Spicin up life....one nutty day at a time

My friend asked me the other day how I "do" it all... I laughed.....

because this is what my living room looked like while I made the Tomato Miso Soup and homemade wheat bread (and bless my stinkin mind over matter...I only had a piece of the crust....and it was goooood!)

Ladies, sometimes we have to let some things go and concentrate on what is important at that moment, be it the laundry, our children, the hubs, volunteering, reading...(and not particularly in that order!) and we need to be.....for the most part enjoying that moment....unless you are cleaning up puke.changing messy diapers.gutting a deer.taking out the trash......soak it up...

laugh

cry hysterically

or just smile

because that moment won't come again and we don't always have to be supermom!

and somewhere in that mess I also made these......

Spicy Walnut Cookies, that I took off a blog and then tweaked because I have a ton on coconut sitting around...laying around...whatever it does after I make the mctwins milk with it and need to use it up!

2 cups walnut flour ( I ground my own)
1 1/2 cups coconut
2 - 3 tablespoons cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 egg whites
1/4 cup honey

Whisk egg whites until frothy and then add honey, stirring well, add other ingredients and mix until smooth.  Drop onto a cookie sheet with a teaspoon and then gently flatten with wet fingers. Bake at 425 for fifteen minutes.

This little nummy nidbits are for the babes that I have taken off all grains, drinking dairy, starches and sugar.  They needed something to sweeten up their day with!  They loved them..as did the bishop's wife that likes to experiment with me on my cooking and puts up with my nutty rambling about this incredible book.

I have even hooked my baby sister on this book, and proabbly the bishop's wife,  the hubs may be shooting me later...as they will now be subjected to the very diet I have put myself and the babies on along with the fam to some extent....

they tend to think that they can do/say/eat what they want when they are out of my  hovering eye......they think they are fooling me...but I know.

I KNOW!  I just don't know how to put a shock collar on them without the rest of the world thinking that their mom is a wee but whacked!

Nourishing Traditions is inspiring, absorbing, scary, empowering, politically incorrect (and heaven help me...that is probably what drew me first!), disgusting, yummy, interesting.......and down right informative....I will never eat the same...

and have begun taking care of making sure that my family and I are/will be trying to return to eating like our pioneer ancestors.  And heaven knows......(the operators in heaven are surely getting tired of putting through my calls...but they do...bless their hearts!) Mr Macdaddy surely will appreciate the fact that I am not/will not me harping on his intake of red meat...provided it is grass fed...and butter......

and I will leave you at that......are your curious?  Do you want to know more???

We will be discussing that later....after you make Tomato Miso Soup.  It will make you happy...honestly.....

and after I watch COnspiracy Theory...and learn from his ways......so I don't look too crazy...ummer...I don't think they got past his crazy......

love yer guts!

I say tomato, you say Tamoto

TWO posts in one day...but oh my goodness......I just had to share this recipe...this recipe that made my mouth water.....made my kids eat their whole bowl full...and ask for more...and then ask that I make it tomorrow after the jv football game...the itty bitty mctwins ate it...and then licked the bowls...and then their fingers.....too bad I didn't have a camera handy.....but I was giving them more and more and more.....and more....

Can you guess what it is?  Are you curious??  are you salivating?

You will be...............Tomato Miso Soup from Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist......

So good...I would make more right now...if it wasn't 10:30 at night....I will probably be making some more tomorrow......

Tomato Miso Soup 

makes about 5 cups

Ingredients

12 oz strained tomatoes
3 TBL Miso paste
2 1/2 cups filtered water
1/2 large spanish or white organic onion, chopped
1 TBL expeller pressed coconut oil I will blog more about this later......I am no longer using any kind of vegetable oil or hydrogenated oil!)
1 TBL  butter 
1 large or 2 medium sized organic garlic cloves, minced
pepper to taste


Instructions


Put 2 cups of filtered water, coconut oil and strained tomatoes in a 3-4 quart pot.   Bring to just below a boil.    Mix miso paste with remaining 1/2 cup of water in a small bowl until smooth.    Pour water and miso paste mixture into the pot and stir into water/tomato mixture.

In a small frypan, gently melt butter and lightly saute chopped onion until slightly carmelized.   Add cooked onions and garlic to miso/tomato/water mixture.    Cook just below a boil for about  5-10 minutes to blend the flavors.    Remove from heat and blend with a handheld blender right in the pot.   Pepper to taste.

Serve in bowls with a dollop of cultured cream or fresh cream that has naturally soured in the refrigerator.  I used my vitamix...worked perfectly well as it warmed it back up after I had left it on the stove and ran to soccer games.....and a little side note.....

please use natural sour cream...if you don't have your own cow......it doesn't have any additives...just good ole cream...that is soured.....

and even better if you can make it from your own tomatoes that you have loving canned with your own hands.....they will taste so much better!  Have less salts and BPA's then other canned goods.  However, eating canned tomatoes are probably better then many of the so called fresh tomatoes that they sell in the produce department because often they are picked green and lack nutrition.  I canned many a tomato this year in the forms of salsas and whole tomatoes....but I am afraid I don't have the space or a garden of my own to produce enough....thankfully we have Day Farms just a town over, that made it easy and cheap to buy our own.

I heart tomatoes...honestly...if I had to choose a fruit (a tomato is not a vegetable!!) to eat every day at every meal it would be a tomato!!  They fight cancer!!! (Lycopene is the key word here!)  But please don't forget to eat your other veggies.

love yer guts,

from me, pleasantly plump like a tomato...but not for long!

Egg, eggs, eggs...

I ate eggs for breakfast...as did my chillins' and Mr Mackdaddy.  I know many of you will cringe over that...because some of you don't like eggs or thinks eggs are bad for us..or don't want to cool them...

whatever...the reason...you are missin out girlfriend!!!  mack has taken a fried egg sandwich....for I don't know how long to work and usually they are fried up for our weekends meals...but I have been trying to use them more and in everythng!! They are in fact a building block in our healthy structure!

Do you think the HOA would let me put a few chickens out in the back.....so that I could have fresh eggs every day?

No..me neither.... but heck...these chickens would be living high on the hog......I mean I have so many kitchen scraps that go to waste.....because I don't have my farm.....that other chickens would line up to come to my house!!!  "Lay" down there little lives...ok too dramatic...but seriously... they would be fed well which would feed my family even better then buying those almost "dead" eggs at the store.....

I need to commit myself and go down the road and buy the eggs at a local farmers house....they just cost more.....and I want my own chickens....but it is your children's health we are talking about...why can't I get a farm...why am i still stuck in a condo...other then the fact that I love my community....

so says my little internal argument every day.....I am going to have to get a job...just so that I can feed my children healthy...or find a farm.....that I can buy...so I can feed my own family and sell some to feed other little peeps the healthy food that we all need and are not getting at the store.....

If I didn't loose ya at the beginning when I said I eat eggs...you can read more information on why eggs are good for you in Nourishing Traditions and at the blog of The Healthy Home Economist or here. If we all ate more like the farmers of old...we would all be healthier...I promise.....but you will have to decide that for yourselves...

while I go dig into some boiled eggs...or maybe a jalapeno pickled eggs those are the best!)..... on my spinach salad...with BACON!!!!

love,

an egg eater!

As if.....

I think I think to much...

Yes..it's true....even my husband has said it...and....

he is a man of few words!!!

I have a post planned and because I over think it/have way to much to do/am lazy.....

it just doesn't get done...maybe I should stick to shorter thoughts...or no thoughts....

maybe I can just post a short quip about what I am doing yesterday/today/tomorrow to live like I am/one day will get to live on my farm.....

and first things first....my family and I have been/are/will be eating a more natural diet.

Now I have to say we have been doing the basic cook from scratch for a long time...really the only thing we buy at the store that isn't...and of course loaded with sugar...is cereal. This is more or less a treat or when I just don't have time to make breakfast and they won't eat oatmeal, silly kids!

But over the last couple of months and more recently with the hospitalization of mctwin #1 for failure to thrive and severe iron deficiency..I increased my research (thank heavens for the internet!)  and discovered that many of the symptoms of sickness my darlings had were o so curable with a simple food diet.  We ...and I mean the whole family...will be eating the gaps diet.  I will let you go to the website and research it along with the blog from The Healthy Home Economist and determine for yourself what you think. 

For me it was an answer to a prayer and I think the mctwins and the whole family will become healthier...because we will be eating healthier food as well as eating more like our ancestors way back when. No thankfully the diet only calls for an absence period and not a total picketing of the  various foods forever.  But it will help us get back on track and more importantly eating more like we are on the farm.......

Tell me what you think.....or if you have heard anything or experienced anything good bad or terrible.  I am all ears!!!

And then my plan...is to let you know the daily rumblings of eating like we are almost on a farm.

Working on patience......

Random thoughts running through my head.....

I need a coke.....but shouldnt drink one.

Where did all this laundry come from...I just had it all caught up on Monday.

Better put in lunch money for my oldest...even though it isn't cool to eat lunch at school.

I wonder if he has thrown up yet.....he tried to play sick...but it has been going around this itty bitty house

I need a nap....

This itty bitty house was picked up last night, did I have more then seven kids in here this morning.

I need to schedule another family picture....because everyone is a year older then here...with braces of and contact in....

I really really  could use a coke.

Hurry up and blog, cuz its not happening after the mctwins wake up.

Do you think I could get away with eating another bowl of rice pudding....without raisins

what should I cook for dinner

I should go run/yoga/stretch/move while the mctwins sleep.......

Is there a pill out there that will just make me skinny...that won't damage my heart/liver/kidneys?

Wish I had a porch to rock on.....with a rocker....

I need to get the vacuum fixed...and return my sweet neighbors....

I need a good book to read...the one for the book club aint cuttin it...sorry Matt...it pretty much bites the big one....but read it I will...under protest....

Will I get pulled over today?

OH yeah, better get the sub registered...it is only expired by a like a month! 

eeehhhh....toilets better get cleaned today......

Do I have to be anywhere today?

Should I go to the football game on Saturday?  Or let my son take a date there.....

Is he really dating????  Am I that old?

I should get the mctwins blankets done...before they get married....and #1's denim quilt, I started when he was two....

Should I drive up the road an hour and pick up some beets to can and pickle?

Should I look for a house...or be content for another year while Mack is YM president?
 
I need to take the lap top in to be fixed.....and my camera....



Should I make the girls walk home from school?  It is only five miles...uphill...it will be good endurance training for their cross country....

That's mine with the white legs...it runs in the family....

And how the heck do I think I have time for an itty bitty farm?

I asked Mr. Macdaddy if I should give up my dream of moving to my little piece of heaven...because it just doesn't seem to be happening at the moment....or anytime soon...his reply....

"We all need dreams."

And dream it still is.....so I need to add to the above list.....learn to be patient with that which the good Lord has already blessed me with....

For some reason He has deemed me not ready/not worthy/yet to learn something more in my itty bitty house with seven not so itty bitty kids....at least I have three bathrooms! and running water!  My baby sister and I determined that patience and thanksgiving to what we already have is the key and that if so mastered, that which we have asked for will pale in comparison to what HE will give us.....when he is ready.....

So I better go work on that...........

lover yer guts!

signed, working on patience (seriously...I must have been in the talking line when that little gift was handed out!)

Respect your Elder...berries!

Good mor...er..afternoon.....

heck the post has been running around my mind since Friday....with a thousand other thoughts and after being able to;
get the soup on (that's right Mr Macdaddy...soup it is!) 
the sourdough bread rising
multiple piles of smelly, pukie laundry caught up
living room carpet shampooed because well.... a huge splotchy stain of you guessed it. ..was gracing the middle...
multiple noses wiped multiple times
puke buckets disposed of properly in the hazard waste sight
kids picked up...thank you friends and neighbors that did car pool duty for me this morning!
and teeth brushed...forget showering today..the minute I sneak one of those in...a whole new round of puking will commence...

I can sit down at the computer...for a second a spew (because that seems to be the popular thing around here right now!) some things I learned this weekend.

And as a side note....I only tell you the above list, because I know that you ladies do this and more every day and can feel my pain!

Now before things turned south, I had a wonderful Friday morning excursion with Mr Macdaddy up the canyon...berry picking...and it means exactly that!  We went just a few minutes from our house and picked two bucket loads of elderberries!!!  Once made into jelly....elderberry is the Cadillac among fellow fruity spreads!  Now before I was married...I had never heard of such a berry....and gasp... it was almost a deal breaker...for the marriage...you just don't have sour dough biscuits without elderberry jelly! Unheard of!!  Practically a sin!!!  It is now a staple in our refridg-or-ator!

And thank you to the internet I can Google about anything I want to and I discovered while looking for a recipe to make Elderberry Syrup, the very life saving benefits of this precious little treat of health! Just read this...

• The most important benefit of elderberry juice is its ability to prevent and cure illnesses related to the respiratory system like asthma, bronchitis, common cold, sore throat, cough and flu or influenza. It reduces mucus secretions and inflammation of the sinus and mucous membranes, and also helps drain the sinus of mucus, thereby reducing nasal congestion caused due to sinusitis.
• It has proved to be extremely effective in the treatment and cure of flu and was also used to treat people suffering from flu during an epidemic in Panama in 1995. Elderberry juice contains sambucus nigra agglutinins that protects healthy cells in the body from being infected by flu.
• The large amount of vitamins, especially vitamin C, that elderberry juice contains makes it very beneficial in the treatment of ailments caused due to viral and bacterial infections.
• Another very important benefit of elderberry juice is its ability to prevent and treat cancer, a fact attributed to the antioxidants that it contains. Elderberry juice contains bioflavonoids that are known to be the most effective antioxidants for the prevention of human cell damage.
• Elderberry juice boosts the immune system which can be quite helpful in treating diseases like AIDS and cancer.
• Elderberry juice is known to lower cholesterol levels and reduce bad cholesterol. This can be highly beneficial in preventing the various heart related disorders.
• Using elderberry juice for culinary purposes helps improve and maintain a healthy digestive system.
• The harmful effects of environmental pollution, stress, and unhealthy eating can be prevented and reduced by the daily consumption of elderberry juice.
• Elderberry juice concentrate benefits include prevention and cure of diabetes, protection against viral infections, and chest congestion. It has anti-viral, anti-histamine and anti-oxidant properties and its daily consumption can be very beneficial for overall well being.
• Consuming elderberry juice also helps prevent and cure hemorrhoids, constipation, and diarrhea. It also improves heart and kidney health, improves vision, cures yeast infections, and urinary tract infections.
• Consumption of elderberry juice on a regular basis helps clear complexion of blemishes and dark spots. It can delay the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines and helps reduce acne breakouts. Read more on juice fasting recipes.

Now  for  those that know Mr Mackdaddy's grandma and family...just why they were so dang beautiful!  It was all in the Eldeberry!!

So I juiced them all, made some jelly that we can't live without, but I also made some juice that we will be sipping on throughout the year...because I am all about preventing the little bout of catastrophe that has been goin on around here!

If you want more you can read about Elderberry juice here and here and it tastes good!!!! I don't know about you, but I would much rather drink elderberry juice then go get a shot in the arm.....that I don't trust....but that is just me!!

In making the juice, I have a steamer, that I wash and de-stem the berries from the branches (don't steam or cook or eat the leaves, branches or bark.....they can be poisonous!) and throw the berries in for about an hour...towards the end I pour hot water over the berries to get every last ounce of juice that I can..

After I have the juice you can then make it into jelly, syrup or juice.  To make my juice, I mixed it with honey...which is a very healthy remedy for colds and flu!  by about 4 to 1.  I had 16 cups of juice, and I added 4 cups of honey...you could also use blue aguave..with its own health benefits, or sugar!), I heated this to just below a boil, the filled glass bottles and processed in a water bath for 15 minutes!  It is good!!!  In some of the recipes they used equal amounts of sweetener to the juice...I like the more natural taste!

And it makes me feel domestic and like I have a little piece of the farm......which.....

It looks as if we will staying our pretty little booties, here in our condo...forever...maybe when my oldest marries in ten years..I can convince him to rent the place from us so we can move on....

but whatever the reason...I will blog about that tomorrow!

say what? 

Lover yer berry lovin guts!

...it could always be worse

It's been one of those days....

where I shouldn't get dressed, let alone get outta bed....

but out I did get at 5 am....to two bright eyed and bushy tailed mctwins.....laughing and ready to play.  Later they repay my kindness, by sleeping the morning away.....while I clean/laundry/sit on the couch and eat bonbons.

On this day not only would our second laptop in less then a year take a dive off a high cliff, with all of our pictures downloaded on one or the other, our a/c would also poop out....(a special shout out goes tot he builder who put in a way too small unit!...you're the best!) but thankfully September finds us cool enough to open the windows and let in a fresh breeze...

andto top it off...Mctwin # 2 would use me as a puking basin...that was great....warm, slightly curdled and totally disgusting....I wonder if there is some benefits to the skin?

No...just checking.....


but here I sit...laughing and blogging about it....

because if I don't, I will bawl.....which will get me no where but a headache and blotchy eyes

and because as a wise friend says...."it could always be worse"....

 and it can......

in less then six months we have been to the ER no less then FIVE times, two of which consisted of overnight/extended day stays, this does not even count the ear infections, shoulder dislocations and tears and physicals and well baby checks.

Thankfully we have had excellent hospitals and healthy outcomes...with a few scars to show for it all.

...and after dealing with insurance companies on a few of these situations......I had had enough.....

so I made cake pops...

oh, you have heard of them

pure deliciousness....

I took pictures, but my ancient pc won't recognize the camera...so please use your imagination!

This all came about because yesterday I was making a cake for a funeral dinner...and it fell. So I needed to make another one...because heaven help us...there was no hiding a 2 inch hole in the middle and I couldn't pull off this story here.  Thankfully the second cake held up; thank you cousin Rachel for that recipe, and I only burned the coconut topping under the broiler....

After dropping the cake off to feed the intended persons.....I had an extra horrendously ugly cake.... that still tasted yummy.  having just received a family cookbook from my cousin who complied more then 400 recipes from her family (I promise the check is in the mail!) and perused it while salivating.....I saw the recipe for cake pops from cousin Mandy.....and it looked fabulously easy, whereas some of the recipes I have seen...well seemed to take too much time....

so we crumbled the cake, whipped up a batch of peanut butter frosting, mixed it furiously...and set it in the fridge for a couple of hours to cool....later while finally being able to watch"Parenthood" finally!!! and if you didn't see it last season...please tune in...so funny...I laugh...because....well I think they have read some of my mind!!

I rolled the cake/frosting mixture into balls and stick a lollipop stick in it...not so hard.... and stuck them in the freezer. And today...I dipped them in chocolate ganosh....and it was good...........

Thanks to Bakerella,  where you can find recipes and directions galore the world is a much better place because although mine aren't half as pretty, I know that we are all happier people because we are eating cake off a stick....

and things can always be worse.....

so off I go to have another cake pop, count my blessings and try to fix my camera.....

love yer guts for making my world better!

Am I gettin' old?

I ate oatmeal...again....scratch your head and cover your eyes in fear...

I ate it like 3 times last week....and I plan on eating it pretty much all of this week.

I even...gasp....put dried blueberries in it.....

I know to some that this is ordinary getup and eat breakfast and go out your door and get on with your day kinda news,

but for me......

HUGE! BIG!

(Think pretty woman in store berating sales clerks)

You see.....I am not an oatmeal eater, never have been, never planned on it....

you see the picture?  My childhood was scarred by lumpy, gumpy, sticky like glue filled with raisins oatmeal.  It was terrible. I mean horrendous!  To have the relation ship I have with raisins and then to add terrible goopy mush thrown at me at the same time...

Heaven help us all...cuz I had to sit there till I ate it...or school started...and a couple of times it was there for me at dinner.....

I didn't eat it then either....along with liver.....seriously....lumpy oatmeal is a crime!!!

Fast forward to today....

I liked it.....

I must be getting old, maturing in my ways, learning to try new things...just before I turn...um...aaccchhhmmm....40!

has the world stopped on its' axis?  It must have...

My mother would claim victory...but ummm......no.....she should nt have made lumpy not even the dog would eat it oatmeal.....

I would have tried it sooner and then my a few of my kiddos wouldn't be balking either.....and they wouldn't have to microblog or whatever they will call it in the future about their (me) mother scarring her for making her eat oatmeal...

she didn't....I relented and she ate rice krispies.....so much more nutritious and stickittotheribsness.

Would you deny this face???

Or this one?? I can't seem too....little punk

BUT, my oatmeal wasn't lumpy or mushy or sticky or made with powdered milk......it had cinnamon and blueberries in it....

It lowered my cholesterol....but now I have to go work on my blood pressure because it is now elevated since talking about my childhood....and throwittothepigs nasty oatmeal....

Don't even get me started about cream of wheat.....nightmares!!

But I must....I have to keep up with these two!!

Now if you will excuse me...I have to go continue being a grown up and mop my floor!

o, and if you are, always have been and never had a problem with hot oatmeal and/or raisins....God bless....

Love your ever livin oatmeal eatin guts!

Peachy Keen

Tis the season for peaches...and it makes me oh so thankful.....

For the last couple of weeks we have had.....

Fresh Peach Pie
Peach crisp
Peach Ice Cream
Peaches and Cream
Cinnamon Peach Crepes
 and oh so my favorite......Peach Salsa
and of course fresh peaches.....I have  even canned a few for winter storage......

and oh yeah...thanks shay for letting us steal off your trees and only threatening the cops once....that was great!

I have meant to post these recipes several times but because life has been crazy crazy crazy and not all peachy.......blogging has taken a back seat......I used to fancy myself a writer! HA!

Now I fancy a clean house, happy kids and a smiling husband...not always in that order!

and though life has turned a few rough corners and offered some bumps and bruises....we are still thankful for healthy kids, and state of the art hospitals, doctors that follow their instinct and friends that fill in for parents when we are gone, kids that step up to the plate to pitch hit for their parents and so much more, and thankful that tomorrow is always another day....but especially we are thankful for the goodness that come with biting into a fresh peach and have the juice spill done our chin and know that life is good...despite the bruises.

So here is to summer sunshine that is fast fading and the joys of eating....

Cinnamon Peach Crepes

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the eggs. Gradually add in the milk and water, stirring to combine. Add the salt and butter; beat until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
3. Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side. Serve hot. 

Filling (makes 4 pints)

6 pounds of peaches
2 1/2 c sugar
1/2 flour
2 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg
2 t lemon peel
1/4 c lemon juice

Peel, pit and slice peaches and treat so to prevent darkening. Combine sugar, flour and spices. Rinse and drain peaches. Stir peaches into sugar mixtures and let stand until juices begin to flow, about 30 minutes. Stir in lemon peel and lemon juice, cook over medium heat until mixture begins to thicken. Ladle into pint jard, leaving 1/2 inch head space.  Cool for no more then two hours and then freeze...or use fresh in the crepes!
Top with blackberry syrup and fresh peach ice cream!!

Fresh Peach Salsa

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped, peeled fresh peaches
  
• 1/4 cup chopped sweet onion
  
• 3 Tablespoon lime juice
  
• 2 to 3 Tablespoon finely chopped, seeded fresh jalapeno pepper
  
• 1 clove garlic, minced
  
• 1 Tablespoon snipped fresh cilantro
  
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
  

In a medium mixing bowl stir together peaches, onion, lime juice, peppers, garlic, cilantro, and sugar. Cover and chill for 1 to 2 hours.
Makes 2 cups. 

uuuummmmm...................just posting this recipe makes me want some of this salsa right now!!!!

Fresh Peach Ice Cream

I will add pictures later this week when I make the ice cream for Relief Society...so all you sistas that will be there....yumm!!!!

(From the book: Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam — True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm. Coming Soon — Fall 2004)

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup milk
• 1 pint heavy whipping cream
• pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs for several minutes until thick and lemon colored. Add 1 cup of milk and blend into the eggs. Mix sugar and cornstarch in a large saucepan. Add egg/milk mixture to the sugar and cornstarch. Cook until thick (about 5 minutes) stirring constantly. Allow the custard mixture to cool to room temperature.

When the custard is cool, put into a freezer-safe bowl. Blend in cream and salt. Freeze for 2 hours or until slushy. Add 2 teaspoons vanilla. Whip for 5 to 10 minutes with an electric mixer. Return to freezer and finish freezing (several hours or overnight).

Variations:
After you have whipped the ice cream, fold in 1 to 2 cups of fresh or frozen fruit, nuts and/or chocolate before returning the ice cream to the freezer to finish freezing.

Here are some ideas for additions to your ice cream:
Strawberries
Blackberries
Raspberries
Peaches
Cherries (or Maraschino Cherries)
Chocolate chips
Butterscotch chips
Crushed Heath bars
Crushed peppermint candy
Chopped walnuts
Chopped pistachio nuts
Diced bananas
Coconut
Chocolate chip cookie dough (drop into the ice cream by small spoonfuls and carefully fold in)
Caramel or chocolate or fudge syrup (drop into the ice cream by small spoonfuls and carefully fold in)