This Could Be The Beginning of Something Big*

Oh, dear. (Seems like I have started a lot of posts with this type of statement lately.)

The other day when I did the rose petal jam tutorial, I received this comment:

       Ya know, I'm thinking that rose petal syrup would make for an amazing sorbet..

• Commenter name: Kristen

I have not been able to get that idea out of my head. And further, I got the idea to look for recipes for rose petal ice cream as well. And I didn't stop there. I looked for recipes for very special, very unique ice creams and sorbets that can make use of the flowers and herbs that I grow.  And I found them; oh yes, I did. 

Longish story short, I spent a good part of my afternoon the other day searching my cupboards, closets, and basement (you have no idea) for the ice cream maker that I know I once had, but have almost never used -- I certainly have not used it since we moved into this house in 1987. In fact, a good number of those years I was dairy-free, and though I could have made sorbet or something with rice milk or coconut milk or something, it just never tempted me much. 

I'm really not that much of an ice cream girl. Really, I'm not. Buuuuuuuuuuutttttttt, you know how I love to use things from my garden. And you know how crazy I am for the rose flavor. And the herbs. And since I've reincorporated some dairy into my diet over the past two or three years, I've kind of been on a little bit of an ice cream kick -- well, for me, that is, which means that I have a pint or two, rather in binge fashion, (no, I'm not proud of this) every few months.  

Anyway, all I found in my search was the freezer bowl, but not the motor or paddles or whatever else might have come with it.  And somehow or another I placed an order for one of these.  

And then you know exactly what happened, don't you? Of course after the KitchenAid attachment was already shipped and it was too late to cancel my order, I found my old ice cream maker. And thanks to the Internet, I found the manual. 

Oops.

So the new KitchenAid attachment arrived in ONE DAY. I may return the KitchenAid attachment, but I'm pretty sure I'll just keep both. The new one is already in the freezer, getting ready for making a batch of sorbet today. That way I can have two batches running at one time, and of course I will NEED that, because OMG, I have found quite a few little unusual and unique-sounding recipes, all of which I'm excited to try, and all of which will use my home-grown flowers and herbs and will be a TON of fun to make (not to mention eat). Here, I'll share a decadent little list with you, starting of course with the stars of the show:

Rose Petal Sorbet  Please note this recipe contains both champagne and blackberry jam. *swoon*

Rose Petal Ice Cream I made this the other night. If I could, I would marry it. I want it to melt all over... oh, never mind. I made a second batch yesterday, and if it's at all possible, the second batch is even better than the first, because I let it process in the ice cream maker longer. I will add that I think having the upright freezer has made all the difference in how much I enjoy making the ice cream. When I was attempting to do this before, I had only the small freezer at the top of my refrigerator. In addition to having to fight for space and the ice cream maker bowl being a space hog, the bowl probably never got frozen enough. Now the job is easy. This could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it.

Lavender-Honey Ice Cream

Lavender-Lemon Ice Cream I could go on with the lavender varieties, because the recipes for lavender frozen treats seem to be quite abundant, but you get the idea.

Rosemary-Honey Ice Cream

Dark Chocolate-Rosemary Ice Cream

Fresh Mint Ice Cream

Basil Ice Cream

Strawberry-Basil Ice Cream

Sage Ice Cream I love that blog post for describing and explaining my thoughts about making these unusual ice cream flavors, to a tee.

I think I'll stop writing now and go for a workout. I'm gonna need it.

-----------------

*I mean my waist. Or as my friend Stephanie said the other night, "I have a front yard full of roses and an ice cream maker. This could get ugly for my hips."

I've decided to (on occasion -- come on, we can't go overboard here!) follow the Pollan rule of "Go ahead and eat junk food or rich food, as long as you make it yourself."  Making my own ice cream takes a long day, or two days. Buying a pint takes all of five minutes. I figure if I make it myself, I'll eat less.  But after having tasted my homemade ice cream, (and seeing how easy it is with the "good" freezer) I can see how this rule may quickly spiral out of control. 

Comments

[noonie]

I've had rosemary and thyme, in separate sittings, ice cream... delicious in a surreal way...

You could also drizzle rose petal syrup on your yogurt... I'm sure you're ahead of me on that one.

[Geri]

Rose petal syrup,sorbet and ice cream sound wonderful. The others are such interesting combinations! Homemade ice cream had been a 4th of July tradition that was treasured by my girls growing up. DH and girls are ice cream fanatics!

[Carole]

Sounds delicious! I'm going to bug my sister-in-law about making some of these varieties.

[margene]

You are dangerous.

[Kym]

Oh, my. I can see how this might quickly spin out of control. . . because I'm ordering the Kitchen Aid attachment this morning. . . and harvesting the necessary ingredients tout de suite!

[Paula]

So do you prefer the Kitchenaid attachment or the stand alone maker? I'll be harvesting lavender soon, there are always wild rugosas blooming in the meadow and mint grows by the back door.

[Faerielady]

I really need to figure out where I can buy a good rugosa in OK. LOL

[Joansie]

You go girl! But I have to ask...lol...is this all part of South Beach that we were reading and talking about a few months ago.

[gayle]

If I wasn't lactose-intolerant, I'd be following you down this path...

[Vicki]

Yeah. I'm not a huge ice cream person (DH is), but some of those varieties nearly have me swooning over here... YUM!

[Jennifer]

You're lucky you didn't find the cuisinart ice cream maker. Start to finish time is 25 minutes with however long you want for the ice cream to set up in the freezer. (My mom has one... she doesn't use it enough... I want to borrow it- permanently).

[Laurie]

I'm going to have to buy stock in Lactaid so I can try some of these. Lavender-lemon...omg...

[Lucia]

You could call it a case of rose hips...

[marianne]

I'm with Margene here, you are dangerous, and delightfully so. Hmmmm. frozen yogurt using your homemade yogurt? Anyone? That's probably where I'd be headed.

[Becky in VT]

Since you clearly need more recipes (sorry) I thought I'd give you a link to my favorite: basil lime sorbet. Not that limes grow in VT...

[regina]

You are a bad and dangerous person. I try not to eat ice cream for health reasons, but I love it dearly. My son and I went to a place called "People's Pops" at the Chelsea Market which I think you would love: they make amazing frozen fruit pops, and all of their fruit is sourced from local farmers. Noah had strawberry rhubarb, and I had the apricot chamomile, both of which were beyond delicious. They also offered sour cherry & plum, raspberry basil, and I can't remember what else, but they flavors vary every day. Yum!

[Tina M.]

Oh.. oh. I have lemon and lime basil plants growing in my garden! No wonder you're in love.

[sue]

Oh, you had to show me that Kitchen Aid attachment!! Does it work well to make ice cream? One of those may be coming to live with me.

[Sunnyknitter]

This may turn into the summer of ice cream. To add to your list, just found a recipe for rosemary olive oil ice cream that sounds like it will either be fabulous or disgusting. Since I have enough rosemary to flavor food for an army, I'll tackle this one and let you know. (The sacrifices I make, I know!)

[Cookie]

I never knew that Kitchen Aid made an ice cream thingy. I'm sure if I should thank you or hunt you down. Skinny bitch.

xo

[Seanna Lea]

If you decide to return the KA attachment, I will happily buy it off of you. Then I can make 3 batches of ice cream in a day!

I make a ton of ice cream each summer and smaller amounts during the rest of the year, and it is super easy. I'm trying to make a good root beer ice cream right now, but my first attempt only worked when I didn't drink root beer at the same time. It was too different from what I was expecting.

[Elaine]

Thank you for doing all that research!!! Srsly. Have a huge lavender plant that is ready for a partial harvest, some lavender honey from a cousin's own beehives, and will get some unpasteurized heavy cream at the Farmer's Market this w/e. What a happy Fourth this is gonna be! Thanks!

[Tonia]

Thanks Kristen for the recipes and Norma for the tutorial! I'll have to try that Rose Petal Ice Cream when my William Shakespeare 2000 blooms again.

A month or so ago when the rose bush bloomed the first time, I made rose petal freezer jam. It didn't set quite right, so I used part of the batch to make a Persian-inspired version of a Kentucky jam cake, using cardamom instead of cinnamon/allspice/etc., rose petal jam instead of blackberry jam, and almonds instead of walnuts. It was a huge hit.

[Elizabeth]

I still have some violet syrup, after making the violet jam. These things do spiral out of control. I have no roses but I did just pick a good bouquet of lavender to dry....

[Carol]

Now I'M obsessed! I made a lot of ice cream last summer when the cost of 'premium' stuff was too much. I usually only made the basics but these recipes look soooooo good. BTW - did you see the recipe book from Ben & Jerry? That and The Perfect Scoop look like fab books to have.

[Stacy]

Great. Just Great. I lost weight this winter. Who the heck gains weight in the summer???? Guess that will be me. Off to make ice cream :)

[Joannah]

OMG!
My DSL service has been interupted for the past two days. I'm finally back on-line and what do I find? Unbelievable...Unbelievable!
I'm not a big fan of ice cream, however, that list of your's...Unbelievable!

[Nancy]

Slightly different topic, but it appears that Mark Frauenfelder (of "Boing-Boing blog" fame) is a kindred spirit of yours on the subject of home-made yogourt, right down to the financial analysis. See this link. http://www.creditbloggers.com/2010/06/how-i-save-6750-a-month-by-making-my-own-yogurt.html

[Melissa in El Cajon]

Darn you, Norma! I ordered an ice cream attchment. I hope you will come visit me if I end up having to get gastric bypass.

Melissa in El Cajon

[Tish]

So to take it one step further, will you be making any frozen yogurt using your homemade yogurt? One of my favorite snacks/desserts is Greek yogurt with a bit of raw sugar, a little toasted wheat germ and a good handful of frozen blueberries. I eat it while the berries are still a bit frozen and the yogurt is also semi-frozen in spots. I have to guard it from my 15yo son who sneaks bites. YUM! Thanks for reminding me. I have a Cuisinart dual ice cream maker and I need to make room to freeze the bowls so we can make ice cream for the 4th of July.

[Kristen]

Snicker, snicker. I'm always glad to foster burgeoning bad habits. ;)

If you are really nice to me, I might share my recipe for saffron rosewater ice cream with pistachios.

[paula]

Oh yes, could be dangerous now that Waring has sent me the missing manual for my ice cream maker...