Chocolate Mondays….Ice Cream Sandwiches

Sooooo, outside there is a bright blue sky and very very light breeze…well, actually there’s not a breeze, but for the sake of my illustration just go with it….where was I..oh yeah..so there is a light breeze, the birds are chirping, children are playing and screaming outside and the sun is delightfully kissing homes and people alike.

As I sit outside and ponder the meaning and the details of life, my very dark chocolate lab comes and tackles me to the ground. Technically I was already in close proximity to the ground but that doesn’t matter. The view of my chocolate lab made me want an ice cream sandwich. No, I;m not quite sure where that connection came in but chocolate lab…chocolate cake surrounding delicious ice cream…hmmmm…that seems like a logical jump to me!

Anyway, so immediately I searched out a great recipe…..wait! I have a confession: Okay…so I totally ripped this from another website..so you have to visit Smitten Kitchen and check this out, it’s awesome!!!

Besides, who doesn’t love a great ice cream sandwich? They are always wonderfully refreshing!!

This is a bit time consuming and a bit labor intensive, so if you don’t have the time to spare or the patience to give then I would totally just wait for your own friendly neighborhood ice cream truck or hit up the local gas station and spend the 2 dollars for a jumbo ice cream sandwich..lol…which ever floats your boat!

Classic Ice Cream Sandwiches
Adapted from Sweet Designs by Amy Atlas

Yield: 12 2-by-4-by-1-inch ice cream sandwiches (24 cookies).

Cookies
2 2/3 cups (335 grams) all-purpose flour
2/3 cup plus 1/4 cup (75 grams) extra dark or Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks or 285 grams) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon table salt
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Filling
1/2 gallon (8 cups or approximately 1050 grams, weight will vary by brand/variety) ice cream, your choice of flavor (I used cookies and cream), softened

Preheat oven to 350°F degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Sift the flour and cocoa together (I am generally too lazy to sift things but cocoa is really lumpy so don’t skip this) and set aside. In the bowl of a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, and salt together until light and fluffy. Add the yolks and vanilla and mix until combined, then scrape down sides and mix briefly again. Add the flour mixture a little at a time then mix until combined.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and divide into two equal pieces. If the dough is too soft to handle, wrap and chill it until firm enough to roll out (I recommend 30 minutes only; any longer and it becomes crumbly to roll out). Roll each batch into a 1/4-inch thick rectangle, about 10 by 8 inches. Cut into a total of 24 2-by-4-inch rectangles.

Use an offset spatula to transfer the rectangles to the prepared sheets; you’ll only need an inch space between them. Use the tip of a thermometer (totally brilliant tip from Amy, by the way; it made far better indentations than skewers that I usually use for docking) to poke the cookies with holes (Amy recommends 14 holes but I used thisas my guide and made more).

Bake the cookies for 16 to 18 minutes, or until they stay firm when tapped in the center. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining cookie dough, rerolling scraps as needed.

Meanwhile, line the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch pan with parchment paper, allowing it to overhang on two sides (it will act as a sling for the ice cream). Spread the softened ice cream into the pan, smooth the top and freeze until firm, about one hour (or longer if your freezer is as terrible as mine).

Run a knife along the exposed sides of the pan to loosen the ice cream. Holding onto the parchment paper, lift ice cream out of the pan and onto the work surface. Using one of the cookies as a template, cut ice cream into 12 2-by-4-inch bars. Strangely, I found using kitchen shears to go right through the ice cream and the paper underneath the easiest. I then flipped each piece of ice cream onto a cookie, peeled off the paper, and finished sandwiching the rectangle of ice cream with a second cookie.

Wrap each ice cream sandwich in plastic and freeze until just before serving and enjoy…

*Taken from Smittenkitchen.com

Shock Treatment…

Recently I sat down and ate a whole bag of chocolate Hershey’s kisses,

well technically I had a little under half a bag, but eating 15-20 kisses is still no shining accomplishment by any stretch of the imagination.

Now for those of you that know me know that I love chocolate, but you also know that I am also trying to lose weight, albeit somewhat unsuccessfully it would seem. So as I reached into the bag to grab the last two chocolate kisses I froze and my eyebrows bunched together in deep thought…

How had I gotten to this point?? How in the world had I sat an ate kiss after kiss after kiss after kiss after kiss?? I looked sadly at the little heaping pile of bead-sized silver foiled wrappers glistening against the light and I looked at the empty bag and shook my head.

As women, we have what I call “black hole days” where no matter what it is we are eating, how much we have eaten or the time of the last meal we find ourselves incapable of that highly sought after full feeling. It’s a funny sight and an annoying occurrence to the individual. I can’t tell you how aggravating it is to know that you have been to the kitchen 3 times in the last 3 hours and still feel like you are starving….smh..it really baffles the mind sometimes. However, I was not experiencing a black hole day….So why did I eat all the kisses?

Because I bloody well wanted to!! I’ve always wanted to say that..lol..I think part of my mind turned into a race…a race to the bottom of the bag where no kisses would remain. I begin an unspoken battle to finish the bag. It was kind of like that urge you have in back of the mind to clear your plate at a restaurant or at someone’s house so they don’t feel like you didn’t like their food….hmmmm…..Sad?? Yes, it absolutely is! But until they invent a small current of shock to prevent these massive food binges and lapses in food judgment…I will remain a victim of good food and in pursuit of a full stomach….lol..

…..I also still ate the last two kisses…smh,,,but I’m sure a strong current would have stopped me! Where is that shock treatment when you need it?

Have you had a “OMG, I can’t believe I ate the whole thing” moment? What did you do about it?

Chocolate Mondays…….Hello Summer

Okay so it’s not chocolate Monday and this post has nothing to do with chocolate. Actually it’s about mango. Mango is awesome!!! And personally nothing says hello summer in the 95 degree heat, while sitting near the pool under the Florida sun like Mango smoothies!!

So take a moment and say hello to Summer early with a delicious mango smoothie….

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 1/2 cup peeled, pitted and sliced fresh mango (try to keep any extra juice and throw it into the blender)
• honey to taste (Or use sugar, or what ever sweetener you’d like)
• 1/2 cup ice

Directions:

Place the juice, fruit and honey in a blender. Blend on high-speed for 30 seconds. Add the ice and blend until smooth.

If you want to add peaches, bananas, strawberries, or anything else..go for it!! What ever floats your boat. If your feeling a bit frisky you can throw in a half cup of your favorite alcohol and make it a party drink..

Enjoy.