Recipe: Brown Sugar and Banana Ice Cream

Just a few short weeks ago, I unexpectedly found myself in possession of a "vintage" ice cream maker (read more about that here), and immediately started researching recipes. When I read this article on the ReadyMade website, I knew I'd found a recipe worthy of my first batch of ice cream. The article is packed with great flavor combinations, but I instantly zeroed in on the Brown Sugar and Banana Ice Cream recipe. Anything that's described as "a delightful variation on Bananas Foster" is right up my alley.

I Scream, You Scream...

For most of my life, I never knew it was possible to make ice cream. The prevailing philosophy in my mother's kitchen is, "why bother making it when you can just buy it?"  As a consequence, a gallon of Schwan's mint chocolate chip was far and away the most exotic thing in our deep freeze. Of course, I was a big fan of that ice cream and would eagerly await the one day of each week when the Schwan's truck would stop at our door.  More often than not, my mom didn't want to buy anything and made us hide from the Schwan's man ("Ssshh! Pretend we're not home!"), but occasionally we would get lucky and end up with a stash of frozen treats. Choco tacos, ice cream sandwiches, drumsticks... these were my formative experiences with ice cream.

Recipe: Perfect Roasted Potatoes

Whether they're fried, baked, mashed, or roasted, I think potatoes are the ultimate comfort food.  My longstanding love affair with potatoes stems from my mother, who derives no particular joy from cooking but will make an exception when it comes to potatoes. I remember eating a lot of baked potatoes as a child, but occasionally - and this was a real treat - we'd have them tossed with dried rosemary and roasted until the skins attained a satisfying crunch. Other than peas (yes, really), I think roasted potatoes were my most often-requested dish growing up.