Tuesday, March 1, 2022

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 
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 ChildsThe 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.



9 comments:

  1. Ice cream making in Mexico - sublime! I'm so glad you're enjoying the fruits of your investment there and being able to share it with your friends and family! Happy March!

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  2. Wow - what a fun activity to do with your friends - and in such a beautiful place, too!! I love that the husbands joined in, too. The aprons make it even more fun for your friends! You are certainly creating grand memories in your Cabo home.

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  3. Oh Jackie, how fun to travel and enjoy cooking classes with husbands and friends! I love those aprons, just adds a little something special. Such a cute group pic, I'm sure your missing couple wish they could have been there. I have to look at the ice cream maker, I have one but this one sounds much better. I love making ice cream during our hot summers. Wish you a very Happy March....

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  4. The ice cream maker sounds amazing, and wow how impressed am I with you making your own peanut butter cups! I'm so glad you've been able to go to Cabo to your beautiful home during the pandemic, and how much fun to take your friends, I know they all had a ball! The aprons are too cute! Now I'm craving ice cream :)
    Jenna

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  5. I love how you have this cooking class with husbands. Such a fun adventure. The ice cream maker sounds perfect. The aprons are darling. How special your friends could join you. You always have so much fun with Miss Madi K. Homemade Peanut Butter cup ice cream sounds and looks delicious. I shall look into that. Love the smiles.

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  6. Jackie, how fun that the couples are doing these cooking classes together. You and Kirk are the ultimate hosts. I know your friends feel special to be guest in your gorgeous home in Mexico.
    My chef used to make the ice cream, but hasn't in recent years. I'll have to share this post with him.
    Thanks for sharing this fun! I'm thrilled you are part of the TT Group. You always brighten my days.

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  7. What a great idea you had for all your friends! I would have gained a good ten pounds. Thank you so much for the recipes. As soon as I can reorganize some storage opportunities, I'll order the ice cream maker. Wait! I know the space; I'm going to give someone my existing ice cream maker. I was late to the party today; there was an issue with my external hard drive that holds all my pictures. All is resolved, and I am up and posting. Hope that you'll drop by for a visit. CherryKay

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  8. As soon as I opened your post, I knew we were on the same wave length! On Sunday, I placed my order for gelato with the cremeria in our area, and am picking it up tomorrow. Ice cream making in Mexico sounds wonderful! Happy March! We love having you in the TT Group.

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  9. Thank-you for the ice cream recipes! I need to check out all the products you mentioned because it sounds like you had super results!

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