Richard's Rum-Raisin Ice Cream

There is this crazy Jamaican named Richard, whose weapon of choice is table lamps. Don't Ask... 10 years ago he popped in my life and through all sorts of twist and turns we have ended up like family. We fuss, fight, and have awkward conversations that I’m 99.7% sure if overheard would spark normal folk to contact the authorities. Oh but I digress. So Richard grew up in Jamaica (not the pretty part you see on the travel channel either) and came to the U.S. when he was a teen. I remember being stunned by all of the things he had no clue about. I don't remember how it came about but one day he told me that he had never eaten Cheetos. We are talking about the incredibly crunchy,cheesy, & delicious Cheetos! Who hasn't eaten Cheetos? In high school they were a staple in my diet. You know how certain things just remind you of certain people? Well for me Richard =Rum Raisin Ice Cream... I know you thought I was going to say Cheetos, huh?

List O' Stuff

    1/2 Cup Raisins

    1/4 Cup Dark Jamaican Rum

    3 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream

    1 Cup Milk

    1/2 Cup Sugar

    1/2 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

    1 Tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract

4 Egg Yolks

How To

•     Soak the raisins in the rum for at least 30 minutes
•     In a large saucepan combine the cream, milk, sugar, nutmeg, and vanilla. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes or until the milk is hot but don't let it boil. Make sure the sugar is dissolved and then remove from heat. 
•     In a bowl beat the egg yolks. Slowly pour in about a cup of the milk mixture. Whisk it until smooth
•     Pour the egg mixture slowly back into the saucepan whisking until its mixed well. 
•     Return the pan to the pan to medium high heat and stirring constantly until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. This should take around 5 minutes. Make sure the mixture does not boil. 
•     Strain the mixture into a large bowl. Cover the surface of the mixture with plastic wrap. This will keep a skin from forming.
•     Let this cool to room temperature.
•     Drain the rum off of the raisins. Save the rum and stir it into the mixture
•     Use an icecream maker to freeze the mixture. Be sure to follow the instructions of your icecream maker. About 5 minutes before the icecream is complete stir in the raisins. Allow the freezing process to complete. 
• Grub!

Tico Tot Bowling

Any one who has seen my son,"Sir", thinks he should follow in his fathers footsteps and play football. I, on the other hand, would prefer that if he does want to enter into the world of sports, that he choose something that involves a little less contact. I know the joy it brought my husband but I have no desire to see my baby boy on the gridiron. In a lame attempt to be proactive in this mission, I introduced my babies to bowling! Who knows, my kids can be the next Walter Ray Williams. Don't know who he is? I didn't either. Thank God for Google!

List O' Stuff

10 Clean Plastic soda bottles

Beans (anything that can provide a bit of weight. Rice, Rocks, ect)

    Paint 

    Paintbrush

    Cup of water ( its just to rinse out the brush)

Ball

How To

• Start with clean bottles, put a little squirt of paint in each. It doesn't take too much. 
• Place the caps onto the bottles and SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE until the color is evenly distributed. 
• Remove the caps and let the paint dry. If it starts to run or dry unevenly just repace the cap and commence to shaking again. 
• Once the paint has dried, place the beans inside. I filled mine about 1/5 of the way up
• Paint the bottle caps if you wish, Allow them to dry
• Bust a move and start bowling

* I got the inspiration from a tutorial I saw on Pinterest!

Nails + Yarn = Art

Pinterest is CRACK! I admit that I have a habit. Ok and not that I have done crack or anything like that, but from what I hear those who partake in the drug get a “high” from it. I get that sort of feeling from Pinterest. All of those great ideas and beautiful things to create are just there! I “jones” for a new pin that will get me all excited to CREATE!!! 

I have been on the look out for something that could fill up a big empty wall in my guest bathroom. While doing my daily stalking of pinterest, there it was. All I needed to do was gather my supplies and get to work. Check out the tutorial and do something dope!

Laundry Room Before and After

Laundry Room After/ Después

Laundry Room Before/Antes

When I was pregnant with my first child, I thought I was going to be "Captain Planet" and use cloth diapers and wipes. Well, the thing with cloth diapers if that you have to wash them, and OFTEN. Trust me if you don't, the stench is something that will surely invoke your gag reflex, but that's a whole other issue.  Once the ink was dry on the contracts and we owned our lil' slice of heaven in CR , the laundry room was a priority on our remodel list. Gotta have a place to wash all of those sucio pañales.

*I used Fuzzibunz diapers & Bum Genius wipes.

Pseudo Play Dough

"Summer, Summer, Summertime. Time to sit back and unwind"... sung in my best Will Smith voice!"

Aight so it is SUMMERTIME here in CR! Weird I know, but the seasons here are the opposite of what folks are used to in the states. I have to admit that I sort of like being able to call my friends who are busy shoveling snow to brag about how we are splashing about in the pool & getting all golden brown. For those of us with niños, this warm weather equals NO SCHOOL. To ensure my kids do not suffer a death by boredom, I turn to a classic...Play-Doh (or at least my bootleg version of it). The recipe we used was from  www.instructables.com  but there is a whole website dedicated to home made recipes for the stuff. Check it out at www.playdoughrecipe.org They even have a Chocolate "Play Doh" Recipe!!!

"Psuedotico" Banana Pudding

"Come Mister tally man, tally me bananas"...My little finca has banana trees popping up everywhere. I literally have a bunch of bananas. It is one less thing to buy at the grocery store. With two kids who love them, I AM WINNING! But there comes a time when you look over at your fruit bowl and the dark spots have overtaken the yellow skin. This is when the fruit flies invade, and "Psuedotico Banana Pudding" comes to the rescue! I hope you enjoy my attempt to add a touch of tico to my simple southern dish. 

P.S. With all of these bananas expect a "bunch" more recipes...Yah I know. LAME JOKE

List O' Stuff

12 oz box of Vanilla wafer cookies 

4-6 Bananas (preferably ripened)

Nestle La Lechera Dulce de Leche or Carmel

3/4 cups of Sugar

2 tablespoons of Corn Starch

3 cups of Milk

4 Egg yolks

1/2 stick of butter

1 tablespoon of Vanilla Bean Paste or Vanilla Extract

How To

• In a double boiler mix together the cornstarch and sugar, then slowly add in milk. No double boiler? You can do this on low-med heat, just stir constantly until thickened. 
• Beat the egg yolks slightly and temper with a little of the hot custard. Stir well.
• Add the eggs to the mixture and cook for about 2 minutes. 
• Remove from the heat. Add butter and vanilla. 
• Let cool. Congrats! You made pudding. 
• In a baking dish make alternating layers of cookies, pudding, and then bananas. 
• Top off with a drizzle of the Dulce de Leche. You may use as much or as little as you like

Who doesn't love frozen treats?

On this the very first day of 2012, I would like to give props to one of the best investments my family has ever made. The Cuisinart Supreme Commercial Quality Ice Cream Maker. Yah, the price tag will make you do a little gasp, but IT IS WORTH IT. Here in CR there is pretty much 2 major players in the ice cream game, POPS and Dos Pinos (on a side note, I believe Dos Pinos has a monopoly on every cow in CR). Now the issue with these two is their prices. A half gallon will cost you about $8 bucks (4000 colones). $8 wont break the bank, but when you consider that their ice cream is "chock-full" of air. It is not such a great bargain. I mean who wants to pay for milky air?

So what is a woman to do when her husband is an ice cream connoisseur and refuses to pay for "airy dairy"? You get on Google and figure out a way to do this ish yourself. After reading entirely too many reviews on Amazon the Supreme won out basically because I am too lazy to have to do any pre planning. When I want ice cream, I WANT ICE CREAM!!! This little machine has been perfect. We have whipped up ice cream & sorbet galore! Our current favorite is guanabana-lime sorbet