ICE CREAM, NO MACHINE!

Meggie and I went to Mom's yesterday. High on our priority list was an activity sure to please: Making ice cream.

It was all Mama and I could do to get Meggie and her cousin Ariel to eat lunch, much less wait until afterwards for the ice cream making. At long last, though, we gathered the implements and ingredients of desire, and headed for the deck.

I found this recipe in a magazine last week, and couldn't wait to try it. Ice cream in ten minutes, without a machine? Really? The DH and I gave it a shot while RV camping in the Hood River Valley. He declared it both fun and delicious. I declared it something wonderful to share.

You will need:

Ready!

• 1 cup milk OR cream OR a mixture of the two
• 1 teas vanilla
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 cups ice
• 1/4 cup rock salt
• 1 quart-size resealable plastic baggie
• 1 gallon-size resealable plastic baggie
  

Good to have, but not on the ingredients list:


1 Great-grandma who will stand in the sun, making shade for you!


Step one: Pour the milk into the quart size bag. Putting the bag into a stiff container saves spills.


In goes the milk


Step two: Add the vanilla.


Ari adds vanilla


Step three: Add the sugar.


In goes the sugar!


Step four: Set the smaller bags aside, and switch to the gallon size. Put four cups ice in the big bag.


Is this why we have our gloves and mittens?


Step five: Add the rock salt to the ice.


It helps to take turns holding the bags open.


Step six: Put the sealed quart size bag inside the gallon bag, and seal.


One inside the other, both sealed.


Step seven: Shake like crazy!


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Step eight: Assemble your eating crew, and divide the spoils!


And a good time was had by all!


As you may have gathered from the pictures, we made the recipe twice at the same time, with bags and ingredients for both Meg and Ariel. The two bags provided ice cream for four children and two adults, although they were small. When Bob and I did ours, we fixed a bag for each of us, and ate it all. On the other hand, we skipped dinner and went straight for the ice cream!

Now I want to do it again, with flavors. Peanut butter? That would be good. Chocolate goes without saying. Oh! How about peach-almond? Okay. My diet is in serious danger here.

RECIPE FOR A GREAT KIDS' BATHROOM

When's the last time you walked into a bathroom and said, "Wow. This is fabulous,"? For me, it was Sunday, towards the end of my grandson's birthday party. Let me tell you, my daughter-in-law is amazing, just amazing.

I hadn't been to the house since Kristy finished the kids' bathroom, and I was so impressed I ran downstairs to grab the camera.

Here's what Kristy had done:

First, paint the whole room deep, bright, turquoise, and then swirl white in waves with a dry brush:




Add some fishy wall art (aka Wallies)





For an underwater look, do the ceiling, too.





Pin Teeny Beanies to the wall and ceiling





Continue the theme with an octopus on the counter





Stencil a quote on the wall, and add fish-themed bath towels





Top with a colorful shower curtain and overlapping rugs