Avocado Ice Cream

Avocado Ice Cream

meat from 2 medium avocados
1 t lime juice
1 1/2 c whole milk
1/2 c sugar
1 c heavy cream

Peel and pit the avocados. Add the avocados, lime juice, milk, and sugar to a blender and puree. Transfer the mixture to a medium mixing bowl, add the heavy cream and whisk to combine. Place the mixture into the refrigerator and chill until it reaches 40 degrees F or below, approximately 4 to 6 hours.

Freeze according to manufacturer's directions.

Dennis and I both think this tastes like melons, squash, and sweetened guacamole in turns. I could add more sugar, or try a recipe with coconut milk, but there is nothing wrong with this purely avocado flavored batch.

The new bed is awesome

The new mattress came today. Ahhh, so much better!

Chess Pie

Chess Pie #2

Fairfield Chess Pie

1/3 C butter
1 1/3 C sugar
3 eggs
1 can evaporated milk
1 T flour
1/8 t allspice
1/4 t salt

Beat together butter, sugar and eggs. Add flour and mix well. Add milk, allspice and salt, mix well. Pour into unbaked 9” pie shell. Bake in 400o oven for 15 minutes, then reduce oven to 350o and bake for 30 more minutes.

I did need a deep dish crust for this pie, but I'd purchased a standard crust. I had leftover filling.



This one's top is burned too. It happened immediately, within the first five minutes of cooking. I want to play with this recipe because it is a milky, no cornmeal Chess Pie. I clearly need to change the cooking directions and ditch the 400 degree oven.

Mattress Search Concluded

Oh happy day!

We found the mattress that we liked at Macy's. Macy's is expensive. I knew I could crack the code of the Simmons Beautyrest mattress, and I finally did over the weekend.

Dennis called all of the mattress places around us until he found a place that had the two exuivalent mattresses we could test out. That place happened to be The Mattress Firm.

We tried them both. Much to my surprise, Dennis decided he liked the firmer model better. We thanked the guy and headed out. While I was out in the car, the salesman offered Dennis a heck of a deal ($189 less than any price we'd seen online, and $429 less than Macy's.) So we went back in and bought it.

Hooray, new mattress to be delivered Friday. Joy and rapture!

We tried Mel's Famous BBQ for dinner tonight. Their sauce is very sweet and very thick, and everything is very slathered in it. The smoke flavor / aroma is almost too much.



The menu is limited, and the owner apparently made a point about pulled pork not being a regular menu option.

Dinner w/ 2 sides:
Baby back ribs $9.50
Pork steaks $8.50
Pork tips $8.50
Chicken wings $7.50

Sandwiches:
Brat $4.50
Hamburger $4.50
Hotlink $4.00

Dennis and I both had pork tip dinners. I don't eat pork steaks, so my dinner options are more limited. Some of my tips were too dry. There was an abundance of sauce over it, but that won't ever put the moisture back in the meat. Dennis didn't think his tips were dry. Chris devoured his ribs, but only after he scraped off most of the sauce with a fork.



Consensus here is that we won't drive past Lil' Mickey's to get to Mel's.

What I'm Reading

A Guide to Elegance: For Every Woman Who Wants to Be Well and Properly Dressed on All Occasions Genevieve Antoine Dariaux

I'm sharing all of the tips for elegant men with Dennis and Chris.

The Style Strategy: A Less-Is-More Approach to Staying Chic and Shopping Smart Nina Garcia

There are a lot of words in this book. I would not recommend it as the only style book to read. It is too much preaching to the choir. The illustrations are maaarvelous though.

Mattress shopping: bum me out

Dennis and I need a new mattress.

Dennis and I can't pick one.

I want firm, he wants soft. I want cheap, he wants expensive.

The only thing we agree on is getting a queen size this time, but that makes me sad too, because I'll have to give up my antique bedframe.

Mattress salesmen. Ugh. I am so over this whole process and ready to sleep on the floor. Who needs a stupid bed anyway?

YHEC begin again

Chris started YHEC again today. We're going 1:00 - 4:30 for the next three weeks. Weird!

Elk elk elk

I've finally cooked some of Dad's elk from Colorado. I thawed a package of "DEER CHOPS" and found that they were actually butterflied filets. My original plan was to make elk stroganoff, but the steaks were just too beautiful to pass up.



I cut two up for the stroganoff, and I marinated the other two in balsamic vinegar, pepper, and olive oil. Chris and I swore we could smell Colorado as the meat cooked.

Out

Dennis and I went out for a night on the town last night. It involved a shiny shirt and three beers. I was a hipster for one night, as I drank a PBR in public. First, last & only PBR. I started the night with a Full Moon and a Schlafly Pale Ale. All three were Dennis's choice, as I was sending him to the bar.

We saw Belleview and The Estranged, the newer band Tony Stone is playing in at Firebird.

Baby it's cold outside

Brr.

Chuck Berry Tickets & My New Do

I bought tickets they day they went on sale!

I am going to Chuck Berry at The Pageant on March 27th.

I also got my hair cut today!

BB King & Buddy Guy

Since I've decided to go to more concerts this year, I bought myself a floor ticket to B.B. King and Buddy Guy at the Family Arena on February 18th.

Resolved

I don't usually make New Year's Resolutions. I do tend to eat a little better in January to atone for the "since Thanksgiving sweets binge" I go on every year.

This year, however, I am resolving to go to more concerts.

I had asked for Monster's Ball tickets before the concert was even officially announced. I would gladly trade all of my Christmas gifts for this one small thing.

Now tickets are unobtainable to mortal beings.

So I officially decided yesterday that I was not going to miss any more concerts I want to see this year. I don't need to drag Dennis along. I can get much better seats if I buy a single.

The Frozen Tundra

We used our Cracker Barrel gift certificates for lunch today. This is still not a place I'd choose in my own town with my own money, but it wasn't a terrible experience either. I always equate Cracker Barrel with Denny's for some reason. It is road trip food to me.

After we ate too much, we went back to the lease to hunt the last day of youth season. It is really too cold to sit for hours, so we did some quick paced still hunting today. Basically we told Chris to take the .30-30 and lead us down the paths around the farm. I think the deer were bedded down in the warmest spots they could find, but you never know when you might kick one up out of bed.

We didn't see anything again, but Chris kept at it until the sun went down. We got a good walking tour of the property with all of the foilage down, and we did see pleanty of sign that proves there have been deer out and about since the last big rain storm. The ground is frozen solid now, so there weren't any real fresh signs to point out.

Brrrr, cold hunting

Chris went out today for the second youth season. It is bleeding cold outside! We sat from about 4:00 to sundown, wearing what felt like every piece of clothing we own.

No deer were crazy enough to be out in this weather!

Black eyed peas & greens

We're having black eyed peas and greens for good luck this year.

Greens are the same recipe as before, but these have a lot more flavor. I did one bundle of collards and one of mustard greens, since I could not settle on two good looking bunches of one kind.

The black eyed peas come from Southern Plate. Chris ate them up, but wouldn't do the greens. Everyone else leaned towards the greens.



I also made this Hillbilly Pie for dessert. My Grandma used to make this, but we never called it that!