Peach & Ginger Vanilla Ice Cream

Ok, I get it. Summer is OVER. Ya, I know...it is dipping into what I like to call the "dangerously low 60s" here in SoCal, and I'm not kidding. BRrrrrrrrRRRRrrrr. So in trying to keep the dance that is my life moving I have become a little behind (again) in my blog updates and have one last summer-rewind here for ya. I know many of you do this juggle with jobs, relationships, kids (or weenie dogs in our case), trying to jam in some exercise and relaxation here and there...you know, "The Drill".

Well, Summer of 2009 proved to be UBER-drilly for us, in the best way ever...we managed to maintain our Clark-Kent-esque day job-lives as program writer/operations manager (for Nate) and managing the beautiful business of bling in Drop Dead Gorgeous® jewelry (for me), while still spending gobs of sunny days at dog beach, AND eating/drinking our way through 5 food/drink festivals, enjoying wild night at Medieval Times, tackling a drive up and down California's beautiful coast, and nearly finishing (we'll make it to the breakers next time) our first Bay2Breakers, to mention a few of the highlights.



To me the timing of this peachy, summery ice cream post is just right- it rained today. Yup, here. In L.A., totally misted. As the clouds get darker, the sun sets earlier and we are apparently in for some "weather" over the next few days, so I am going to post this and leave it to look at and long for next summer, at least until the weekend comes!

The fall twist to ice cream making is that is takes a few hours and you do need to be all up on it every 30 minutes, this is a GREAT dessert to make while watching football games on Sundays, then enjoying a sundae after dinner with super creamy home made 'scream!!



Peach & Ginger Vanilla Ice Cream
(no ice cream maker involved, 'cuz I don't have one!)

1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 egg yolks
5-6 T sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 handfuls frozen peach slices, chopped into little pieces
1 tsp fresh grated ginger

In a medium sauce pot bring the milk & cream to a rolling boil. While that heats up, in a medium bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar until thick and well combined. When the milk/cream is boiling, remove it from the heat, and while slowly stirring, gently and slowly pour about 1/3 of the milk/cream into the egg/sugar mix & stir until incorporated...then slowly, while constantly stirring add the rest of the cream to the yolk/sugar mix and stir until all ingredients are well mixed. (this will "temper" the eggs so they don't get cooked by the milk/cream) Pour it all back into the sauce pot and heat on medium heat, stirring constantly for about 5-7 minutes. You want the custard to get thicker and not heat over 180 degrees.
Pour the thickened custard into a glass bowl and add vanilla, peaches and ginger, stir well and refrigerate until chilled through. Pour chilled custard mix into a glass/pyrex baking dish and place in freezer for 45 minutes.
After 45 minutes, stir well with a whisk. Place back in freezer for 30 minutes....continue to take it out and whisk every 30 minutes for about 3 hours and transfer to an airtight container to keep in the freezer.



I think this makes a faboo dinner party dessert, my favorite kind- dresses up easy!!
Toast a frozen waffle, thinly slice a peach and arrange peach slices on top of toasted waffle then add a scoop of this yummy ice cream and drizzle with honey! YUM & EASY!!

~This recipe was created by adapting the Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Baking; From My Home to Yours by; Dorie Greenspan~