{i am loved}

On Mother's Day,

Cade came to me saying he wanted to make me a special treat.

I love this kid, he knows the way to my heart

What did you have in mind, I quizzed him.

Well, he said, I think you would really like

some M&M Brownies for Mothers Day.

Oh, you think that would be Mommy's favorite?

Yep.

So what did we do?

Jumped in the car, drove to Wal-Mart, whizzed through picking up our supplies, and got busy baking.

The M&M brownies turned out
DELICOSO

{said in my best DORA voice}

but it was what we made WITH the brownies that really shined.

Thanks to a gift subscription from my Mom and Dad, I am a proud recipient of

Cook's Country Magazine.

In this month's edition there is a recipe for what they call

Magic Vanilla Ice Cream.

This recipe does not require an ice cream machine and I've been itching to try it since I received this month's copy!

We gathered up our ingredients:

and set to work.

You'll need:

1/2 C. Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 ounce white chocolate chips -OR-

1 ounce of a white chocolate bar, chopped fine

1 T. Vanilla Extract

1/4 C. Sour Cream

1 & 1/4 C. Cold Heavy Cream

Start out by placing your metal bowl and metal beater in the freezer. Allow them to get nice and frosty before you begin.

This helps your cream "whip" faster.

BASE:

To make the base, microwave your sweetened condensed milk and white chocolate in a large microwave safe bowl until chocolate melts, stirring halfway, about 30 seconds. Allow it to cool. Stir in vanilla, salt and sour cream.

WHIP CREAM:

Next, take your frosty bowl and beater out of the freezer, attach it to your mixer and on medium-high speed, whip heavy cream to soft peaks, about 2 minutes. Whisk one-third of whipped cream into white chocolate mixture. Fold remaining whipped cream into white chocolate mixture until incorporated.

FREEZE:

Place in airtight FREEZER SAFE container and freeze at least 6 hours before eating. You can store it for up to 2 weeks.

But trust me, it won't last that long once you taste the silky, creamy texture!

Heaven on a spoon, I tell you...HEAVEN :)

Notes:

- Choose your white chocolate wisely.

The magazine warns that not all white chocolate bars are created equal.

They recommend using a premium brand chocolate like Guittard or Ghirardelli. Since we could not find these brands in the white chocolate variety, we used a Lindt White Chocolate bar that I chopped finely before microwaving.

It worked out fabulously!

- If you plan on storing your ice cream for more than a few days, place plastic wrap directly on it's surface before you freeze it.

Variations:

I made 2 batches, one vanilla and one coffee mocha.

For the mocha variation, you need to follow the recipe as directed, and then I just:

- dissolved 1 {heaping} teaspoon instant coffee into 1 T. boiling water

- poured this into the microwaved sweetened condensed milk mixture.

- Stirred well

- Then I took a bottle of Hershey's syrup and made a few rounds in the whipped cream. Okay, well maybe a couple more than a FEW rounds, but who's counting...

- Incorporate the 2 mixtures as the original recipe suggests and then freeze.

All I will say is...

that the coffee mocha variation is my favorite,

and sinfully delicious.

My thighs quiver every time

I open up the freezer.

OH.MY.STARS

Why do I torture myself?

Oh right, it's Mother's Day and all calories consumed are

automatically cancelled out!!!

Thank goodness for

Mother's Day,

my sweet cooking assistants,

and tread mills.