Happy July 4th! How are you celebrating today? We have zero plans today (except staying inside in the air conditioning!) and then we’re heading to a get-together our church is putting on with bbq, games for kids and of course, fireworks! I will say fireworks are making me extremely nervous this year with the dry conditions and potential for fire but I’m just gonna try to relax and not freak out and tackle every little kid I see with a sparkler too near to grass. Hopefully I’ve done enough preaching to all my friends and family on Facebook. I’m sure they just loooooove me and my paranoid ways right now. Oh well!
Anyway, onto a more pleasant topic: CAKE. I love cake…cheesecake, ice cream cake, cake-cake, cupcakes, cheesecake-cakes…you get the point. And these patriotic cakes are perfect for July 4th, whether you’re celebrating today or this weekend.
The days have been getting noticeably warmer lately…as in it feels like July and it’s only May kind of warmer. And just about every day around 2:30 in the afternoon I start craving ice cream. Ugh. I then have to play referee between Good, Healthy, Angelic Sarah and Dessert Loving, Devil Sarah (umm, yeah that’s what it feels like!). Thankfully, most days I am able to rationalize myself out of NOT eating Andy’s Frozen Custard for dinner. And can I just say that is quite the feat when they are less than half a mile from your house?! Don’t think I haven’t thought “hey, I’ll just walk there and that totally justifies eating it!” Because I have. Oh, I have.
So ice cream remains a treat, like it should. And because I’ve got ice cream on the brain, I looked up some fun ice cream recipes online and wanted to share with you all. Tell me these don’t get you drooling?!?
First, Key Lime Pie Ice Cream from yours truly. I loooooove this stuff. It totally transports me to Florida and white sandy beaches. Ahhhhhh.
This recipe is from kevinandamanda.com and it’s for Homemade Ice Cream…WITHOUT an ice cream maker. How brilliant is this?? Love how they do four different variations with the same ice cream base.
Nutella Peanut Butter Chip Ice Cream by Kevin and Amanda
Next up are these Confetti Ice Cream Pops from Country Living. I love that you don’t have to have a special ice cream popsicle mold…just use small paper cups! Brilliant.
Confetti Ice Cream Pops by Country Living
While not quite ice cream per se, an ice box cake is a frozen treat that I have been wanting to try FOREVER. And this recipe for a No-Bake Strawberry Icebox Cake has inspired me to finally do it! It’s just so pretty.
Chocolate Covered Brownie Ice Cream Sandwich by Good Life Eats
Mint and chocolate are one of my weaknesses which makes this Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cake oh so very tempting to me. I think if I try it, I’ll use a boxed Devil’s Food Cake mix, just to save some precious time.
Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cake by Southern Living
And last, but certainly not least, Almond Milk Ice Cream. Jeremy and I have cut dairy from our everyday diet and I have been dying to try a recipe for almond milk ice cream. This one looks good and I think I’ll try making it in my ice cream machine after mixing all the ingredients together and letting them chill. I’ll definitely post my results on here!
Nothing is more symbolic of Christmas than a candy cane and peppermint has been one of my favorite flavors for as long as I can remember. I’ll never forget taking trips to see my Grandma who lived in Kansas City around the holidays and there was a little ice cream shoppe that had the most amazing hand-dipped candy cane ice cream. I could hardly stand the three-hour drive from Springfield to KC in anticipation of that peppermint, creamy, frozen goodness! Such a good memory.
So, I went searching for some awesome peppermint recipes and found so many, I almost didn’t know when to stop! But I did manage to stop and I have quite the selection to share with you! Not only are these desserts GORGEOUS but they are chocked full of peppermint goodness. Make one of these for your holiday gathering this weekend!
