Flavor of the Week – Mint Oreo Ice Cream
Posted: February 12, 2011 Filed under: James and the Giant Peach 1 CommentWhen I was little, mint cookies and cream was my absolute favorite. Every time we got ice cream (which in our house was VERY frequently) my vote was for mint cookies and cream. I thought that when I found Ben and Jerry’s Mint Oreo (now Mint Chocolate Cookie), I had been given the the world’s most perfect mint cookies and cream ice cream. I am happy to say I have proven myself wrong, though their recipe was the basis for my own recipe, I changed it enough that I’m not afraid to call it my own.
"The BEST mint Oreo ice cream I've ever had." - Roni
Yield: about 1.5 quarts
Ingredients:
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups half-and-half
3 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
blue food coloring
2 tsp pure peppermint extract
1 cup chopped up Oreos* (as big or as little of chunks as your heart desires)
Directions:
1. Add cream and half-and-half to sauce pot and gently bring to a light boil. Remove from heat.
2. Put egg yolks into a bowl and whisk until they become light in color. Add in sugar about 1/4 cup at a time and whisk. Add in just a drop or two of the blue food coloring to turn the yellow yolks mint green.
3. Add the hot cream mixture to the eggs about 1/2 cup at a time and whisk each time until about 1/3 of the cream mixture has been added.
4. Add in remaining cream mixture to the eggs, and let sit for 3o minutes. (for a firmer ice cream, cook the whole mixture to about 170 degrees, so that it has a chance to thicken)
5. Add in peppermint extract and stir.
6. Cover and place in refrigerator for 4-8 hours. At this time, place the chopped up Oreos into the freezer.
7. Add mix to ice cream maker according to instructions.
8. When there is about 2 minutes left, and the ice cream has thickened substantially, take the Oreos out of the freezer and add them to the ice cream.
9. Eat right away or pack it into air-tight containers. The longer you store it, the less crisp and crunchy to cookies will be.
*blah, blah, blah, “Oreo” is a registered trademark of Nabisco, blah, blah, blah, legal stuff.
Sundays at Tiffany's
Posted: February 11, 2011 Filed under: Book of Sand 1 Commentby James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet
{ 2008 | Little, Brown | 320 pgs }
Here we have a prime example of taking a fascinating idea and ruining it with plot.
The premise of the book is that a little girl has an imaginary friend named Michael (an adult). And it turns out that there’s a whole genre of beings, if you will, who function as imaginary friends; they know each other and hang out and have rules about how long you can be an imaginary friend to a single child. It’s like a full-time job. They can interact with real people but are sort of immortal or at least somewhat un-human.
Sounds interesting, right?
Unfortunately, the main character, Jane, is a “poor little rich girl” who is emotionally neglected by her successful mother. In accordance with imaginary friend rules, Michael has to leave Jane when she turns 9, but he promises that she’ll forget all about him. She doesn’t, and we jump ahead to Jane as a thirtysomething woman struggling to find happiness.
Still not too bad. But then Jane and Michael run into each other and fall in love, Jane’s mother tragically dies but professes her undying love for her precious daughter (unbelievable, since just pages before, the mother was shouting obscenities and telling Jane what a disappointment she is), and {SPOILER ALERT!} Michael becomes human. Want to know how they figure out he’s a “real boy” now? He has a massive heart attack because of all the junk food he’s eaten over the years. Then he gets better, he and Jane get married, and they have babies together.
Seriously.
The writing was terribly disjointed, I presume as a result of having two authors. All the chapters focusing on Jane were narrated in first-person, while the Michael chapters were third-person. The writing was definitely weaker in the Jane chapters, which makes me wonder if the co-author took care of those. As a whole, the novel felt like a tangent story, where each person starts up where the other left off, without any planning for a coherent plot.
My other complaint is that the title is irrelevant to the story. When Jane was young, she and her mother would go first to the St. Regis Plaza for dessert (although Jane sat with Michael at one table and her mom sat with the boyfriend or agent of the moment) and then to Tiffany’s. If the book was meant primarily to show the relationship between Jane and her mother, it failed miserably. If it was intended to be about Jane and Michael, or even just about Jane, the title is unfitting. I almost feel like the authors tried to bring the “Sundays at Tiffany’s” idea back into the plot later on by having Jane buy herself an $18,000 diamond ring (right-hand ring!) after she begins to value herself.
WOW.
I bought this on the Kindle for a book group. I’m really sad that I spent money on it.
P.S. Sundays at Tiffany’s was made into a Lifetime Original Movie last year. I rest my case.
Juvenile
Posted: February 10, 2011 Filed under: Of Mice and Men 5 CommentsI found this list I made in 10th grade entitled “Things that make me happy.” (I think it must have been updated around my freshman year of college. But it’s mostly a high school thing.) Please note especially #47.
The list goes on until #642. I cut it off after #200.
You’re welcome in advance.
Not pictured: #166.
(One last note: look at #126. I’m guessing that English was not one of my better grades.)
1. feeling wanted
2. getting (good) attention
3. piggyback rides
4. sales
5. thrift stores
6. 80s cartoons
7. long silly conversations with friends
8. Youth Conference
9. church dances
10. third ward
11. babysitting the Paiges
12. California Chocolate Cream Cake
13. group get-togethers
14. surprise parties (for others)
15. surprise parties (for me)
16. gummi bears
17. good movies
18. getting to sleep in
19. garage sales
20. spur-of-the-moment things with friends
21. people unexpectedly saying the perfect thing
22. Oreo Blizzards
23. free lockets from Waldenbooks
24. having e-mails unexpectedly
25. pretty flowers
26. camping
27. Girls’ Camp
28. campfires
29. smell of sunscreen
30. summer vacation
31. rings
32. tiaras
33. hearing “Buon Giorno, Principessa!”
34. running into friends at the mall
35. inside jokes
36. seminary
37. happiness at home
38. lazy, comfortable summer days
39. church
40. gospel
41. temple trips
42. passing tests/quizzes/etc.
43. understanding things at school
44. finishing all my homework
45. praise from teachers
46. participating in Young Women’s
47. “flirting” with Jarom/“The Big Joke”
48. fitting in but still standing out
49. naps after school
50. Mom’s chocolate chip cookies
51. being teased by Brian and Jarom
52. nieces and nephews
53. kittens (little ones)
54. being invited places
55. compliments
56. fun activities
57. scavenger hunts
58. service projects
59. presents
60. good memories
61. smell of camp
62. looking at stars
63. camping outside in my backyard
64. swimming
65. Disney store
66. Toys R Us
67. cool prizes from dentist/orthodontist
68. stickers
69. cool relaxing breezes
70. sweater season
71. rain
72. thunderstorms
73. being listened to
74. having small things noticed
75. letters
76. reading scriptures
77. being good at Scripture Mastery
78. walking with “the guys” to school
79. having guys do polite things
80. thank-you notes
81. finishing projects on time
82. hearing a good song I haven’t heard in a while
83. postcards online
84. birthdays
85. remembering things with friends
86. New Mexico
87. airplanes
88. airports
89. getting hugs from family at airports
90. people bringing me souvenirs
91. seeing friends after vacation
92. minimum days
93. stuffed animals
94. people saying nice things about me (behind back)
95. getting weird looks at the mall
96. acting crazy
97. being pampered
98. crimped hair
99. watercolors
100. free wrapping paper from B. Dalton
101. Disney movies
102. thinking about someone
103. journals
104. disposeable cameras
105. silly pictures
106. cute couples
107. not caring what others think
108. being trusted with a secret
109. Dr Seuss books
110. coloring
111. having a clean room
112. random acts of kindness
113. mocha ice cream
114. snow
115. not getting sunburned
116. finding a cute swimsuit
117. silly websites
118. doing work Brian, Dad – getting paid!
119. finding eighties cartoon memorabilia
120. finding Disney stuff
121. chocolate milk
122. warm feet
123. painting
124. mixing paint colors
125. thinking about camp
126. doing good on report cards unexpectedly
127. people pronouncing my name right
128. interesting church talks and lessons
129. getting candy in Sunday school
130. funny stories
131. good jokes
132. spending time with friends
133. phone calls when I’m bored
134. stretchy bracelets
135. ballet things
136. cute pajamas
137. finding money in my room
138. reading old letters and notes
139. watermelon-scented stuff
140. hot showers on cold days
141. shaved ice
142. hugs
143. Max’s bagels and smoothies
144. accents
145. laughing like crazy
146. people making me smile
147. camp songs
148. feeling the Spirit
149. finishing a good book
150. having friends comfort me
151. our group
152. windy days/wind
153. feeling silly
154. having true friends
155. standards
156. furry things
157. getting ready for camp
158. driving to camp
159. decorating
160. funny TV shows
161. being pleasantly surprised
162. impressing people
163. gaining respect for people
164. becoming good friends with someone
165. doodling
166. doing cool things to my hair
167. “talking” across a room to Jarom
168. Barbies, My Little Ponies, etc.
169. cheering
170. naming the fourth-levels
171. Testimony Meeting at camp
172. sleeping in my bed after camp
173. shakes
174. caterpillars
175. ladybugs
176. canteloupe
177. kids’ books
178. going to the mall/downtown with no plans
179. Sweet Factory
180. Kaybee Toys
181. soft couches
182. jumping on the bed
183. road trips with friends
184. talking to Bethany
185. going through old photos
186. learning interesting things in school
187. making cupcakes with Katrina
188. my team winning
189. French toast
190. making a mess
191. fingerpainting
192. mud
193. big rain puddles
194. being noticed
195. walking in the rain without an umbrella
196. nice salespeople
197. ice cream from Barb’s
198. people happy to see me/talk to me
199. cloudy warm days
200. thinking happy thoughts
Jarom
Mika
hilleries 