Homemade pistachio ice cream

Home made Pistachio Ice Cream
This is among the favorites in our household. I believe the Mr. still enjoys his old and true plain vanilla ice cream but he pampers us by making pistachio and it is most decadent and divine!

Ingredients for Pistachio Ice Cream
1 can condensed
1 can evaporated
1 pint heavy whipping cream
2 small pkgs of pistachio pudding
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 TBL spoon vanilla extract
Add WHOLE MILK to ice cream churn to top off to line.

1 large bag of ice
1/2 box of rock salt

Our ice cream churn comes with directions on how to use. But the basic ice cream recipe is as listed as above. It is rich it is decadent and I LOVE it best the day after! It gets very creamy and dense. Good luck having it last the day after.


Our churn then requires you to pour ice around the cannister and put rock salt on top. Keep checking your ice maker and adding ice so that it stays near the top of the cannister and then rock salt again. Repeat as necessary. Until ice maker stops churning. You can immediately turn out and place in storage containers or serve. If you would like your ice cream more firm wait a few minutes and the ice cream will harden as it sits.

Home made whip cream

sorry, I didn't take a picture of just the whip cream.



Whipped Cream

1/2 pint whipping cream
3 TBS. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Chill bowl and beaters. Add cream to chilled bowl. Begin beating. Be careful not to whip too much or it will turn to butter. As the mixture begins to thicken. Remove beaters and add sugar and vanilla stir. Refrigerate once blended well.

Homemade Yogurt

Yummy homemade yogurt!!!!

Ingredients: and things you need!

1/2 gallon whole milk

1/2 cup Dannon plain yogurt with live active cultures

1 or 2 boxes of jello (your flavor of choice)(optional)

2 cups of pureed fruit of your choice (this is optional)

1 crock pot

1 blanket

1 towel

Turn Crock pot on LOW

Pour into crock pot 1/2 gallon of whole milk (I have heard some people use powdered milk)

Cook on low for 2 1/2 hours

Turn crock pot off after the 2 1/2 hours and let sit for 3 hours with the lid on

After the milk has sat for 3 hours scoop out 2 cups of the warm milk into a bowl. Add 1/2 cup of dannon plain yogurt -this is your yogurt feeder. The next time you make it you will have your own feeder.(with live active cultures)

Add one box of jello (some don't use any flavoring or some use flavored pudding for creamer yogurt-depends on your taste)

whisk and whisk and whisk

Add yogurt, jello and milk mixture back into the crock pot and cover with a towel and blanket.
Wait 8 to 9 hours before peaking!

Dip out 1/2 cup and save for your next yogurt feeder so you don't have to keep purchasing Dannon plain yogurt with live active cultures.

Add strawberries and bananas or fruit puree of your choice. My kids don't like any lumps in their yogurt so we pureed our fruit all the way up until it was smooth. We added a little sugar because my kids are used to Trix yogurt! Some people add honey to sweeten!

This will last 7-10 days in the fridge. Your feeder will last the same.
This recipe made 24 1/2 cups! I actually did a little math this is approx. 09 cents per container. I paid 52 cents per container of Trix yogurt last week with a coupon!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

A nice alternative to holiday Pumpkin Pie, this is the Cheesecake Factory recipe for Pumpkin cheesecake.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

5 Tbls butter, melted

1 Cup sugar, plus 1 Tbls sugar (divided)

3 (8 oz) pkgs cream cheese, softened

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup canned pumpkin

3 eggs, room temperature

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon allspice

whipped cream

Preheat oven to 350 F. Make the crust by combining the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter and 1 Tbls sugar in a medium bowl. Stir to just coat all of the crumbs with the butter, then press the crumbs onto the bottom and about 2/3 of the way up the sides of a 9" springform pan. Seal the bottom and sides of the pan with tin foil. Bake the crust for 5 minutes, then set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, and vanilla. Mix with electric mixer on med speed until smooth. Add the pumpkin, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. Continue beating until smooth and creamy. Pour the filling into the pan.

Place the pan in a water bath.* Bake 60 -70 minutes, or until edges are firm but the center of the cake still has a light "jiggle". Remove from oven and allow to set in water bath on a cooling rack for 1 hour. Remove pan from water bath and allow to cool completely before covering. Once cake is completely cooled, cover and store in the refrigerator at least 12 hours before serving.

*To make a water bath, place the spring form pan in a baking dish, such as a lasagna pan, and place on rack in oven. Pour hot water into the baking dish outside the springform pan until in comes up about 1/2 way to the top. Using a water bath helps distribute the heat evenly and prevents the cheesecake from cracking on top.