Midnight Cookies and Cream with Cookie Waffles

Doesn't Midnight Cookies and Cream

Ice Cream from Haagen-Dazs just sound

like it should be the perfect ice cream

for this time of year?  

A Chocolate Cookie Waffle is

the perfect base for the rich

ice cream.  Then I topped it off 

with some homemade 

Chocolate Hard Shell,

some black Wilton Sprinkles

(aren't they just fabulous?)

and a cute molded candy

Witch Hat.

Anyone would love this for

their Halloween Dinner.

After we finished making these and 

my four grandkids dived in

the eight year old boy said,

"This ice cream is incredible!!"

Now I thought that had to be the 

perfect compliment.  As a matter of

fact, they were gobbling the ice

cream and ignoring the waffles!

I have to agree. This ice cream is 

so smooth and silky with chunks

of soft chocolate cookie!  Definitely

a new favorite chocolate ice cream.

There aren't

many good commercial chocolate

ice creams out there (speaking 

from a chocolate lover's perspective)

and this one is pure silk on the

tongue.  

Chocolate Cookie Waffle Recipe

(This is a quick and easy version.)

1 Betty Crocker Triple Chocolate Cake Mix

1/2 C. butter, melted

1 egg

Place all three in a bowl and stir

until blended.

Heat waffle maker.  Roll about

1/4 C. dough into a ball and flatten 

out slightly.  Bake in the waffle maker.  

These are going to be super soft so
I like to turn the waffle maker to

the side and let it flip out rather

than crumble trying to lift out.  Do

not overbake.  You want these soft

not crispy.  

Serve immediately as the outside

does crisp up quickly.

Makes 6-8 waffles.

(I usually make these with a homemade

brownie recipe but for a quick and easy

one, I was pleased with these.)

Chocolate Hard Shell Recipe

1 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips

(I used Hersheys)

3 T. coconut oil 

Place the chocolate chips and

coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl.

Heat on high for one minute.  Stir and

heat an additional ten to fifteen seconds

or until the chocolate is almost melted.

Stir until smooth.

Candy Witch Hats

1 C. Wilton Candy Melts, Black

Black gel food coloring

Coconut oil

Silver Lustre

Witch hat candy mold

(off Amazon)

So here is my little disclaimer first:  I melted

the Black Wilton Candy Melts and they were

more gray than black so I stirred in just the

tip of the knife blade of black gel food coloring

and stirred it in and it congealed.  You need the

melts thin enough to spoon into the molds.  I thought

I might have done something wrong, so I did it again,

this time adding the food coloring before melting

the candy in the microwave so it would be the same

temperature.  I ended up 

with the same results, so I had to add about 2-3 teaspoons

of liquid coconut oil to make it pourable.

If yours appear more black than gray after

melting, skip the food coloring which seemed

to cause the candy to congeal.  Otherwise,

add enough coconut oil to make it spoonable.

Place a spoonful into each of the molds.  Tap gently

to remove air bubbles or use a toothpick to pop any

air bubbles.  Place in freezer for about 15 minutes

or until hard enough to pop out of the molds.

I painted the buckle and band on with 

Silver luster made liquid with clear vanilla.

Makes 12-18 candy witch hats.

Beaulah was a little 

GREEN WITH ENVY

when all she found was an

empty carton in the trash.

Sorry, the grandkids were hogs!

Thanks to the folks at 

Haagen-Dazs for inviting me

to try out three fabulous new flavors

of their ice cream and gelato,

this one and

Pistachio Gelato

and

Pomegranate Swirl Gelato.

(It still amazes me that you can mail 

ice cream!!)

What a world, what a world!!

The Wilton Black Pearl Sprinkles

were found this time of year at

Wal Mart.  Get them before they

are gone!

I will be posting this with

Inspire Me Tuesday

Foodie Friday

Dressed Up Fall Table with Elegant Haagen-Dazs Pomegranate Swirl

It is time to set a dressier 

table for the season since we

have one of the new flavors of Haagen-Dazs

as a guest tonight!

Aren't these new containers so elegant?

I was lucky enough to have the

wonderful people at Haagen-Dazs

send me some of their new flavors

and their Pomegranate Swirl Gelato

just seemed to go with our fall

tablescape today.  It might be

a little early to find pomegranates

in the grocery section of your

store, but not in the freezer section.

Let's get the table set.

The table's inspiration came

from these inexpensive beauties

that I found at Home Goods 

this year.  I added the blingy

brooches 

(leftover from Amanda's wedding)

from Fabulous Brooch

and it took them to a whole new level.

They center the table along with a rich

beaded and fringed table topper.

We couldn't get too serious so I

added my home made grapevine

wreaths under a chocolate brown

plate to bring in more of the fall season.

I am loving this in the dining 

room so I moved two of my chairs

to the wall with the sideboard.

It is fun to leave tablescapes up

for the seasons and holidays

as part of your interior design.

I made eight of these grapevine wreaths

 two years

ago with the grapevines that grow

in the backyard just for tablescaping.

The plate stack consists of a chocolate

brown plate topped by a taupe textured

plate and finished off with the leafy

green and cream plate.

I just love the huge soup bowls.

Wouldn't they be great with a fall soup?

Don't you find that you change your

cooking once the weather changes.  My

first thing is I begin baking breads again

and then soups to go with the breads.

The rich wood of the napkin rings

brings some more rustic elegance

to the table.  

This tablescape is one that goes

beautifully with the uncovered wood

of the table so that it can be a star itself.

The green bubble goblets are my

favorite for fall.

I always find myself turning

to this green flatware year round.

These are just yummy all

dressed up in their finery.

This gives you a nice view of

the beaded topper.  I love to

scrunch up a topper for the center

of the table to give it texture and depth.

Are you craving candles with

the days shorter?  I know I am.  I

love soft candlelight as it gets cooler.

I can't wait for the candlelight

to shine through this hurricane.

Now that the table is set,

it is time to enjoy our dessert

inspired by one of nature's fall fruits

the beautiful pomegranate.

The Pomegranate Swirl Gelato

is another smooth and creamy dessert.

The flavor is really subtle and refreshing.

You wouldn't want to overpower

this flavor so I decided to just

accent it with some home made

pomegranate syrup and some

chocolate covered pomegranates.

Serve it up in a pretty dish

and squirt a little syrup over

the top and garnish with some more

chocolate covered pomegranates

and you have an elegant yet simple dessert.

Don't you just love their new packaging

for these flavors.  You know you are

serving up something elegant and

wonderful just with the packaging.

Pomegranate Syrup Recipe

1 C. pomegranate juice

2 C. sugar

2 T. cornstarch mixed in 1/4 C. cold water.

Red food coloring (optional)

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Bring the juice and sugar to a boil.  

Mix in the cornstarch mix slowly until

the desired thickness.  Add a little red

food coloring if desired.  Stir in the

lemon juice.  Let cool then refrigerate.

This shot shows you how pretty the swirls

are in the Gelato.

A big thank you to the people at

Haagen-Dazs who have given me

the opportunity to sample and then 

highlight three of their new flavors.

We have one more to go.  If you 

missed the first one

Pistachio Gelato,

click here.  It was by far the

best Pistachio I have had.  You

could actually taste the salty pistachios!

The final one is

Midnight Cookies and Cream Ice Cream!!

Did I save the best one for last?  Who

knows!!??  I haven't cheated, yet!

Thanks for visiting today!

I will be posting this with

Tablescapes Thursday

and

Pink Saturday

Haagen-Dazs Has New Flavors And I Get To Try Them! Pistachio Gelato Cookie Cups with Pistachio Brittle

Talk about indulgence!!

Haagen-Dazs is THE

superior ice cream and I 

get to try out these three new

flavors and tell you all about them!!

I know, I know, talk about Heaven!!

Which flavor to start with, 

and how to keep the kids out 

of them until I have a chance

to test them first??!!

Oh, the trials!

They arrived on my porch

while I was out of town and

fortunately my daughter

dropped by and called me to

tell me I had packages.

"Quick!! Open any packages!

It could be ice cream and melt!!"

Sure enough the highly anticipated

Haagen-Dazs had arrived.

Isn't the packaging just beautiful?

I am such a Europhile,

(Definition: a person who is fond of,

admires, or even loves European culture)

so I am going to start with

Pistachio Gelato.

Yes, I could have just dug into

it with a spoon and you probably

think I did, but I promise I gave

this gelato its due respect and

waited to taste until it was 

properly presented befitting

its gloriousness.

It is so smooth and creamy!

Probably the best pistachio gelato

I have ever tasted and we have 

tried a lot of them.

Wow!!  You are going to love its

smooth creaminess with just the subtle

saltiness of the pistachios.  The flavor

of the pistachios comes out perfectly.

I had to have a base fitting

Haagen-Dazs ice cream so

I created  Pistachio Cookie Cups,

a cookie baked on a non-stick griddle

that is shaped when hot to create a

crisp cookie bowl.

Then I garnished it with 

Pistachio Brittle.

I could have stopped with 

one scoop (hubby is my official scooper)

but I grew up in Wisconsin where

we ate our ice cream in cereal bowls

so who could stop at one scoop!

This beats allPistachio gelato 

I have had in Europe or the

United States.  

I don't know about you, but

pistachios are something we

always indulge in around the holidays

and this would make such a great

company dessert, or go ahead and

grab a spoon and dig in!

(Confession time:  hubby and I like

to eat a container of Haagen-Dazs while

watching a movie in bed.  How did

Haagen-Dazs know how much I 

love their product?!!)

Yes, I am going to torture you and

review one yummy creation at a time.

Which one will I do next???

Pistachio Cookie Cup Recipe

1 egg

1/3 C. melted butter

1/2 C. sugar

2/3 C. flour

1/8 tsp. salt

2 T. chopped pistachios

1/3 C. milk

1/2 tsp. almond flavoring

In a medium size bowl, lightly whisk the egg,

then whisk in the butter and sugar.  Add the flour,

pistachios, and salt and mix in, 

then stir in the milk and flavoring.  

Heat a non-stick electric griddle to 300 degrees.

Spoon a scant 1/4 C. batter onto hot griddle

(spray with a little Pam or butter it lightly

if desired).  Spread out the batter as

thinly as you can until it reaches about

6 inches in diameter.  Bake on the griddle

until the top is dry - about 7-8 minutes for 

one this size and then gently flip it over

for another minute just to brown it a little

and crisp it up.  Remove with a spatula and

immediately shape in a custard cup.  Let cool

until crisp.  

Pistachio Brittle

(made in the microwave)

1 C. white sugar

1/2 C. light corn syrup

pinch salt

1 C. pistachios, lightly chopped

1 T. butter

1/2 tsp. almond flavoring

1 tsp. baking soda

Prepare a Silpat pan on a baking sheet or

butter the baking sheet well.  Set aside.

Place the sugar, corn syrup and salt into a microwave safe large bowl.  

Glass is preferable as the mix

gets so hot.  Heat for 3 minutes on high, then

remove it and stir.  Heat for another 1 minute

then add pistachios and butter and 

heat for an additional

minute.  Remove and stir in the 

flavoring and soda.

It will foam up rapidly.  Quickly pour it onto the

prepared pan and spread out as thin as possible.

Let cool and break into pieces.  

I will be posting this with

Foodie Friday

Metamorphosis Monday

Many thanks to Haagen-Dazs who so honored 

me with this opportunity to try some of 

their new fabulous flavors!!!