You guys!
A few exciting announcements for you today….
First of all, it’s National Ice Cream Day, which means it’s time to celebrate by stuffing as much ice cream into your face as possible. (Which admittedly is something that I tend to do every day…but at least on this particular day I have a somewhat legitimate excuse).
And secondly…
Happy Birthday, If the Spoon Fits!
(Well actually, happy belated birthday – I actually published my first post on July 14, 2013).
I still can’t believe it’s been a whole year already! Especially since, looking back, I had a really hard time getting started and wasn’t sure how long I’d stick with the blog thing…
I was so nervous to publish that first post! I reread it over and over, each time finding more and more reasons why I shouldn’t move forward. I felt embarrassed of the pictures that I took with my iPhone (surely the “real” photographers would spot my amateur methods in a minute!), and labored over every single detail of the site setup. I delayed my first post for weeks, even months…after all, a blog about ice cream seemed so self-indulgent and unimportant. What was the point?
Here we are, one year later, and not much has changed (other than my awesome new camera). I still worry about my posts being perfect, and what the “real” photographers will think about my pictures. But you know what? I worry a little less now, all thanks to you wonderful people!
In honor of the blog’s first birthday, I figured I’d go back to the flavor that started it all – mint chocolate chip.
If you read my first blog post, you know how much I love mint chocolate chip ice cream. This flavor holds so many warm memories for me, it only seemed appropriate that I commemorate this special occasion with a stellar homemade version of my all time favorite treat.
A huge, heartfelt thanks to all of my followers and everyone who has visited, liked, commented on, or read my posts. Thank you for making me feel like writing about ice cream is a completely normal thing to do! You all rock, and I’m looking forward to another year of blog-filled goodness!
I hope you enjoy this ice cream as much as I did – it’s hands down the best mint chip I’ve ever had, jam-packed with minty flavor and snappy chocolate chips.
Happy scooping 🙂
Best Ever Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Adapted from: Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones
Yield: A little less than 1 quart.
You will need:
For the ice cream
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk (2% works too if you’re in a pinch)
½ cup sugar
pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
2 tsp. organic peppermint extract (start with one then work your way up – I think I ended up using around 2.5 tsp because I love a ton of mint flavor)
1 or 2 drops of green food coloring (optional…I suppose. But green is more fun!)
For the chocolate chips:
¾ cup dark chocolate, chopped into pieces
2 tsp canola oil
Directions:
- Gently whisk egg yolks and half of the sugar (1/4 cup) together in a medium sized bowl; set aside.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm the cream, milk, remaining sugar (1/4 cup), and salt until it steams.
- Remove cream mixture from heat, and slowly incorporate it into the yolks, whisking constantly.
- Once all of the cream has been incorporated into the yolks, return to medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 15 to 20 minutes, until thickened (will coat the back of a spoon).
- Once the custard is finished, pour it through a strainer to catch any overcooked pieces of egg. Submerge mixture into an ice bath and stir until cool. Then place mixture in the fridge for 2 hours or overnight.
- Make the chocolate chips – please do this part if you have the time! It makes a huge difference in the finished product. Melt chocolate and oil in microwave (carefully) or via double boiler method. Once melted, spread onto a cookie sheet that has been covered in parchment paper (you want a thin, even layer). Refrigerate for half an hour, or until hardened. Once ready, remove the chocolate from the sheet and chop with a knife. Store in the refrigerator until ice cream is almost ready.
- Remove the ice cream base from the fridge, and stir in the peppermint extract. Be sure to taste as you go along – you don’t want to over (or under) flavor the base. Add green food coloring and stir, then freeze base according to manufacturer’s instructions. Add chocolate chips during the last minute.
- Enjoy!
if the spoon fits 
As usual your great photos and comments, always make me want to eat the latest taste treat!! What a great blogger, Lindsay.
Thank you so much, Mimi! As always, I really appreciate your support and love sharing my recipes with you!
Happy b day to if the spoon fits!
Thanks for the support DJ MM! Looking forward to swapping pics of our good eats!
Happy birthday! Speaking from experience, it’s a really triumphant feeling reaching one year of blogging & photographing! And your photos are wonderful – bravo!
Angelica 🙂
Thank you very much! Your kind words and support mean a lot to me, especially since I often look to your photos to learn about lighting and styling – they are simply beautiful! Thanks again for stopping by 🙂
Happy Birthday If the Spoon Fits! We are so lucky you took the plunge and invited us into your world of delicious writing, photos, and recipes. Here’s to many more scoops!
Thank you, TDA! Now only if you were here all the time to partake in those scoops, life would be perfect!
Okay.
First, Happy birthday to your amazing blog.
Second, Mint chocolate chip was also my FAVORITE ice cream flavor growing up, before I discovered that I also love old lady flavors like maple walnut and butter pecan, especially if they have bourbon in them.
Third, I seriously cannot believe you’ve only been doing this for a year. Your blog is so unbelievably beautifully photographed that I’ve always assumed you’d been at it for years. I can’t remember how long I’ve been following you, probably about six months or so, but it never occurred to me that you were new at this. You’re so good at food styling and i’ve been jealous of your drool-inducing photos on several occasions. Before you started, did you have any experience in food styling or photography?
Sorry to gush, but I think it’s really inspiring to know that there are people out there who have so much talent and don’t even realize until they apply themselves.
I started my blog at the end of October of last year, and when I look at how far I’ve come- photos, styling, writing, editing, recipe development, etc; it’s crazy to me. A year ago I would never have guessed I’d have grown so much and learned so fast in such a short time. Today it sounds like I’m not the only one who feels this way.
I too started my blog with an iPhone, and did everything in my power to talk myself out of it before finally posting on that first day.
When I look back at those first few posts, poorly written and horribly photographed, I’m filled with embarrassment and pride all at once.
I’ve also been thinking ahead to my blog’s first birthday, and decided that it would be fun to revisit the first recipe I ever posted. How funny that you did the same.
My first few posts, for the record, are waaaay more “amateur” than yours. I just checked back to see what your blog looked like in the beginning, and even with the iPhone, you had a much better eye than I did.
Sometimes it’s easy (for me at least) to look at the big professional monetized blogs and think that there’s no room for the little guys- but then I read a post like this and realize that anyone can make it if they keep moving forward.
Thank you for this post, and for your wonderful (and beautiful) blog.
Wow, what a wonderful way to kick of my Tuesday! I woke up to this post first thing this morning and was so moved by your praise and shared experience that I needed to think about how I wanted to respond.
Thank you so much for your kind words – I think you’ve just given me enough confidence for the entire next year of blogging! This means so much to me, especially since, as I mentioned, I am often insecure about my writing, my photography, my site (keep the list going!) Then, when it seems like I am finally feeling great about myself, I stumble upon one of those high-traffic professional looking blogs with the magazine-quality photos and I start to doubt everything I’ve just done!
When that happens, I try to keep in mind the reason why I do this blog stuff (and I sense that it is also the reason why you do this, too) – it’s for the pure joy and satisfaction of creating something from scratch and sharing that experience with my friends and family.
I can’t describe how happy it makes me to visit your blog, read your stories, and drool over your latest creation! It’s a privilege to have these little glimpses into a person’s true passions and hidden talents, and even more so, to be able to share in the successes and stumbles that may happen along the way. And you know what? I’ll take that over the professional paid blogs any day 🙂
Thanks again so much for taking the time to comment. And to answer your question about whether or not I had prior experience – no, i did not. (But i have plenty of food-eating experience, and I’d like to think that counts for something!) Sometimes I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing, but I’m learning so much every day and that’s part of the fun! Have a week and keep the awesome posts coming! And please keep reading mine haha