Fun in the snow? PLUS: snow ice cream recipe

We have had some crazy weather these past few days and thought I'd share some amazing and fun photos I got of the Indiana blizzard. Starting 2014 off right, I guess. State of emergency. Quarantined to the house. Any travel made illegal. 

 

 

Then, temperatures with windchill in the negative 30's and 40's. It was so cold that there was frost on the inside of Brad's truck. 

If anyone wants to know, ice scrapers do not work on the inside of windows.

 

 

 

 

Some of these pictures show just how wet the snow was. My jacket was soaked! It was so wet we used an umbrella to keep the snow off of the camera.

Snow Ice Cream

Later that night I saw a friend who posted that she made ice cream from snow. Who even know that was possible!?

 

Just take a bucket of [clean] snow (around 1 gallon) inside.

Add about 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and 1/2-1 cup of milk. (Add the milk in small increments until the consistency you want.)

 

Add sprinkles or other toppings.

 

This was such a fun thing to do with the kiddo. 

Elephant Ears, at home

Elephant ears are always a must for me at the state fair. I can never resist the deep-fried cinnamon deliciousness (we won't get into the debate, but they're MUCH better than funnel cakes). Anyways, I saw the other day a friend posted on FB about how she made some homemade and I guess I never really thought to do that. It's one hot summer here in the Midwest but we are anxiously awaiting the fair so in the mean time, make a batch of elephant ears and relax by the pool.

 

Elephant Ears 

Source: Allrecipes

Yields: 15 (freeze the extra)

 

Ingredients

 

1.5 cups milk

1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp white sugar

3/8 cup shortening

2 Tbsp active dry yeast

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 quart of oil for frying

3 Tbsp ground cinnamon

8 Tbsp white sugar

 

Directions

 

In a small saucepan on medium heat, combine the milk, salt, 2 tablespoons sugar, and the shortening. Mix well and heat until shortening melts and sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and allow to cool to lukewarm, approximately 110 degrees F. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let sit until foamy.

 

Transfer the cooled mixture to a large bowl and stir in the flour to make the dough. Knead until smooth and cover. Allow dough to rise for 30 minutes.

 

In a large skillet, heat the quart of oil (about 1 inch) on medium-low heat until mixture reaches about 350 degrees. (Note: I turned my heat down quite a bit after the first two because they were so unevenly cooked so I recommend no higher than 350 F.) Roll dough into 1-2 inch balls and flatten into a thin sheet. Fry the sheets until brown on the bottom, around 40-60 seconds. Flip and cook around the same amount of time.

 

Place cooked elephant ear on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the extra oil. Mix the sugar and cinnamon to make an even mixture and sprinkle on the warm elephant ears. Enjoy warm.

 

Now I made about 6 of these ears (some for us and the neighbors), but I froze the excess dough. I will certainly update this to see if that works when I try to make them again.

 

These were so tasty and you just have to have a nice, deep-fried treat once in a while. They were flaky and messy, which of course made my toddler absolutely love them. <3

Orange Muffins

 

 Being a full-time mom, working 45 hours/week, and going to school really does a number on my motivation and energy to cook and bake. I have been getting into a "pancake rut" lately where I just make plain pancakes for breakfast on days I don't work. Cam has finally caught on and doesn't enjoy the pancakes as much now. (Who really would if you had them every day, 3 days in a row?) I finally decided to get motivated again, but of course I still always stick with recipes that are easy, quick, and something I have all the ingredients for.

 

I happened upon a recipe on my favorite food blogger's website (who by the way, is a local and if I ever saw her out and about I would probably be that girl that asks for a picture and freaks out a little). As always, this recipe didn't disappoint. I was a little skeptical about how much icing it made, but 80% of it ended up dripping off anyways. The muffins were good, but with the icing, they were spectacular. It was just the right amount of sweetness to top these delicious muffins!

 

 

Did I mention that Camden ate three? Two were plain (he couldn't wait any longer) and one had icing. I also, shamelessly, ate three. 0:)

 

Orange Muffins

Adapted from: Annie's Eats, The Pastry Queen

Yields: approximately 18 muffins

 

Ingredients:

 

For the muffins:

1 cup milk

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (2 oranges)

1/2 cup sour cream

2 large eggs

2 sticks unsalted butter, melted (16 Tbsp.)

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

zest of 1 orange (use one from above)

 

For the glaze:

1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp. orange zest

 

Directions:

 

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line 18 muffin trays with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk the milk, orange juice, sour cream, eggs, and melted butter until combined. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Fold in the orange zest with a spatula.

 

Fill the muffin pans with the batter and bake 18-21 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans about 5-10 minutes.

 

To make the glaze, combine all ingredients in a small mixing bowl and add more powdered sugar to make it thicker and more orange juice to make it more runny until you reach a desired consistency. Place the muffins on a cooling rack that is placed on top of the muffin trays. Drizzle the glaze onto the muffins and allow to cool.

 

Store in an airtight container.

Strawberry Pickin'

Every year I always want to go to Spencers Farm and pick strawberries. I usually never get around to it because the season goes by quickly. This year I was determined to go because I wanted Camden to be able to experience it. We had so much fun, as you can see, and we got a ton of strawberries (that quickly were eaten).

Camden kept eating the strawberries we put in the bucket, but somehow we managed to distract him and pick enough to weigh.

I love this picture (above) of him picking his own strawberry! He knew exactly what to do and we all had a great time! I'll also be going back this week for more since we are out and I want more to freeze, too. Plus I have more recipes to try and no more strawberries. 0:)

The main difference (if they're even comparable) between fresh-off-the-farm strawberries and the store-bought kind is the taste. The fresher they are, the juicier, sweeter, softer, and smaller. Trust me, though, we got some huge ones off the vines, but the baseball-sized strawberries where you get 5 in a tin at the grocery isn't what I think of when I think fresh; or delicious for that matter.  If you've never been picking, I highly recommend it!! It's fun for the entire family and the best part is, they encourage tasting them. Although, I'm surprised they didn't want to weigh Camden before and after. ;)

Here were our pickings! We weighed about 7 1/2 pounds and it was only $14.00!!! I can't wait to go back this week!

How is everyone else spending their summer?