My friend Dixon’s mom has a Meyer lemon tree. Every December she sends him lots of Meyer lemons and, fortunately, he shares them with me. When I have Meyer lemons, I love to make this Meyer lemon ice cream. It is the perfect blend of…
I recently returned from a trip to Northern Italy. It was wonderful to travel with friends again! I’ll post more highlights from my trip soon. However, I thought it would be best to start with one of my favorite things about any trip to Italy:…
Since things are starting to open in up a bit, my friend Pete and I decide to head out of town for a long weekend in Asheville, NC. We somehow managed to time our trip for the first weekend they had fall weather. Between the perfect weather and all that Asheville has to offer we had all the makings for a great weekend. Our biggest challenge was deciding what to do and where to eat.
We stayed downtown and it was a great location for our home base. There are lots of shops and restaurants within walking distance and it is only a short drive to a variety of other activities. Our first morning we walked over to Early Girl Eatery on Wall St for breakfast. Despite all of the great food in Asheville, this ended up being my favorite meal. (I love breakfast, so I guess that is no surprise.) I had the spinach & potato cakes with tomato gravy & eggs. In addition to being yummy it gave me plenty of energy for our visit to Biltmore Estates that afternoon. If you go to Early Girl for breakfast or otherwise find yourself near the Flat Iron building, stop by Trade & Lore for coffee or tea. They make a great matcha latte. (Note: Due to COVID, Trade & Lore is to-go only – use your phone to order line for pickup.)
As you explore downtown, if you have a sweet-tooth or just need a break stop by Old Europe Pastries for an apple cider macaroon or French Broad Chocolate Lounge for a chocolate fix. Note: A box of truffles from French Broad Chocolates makes a great gift – if you can get home without eating them.
Not too far from downtown is the South Slope neighborhood. It is a great place to spend an afternoon. For the beer aficionados, it has a lot of breweries to explore. Due to COVID, most places have set up tables outside so which creates opportunities for some great people watching. If you are going to make the rounds of the local breweries, I suggest you start your afternoon with BBQ from Buxton Hall.
If you are not a beer drinker or need a break from the beer, there is still plenty to do. There is a glass blowing studio, conveniently located next door to Sunshine Sammies, a local ice cream sandwich shop. You can get your ice cream plain, but why would you do that when you can get it sandwiched between two amazing cookies? The Peach & Ginger Sammie – peach ice cream on a ginger molasses cookie – was to die for.
If you are looking for an edible souvenir from your trip, bring a cooler and stop by South Slope Cheese to pick up some local cheeses. (They also have wine and cheese tastings.) I picked up some local burrata, chive goat cheese from Three Graces Dairy, and Looking Glass Creamery’s Ridgeline. I can’t think of a better souvenir from my trip!
Another great neighborhood to explore is the River Arts District. In addition to the many artist studios and sprinkling of restaurants & watering holes, there is a nice bike & walking path next to the French Broad River. I enjoyed looking at the artist studios, but my favorite thing was just walking around looking at the amazing graffiti on all of the buildings. Clearly some talented graffiti artists call Asheville home.
Even thought Asheville is surrounded by the Pisgah National Forest and all the outdoor activities that go with that, the food was a highlight for me. The area around Asheville has quite a bounty to offer and the chefs in Asheville do a great job of highlighting these local ingredients. We had lovely farm-to-table meals at Posana in downtown and Copper Crown a short 10-min drive from downtown (but well worth the drive). We ended our weekend a lovely dinner of French comfort food on the back deck at Bouchon. Their profiteroles were a delicious finish to both a wonderful meal and our weekend in Asheville!
Like everyone else, the COVID restrictions cancelled my travel plans this summer. I finally reached my breaking point and decided I had to go somewhere. After much deliberation on the safest way to travel, I decided to go visit my aunt and uncle in western…
Every time my mom comes to visit, we have to get ice cream from Butter & Cream. It is a local ice cream shop in Decatur, GA that makes small batch ice cream that is SO yummy. They recently opened a second location on the…
It just isn’t summer until I’ve had homemade peach ice cream. My grandparents had two Georgia Bell peach trees in their backyard and I remember summers when they were just loaded with peaches. Naturally, peach ice cream was often on the menu. Those summers are where I learned the secret to great peach ice cream: perfectly ripe peaches. Recently my friend Dixon got me The Perfect Scoop, David Lebovitz‘s cookbook dedicated to all things ice cream and frozen desserts. Naturally, the first recipe that I tried was his peach ice cream. Since the peaches were plentiful, I decided to make both David’s version and my mom’s recipe and do an ice cream tasting with Dixon to decide which we liked best. (PS: Ice cream tastings should be a thing.)
The Verdict: Both peach ice creams were delicious. The Perfect Scoop peach ice cream tasted sophisticated and complex (but was still super easy to make). Mom’s…., well, it was pure essence of peach. So which should you make? It depends on what you are in the mood for. Looking for a traditional, simple peach ice cream: go with my mom’s peach ice cream recipe. Looking for something more sophisticated: go with David’s Perfect Scoop version. Regardless of which you choose, you won’t be disappointed.
Skip to detailed instructions or see other peach recipes.
Step 0. Wait for peaches to be perfectly ripe. Your patience will be rewarded.
Step 1. Peel and dice the peaches. If peaches are really ripe the skin will peel off relatively easily (at least with most peach varieties). If you haven’t mastered this technique, see Southern Living’s advice on how to peel a peach.
Step 2. Add sugar to the peaches until the mixture is ‘gritty’ – this takes about 2/3 c of sugar. (Mom tastes it to make sure it feels gritty.) Let sit for 15 min so the juices release from the peaches.
Step 3. Mash the peaches with a pastry cutter OR pulse in a blender or food processor. If you want chunks of peach in your ice cream, be sure to not to over-process the peaches. Add cream and milk and mix together.
Step 5. Freeze in ice cream freezer according to the manufacturers instructions. Put ice cream in container and place in freezer for an hour or so for the ice cream to firm up before serving. Remove ice cream from freezer 10-15 min before scooping to let the ice cream soften up.
