Thursday, August 11, 2022

Cartoons and Caricatures

 Hi everyone. Happy Thursday. 

Today it is once again time for Rain's Art and Dinner Date. This week she is asking for cartoons and caricatures.  

My photos aren't great, but my drawings in my daily journal are definitely cartoon-like. I don't spend a lot of time drawing them. That is my daily journal "rule", basically so I can keep up with daily journaling   I color them with some water based Faber-Castell markers.

And you can see why I'm not happy using a  Moleskin journal this year as you can see ghosts from the other side of the page. GRRR.





And for food this week, let me share this homemade coffee ice cream shake or what we here In New Hampshire call a frappe (pronounced frap). 



I love ice cream when it's hot, but one of the problems going out to buy a cone or dish is that you usually get more than you really need. Now don't get me wrong, I still love going out for an ice cream Sunday lunch, which is what my husband and I do weekly during ice cream weather. But sometimes during the week, I would just love a few bites to take the edge off my sweet tooth.

I have an ice cream maker I can use with my mixer, but it does entail freezing the bowl and beater, which means making room in the freezer. Then I need to make and chill the base, turn the base into ice cream in the frozen bowl and then freeze the newly made ice cream. When I noticed that there was a new Ninja Creami ice cream maker on the market, I was curious and looked into it.

This ice cream maker was a little more than I wanted to spend, but then Amazon Prime Days came along and they had it for $70 off, plus I had an Amazon gift card, so I decided I could get the price down to where I wanted. Now I can make pints  of ice cream without quite so much fuss. To use the Creami, you make your mix and then pour it in to fill the pint container to the fill line. Then freeze for 24 hours. After a few minutes in the machine, you have a pint of ice cream.

Yes, I could go out and buy a pint of ice cream, and I don't really  need another appliance on my kitchen counter, but at least now my husband and I can customize what we want. Plus it is fun to make your own ice cream. As I explained to my husband when I bought it and he was looking at me with one of those you're wasting your money looks, I can make all kinds of flavors of lighter ice cream and fruit sorbets, which aren't always easy to find at the store.

Now the hubby is into his own private pints of chocolate chip and cookie  ice cream, and I haven't seen that you're wasting your money look again. Smile!

I made a batch of coffee ice cream with 1 tbsp cream cheese, 3/4 of sugar (or sugar substitute), 3/4 c. of heavy cream, 1 c. of coffee flavored whole milk, and 1 tsp. of instant coffee granules. I put them all in a bowl together, heated them for just over 1 minute in my microwave and then used a whisk to mix them completely. Once mixed, I pour them into my Creami pint container and put it in the freezer for 24 hours. The next day I made my pint of coffee ice cream.

The creami has a milkshake button (a big selling point for me-grin), and I put 3 small scoops of ice cream and a 1/2 c. of skim milk into a clean pint container, ran it through the Creami and ended up in a few minutes with this very yummy coffee frappe. 

And I might add, a frappe that is not as big as one bought at the ice cream counter would be.


And no, I am not advertising or getting any money for writing this. I'm just excited to be making little ice cream treats for myself.  And I hope my waistline doesn't mind all little treats either-smile again.

Maybe  in the long run my new appliance will be collecting dust on my counter, but then again, maybe not. Only time will answer that question.

Thanks for visiting!











19 comments:

kathyinozarks said...

Good morning Erika, I loved seeing your journal pages and perfect for the theme. I would think that a journal not lying flat when open would be a hassle to work in.
I enjoyed your ice cream story-I made a space in my refrigerator freezer to freeze the bowl-so it's always handy and read to use. your new appliance does sound fun to use too and in smaller amounts.
Happy Thursday oh and thanks for the suggestion of soaking the raisins etc in juice instead of water never would have thought of that hugs Kathy

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Your journal pages look great, Erika. The closest we come to summer relief in terms of a drink is that we make our own iced coffee, sweetened with a drop or two of maple syrup. Then there is a chilled Sauvignon Blanc on the patio with some Danish Fontina and perhaps some Stilton, but that's not just for thirst! Hugs - David 😉

Valerie-Jael said...

Hi Erika, this sounds soooooooooooo good, ice cream whenever you want it, and made to measure, wow! I wouldn't trust myself with that machine as I would have to eat it all myself and that would not be so good. Your journaling is fantastic, love all your faces! Now I am craving ice cream and haven't got any, so I'll have to make do with yogurt and blueberries! Hugs, Valerie

Christine said...

Enjoyed your fun caricatures Iris.

Christine said...

Sorry I was looking at Iris' link and commenting on your blog Erika, your drink looks delicious by the way.

Angie's Recipes said...

Homemade ice cream is for sure fresher, better and you know what's in it.

Gillena Cox said...

Erika luv the fun art in your journal pages, you got me smiling. Happy Thursday.

much💖love

Iris Flavia said...

Same here, not much time invested in the journal, yet it helps reflecting (and maybe re-learn to draw quick).
Yeps, have some ghosts, too - but... that´s life?
Cute guy! Guys!
And yipeee on joining with this.
Hair... haha. Ingo colored mine red with Henna over years. Then I found out (after being too busy for months): my hair IS reddish, like the men in the family. Duuuuuhhh...

Hmmm, the frap looks great!
Right now here: Green lemon, a beer-mix (9 hours of work done, I deserve that!).

Ingo bought an ice-cream maker.. and never uses it.

Our waistlines... pfffft. In summer everything is allowed!
Enjoy and hugs!

Divers and Sundry said...

I love coffee ice cream, but I've never had a coffee ice cream shake. My husband got an ice cream maker for his birthday, so maybe we need to make a couple. Yummm!

CJ Kennedy said...

Your cartoons are fun in your planner. I had been looking at the Ninja Creami. Of course, I didn't think about checking out the price on Prime Day. Oh, well. I sometimes make no ice cream maker needed ice cream. All you need is whipping cream, a can of sweetened condensed milk, and flavoring and mix-ins of your choice.

Neet said...

Fab drawing in the journal but I know what you mean about the Moleskin. All this hype about these journals and they do bleed through. Still, I do like using mine.
Hugs, Neet xx

Carola Bartz said...

I haver never made my own ice cream, but this ice cream maker sounds VERY tempting. I usually have a pint of ice cream in the freezer during summer and sugar cones from Trader Joe's and that's my afternoon treat.
Your journal pages look like a lot of fun - I like your little characters.

NatureFootstep said...

I agree, it is not fun when you can see the backside of the paper. Very disturbing if you want to create something nice and beautiful.

Love the "haircut" though. :)

Sharon Fritchman said...

Oh my gosh, Erika! Your art work is absolutely adorable and perfect for this month's AJJ theme. And wow! The frappe that you made looks absolutely delicious and very refreshing, especially during the hot summer months! I would be making them constantly if I had the equipment!!! LOL! And I want to thank you so very much for visiting my blog and leaving me such wonderful, uplifting comments. HUGS!!

Tom said...

...47 books so far. How I wish that I were a reader!

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

A personal ice cream maker does sound like something we would enjoy as well, Erika. That said, we won’t be adding one to our home because there is really no room for one on our kitchen counters, thankfully. It’s a drawback of an apt galley kitchen or maybe not? As much as we enjoy ice cream and indulged when in Maine last month (every day for lunch) we have switched to fresh melon as a nightly treat (sigh). The frappe looked so refreshing 😀

Aimeslee Winans said...

I totally get it about the appliance and good job getting hubby addicted, heehee. Enjoy! xoxo

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Love your little caricatures. They are clever, dear.

I can't seem to eat just a LITTLE ice cream. I eat 1/3 of a tub at a time. I buy it by the 5 qt now. It lasts maybe a week. Nice that you got your own tiny one that would never satisfy me (grin).

Andrea @ From The Sol said...

Making your own ice cream can for sure be fun, but maybe a bit too convenient when you have to consider the waistline. We eat ice cream only on special occasions. If we didn't limit ourselves we would eat it all of the time and then waddle back to the freezer for more, if you get my gist. I am assuming you have better will power than I do :) And, I agree your journal figures make good cartoon characters. I think it will make it more fun for you when you go back some day to read your entries. Be well, Erika ...

Andrea @ From the Sol