Rocky Road Ice Cream

Meet the newest addition to our front porch.  It might not look like much, and to those of you with backyards, and actual patio furniture sets, you are probably smirking at how small this front porch area actually is, but I am over the top excited about it.

Once the weather turned for the better here in Chicago, I immediately got the "sitting outside" bug.  We moved in August last year, so didn't get a ton of time to enjoy the outdoor space here at the new apartment.  So earlier in the week, I started looking online at reasonable tables and chairs for the front porch.  And once I get excited about something, I can't seem to get it off my mind and I also tend to talk about it with other people.  And lo and behold, talk about it with a few friends, and a couple of hours later on a Friday afternoon, we had patio furniture.  Apparently, Lindsay and Alex had furniture they were no longer using and were willing to sell it to me for a good price.  Bam.  Got it.

I picked up Andy from work on Friday, as we were going to get the grocery shopping done.....

Andy: What are you so excited about?
Me: I have a surprise for you when you get home.
Andy: What is it?
Me: I'm not telling.
Andy: Did you get patio furniture.
Me: YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

One of my favorite things to do when the weather is beautiful and sunny, is to sit outside in the sun.  I don't need to be at the beach, or in a lounge chair next to the pool, but put me in a chair, and face me towards the sun, and I am a happy camper.   What is front porch sitting good for?  I'm so glad you asked.

1.  Drinking coffee.  Drinking coffee is perfect at any time of day, let's be honest, but you can't beat sipping an iced drink while sitting outside in the sun.

2.  Watching the world go by.  We live on a cul-de-sac, so we don't get a lot of through traffic, whether it be on foot or in cars.  People heading this way usually live on the block.  However, there are quite a few cars that ignore the "No Outlet" signs on either side of the street entering our block, which forces them to realize half way down the street that there is a dead end, and they must turn around.  I'm going to start keeping track of how many people I see do this on a daily basis for entertainment.  Wow....I just said that out loud.  That makes me sound 80.

3.  Blogging.  I seem to blog better when I'm sitting outside.  I don't know the reasoning behind it, but if I can get myself outside, I seem to blog more often.

4.  Getting sun.  I know being in the sun all the time isn't the best thing for us, but a little Vitamin D each day never hurt anyone.  I think the sun puts me in a better mood, and because of that, I'm willing to get a few rays of sun each day.

5.  There is the perfect amount of shade and sun.

Andy and I were coming back from coffee yesterday....

Me:  Do you want to sit on the porch and drink our coffee?
Andy: Sure...which side do you want?
Me: The one that gets the most sun.
Andy:  Take the far one then.  We have a good setup here.  I can have my chair in the shade and you can have yours in the sun.

So there you have it.  As I type this from the front porch, I am excited about the time I'll be spending outside with my new chairs.

You know what's perfect to have on a sunny afternoon while sitting outside?  Rocky road ice cream.  Andy loves chocolate ice cream, and also adores anything marshmallow related, so this recipe was for him.  And you just can't seem to go wrong with anything Dave Lebovitz and ice cream related.  

Rocky Road Ice Cream

adapted from David Lebovitz "The Perfect Scoop"

print this recipe

2 cups heavy cream

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

5 ounces semisweet chocolate

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

5 egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup mini marshmallows

1 cup walnuts

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Warm 1 cup of the cream with the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer at a very low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth. Then stir in the remaining 1 cup cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible, and set a mesh strainer on top of the bowl.

Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in the same saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula (and reaches 170 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer). Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the chocolate mixture until smooth, then stir in the vanilla. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. (If the cold mixture is too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it vigorously to thin it out.) Once the ice cream has finished churning, fold in the marshmallows, walnuts and chocolate chips.