katz blog

I recently found a recipe for ice cream that doesn’t require an ice-cream maker, uses only a few ingredients, and is incredibly tasty and smooth. My favorite way to customize this recipe is to add fresh buttered pecans. The end result is amazing and the whole process is really quick. Here’s what you’ll need:

4 cups pecan halves

1 tablespoon salt

1/4 cup butter (4 tablespoons)

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

First, combine the melted butter and salt, and add it to the pecans. Stir to fully coat the pecans.

Then pour the pecans out in a single layer on a cookie sheet with a silpat or cooking spray so they don’t stick. Bake them at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes until they start to brown.

After a few minutes of cooling, cut or break about 3/4 of them in half. In my opinion, this seems to be the perfect size for the ice cream. Take the remaining 1/4 of the pecans and store them in an airtight container. Add these to your cereal, oatmeal, yogurt, salads and just about anything else. I usually just eat them plain.

Now it’s time to make the ice cream. In a large bowl combine the 2 cups of heavy whipping cream, and 1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk. Also add 1 tsp of vanilla. Mix everything together with a small electric hand mixer, or stir briskly with a spatula.

You’ll want to mix for 5-7 minutes, until the mixture gets whipped up with air and has the consistency of…well…whipped cream. You’ll know you’ve whipped it enough when you can stand a straw up in the mixture, or when the spoon marks don’t disappear. Now add the pecans and stir everything up really well.

The pecans should be suspended in the ice cream, not floating on top or sinking down to the bottom. Stir until you feel the pecans have been evenly distributed. Now pour the mixture into a large container. Cover the container and put it in the freezer for at least 6 hours.

When it’s firm you won’t believe how smooth and creamy it is. This basic ice cream mix of whipped cream, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla makes an incredible base for other ice cream flavors. Try it with fruit, cinnamon, candies etc. Enjoy!

In honor of Jacob’s upcoming 18th birthday in November 2015, I wanted to remind him of his humble roots. I found these audio files I made in 2000 of him reading me some of his favorite stories mixed with pictures of the book; The Very Noisy Night and The Big Wide Mouthed Frog. Jacob taught himself to read when he was 2, and he would read anything he could get his hands on. We originally thought he was just memorizing the stories, but we tested that theory. We would hand him a book and he would open it to a random page and start reading. He would follow along with his finger and correct himself if he missed a word. He would correct us if we were reading to him and tried to skip a page. It was creepy and cool to watch, so I knew I had to record it, and put it here on the blog for posterity. Click below to listen to Jacob read his favorite stories in his adorable little 2 year old voice.