Post Cards From My Cell Phone

Greetings from Washington D.C.
The Lincoln Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial is perhaps one of the greatest monuments that you can visit in Washington D.C. Built after the ancient Greek temples, the memorial commands respect and reverence as you approach and enter the building. Abraham Lincoln sits in the middle of the center chamber and the sitting figure towers above you at 19 feet so if he were standing he would reach a height of 28 feet. The statue is so lifelike that even though it is chiseled out of stone it is as if the figure itself could stand up and walk out if it so desired. Opened 24 hours a day, this is one monument that shouldn't be missed.

Chef's Corner

Editor's Note: Another new feature we will be adding in addition to Ice Cream will be a column featuring healthy stuff where we will share new and exciting main dish ideas with you. Of course healthy is in the stomach of the beholder!

Crab Louis Pasta Salad

This week we are taking a look at a new invention of an old favorite: Crab Louis. This recipe was a surprise mostly because of the dressing, which by the way could be used on more than just a crab louis salad. But this dressing dresses out a crab louis perfectly. When you see the ingredients for the first time you will probably think what I did: this makes a good dressing? But it does. Just give it a try for yourself and see.

Crab Louis Pasta Salad
Pick a pasta and prepare as usual
1/2 lb crab meat or artificial crab
15-25 cooked and tailed shrimp (adjust to taste)
Cherry tomatoes halved
Green onion chopped
Sliced olives
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl

Dressing:
2/3 cups mayonnaise
1/3 cup hot chile sauce
2 Tablespoons sweet relish
Mix ingredients together to make a dressing. Add to pasta mix, mix well, serve, enjoy.

Ice Cream Flavor of the Month

ICE CREAM FLAVOR OF THE MONTH

One of the most popular features of the blog back when I was good at keeping the blog up was the Ice Cream Flavor of the month where I experimented and presented to you a new ice cream flavor that you could make yourself every month. Well, in my attempts to revitalize my blog, and just from the fact that I love ice cream, and especially the ice cream I make (There is none finer. Don't believe me, come by and we'll have an ice cream making party!), and of course it's summertime; I decided to dig out my ice cream maker and give it a whirl.

So far I have based all my innovations on one base ice cream flavor: Sweet Cream. It is a knock off of Cold Stone Creamery's Sweet Cream ice cream, but it is my own perfected recipe. This is probably the best ice cream you could ever taste. But for those of you who want more variety in life, or more excitement, or more anything. For all of my recipes I use a Cuisinart Ice Cream maker. This is the type where you put the container in the freezer for at least 24 hours before you make the ice cream.

SWEET CREAM ICE CREAM

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 cups heavy cream
Mix together until sugar is completely dissolved. Pour into ice cream maker and churn for 30 minutes. For best results, use the best ingredients available. When ice cream is done, pour into a freezer container and cure for 8 to 24 hours depending on personal preference as to how hard you want your ice cream.

This month's flavor is Banana Cream Pie Ice Cream. I came about it when I discovered we had some bananas starting to rot in the kitchen and was trying to figure out what to do with them. They were too ripe to eat, it was too hot to bake banana bread, so what's left? Ice Cream!!!!

BANANA CREAM PIE ICE CREAM
Smoosh together 2 medium sized very ripe bananas until it forms a very thick paste, much like you would prepare bananas for banana bread.
add to Sweet Cream recipe.
Churn for 30 minutes. During the last 5 minutes of churning, crumple 1/2 graham cracker pie crust into ice cream.

Results:

This turned out to be one of the best ice cream experiments yet! It had just the right amount of banana flavor, it set up just right so it was crumbly and flaky right out of the freezer. Mmmm this is what I call dinner, and lunch, and breakfast!

Mr. Bob Goes To Washington

This week starts my Washington D.C. series of post cards. Come join me as I travel through Washington D.C. and the adjoining areas and share my trip with me.

We drove there over four days...and lived to tell about it. Surprisingly we didn't get too much on each other's nerves and didn't kill each other. After four days of travel we immediately set out to see Washington D.C. since neither one of us had really been there before. Well, I actually was there 35 years ago but it was like I was never there before. So come along with me and enjoy the post cards!

Post Cards From My Cell Phone

Welcome From Washington D.C.! The Washington Monument

The Washington monument is a monumental structure in the heart of the National Mall in Washington D.C. It stands 555 feet, 5 1/8 inches tall (Who measures that precisely?) and was the tallest structure in the world until the Eiffel Tower was completed in Paris. It took 30 years to build not because of its size, but because of budget and funding problems and then there was the little matter of the American Civil War. It officially opened to the public in 1888. To this day it remains the tallest stone obelisk structure in the world. We didn't get to go in. If you want to go in you have to get there at about 6am and stand in line to get tickets for later that day. No-one wanted to get up that early to stand in line to go up to the top to fight with hundreds of others to look out of the tiny windows. It was a beautiful day and we did lots of walking until our legs gave out. Be sure to stay tuned for more post cards from Washington DC.Everyone just has to get in the act. Wait a minute...This person looks familiar. It's my wife, Carmen! She obviously doesn't appreciate my art.As you can clearly see, I am still having trouble taking pictures with an i-phone. It is not the easiest thing to do. I am looking forward to the next generation when they will have two camera!