south or southwest USA, you have the extreme fortune and pleasure to be able to purchase Blue Bell ice cream. Personally, I love that it's produced a little over an hour from where I live AND they still sell half gallons of ice cream (unlike those chintzy national brands who keep shrinking their cartons).

In addition to having a myriad of flavors they churn out year round, Blue Bell introduces different seasonal flavors during the year and really hit the jackpot with their key lime pie ice cream -- especially since it's summer time and the two go hand in hand.

Upon peeling off the lid of the container, I immediately noticed the massive chunks of graham cracker crust and upon closer inspection, I could see creamy white swirls of whipped topping. The ice cream was a pale yellowy green color which is GOOD since fresh key lime juice is more yellow than green anyway. Nicely done Blue Bell, nicely done.

Texturally speaking, the ice cream was noticeably more crumbly when I was scooping it out than traditional ice cream flavors but I've read that that is due to having the fruit juice in it and honestly, it really doesn't bother me. The mouthfeel was creamy and that is what is really important anyway.

You know when you taste something so delicious that you close your eyes and make noises like a dinosaur? That sums up my first bite of my ice cream cone. I may or may not have called my mother to ask her if she knew just how long ice cream lasts in the freezer thinking I might stock up.....sadly for me, apparently buying ice cream FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR is probably not a good idea. Especially since my freezer is pretty tiny....oh well I guess I will be forced to have ice cream EVERY DAY to get my fix before they stop making it!

First world problems.

Blue Bell key lime pie ice cream: A+

Back on the wagon with pot roast in July!

Delicious roast for lunch on a blindingly white paper plate that I enjoyed at my desk at work.

I'm terrible I know....I fell off of the face of the earth for a year and a half only to make my triumphant return with...pot roast? In the middle of July?! One of the hottest months of the year in Texas?!

HELL YEAH I DID!

I'd love to say that I disappeared because something stupendous and amazeballoons happened like finally receiving my acceptance letter to Hogwarts but the truth is that I got busy and distracted and this blog fell through the cracks. Sad face and sad tummies I know... :(

However, before you think that I am truly terrible and regretful, when I say that I got busy and distracted, I had a great reason! I am going back to school in my evenings (even if it's not Hogwarts) to be a veterinarian and joined a fantastic philanthropic organization that I mainly participate in on my weekends so YEAH, very busy.

Enough about me, more about the pot roast.

My mom is an amazing but reluctant cook. It continues to surprise me how she produces absolutely delicious dishes but claims to be a only "okay in the kitchen." She's much, MUCH more than "okay" and her tweaks on a traditional recipe really elevated it to the next level of awesome.

As for the origins of this recipe, I have no idea where it came from; all I know is that it's fantastic and perfect for a cool, fall evening or you know, a hot day in July.

Lauren's Mom's Effing Perfect Pot Roast

2 1/2 lb. chuck roast

1 pkg. onion soup mix

1 can whole-cranberry sauce

2/3 cup red wine (I prefer a Zinfandel for roast)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 small onion, very coarsely chopped

1/2 small bag of baby carrots

1 small pkg. button mushrooms

1/2 bag of very small red potatoes

• On bottom of crock-pot, layer potatoes, then carrots, then mushrooms, then onions
• Place roast on top
• Sprinkle onion soup mix over everything
• Shmear mushroom soup and whole-cranberry sauce, pour in red wine
• Cook on low for ~6-9 hours depending on the size of your roast

* Serve with horseradish

P.S. If you have time, skip the red potatoes and whip up mashed potatoes to go with this dish. I'm a big fan of being lazy so I jam everything in there and go with it this way.

Happy Eating! :)

Lemon Bars

I love lemon bars. Sweet but tart with a rich shortbread crust, they are probably one of my all time favorite desserts EVER. It also doesn't hurt that they are pretty easy to make which is always a huge plus in my book.

I found these off of a website called Pinterest. Hellooooooo addiction! In case you live under a rock or in Antarctica or something, Pinterest is an online network of virtual pinboards. In a nutshell, you find a picture of something that you like and you pin it in a category of your creation. Then your followers/friends can tag it to their pinboards if it something that they like too. These pictures are linked to the pin's origin. So for example, if you find a pin from a food blog, nine times out of ten it will take you to the recipe so that you can make it! Sounds pretty fun right? WRONG! More like PRETTY EFFING AMAZING AND ADDICTIVE IN CAPS!!!

Also, Pinterest makes you feel creative while hoarding things on the internet...FOR FREE!

Back to the lemon bars. These are the first of many things that I have pinned that I want to experiment in the closet that is my kitchen. Unlike most lemon bars that I've had, these were a bit more tart and that really appealed to me. I don't particularly like things that are *too* sweet; I liked that these had a bite at the end.

One thing to note about my picture, I sprinkled the powdered sugar on too soon. I made these and then brought them to my grandparents' house three hours away. By the time we bit into them (which was pretty much as soon as we arrived), the powdered sugar had already melted away for the most part. Be sure to sprinkle it on right before serving.

Perfect Lemon Bars

For the crust:

   * 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

   * 1/3 cup sugar

   * 1/4 tsp. salt

   * 1 tbsp. lemon zest

   * 1/2 cup butter, room temperature

Filling:

   * 4 large eggs

   * 1 1/3 cups sugar

   * 1 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed and strained

Preheat oven to 350F. Line 9×9-inch baking pan with aluminum foil.

Make the crust. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest. Cut butter into chunks and add to flour mixture. Blend in with an electric mixer at low speed until mixture forms coarse, sandy crumbs. Pour into pan and press mixture down (with your fingers or the back of a spoon) into an even layer.

Bake for 16-19 minutes, until just lightly browned around the edges.

While crust is baking, make filling. Whisk together all filling ingredients in a large bowl.

When the crust comes out of the oven and is still hot, pour in filling mixture.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until filling is set and does not jiggle when the pan is gently shaken.

Cool completely before slicing.

Top slices with confectioners’ sugar to serve. Makes about 24 bars.

Recipe from Baking Bites

Red Velvet Cake

So red it makes my eyes hurt. YESSSSssss!!!

Once again, Bakerella comes through with another fantastic recipe! Mollie, aka my "work wife" turned 28 this November and her birthday cake request was for red velvet cake. Not entirely happy with my last attempt at red velvet, I turned to Bakerella and voila, sheer awesomeness was produced from my oven. Not only that, but I created everything with my hand mixer due to being too lazy to get out the behemoth known as Eloise-the-stand-mixer. Eloise is jealous of the no-name hand mixer.

This was my very first round cake and/or layer cake EVER. For the first time, it's really not just my shitty iphone camera taking an equally shitty picture. The cake was a hot mess but it tasted like heaven when we knocked it out at 8am the next morning at work. The best part of the hot mess was the fact that I ran out of the food gel that I was attempting to write "Happy Birthday Mollie" with. Instead, all I squeaked out of it was "Happy Birthday M." Fortunately, no one cares but me how it looked and it was gone quick enough where people couldn't really read what I wrote anyway.

Crappy looking but delicious cake is on the left, awesome and gorgeous friend Mollie is on the right.

Red Velvet Cake
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 oz. red food coloring

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease and flour two 8 inch cake pans.
• Lightly stir eggs in a medium bowl with a wire whisk. Add remaining liquid ingredients and stir together with whisk until blended. Set aside.
• Place all the dry ingredients in your mixing bowl and stir together really good with another wire whisk.
• Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix on medium-high for about a minute or until completely combined.
• Pour into cake pans and then drop the pans on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.
• Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• After about ten minutes, remove from pans and cool completely on a wire rack. I also cover in plastic wrap while the cakes cool.
• Then make the frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 cups confectioners’ sugar

• Sift sugar and set aside.
• Beat cream cheese and butter on high until creamy. Add vanilla.
• Then, add the sugar in batches. Scrape down the sides in between each addition.
• And frost away.

Recipe from Bakerella

Chocolate Chip Cake

Chocolate chip cake. The powdered sugar is sprinkled on right before serving so it won't melt away.

 

I'm one of the few ladies of the world that doesn't love and go gaga for chocolate and/or chocolate cake. I'm a fruity candy kind of gal and my favorite cake is strawberry so there you have it.

I will say this though, I *LOVE* this chocolate chip cake. It is super duper easy to make and it always comes out moist and delicious.

My friend Sarah recently had a birthday and when I asked her what kind of cake she wanted, she requested chocolate. This cake is so decadent and rich, you sprinkle powdered sugar on top of it instead of frosting. It was gone in 15 minutes, tops. :)

Chocolate Chip Cake

• 1 (12oz) package of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 (4oz) instant chocolate pudding mix
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 package Duncan Hines yellow cake mix

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Mix cake mix and pudding together. Add eggs, water, and oil. Stir by hand. Add chocolate chips. Stir until evenly mixed. Grease and flour Bundt pan. Pour batter into pan and bake for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool and turn over. Sprinkle with powdered sugar right before serving.

Recipe from the St. John Vianney Church Cookbook