Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

It's approaching the end of May and I have still not purchased ice cream since last year. I'm quite proud of myself! Here's a recipe for Cookies and Cream Ice Cream. 

After making the Chocolate Ice Cream and cutting out 1/2 cup of the milk, I realized I liked the creamier texture compared with the Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. I also reduced the amount of sugar and vanilla since the cookies will add some extra sweetness.  I did think that the Chocolate Ice Cream was my favorite but this one tops it!

COOKIES AND CREAM ICE CREAM 
Makes: 2 quarts
Prep and Cook Time: 3 hours

Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

Ingredients: 
1 1/2 cups milk 
2 cups heavy cream 
3/4 cup granulated sugar 
1/2 tsp vanilla extract 
1/2 tsp salt 
2 cups crushed Oreos (about 20 cookies) 

Instructions: 
1. Crush oreos. You can use a plastic bag with a rolling pin or a bowl with a potato masher. Both work 
2. Mix the milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla together. 
3. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. 
4. After about 15-20 minutes of freezing, add the cookie pieces and continue to freeze for another 10 minutes.
5. Freeze for at least 2 hours and store your remaining ice cream in an air-tight plastic container in the back of the freezer. This will help preserve the flavor and texture of the finished ice cream. 


Enjoy!

Power-washing the House

Tony had to work this weekend so I took this opportunity to work on the house.  The thing that I wanted to tackle was the one outside wall of our house.  I don't think it had been cleaned in YEARS.  Once again, my dad came to the rescue and he let me borrow his power-washer.  It made a huge improvement.

Before

1/2 way done

Close up of how bad it was

Much cleaner!

I need to figure out how to clean the brick on the front of the house.  The water alone wasn't enough.  Dish soap?  Bleach?  Any ideas??

Next step

Traveling Abroad: Hair Styling Tools

My husband mentioned that my blog is mainly Handy Homeowner and is missing the Heels.  He thought I should talk more about my job (which I really can't) or things related to it since that's when I wear my heels (most of the time).  This got me thinking about what have I learned that would be helpful to share.

When I first started travelling for work, I had to figure out how I was going to travel with my straightener and curling iron.  There were a couple of hurdles to jump over to get them to work.  

The plug
There are different plugs throughout the world.  The standard plug that we are use to using in the US can't just be plugged into outlets in other parts of the world.  In Japan, the plugs are type A.  If you have a three prong plug or simply a polarized plug, you can't plug it in to an outlet in Japan.  Here's a chart that shows the different types of plugs.



The frequency
Here in the US, our outlets are 110/120 Volts at 60 Hz.  This is not the same throughout the world.  In Asia, they use 220 Volts at 50 Hz.  If you connect something designed for 110/120V 60Hz into a 220V 50 Hz outlet, the current traveling through the item will be higher than it is in the US.  This will cause the insulation around the electrical wiring to deteriorate faster and possibly burn-out.

Here's a good website the sums up the type of plugs and the frequencies used in the different countries around the world.

So, how do you overcome these hurdles?  There are two options.

Solution 1
Purchase a plug adapter and transformer all in one.  This will take the higher voltage and step it down to be used with 110/120V 60Hz electronics.  


Here are a few that can be found on Amazon:
Conair
Walkabout Travel Gear
Enovize

The problem with the all in ones is that you need one for each electronic item that you want to use simultaneously.  They are also rather bulky so you have to plan accordingly when packing.

Solution 2
Purchase a plug adapter and use dual voltage electronics.  Dual voltage electronics are fairly common.  Here's a list of some of the dual voltage products that you may have in your home:

• laptop/kindle charger
• cell phone charger
• straightener
• curling iron

When using just a plug adapter, you must make sure you only use dual voltage items or there is a strong chance you will cause it to burn-out.

I chose this solution and purchased two Sima SIP-3 Ultimate International Travel Adapter Plug Set.  They are rather light and pretty compact.  I have noticed that my dual voltage items do run slightly warmer to the touch compared to when they are plugged in in the US.

Here's what my polarized plug straightener looks like plugged into the Sima adapter.

How do you know if you have a dual voltage product?

Easy.  It's printed right on the product.  Here are photos showing where to look and what to look for.

Hair Dryer & Curling Iron - Both have the label on the back of the handle.  The hair dryer is not dual voltage.  Fortunately, most hotels have hair dryers.  The curling iron is dual voltage.

Hair Straighteners - I have three different ones.  Only two of them are dual voltage.  The Hot Tools straightener (upper right) is not dual voltage.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get a shot of the label based on where it is located.  The other two are dual and can both be used internationally.

Other Chargers - Below are images of my laptop, kindle, and two cell phone chargers.  They are all dual voltage.

Happy Travels!!

The Pit - Clean-up

The people who owned the house before us had a swing set that sat in a mulch pit with a mini sandbox. We don't have a swing-set or kids. There's no immediate plan for needing a mulch pit. Last year, we wanted to rip it up but we didn't know what to do with the stuff. Tony and I both grew up with woods behind our homes. This was great for dumping leaves, grass, etc. Here, we don't have that luxury. So over the past year, we just left it. 

The Pit

When Tony and his dad re-did the pool deck, the old plywood went to the pit. When I trimmed the maple trees in front of our house, the branches went to the pit. When my dad and I made the new door to the garage, the old one when to the pit. This spring, I raked leaves while Tony trimmed the bushes in the back of the house. All of the leaves and bush trimmings, went to the pit. Now we had this huge pile of stuff that we needed to get rid of. 

The Full Pit

I called our garbage people and we could get a roll-off for a minimum of $112. This would be best case scenario if we did it all in one day and had 1/2 ton of debris. Anything more and the price would climb. I thought we could do better than that so I went to craigslist. I posted the ad and one day later plus $60, the big stuff was gone. Two guys came, in the pouring rain, and took the big stuff away. One guy finally came back this past weekend and took away the remaining stuff. 

Cleared Pit

We need to finish stirring up the soil and plant some new grass.  Hopefully in a month or so, the pit will be a distant memory.

Product Review - Scrub Daddy

So last summer, I got a Scrub Daddy for my Bridal Shower. I thought "Oh, how cute. A smiley face sponge." It is way more than a smiley face sponge. It is my new new best friend when it comes to washing dishes. It beats out my gloves and pan scraper.

Where can I find a Scrub Daddy?
Bed, Bath, and Beyond is where I got my new one for $3.99 + tax.  You can also get them on Amazon.

Is it worth the price?
Absolutely!  My first one lasted about 8 months.  Whens the last time your sponge lasted that long?  I will say that at the end of the 8 months, it was time to switch it out.  Below is a photo comparing the old with the new.  I probably should have changed it out sooner.

Does it really not scratch pans and dishware?
Yes.  I used mine for everything including my non-stick Calphalon pans to my wine glasses and hand-wash only fine china.  It has not damaged anything but get's everything off.

Does it really stay hard in cold water and hot in soft water?
Surprisingly yes!  I've been cleaning dishes and I get to something that needs a little extra scrubbing power so I actually go from hot to cold water and it firms up.  I scrub a bit with cold water to get everything off then use hot water to sanitize.

Have you tried the other uses recommended on the Scrub Daddy website?
I have not.  Based on what I've seen with just my dish cleaning, I wouldn't doubt that it works as well as they say.

Do you have a Scrub Daddy?  Do you love it as much as I do?


*I am not endorsed for this review.  I just think everyone should try the Scrub Daddy!

Bucket List Update: Tennessee Complete!

So I didn't post anything last week because Tony and I took a vacation with his parents.  We got to spend an amazing week in the Great Smokey Mountains!  Tennessee is now checked off my list!

We hiked, including part of the Appalachian Trail, shopped, ate, rode horses, and went to Dollywood.  The views were amazing and the weather was perfect.  We had a perfect day at Dollywood.  The weather was great and it was empty!  They also have the best wooden roller-coaster that I have ever been on.  It was an amazing trip and I got to spend some much needed quality time (20 hours in the car and all week) with my hubby.

Here are some of our photos from the week.

Laurel Falls

Clingman's Dome

 A great week and we'd definitely go back!

Pin·cesses

We've all heard about pinstrosities (http://pinstrosity.blogspot.com/). A pin·stros·i·ty is 1. a pin of great and often frightening size, force, or complexity or 2. A real life result of a pin. 
What happens if a pin is a success? I call this a pin·cess. 

Here are the original pins along with their successful completions. 

Charger Clip  
In the original pin, they used a binder clip.  I used a clear Command clip so it is less noticeable.

Dish Soap Dispenser 
I love how this one turned out.

Styling Tool Holder 
A metal file folder plus a few command clips keep my hair tools contained.  Tony greatly appreciates this pin·cesses.

Ticket Shadow Box 
Mine is not as elaborate as the original pin but I still love it and it looks great on a shelf in our living room.  It has tickets from all of our Penn State games along with old movie tickets and even my ticket to Taipei 101.

Here are some pins that I have tried and they really work! I don't have my own pictures of their pin·cesses. 

Homemade Goo Gone

Lint and a toilet paper roll as a fire starter 

Sheets in a linen closet 
Folding all sheets and placing them inside one of the pillow cases keeps everything nice and tidy in the linen closet.

Wood spoon to stop water from boiling over 

What pins have you tried that work??