Easy Pistachio Ice Cream

After making fresh strawberry ice cream last weekend, I was overcome with the need to make more. So, I went in search of a simple pistachio ice cream using the no-cook Southern Living base recipe, except it wasn't to be found.

I came up with my own and thought I would share it with you. This recipe takes very little time to put together and tastes amazing. My husband thought that this was a horrible ice cream flavor for me to make, only to be shocked at how much he loved it. I actually think an even better name for this would be Pistachio Macaron Ice Cream... because the almond extract and texture of the ground pistachios in the ice cream take my mind straight to eating a pistachio macaron in Paris.

Easy Pistachio Ice Cream

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (5-ounce) can evaporated milk

4 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-1.5 teaspoon pure almond extract
2 cups whole milk 

1 cup roasted, unsalted pistachio nutmeats (like these from Trader Joe's)

Combine sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, 2 tbs sugar, vanilla and almond extract, and whole milk in a bowl. Whisk until blended. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.

While the cream mixture is chilling, use a food processor to finely grind the pistachios with the remaining 2 tbs of sugar. Add the pistachio powder to the chilled mixture and stir well.

Pour the mixture into the freezer container portion of your ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.  When the ice cream has churned to the desired thickness, place the container in the freezer for 15 minutes. This prevents it from melting quickly while you try to move it to another container. Then, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and freeze for at least 1-2 hours.  

Top with whole pistachios (optional) and enjoy!

Source

Modified from Southern Living 

Hello June!

Wow, can you believe it's June already? I love this month and the warm weather that it usually brings, not to mention my birthday is coming up!

It was a great weekend and start to the month.  On Saturday, I went to the pool with a friend. It was warm and really nice to just relax and chat.

On Saturday afternoon, Kevin and I picked up Darcy from the groomer's.  He got his summer haircut and looked so cute. I know he is feeling much happier now to be rid of all of that hair!

Then, later on, we picked strawberries from a nearby farm. It's crazy how much better fresh-from-the-field strawberries taste than the ones from a grocery store.

Saturday night, we went to the movies and saw The Great Gatsby. It was really good, both of us enjoyed it.

Sunday, I made strawberry ice cream and strawberry cream pie (similar recipe here) with our fresh strawberries. I also cut and froze about a quart for future use in frozen drinks ;)

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and tending to my garden. Oh, and I can't have a post showing a picture of Darcy without including one of Rory. Here's one from this weekend after he stole my sock, lol! He's changed a lot over the past few months, but he is still so sweet and weighs less than 25 lbs. But, don't let the weight fool you though, he's lanky and definitely pretty high energy!

Vacation Recap

We're back from vacation and already back to the swing of things at work and home. We had a wonderful time celebrating our 3rd anniversary on a cruise to the Bahamas and Caribbean. We have joked so many times this week how we wished we could have stayed for at least another week ;)

We went to Tampa and Orlando on Friday and Saturday before or cruise left from Port Canaveral on Sunday.  We went on Freedom of the Seas by Royal Caribbean and had an amazing time! Here are some pictures from our trip!

Big screen at the main pool

Before sailing away

Bar on the top deck

Before dinner on the first night

Coco Cay on Day 2

Looking at our ship from Coco Cay

Before dinner on formal night

Formal night 

St. Thomas

Beach where we went snorkeling on St. John

Self-timer before dinner on our anniversary

Yay, champagne from our Honeymoon 

Breakfast and mimosas on our balcony at St. Maarten

On a boat going to the French side of St. Martin

Beach on Dutch St. Maarten

Front Street in St. Maarten

Self-timer before dinner

Formal night #2

With our table-mates and waiters

Picture after dinner

On our balcony on the last sea day

Before our last dinner on the ship

Morning of departure :(

We did a lot more than just these pictures make it look like, too.  We went ice skating and played mini gold on board, played many games of very competitive trivia, went on the Flowrider, played in the Casino, saw some fabulous shows, ate really good food, and had lots of cocktails and champagne!!

It was a fabulous trip and we had so much fun relaxing and enjoying each other's company.  We both really liked cruising, there's always something fun to do but, if you want, you can just sit by the pool every day. It's a great way to vacation!  I really recommend Royal Caribbean and Freedom was a great ship! Now, somebody book us a trip on Quantum ;)

Long time no see!

I know it's been forever since I posted last... Sorry, things have been busy. Well I just wanted to do a quick post that we have a legitimate reason to be away this week... We're on vacation!!

We're sailing away today on The Freedom of the Seas cruise ship by Royal Carribean to celebrate our 3rd anniversary. We're going to the Bahamas, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. I can't believe we've been married 3 years now!

Yesterday we went to Universal's Islands of Adventure with my friend Sarah who lives in Tampa. It was a ton of fun! Today we made the drive to the port in our rental car and it only took about 15 minutes to board(!). Now we're just sitting by the pool sipping boat drinks and listening to the band.

I will do a big recap post or two after we get home. I hope you all have a fabulous week, I know we will ;)

P.S. I'm blogging from the app, so I hope this works!!

Updates around the house

I'm excited that spring is finally here. Let's hope it stays around, I love that all of my plants have sprung back to life.

Tulips coming up in the front yard! 

Over the past few weeks, I've planted a new rose bed in our backyard. We had an empty spot along the left fence that gets full sun, so it was the perfect place for new roses.  We started by removing all of the grass that was there and building the area up with dirt. Then, I planted two knockout rose bushes that I moved from another place in our yard. We added about 6 bare root roses from Home Depot as an experiment. They were pretty inexpensive, so I wanted to try to grow them... so far 4/6 of them have done really well and have lots of new growth!

New rose bed

This weekend, we made a trip to Witherspoon Rose Culture in Durham. This place is like heaven if you like rose bushes and like to collect them. I had to restrain myself but wound up getting some great ones! I was especially excited to get some David Austin roses, which are the type of large old English roses that often get confused for peonies. Here are the ones that we got.

David Austin's Heritage

David Austin's Abraham Darby

David Austin's Gertrude Jekyll

Fame Hybrid Tea

Legends Hybrid Tea

Other than gardening, we have also had some updates made to the house! We had a new roof put on yesterday. I love how much it updates the house. The old shingles were a gray-ish brown and just looked tired. Now the architectural shingles match our shutters and just look so much nicer! Here are some pictures I took with my iPhone yesterday. 

First thing in the morning, tearing off the old
shingles.

Sneaking a picture in the afternoon while they were
still working

The finished roof, this morning! 

Before (Christmas 2012) and After... what a difference!

So, what have you been up to around your house? Are you planting anything new in the yard?