How to Make Ice Cream at Home
Ice cream is an amazing treat! Especially on those beautiful summer nights. But stopping buy your local shop can add up throughout the season. That’s why sometimes it’s nice to make your own homemade ice cream. It can sound intimidating, but it can actually be super easy. Here’s our guide to making ice cream at home!
The easiest way to make ice cream takes only four ingredients, a mason jar, and just a bit of elbow grease. 1 cup of heavy cream, 1.5 tablespoons of granulated sugar, .5 teaspoons of vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt is all it takes. Add these ingredients to a mason jar, twist the lid on tight, and shake. This is where the elbow grease comes in. The mixture needs a good shake for 4 to 5 minutes, if you can call in some backup or other members of the household that will certainly help. Just tell them they will be getting ice cream out of the deal!
Once it’s nice and shaken, the mixture will have doubled in size and nicely coats the back of a spoon. Once you’ve reached this point you know you’re ready for the next step…freezing! Store the jar in the freezer and in about 3 hours, you should have created firm, scoopable ice cream. This is the simplest way, but definitely add in your own flavorings to the base or toppings to the final ice cream product.
You can also make ice cream in plastic baggie at home. Add the same ingredients to small, resealable plastic bag, make sure all the excess air is out and the bag is sealed tightly. Meanwhile, combine salt and ice in a large resealable plastic bag. Place the small bag inside the large bag and shake, elbow grease again, but this time for 7 to 10 minutes, until the ice cream hardens. Remove from the bag and enjoy!
Sources:
https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a54721/ice-cream-in-a-bag-recipe / https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/how-to-make-simple-homemade-ice-cream
Tis the season! Each year November rolls around and we begin to prepare for the holidays. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, and more: it’s a certainly a busy time. Recently a new holiday has emerged into the mix and seems to gain popularity every year. This holiday is now known as Friendsgiving!
Friendsgiving is a product of the millennial lifestyle. Breaking traditions and doing things differently is common among younger generations today, even in the celebration of holidays. Some may live and work away from their families and some may not have the time and means to travel for Thanksgiving. Sometimes it’s simply more comfortable and more fun to celebrate with friends. Plus, these days the definitions of family are expanding and close friends are often turned into chosen family.
In many cases, Friendsgiving is celebrated not in place of Thanksgiving, but in line with it: Friends gather together the weekend before or after Thanksgiving with their favorite cuisine. This is something that has gone on for a long time, but somehow it’s become its own holiday, and the celebrations continue to grow larger.
The popular TV show “Friends,” has been given some credit for the emergence of Friendsgiving. People watched Monica, Chandler, Rachel, Joey, Phoebe, and Ross celebrate Thanksgiving together each year, and decided they wanted to do the same. Yet, it can’t be confirmed that this is the exact origin of the holiday. In fact, Merriam-Webster points out that the term “Friendsgiving” can only be traced back to 2007, while “Friends” ended in 2004. Either way, the show portrays the perfect picture of what Friendsgiving is all about.
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Thanksgiving is one of our favorite holidays, but we also love Friendsgiving. Is there anything better than hanging out with close friends while enjoying a delicious meal? Plus, if you happen to celebrate both Friendsgiving and Thanksgiving, you get to enjoy basically double the amount of incredible food. Hats off to you if you celebrate both!
If you haven’t celebrated Friendsgiving yet, we recommend giving it a go this month. We’re here to help you get everything you need! Visit your local store or find all your essentials at shop.pricechopper.com.
4 Easy Dinner Ideas for Busy School Nights
From dance classes and sports practices to clubs and lessons, kids’ schedules can become jam-packed during the school year. With numerous weeknight activities and events to juggle, it can be challenging for parents to get weeknight dinners on the table. When you’re pressed for time on those hectic weeknights, use these quick and easy ideas to whip up satisfying, stress-free family dinners.
Depend on the Pantry
The refrigerator and pantry are the first places you’ll turn to for dinner ideas after a long, busy day. No matter what ingredients you find, get creative with combining kitchen staples and use dressings and seasonings to elevate simple ingredients. If you have salad greens or vegetables, toss them with quick-cooking whole grains, whole-grain pasta or make a salad with fruits, vegetables and your favorite dressing. If canned beans, vegetables and tuna are stocked in your pantry, combine them to create a convenient, nutritious, affordable meal that requires little to no prep.
Rotisserie Chicken to the Rescue
Rotisserie chicken is recipe-ready and helps get protein-packed meals on the table in a flash. Use rotisserie chicken to top salads, pastas, whole grains, veggie noodles, and your favorite soups. You can also incorporate it into tacos, lettuce wraps, roll-ups and quesadillas for filling, flavorful meals. If you have time to plan ahead, try making these Asian Chicken-Jasmine Rice Bowls that feature rotisserie chicken as the main ingredient. Or, add it to this Power Boost Salad or simple Chicken & Mushroom Stir-Fry.
3. Pizza Party
Ordering a pizza always sounds like a perfect solution at the end of a hectic day. Instead of takeout, stock the freezer with your favorite frozen pizza varieties and dress them up with fresh ingredients you have on-hand. Whether it’s peppers and mushrooms, tomatoes and spinach or even a fried egg, there are ways to add homemade touches to this fast family favorite. If you have pepperoni, olives, feta cheese and Italian seasoning in your kitchen, give this Pepperoni, Olive & Feta Pan Pizza recipe a try.
Slow Cookers Save the Day
The slow cooker is an efficient cooking tool that helps transform simple ingredients into delicious, flavor-infused meals. A night or two before, decide on a meal you want to slow cook. Add the ingredients to the slow cooker before you leave in the morning, and let the magic happen! With minimal effort, you’ll have a mouthwatering meal ready for you when you get home. What’s more? Slow cookers are easy to cleanup; consider picking up some slow cooker liners to make the cleanup even more efficient. For a fun, fall-inspired meal, try our Slow Cooker Carne Asada Cubed Steak Chili recipe.
No matter what the schedule looks like for the week ahead, keep these valuable tips in mind to create weeknight dinners that are quick, effortless and satisfy the whole family.
Homegrown sweet corn is one of our specialties and just one example of how we celebrate the flavors of the Northeast. We team up with a variety of Northeast farms to choose seed varieties that produce the most tender, flavorful corn you’ll find anywhere. Here are some great ways to make the most of one of our region’s best agricultural products!
- Make Fritters
In addition to eating corn right off the cob, try spicing it up with a recipe from our friends at Reeves Farm in Baldwinsville, NY – Reeves Family Corn Fritters
- Spice it Up
Try this Spicy Maple Mayo from our friends at Butternut Mountain Farm in Morristown, VT. Simply mix 1 cup mayonnaise, ¼ cup pre maple syrup, ½ juice from a fresh lime, and 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder together for a tangy twist. Spicy Maple Mayo is one of our favorite additions to corn on the cob. Check out Butternut Mountain Farm’s website for more info – Spicy Maple Mayo.
- Eat it Fresh off the Cob
Sweet corn is even sweeter when eaten fresh off the cob. Many of our local farmer friends, like the Eckhardt Family in Stephentown, NY, enjoy sweet corn raw as much as they enjoy it cooked. It’s a simple yet very tasty option to try this season!
4. Make Mexican Street Corn Salad
Looking for a fun twist on your corn this summer? Add this recipe for Grilled Mexican Corn Street Salad – Grilled Mexican Street Corn Salad to your repertoire. A refreshing combination of flavors sure to satisfy your summer palate!
5. Kick it up with Parmesan Spread
Fire up the grill for this one! This recipe for Grilled Corn with Parmesan Spread & Basil – Grilled Corn with Parmesan Spread & Basil makes a perfect side dish for any summertime barbeque. Be prepared as your guests will be calling for more!
Here in the Northeast sweet corn is a summertime staple. Nothing says summer like that first bite into fresh, crisp corn on the cob. The classics are great, but we love to mix it up, and these are five great ways to do just that. Maybe you’ll even discover a new favorite! Whichever way you choose to enjoy your local corn this growing season, make sure to stop by your local Price Chopper or Market 32 for all of your summertime goods!
Happy National Lasagna Day!
Today is National Lasagna Day and we are cheesin’ with excitement! In honor of such a special day, we decided to take a deeper look into the origin story of this delicious day. How did lasagna come about and where was it first created? Well, you’ve come to the right place to find out!
Like many of mankind’s finest creations, the origins of Lasagna can be traced back to Ancient Greece. The name lasagna, is derived from the Greek word laganon, the first known form of pasta. Laganon was nowhere near a traditional lasagna, but its name comes from its layers of pasta and sauce, similar to how lasagna is prepared today.
Modern day lasagna dates back to the Middle Ages, where it was first made in Naples, Italy. The original recipe was layered with sausage, meatballs, hard-boiled eggs, ricotta and mozzarella cheese, and sauced with Neapolitan Ragu, a meat sauce born in the city. The first recorded recipe could be found in one of the world’s oldest medieval cookbooks, the 14th-century “The Book of Cookery,” showcasing a fermented dough flattened into a thin sheet, boiled, and sprinkled with cheese and spices, and eaten with a small-pointed stick.
Other variations of lasagna were created around Italy, and the varying concepts were brought to America by Italian Immigrants. For example, Lasagna el forno is credited to the region of Emilia-Romagna, layered with a thicker ragu, made from carrots, onions, finely ground pork and beef, butter, and tomatoes. The recipe also features Bechamel, also known as white sauce, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. It’s the first lasagna dish to be traditionally green, due to the mixing of spinach and other vegetables in its dough.
Traditionally, lasagna is a dish of much variety. But no matter how you prepare it you can’t go wrong with this Italian classic. Stop by your local Price Chopper and Market 32 for all of your lasagna essentials today, and enjoy a tasty family meal for dinner tonight!
Sources: https://www.pagliacci.com/blog/news/post/a-brief-history-of-lasagna https://viaverdimiami.com/the-history-of-lasagna/
One of the sweetest parts of celebrating the holiday season is baking cookies with family and friends. At Price Chopper and Market 32, we love these treats as much as you do and have many different favorites of our own. Whether they’re family traditions or simply the most satisfying to our sweet tooth, we are pleased to share some our holiday favorites with you!
Our teammates are big fans of peanut butter, especially when it comes to Christmas
Teammates Celina R. and Alison P. from our Storrs, CT store!
Maureen Murphy, Price Chopper's Manager of Consumer Trends, Nutrition and Lifestyles wants you to dust off your crock pot!
For those of you who are already crock pot fans we encourage you to enter our Crock Pot Recipe Contest. Enter your favorite crock pot recipe by e-mailing [email protected] for a chance to win a Mega Meat Saving Pack and a Price Chopper Gift Card valued at $100.
Think of all the wonderful meals you could treat family and friends to with that prize! Read the official rules here.Maureen Murphy, Price Chopper's Manager of Consumer Trends, Nutrition and Lifestyles wants you to dust off your crock pot!
For those of you who are already crock pot fans we encourage you to enter our Crock Pot Recipe Contest. Enter your favorite crock pot recipe by e-mailing [email protected] for a chance to win a Mega Meat Saving Pack and a Price Chopper Gift Card valued at $100.
Think of all the wonderful meals you could treat family and friends to with that prize! Read the official rules here.