Ice Cream and Frozen Treat Recipes & Ideas

Gelato is that dense, super-rich, intensely-flavored Italian version of ice cream. There’s really nothing else quite like it. Thankfully, we don’t have to travel all the way to Italy every time we crave a scoop. Mario Batali was on the Splendid Table the other week and shared a few tips on how we can make excellent gelato at home.It’s a good thing that Splendid Table hostess Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Mario Batali eventually got around to talking about homemade gelato.

As a kid, my summertime food fantasy was to have a chest freezer brimming with Hot Pockets, Swan’s frozen food treats, and ice cream cones. Our actual summer fridge was more like a few bags of Otter Pops and some frozen chicken breasts, so I spent a lot of time trying to get invited over to friends’ houses whose parents did get Swan’s deliveries (and had a pool!) Now as a parent myself, I realize what a valuable tool my freezer will be this summer.

Remember this rule as we head into grilling season.

Have you ever had a batch of ice cream that stays soft and slushy no matter how long you leave it in the freezer? Or the other extreme, an ice cream that freezes so hard that you can hardly dig your spoon in for a taste? Sugar just might be the culprit behind both situations!As ice cream freezes, ice crystals separate from the liquid cream base. These crystals would normally join together into a solid mass (like a cream ice cube), but sugar molecules dissolved in the cream get in the way.

Although our main focus is usually on food for human consumption, with the weather oh-so-toasty lately, our four-legged friends are also in need of a little refreshment. Snacks for pets are always less expensive to make yourself and we’ve rounded up 10 ideas to keep them cool and your wallet full all at the same time! Without getting into the world of what’s actually healthy for dogs to eat, we’d like to give you a few options of great frozen snacks for dogs and cats alike.