Palatine Farmers Market

Over the weekend we visited our local Farmers Market and though it was small, it was filled with lots of yummy fruit, veggies, flowers and homemade goodies! Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the Market:










We purchased some cherries, raw honey, which I failed to get a picture of, home made pasta and the brownie pictured above. Everything was so delicious, I can't wait to go back next weekend to buy more!

Wordless Wednesday - Little Garden Friend

Homemade Peach Ice Cream

What better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than making fresh homemade peach ice cream? My husband recently expressed interest in making his own ice cream after watching a very in depth episode on the subject on the food network. So yesterday when my dad came to visit with the kiddos he surprised us with our very own old fashioned ice cream maker along with all of the ingredients to make the first batch!

Of course, we had to put it to use immediately and got right to work peeling, slicing and pureeing peaches and mixing ingredients. Once we got everything mixed up, we spent the next few hours doing this:


Then we spent another hour or so waiting for it to thicken up in the freezer. And after all of those hours of labor we were generously rewarded with 6 quarts of this:

Yum.

The texture of the ice cream is just amazing and it's, dare I say, healthier than the store bought stuff. As if ice cream can really be healthy in the first place, but at least it's not loaded with tons of preservatives and fillers and you know exactly what you're eating with this stuff. Not to mention, it's simply d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s!

Here is the recipe that we used in case you have the urge to try it yourself:

• 6 eggs, beaten
• 3 1/2 cups white sugar
• 10 fresh peaches, pitted and chopped
• 4 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups half-and-half cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

1. In large bowl, mix together eggs and sugar until smooth; puree peaches in blender or food processor and stir 5 cups of puree into egg mixture. Stir in cream, half-and-half, vanilla and salt and mix well.
2. Pour mixture into freezer canister of ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.

I would love to hear if you try this recipe yourself and how yours turns out. You may consider throwing an ice cream party if you make the full recipe.

I'm not quite sure what we're going to do with 6 quarts of ice cream, but it's so good I have a feeling we might not have a problem devouring it ourselves! I'll start working on losing the baby weight next week. :)

Wordless Wednesday - A Few Favorites

Wordless Wednesday - Welcome Kainen