Fall treats

A little piece of Ice-Cream History, Aurora, Illinois

During a short visit to the state of Illinois, one of my co-workers stated that we had to go to “this” ice-cream place that was walking distance from the location where we were dining in Schaumburg, Illinois.

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So after a fabulous dinner at Bonefish Grill of some good ‘ole Bang Bang Shrimp , Coconut Shrimp, etc, which of course had to be accompanied by a lovely Fresh Watermelon Icicle Aphrodisiac™ Martini, the time finally arrived to go and visit “The” ice-cream place which is actually called Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy Store.

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As you walk up to it, the store front has this lovely candy stripe red and white decor that already makes you feel kind of mushy but in a good way if you know what I mean.

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In we walked and for some reason it make me think of an old ice-cream parlor, all we needed were some roller blades and appropriate music and we were all set!

I settled for a Double Scoop, Dulce de Leche and their seasonal Pumpkin Ice Cream which turned out to be delish! There were a lot of other tempting options and if “fall” had been the season, the Apple Crisp Sundae might have been the one to go for ❤

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I wouldn’t say its the best ice cream I ever had, but what I really liked is the family history behind a place like this.

It all began in 1915 when a dairy farmer called Peter J. Oberweis began selling is extra milk to friends and neighbors. Check out the entire story by clicking on “How it Began”.

In 1951 the first Oberweis Dairy store opened in Aurora, Illinois and they have been in business every since…:-)

So next time you find yourself in the state of Illinois, swing by and have a little refreshing taste of Ice-Cream History!

Here are some fun facts that I found interesting about James D. “Jim” Oberweis, an American businessman, investment manager and politician from the state of Illinois. The owner of Oberweis Dairy, in North Aurora near Chicago, he is currently a member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 25th district since January 2013….

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At The Pumpkin Patch

Well most of you following my blog know what Rice Krispie treats are, if you are a foreigner like me you can go through my blogs and find the one that explains how to make them.

The only difference with these is the addition of orange food coloring to the butter and marshmallow mixture.

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Anyway, back to my Pumpkin Patch, here we have some cute Rice Krispie treats which I shaped into some sort of form that I thought might resemble a Pumpkin, sorry not a very good artist! Then I,

  • drizzled some sugar glaze (powdered sugar, milk and orange food coloring),
  • dotted some facial expressions with melted chocolate,
  • sprinkled some green edible glitter and
  • used Kit Kat chocolate pieces for the stalk (tootsie rolls are good too)

Big hit with little kids and adults!

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Apples, Caramel, Salt, Oh My!

Its that season when everyone starts making Apple Pies and Apple Crumbles. I personally do not care much for Apples Pies but I love love a good Apple Crumble! Then you add the idea of some salted caramel drizzled on top and wow, can that sound any better!

With that said, yesterday whilst perusing through Target I was looking for some cupcake liners and right there was a Pillsbury cake box Caramel and Apple flavored. That is something that made me curious. I am not the kind of person that makes cakes out of boxes, but every once and a while I like testing them out, especially when they have funky flavors that I like!

Instead of making the cake, there was an option on the box to make Salted Caramel Apple Crisp Bars and I was immediately sold on the idea!

Follow the recipe on the box, I am sure it will come out real good or you can add my little twists to it as stated below……

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  • After I chopped the apples I tossed them in some cinnamon and a squirt of lemon juice
  • I added 1/8 cup extra oats to the topping crumble part for extra crunch
  • Instead of using the Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Caramel Apple Frosting I used my own Salted Caramel Sauce

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They actually became a delicious fall treat, the tartness of the apples complement the sweetness of the caramel perfectly, the smell of the baking apple caramel in the house together with the smell of my lovely “Fireside” candle definitely made our house in Florida smell and feel like fall!

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It’s Fall, so Pumpkin’s calling!

Its that time of year when as I said previously its all about Pumpkin!

Pity that here in South Florida we don’t get to enjoy the the color changing leaves, or the dropping in temperature, but we can still enjoy the flavors that come with the season!

So Pumpkin Tiramisu it is!

I followed the standard Tiramisu recipe and added a pumpkin twist to it.

I used…..

  • 6 eggs
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 x 8oz mascarpone containers
  • 1/2 can of pumpkin
  • 4 cups boiling water
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup instant espresso powder
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin vodka
    2 (14-ounce) packs of ladyfingers
    3/4 cup finely grated chocolate

In a metal bowl, combine the eggs and granulated sugar. Beat well to combine. Place the bowl on top of a small pot with 1-inch of boiling water; be sure that the bowl does not touch the water. Beat the eggs until they have kind of tripled in size about 6 minutes.

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Once the eggs have tripled in size, remove the bowl from the double boiler and put on the stand mixer with the whisk and beat on a medium speed for about 5 minutes, make sure the bowl is not hot anymore. Add the mascarpone and mix until combined. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Mix the boiling water, brown sugar, espresso powder, cocoa powder, pumpkin spice and pumpkin vodka. Stir until everything has dissolved. Let cool.

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Equally divide the cream that is in the fridge into 3 bowls, then get one of the bowls an add the 1/2 an of pumpkin.

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When the espresso mixture has cooled, dip the cookies in the liquid one at a time and line the bottom of a 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Spread 1/3 of the chilled mascarpone mixture over the cookies. Repeat this process 2 more times using the pumpkin mixture for the 2nd layer and  finish with a layer of mascarpone.

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Cover and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours and up to overnight; the longer it chills the easier it will be to slice.

Decorate with some grated chocolate and a dusting of pumpkin spice.