Every year I set goals. Not always in January for I'm never quite sure when I'll get around to all of them and often they sit on my wish list for several years before I have the opportunity to work on them. My list is quite long and you can bet that a number of those goals will involve food. Usually, it is something that we presently buy from the store and I wish to start making ourselves. One of those goals is ice cream. I've made it off and on throughout the years. It was always a sporatic treat. The rest of the time we bought our supply from the store. That changed when we bought a new ice cream maker and before that a milk separator. It has been the most yummy goal. My husband and I are just loving the process as I develop different combinations.

My basic recipe that involves 1 cup of milk, 1/2 cup sugar, and three egg yolks, whipped and cooked until thickened and then 2 cups of cream added with a pinch of salt and then usually a tablespoon of vanilla has taken on a variety of additions and changes. I told you about how I altered my recipe to make cheese cake ice cream. That was stretching it far out of shape. Where most of time it has been just a slight variation. Chocolate ice cream is a good example. I just dropped the sugar by a 1/4 a cup and added a 1/2 a cup of melted semi-sweet chocolate chips. I put a touch of milk in the saucepan when I melted the chips. I've thought about doing Rocky Road but haven't gotten around to making the marshmallow creme. Yes, I make my own marshmallow creme. I'll have to tell you about it sometime. I was going to add it and some chopped chocolate just before I put the ice cream in the freezer. At this point it is at the soft serve stage, perfect for stirring in additions.

This weekend, I made cherry nut. All it took was replacing two teaspoon of cherry flavoring for the 1tablespoon of vanilla and then I added chopped marchino cherries and chopped walnuts. YUM!!

But I couldn't stop there. I made another batch of ice cream the next day and substituted peppermint oil that I had in the cupboard for making candy, which I never seem to get done, for the vanilla. Then I threw in lots of mini-chocolate chips when the ice cream was just about done. That was so they didn't all sink to the bottom. These two ice creams were so good I think I'll take another trip down the ice cream isle at the grocery store, it's sure to spur some ideas. If you've got any kinds you think I should try feel free to chime in. I'd love some ideas on what to make next.


Then one of these days I'm going to start making yogurt again. I haven't done it in years if you exclude the time a couple weeks ago when I tried making it in the crock pot. It was all the rage on the blog posts I was reading. It flopped. My crockpot was too big and it didn't hold the temperature steady enough. I'm wondering if the difference is that every one I was reading about was using cow's milk not goat milk. I've found goat milk just a tad fussier about temperatures that cow's milk. Anyway, I'll tell you about all the ways in the past that I've made yogurt but not today. When I do make yogurt again, I want to make yogurt ice cream. That I haven't done before.

While in this experimental mood, I made my artisian bread with the addition of a cup of mashed potatoes.

It was a hit too. The biggest change I noticed was in the texture. The crumb was finer like in American breads. It also wasn't as chewy.

This is the last slice from the artisan bread without mashed potatoes so you can compare. Tonight I'm starting a sponge with whole wheat. It's a different recipe. I've halved it for we like to have just one fresh loaf at a time since there is only the two of us. Then again, the loaf I made yesterday is gone after making French toast for the grand daughters this morning and peanut butter and jam sandwhiches at noon before they went home. Sometimes I could use more than one. Kirk will be disapointed it's all gone.

When I've made this whole wheat loaf, I want to try another recipe that has whole wheat, and rye in it. I want to start making more whole grain recipes using the sponge method.

But before I close, be sure and check in tomorrow for I'm doing a give a way that has a fun matching barn yard game. I've beenphotographing every time there is a dusting of snow in preparation for the event. The lucky winner gets one of my favorite gardening books. Spread the word and get the whole family involved.