Kit's Italian Ice

You're three ingredients away from a surefire way to beat the heat!

I know it's all a manner of perspective and what you're used to, but honestly, I can't imagine what it must have been like to live in a time before air conditioning. I don't love being cold or the darkness that comes along with winter, but I do wilt very quickly in high heat, especially when it's humid, so finding ways to keep cool (or just stay in a climate controlled area) are definitely always a priority for me, especially by the time August is rolling around.

(I heard a radio DJ saying that August usually is a cooler month than July, and all I could think of was seriously? Have you ever lived through August before?)

It just so happens that I stumbled upon this recipe in one of my old folders of post ideas and figured hey, why not? Is there a better time of year to have Italian ice than the Dog Days of summer?

Grace's Ice Pops

Nothing beats a home made frozen treat!

Since 1993, American Girl Magazine has been publishing bimonthly magazines full of articles aimed at eight to fourteen year old girls. While originally the magazine had slightly more of a focus on history and the doll line sold by the company - several short stories about the older characters like Molly and Samantha were first published in the magazine before being released as small hardback books - it eventually became less connected specifically to the doll line and the historical characters, and now mostly focuses on the experiences of average, modern girls.

One thing that hasn't changed is their enthusiasm for sharing easy recipes for kids to make themselves, or with the help of a parent. What we're making today are two recipes I remember from an issue of the magazine I read sometime around 1997 and have never been able to get out of my head. Amazing what some decent food photography can do to keep something floating around like that!

Addy's Ice Orangeade

A refreshing historical treat that's perfect for the middle of summer!

I promised this wouldn't be the last you saw of my ice cream maker, didn't I? After waiting to use it for so long, I'm trying to make up for lost time by actually experimenting with it. The freezer bowl has become a permanent resident of our freezer, and I keep getting ideas and suggestions for bigger and better things to make with it.

The recipe I'm featuring today I stumbled upon almost by accident. Although there are a lot of options out there for Civil War era food, I was having a difficult time finding anything really summery that wasn't strawberry shortcake - and nothing against that, honestly, but I wanted to do something a little less obvious - and then discovered this archive of Civil War era recipes on American Civil War Story for ice orangeade. What's ice orangeade you ask?

A tasty, citrusy sorbet that's really not that hard to whip up in your own kitchen!

But before we get into that, we're going to talk a little bit about the history of ice cream makers.

Caroline's Vanilla Ice Cream

A lot easier to make than you might think!

Happy Independence Day, everyone! Hope your 4th of July is going well, and boy, do I have a treat to share with all of you.

Homemade ice cream is always something I've been interested in making, but never had the means to try out until last year. I bought a Cuisinart ice cream maker for my birthday last year, and... promptly didn't get around to using it until this summer. Oh well, better late than never, right? And it turns out, this is an easy, extremely tasty treat that's way easier than I ever imagined it being.

I know this is the second year in a row where I haven't done a Felicity post on the 4th, but I've been dying to give homemade ice cream a shot. Some American Girl enthusiasts might be wondering why I'm not introducing ice cream with Addy or Samantha, since ice cream makers play a part in both their birthday stories and came with their birthday treats sets, but I promise, there's a really cool reason Caroline's getting featured in today's post.

What is that reason, you ask?

Julie's Ice Cream Pie

This might have been a bigger hit than the skillet cookie!

My mom's birthday was last Tuesday, and since I like baking and doing nice things for people since they do so much for me, I asked her what she'd want for a birthday treat. She surprised me a little by saying she didn't want cookies, she didn't want pie, she didn't want cake...

She wanted ice cream. And she had a really cool idea about how to make that happen.

What follows is a totally improvised recipe that's both really simple and very customizable. I apologize in advance for introducing it to you, because I've already had several requests to make it again, and the leftovers have been calling my name all week long. Seriously, it's a problem. But I guess that's what happens when you put ice cream, cookies and other delicious things together and stick it in the freezer for a while.

So, why is Julie hosting this post?

Ice Cream Sodas & Floats with Julie and Ivy

Three different ways to cool off this summer!

I've already explained my enthusiasm for s'mores at length to you guys, but I have a slight confession to make: they're actually in direct competition for my other favorite "summer time" dessert, which is traditionally a little easier to get year round than my good pal the s'more. Root beer floats are incredibly simple, super tasty, and pretty much the greatest thing anyone working a soda fountain has come up with.

Unfortunately, root beer floats themselves aren't really worth their own blog post. They're the textbook definition of simple: put vanilla ice cream in a glass, pour root beer over it, eat immediately. But don't worry, this post does feature something that's a little bit more complicated, and probably isn't something you've had before! I know I'd never really heard of it before digging out a certain old cookbook to get ideas.

So get excited, because this is definitely a tasty addition to any summery menu, and is simple enough that literally any aspiring chef can whip one up in a jiffy.

Two Posts in One: Julie and Ivy's Jello Eggs, Planet Bars and Ice Cream Eagles!

So I know I've been pretty absent around here, and once again, I'm really sorry about that. Life has just been kind of crazy the last few weeks and I haven't had as much time as I'd like to to devote to the blog, even if I have been puttering around in the kitchen! I had a lot of plans that kind of needed to get scrapped - something for Passover, a fun sounding Kirsten themed recipe... - but I did manage to get it together enough to do something for Easter and Earth Day, and I finally found the motivation to sit down and write about what we did.

Long story short, this post is going to be a two in one! Featuring Jello Eggs for Easter...

A childhood favorite addition to our Easter menu.

And two recipes from Julie's Cooking Studio: Planet Bars and Ice Cream Eagles!

So without further ado, it's get started!

Ice Cream Snowballs with Kailey

A two ingredient recipe that's tasty and easy to make!

We're starting the New Year off with a pretty simple recipe that is - nevertheless - one of my favorite treats to eat in the wintertime. Admittedly, it's something you can eat at any time of the year, but it's something I've always associated with Christmas, and I was actually planning on including it in our posts for last month. Unfortunately, time got away from me and so we're sneaking it in at the beginning of this month to make sure it gets a spot in the sunshine!

Or cloudy gray snowy day, as the case may be.

Kit's Afternoon Luncheon: Recipes from Kit's Cooking Studio!

Two great sandwiches, cookies and a milkshake to finish it off!

When I was in elementary school, we discovered that a new house was being built right next door to ours - although I should point out that where I grew up, "right next too" really means "several yards through the woods". My mom told me that one of the people living there would be a girl who was a few years older than me, and as soon as I heard that, I really hoped we could be friends. I got very lucky, and we've been friends basically since the day we met.

When we were younger, we'd often get together and play with our American Girl dolls, and she's got a daughter who got her first doll two years ago. I thought they'd be fun people to invite over to try out some new blog recipes, and they came over yesterday for lunch! Dolly - the kiddo's American Girl Doll - came too and got to hang out with my cousin's Kit. We all had a really nice time, and had a chance to try out a bunch of new recipes that I can definitely recommend trying out for yourself.