Apron Strings to Diamond Rings: ice cream

Monday, April 9, 2012

Easter Sunday Brunch

Easter Sunday was always a time when the family would get together, dress in our 'Sunday Best', attend church and come home for a delicious home-cooked brunch. Filled with potatoes, veggies, and of course an Easter ham, we gathered around the table for a hour of stories, laughs and sometimes a few tears. This year, being in Chicago, I was unable to be with family, so my surrogate family welcomed me with open arms to join them from Sunday Easter brunch.

Others' family traditions are always fun to learn about and experience, and this one, although different from my own, resembled much of how my family comes together to celebrate this holiday. It was the next best thing to being home. Here is a sampling of the food we had.

Fresh Fruit Salad,

I helped chop up the apples and cantaloupe, my friend added the grapes, blackberries and mango!

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Banana Ice Cream

This is a great treat for everyone, especially if you love banana! It's very simple and can be done in about 2 minutes (or less)!

1-2 Frozen bananas
chocolate chips (optional)*
peanut butter (optional)*

Blend the frozen bananas in a blender or food processor. You want the bananas to come to ALMOST the consistency of soft serve ice cream. If they need some help, put a dash of milk, about 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon. Throw in however many chocolate chips you want, and a tablespoon of peanut butter. Finish blending. Use a spatula or spoon to scrape sides if ingredients stick so you get a well blended product.

*You can add whatever you want to make this ice cream tasty. I advise putting in small amounts of the 'extras' at a time, taste it, then add more if you like.

*©ApronStringstoDiamondRings All Rights Reserved

How I Started Cooking

I am no professional chef, nor have I even taken professional cooking or baking classes. I create my dishes from the heart, reading and researching a combination of recipes, putting that knowledge to use and either developing my own recipe or amending one I have read. My love for working in the kitchen began when I was very little, watching my mom bake and cook. In high school I received the opportunity to take two semesters of cooking classes with a wonderful teacher. She is the woman who taught me how to make chicken broth from scratch, properly measure flour and most importantly, read every recipe at least once through before beginning. This is not to say that my mother didn't have a substantial role in my quest to conquer the kitchen. My mother is the one who let me go wild in the kitchen, throwing random ingredients from the pantry into a bowl just to call it 'peanut butter cookies' because they contained peanut butter. That was when I learned that if it contains flour, it most likely has to be baked. Thanks Mom!