Tales of the Traveling Tote Cabo Cooking Class and a Giveaway

Welcome to our latest Tales of the Traveling Tote 

where a group of Mackenzie-Childs lovers take you 

along on our fantastic travels with our marvelous 

bags.  Before you begin reading, I just have 

to thank Patti for starting this amazing group 

of women and for Linda and Sarah for inviting 

me to be a part.  I have enjoyed this blogging 

group so much!!!  You have made my life 

richer by this experience of being part of 

a MacKenzie-Childs travel group. 

Today Miss Madi K and I want to bring you along to 

our second cooking class with our Lunch Bunch 

group.  We brought our aprons all of the way to 

Cabo for this class.  We were only missing one 

couple, who are off living in Puerto Rico for a 

few months. 

Miss Madi K graciously brought ten of our 

COOK2GETHER aprons which Diana and I 

had made.  What is really fun, is that we aren't 

just cooking together as girlfriends, but we are 

cooking together with our husbands too.  

I decided to have a class on making ice cream.  

My sister Jean had purchased a Whynter Ice Cream Maker 

that uses a compressor.  These run right around $300 

so they are on the pricey side compared to other 

ice cream makers, but for months before Christmas 

of 2020 she kept sending me photos of the ice 

cream she was making and raving about how 

amazing it was.  I decided to purchase one 

and try it out and ended up getting one for each 

of my five kids for Christmas that year.  They all 

said that was the best Christmas present they had 

ever gotten (now that may have been an exaggeration, 

because one of our Christmas presents to them was 

the trip to Europe where we went to Paris, London 

and Rome), but I was so thrilled they all loved it. 

I chose to teach them a Peanut Butter Cup recipe 

and a Nutella Recipe, using the basic 

Ben and Jerry's recipe for the base.  

The Whynter compressor ice cream maker 

requires no preparation and you can make 

batch after batch of perfect ice cream.  

The quality of ingredients makes all of the difference.  

I have purchased heavy cream from the grocery 

store that has been more like milk consistency, and 

that will affect your ice cream.  We have found that 

Costco's Heavy Cream makes the most luxurious 

ice cream, so I highly recommend that.  

Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Base Recipe

2 large eggs, or equivalent of egg substitute

1 C. white sugar

1 C. milk

2 C. heavy cream

Place the sugar into a medium size bowl and 

crack the two eggs into the bowl.  Using a whisk, 

whisk the two together until light yellow - this 

only takes a little time.  Now whisk in the milk and cream 

and pour into your ice cream freezer bowl.  Place 

the beater into the bowl and place the top on 

and press the power button and then the start 

button.  It is that easy.  It generally takes around 

40 minutes to freeze the batch, and it freezes to 

about a soft serve consistency.  

You can eat it now, but 

I like my homemade ice cream more like a 

commercial ice cream consistency so I place it 

in these fabulous freezer containers  shown in 

the picture of Kirk ad I cleaning off the beater.  

My sister Jean told me about these too.  You will 

want these placed in the freezer about the time 

you begin freezing the batch of ice cream.  I let 

mine ripen about 4-6 hours or overnight, so if I 

make the batch in the morning it is ready to 

serve that evening.  

Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream

Follow the Ben and Jerry's base and whisk 

or blend in the blender 1/2 C. creamy peanut 

butter before you add the milk and cream.  We 

found that Cream Skippy Natural made the best 

flavored peanut butter base.  Don't use crunchy 

peanut butter as the peanuts will catch in the beater 

and prevent it from turning.  

While the ice cream is freezing, chop your peanut 

butter cups - the thin ones are amazing.  I usually 

add about a cup of mix ins for this size of batch.  

When they are chopped, place them in the freezer 

too so that you aren't adding warm mix-ins to 

your ice cream.  

When the ice cream is frozen, place half of the 

chopped peanut butter cups into your pre-cooled 

container (you can use any pan or container you 

want but maker sure it has been in the freezer 

first too.  I just love these because they are insulated 

and really keep the batch nice over time without 

causing crystals on top.  

Working quickly, place half of the ice cream 

in the container, swirl the mix ins into the 

ice cream, then top with the remaining mix-ins 

and then the remaining ice cream and swirl again.

This way the ice cream has the mix-ins evenly 

placed throughout the batch.  

Return to the freezer and let it ripen.  

Variations

You can follow the same recipe for the above 

but use smooth Cookie Butter or Nutella.  

When I make the Nutella I add 1/8 C. Cocoa 

Powder and if you have followed me for a 

while you know I only use Extra Brute Cocoa 

Powder, it will change your chocolate recipes 

forever! 

We plowed through a batch of Peanut Butter Cup and 

a batch of Cookie Butter, so everyone requested ice cream 

again.  I had brought a package of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups - 

the thin variety with me, and we went to three stores in Cabo 

to find more - not a popular candy down there, so I got 

online and made some homemade Peanut Butter cup, 

spreading it thin on a cookie sheet lined with parchment and 

froze it.  When frozen I cut it.  I have to say, it was superior 

in flavor and texture to the commercial peanut butter cups. 

The second day we made a batch of Nutella and I had 

brought some Extra Brute Cocoa down with me. 

Besides insisting we make more the next day, 

the biggest compliment on the class was that 

one of the men in the class ordered the 

Whynter Ice Cream Maker, the freezer containers

and the Extra Brute Cocoa Powder off of 

Amazon that day and had them waiting at 

home.  They made their first batch that next 

Sunday for their family dinner.  

That Miss Madi K is so lucky that Mexico has 

been so welcoming through all of Covid and 

she has been there a lot.  We feel blessed too!

Now for the fun part - the MC Giveaway 

this month is being held by Emily. What a 

perfect gift - this adorable luggage tag 

will just make you want to travel!  Please 

visit her and comment to have a chance to win.  

Follow all of our amazing adventurers to 

see where they have taken their totes this 

quarter.

Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths 

Emily with Miss Courtney Childs@ The French Hutch

Jenna with Miss Coquille @The Painted Apron

Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda

Patti with Miss Kenzie @ Pandora's Box  

Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply 

Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul

Ricki Jill and Countess De Monet @ The Sketchy Reader

Cherry Kay and Carrie Ann Hall @ Entertaining Women 

And stop by again for another giveaway on June 1st.

Thanks for always stopping by.

Cabo Birthday Table

Happy birthday to me!  

Since I turned 40 we have always gone 

someplace warm for my cold and dreary 

January birthday.  

Now that we have our home finished 

in Cabo, and since Mexico is so 

welcoming to tourists, we have been 

coming here for my birthday.  

This is my first tablescape that I 

have created at our Cabo home.  

This is out on our deck overlooking 

the ocean.  

If you follow me on IG you 

may have seen the surprise my 

husband gave me with a tub 

full of gorgeous roses.  

He was actually the one who suggested 

that I use the roses for a tablescape 

before they wilted. 

I asked him when he got the roses 

and prepared the tub filled with 

roses.  He had also gifted me a two 

hour massage at the house, so he 

slipped away to get the roses and 

filled the tub and the room with candles 

while I was having my massage.

What a guy!!! 

We tore down our old house and rebuilt on 

the same lot.  We had used the house for 12 

years and had originally planned on 

doing this within 3 years, but when the 

economy crashed in 2008, we put off 

the tear down and were glad we did.  

Friends drove a 15 passenger van down 

for us as the house was getting 

finished and we filled it to the 

roof.  That way I was able to bring 

down 6 sets of plates, glasses and 

flatware.  These plates were from 

Home Goods.  

I love the flatware, but I have to say 

that the white hasn't held up.  It has 

chipped off and now is actually peeling 

off and we have only had a year and a 

half of use.  

These gold glasses were purchased online. 

I placed the roses in gold 

plastic bins that I got from 

Home Goods.  They adorn my 

pantry shelves.  

The gold placemats were from Amazon. 

The built in granite table has 

soft blues and golds in it so it 

is beautiful near the ocean. 

And as a special treat for you, 

while I was taking my photos 

a cruise ship passed by.  

The marina has been filled with 

3 cruise ships at a time on most days.  

This time of year is whale season, 

so along with the cruise ships, 

we get a good show of whales 

with adults teaching young whales 

how to jump and to slap their fins. 

Thanks for stopping by to visit. 

I will be posting with 

Tablescapes Thursday

Love Your Creativity

MacKenzie-Childs Santa's Sleigh Table

Before everything gets put away 

I have to post my exquisite MC 

Santa's Sleigh table.  

This beautiful piece was the center 

of my kitchen table all through 

the holidays and it was where we 

ate Christmas morning breakfast.

I chose a hot pink petalled tablecloth 

to go with some of the ornaments in 

Santa's Sleigh and chose a stack of plates 

starting with a clear beaded plate, a 

scalloped MC plate and topped it with 

a delicate Christmas Tree plate. 

It was magical in my magical kitchen. 

This is the first time we used the MC goblets 

that I got at last year's Barn Sale.  

The sleigh is filled with vintage style ornaments 

and was a splurge from Mrs. Claus last year. 

I love the little deer tucked in and 

the beautiful ribbons.  

Everything is unbreakable, so although they 

look like glass ornaments, they are plastic. 

I know the sleigh will be coming 

out every year to grace our home.  

We always leave everything up until after 

my birthday in January.  

It is always sad to put everything away.  

The house always feels so naked, but 

soon I can decorate for Valentine's Day. 

Thanks for stopping by 

Purple Chocolat Home. 

I will be posting this with 

Tablescapes Thursday

Love Your Creativity