Favorite Food Friday: Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream Pies

So, yes I realize that it's the middle of summer and yes, it's super hot out now, but I was craving a full on Thanksgiving dinner: Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy... the whole nine yards.

And, what's a Thanksgiving dinner without pumpkin pie? So, since it is summer after all, I decided to forgo the traditional pumpkin pie and make some easy homemade pumpkin pie ice cream and then put a scoop of it into store bought mini pie crusts and then finish it off with a dollop of whipped cream. All the taste of a slice of pumpkin pie with a cool twist. What a super yummy way to beat the heat!

what you put in it:

1 - 15 oz can pumpkin puree

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

a pinch of salt

8 mini graham cracker pie crusts (store bought or homemade)

whipped cream

how you make it:

Heat cream and sugars over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until tiny bubbles form around edge of pan. Remove the pan from heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Cool to room temperature and then chill in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.

Place pumpkin, chilled cream mixture, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and the salt in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer (I use my stand mixer) for 5 minutes on medium speed.

Pour pumpkin mixture into the bowl of an ice cream maker and freeze for 25 minutes (or freeze according to the manufacture's instructions). Scoop the ice cream into the pie crusts and place into the freezer until ready to eat. Top with a dollop of whipped cream.

Enjoy!

**note - this ice cream gets pretty hard so you may want to let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving**

(To play along with Favorite Food Friday click here!)

Guitar Cake

So a few days before his birthday Jason and I had the following conversation:

Me: So... what kind of cake do you want for your birthday?

Him: No cake.

Me: What kind of cake do you want? You have to have something.

Him: One from the store.

.....................................................................

And do you think that I listened? Heck no! Me? Listen? Never! Ha Ha! So, I came up with the idea to make him a cake with a guitar on top. I made the guitar out of fondant and I love. love. LOVE how it turned out. And thankfully, so did Jason. The cake is yellow cake with chocolate butter cream frosting. I went chocolate because, one - it's super yummy and two - way easier to color it black.

Happy Birthday Jason!

Today was Jason's birthday and to celebrate we went out for Mexican food. He thought it was going to just be the three of us, but I surprised him by inviting Derek and the kids and David and Kara! He was so surprised when we got to the restaurant and they were there. Too bad he wasn't as surprised by his gift...

He had mentioned that he needed a new wallet, so that is what I decided to get him (exciting, I know). Dillon was with me and insisted on getting him a brown wallet and I figured that Jason would like it since Dillon picked it out. I also got him a few gift cards and slipped them into the wallet before I wrapped it up. All day Dillon was so excited to give his Daddy his present that the minute Jason walked in the door Dillon handed him his cards and present and said "Open your cards and your present. It's a wallet and it brown. Open your wallet, Daddy!" It was cute!

I also tried to surprise him with a cake, but that failed too! I made sure that I had cleaned up every single piece of anything that I had used to make the cake with, did all the dishes, wiped down the counters, stashed the cake away in a cabinet, only to have my attempts at a surprise foiled by Jason... and Dillon. Jason was home for less than five. FIVE. minutes when he says "I smell cake. Dillon, did Mommy make a cake?" "Yeah, my Mommy make a cake for you and it has a guitar on it!" Thanks little big mouth!

Dinner was a lot of fun and delicious. The waiter found out that it was Jason's birthday (no one told him - he saw presents) and at the end of dinner, they surprised him with a sundae and stuck a big sombrero and his head, shoved a spoon in his mouth and sang him a birthday song. It was pretty funny and he was a good sport. When we were getting ready to leave the restaurant, Jason left the hat on the table and the waiter placed it back on his head and told him that it was his to keep. Just what we need - a big huge sombrero! At least Dillon will have fun playing with it.

Fun At The Lake

This weekend we ran away to Lake Havasu with Derek and the kids to visit my Aunt & Uncle. It was beyond hot - over 110 degrees - but we had a great time. We went boating out on the lake two days and spent a ton of time relaxing in the pool. Dillon was a bit of a handful - the kid never wanted to get out of the pool - except to jump in again! And this meant that he didn't want to go to bed either. I don't think that I ever sucessfully got him to bed before ten-thirty and in the process of getting him to bed I ended up falling asleep too. And you would think that staying up late would make him sleep in... yeah, no... that didn't happen. But at least, even with his lack of sleep, he was in a decent mood.