Once a Year Cheesecake Ice Cream

Good Tuesday morning!

The Gallery Pics are from Roxie's mountain trip with Grandmother and Zac. She took some very pretty scenic shots, didn't she? Ahhh. I would love to be in the mountains right now! But the best I can do is share the pictures!

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TOPIC OF THE WEEK - NEIGHBORS

April 8 of this year marked the the five year anniversary of the tornado which hit our little street. A few businesses were hit on one of the main thoroughfares in town, but to my knowledge, our street was the only residential area hit dead on by the little F1 tornado. It created a lot of damage. It hit in the middle of the night, and although our house and several others received significant damage, Mr. Joe and Miss Mary's house received the direct hit.

As we sat in the basement, we knew our house had not been spared, but in the total darkness we couldn't be sure to what extent. Mike and I ventured outside. We could hear neighbors talking up and down the street. During lightning strikes, we could make out a huge tree uprooted on top of our two vehicles and our house.

We started looking at Mr. Joe and Miss Mary's house. A power line was on the sidewalk in front of their door, and sparks were spraying out every few seconds. A huge tree was down, but it was impossible to tell if it was beside their house or on top. Mike carefully made his way to the front door avoiding the power line.

As he knocked on the door, I looked over at Mrs. McAllister's house, and I could see no damage at all. (Mike walked over and checked on her a minute or so later.) Mrs. Legg, directly across the street from me was talking to another neighbor, and I overheard her say her home had escaped harm. I heard Miss Mary and Mr. Joe talking to Mike. From what I could tell, no one had been injured on our street.

I was wrong. Mikie yelled at me to stay where I was, but Miss Mary was hurt. He had already called her daughter and son-in-law who lived a couple of neighborhoods away. They had no idea a tornado had been so close.

The tree beside Miss Mary's house had indeed come through the roof. She was in bed and a limb from the tree went completely through the other side of her bed (not touching her), through the floor and then the ceiling of the room directly below her. A few more inches and Miss Mary would have been killed. Her injuries were sustained from falling brick coming from the hole in her house.

She had gotten out of the bed to find Mr. Joe (who was fine), and had answered Mike's knock on the door. Her family and ambulance arrived to take her to the hospital. Bruised and battered (and in later days suffering from complications from her initial injuries), Miss Mary was the only person injured in the tornado. And although she was by far one of the tiniest people I have ever met, she was also definitely one of the toughest. She pulled through, and she and Mr. Joe were able to come home several months later when the repairs were finally completed.

FUNNY STORY ALERT - Miss Mary's daughter and son-in-law would come by to check on the progress of the house several times a week. One day, not long after April 8, I was speaking to them during a visit. Miss Mary was still recuperating, and slowly getting better. Her daughter had given her SPECIFIC instructions to stay in the recliner until they returned home from checking on the house and running to the grocery store. "We have to hurry, or she'll be out and about before we get home," the daughter told me, so I said good-bye. I knew she was right. If Miss Mary wanted to go somewhere, being told to "sit in the recliner" was not going to be enough.

Less than two or three minutes after the daughter left, I saw a familiar sight. Mr. Joe and Miss Mary's white truck came down our street, pulled in their driveway, sat there a minute and turned around. I walked to the edge of our yard and the truck slowed down. I was shocked to see Miss Mary. She was covered in bruises from her head and arms down to her legs and feet. But she was still spunky. Boy, was she spunky!

"Hi, Belinda. Have you seen my daughter?"

"Yes, ma'am," I replied, slowly. "They left about three minutes ago."

"Had they been to the store yet?" she asked.

"They were on their way. I thought you were at their house resting."

"If they ask you, you never saw me. Do you understand?" She looked me square in the eye. Mr. Joe looked around her shoulder, shook his head and held up his hands.

"Miss Mary, if they ask me, I can't just lie to them," I said, not meeting her steely glare.

"Belinda, you did not see me OR Joe. Do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," I mumbled.

And off they drove to hop back into their recliners before the return of the daughter and son-in-law.

I called Mikie and asked him what I should do. We both agreed. I had to avoid the daughter and son-in-law at all costs... for at least two or three weeks.

And that is exactly what I did!

Tomorrow, I'll share another Mr. Joe story. I call it "Austin in a Tree... With a Chainsaw... at Age 11," OR "The Day I Experienced My First (of Many) Panic Attacks."

Once a Year Cheesecake Ice Cream

I found this recipe on a website called www.foodandwine.com. It has recipes in every category, and this one definitely caught my eye. It's SO GOOD you can only eat it once a year? I think I'll have to wait for company night to try it. It sounds too rich to have around the house for any length of time. The recipe is by Leslie Newman.

You will need the following:

6 ounces cream cheese (softened, but still cool)
3/4 cup superfine sugar
1 cup cold sour cream
1 cup cold heavy cream
Pinch of coarse salt
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Chill a medium mixing bowl and the beaters of an electric mixer. In the bowl, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until soft and smooth. Gradually add the sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating well after each addition.

2. Beat in the sour cream and then the heavy cream.

3. Add the salt, lemon juice and vanilla. Beat the mixture just until thick and smooth. Cover and refrigerate overnight, or until very cold. Wash and dry the mixer beaters and chill again.

4. Using the chilled beaters and gradually increasing the mixer speed from low to medium, beat the cold ice cream mixture until loose and creamy (about 3 minutes). Pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

5. Serve immediately, or pack the ice cream into a covered container and freeze for up to 24 hours. Allow the ice cream to soften in the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes before serving.

Does this sound absolutely WONDERFUL, or what? I can't wait to try this one. (I'm thinking I might serve this at the Cousin Pajama Party. It just has GNO written all over it, doesn't it?

Have a great Tuesday. Wednesday I'll be sharing Wednesday Wisdom from a favorite chick. I'll have another Neighbor Story and there will definitely be a Seasonal Tradition to squeeze into your already fun-filled summer!

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda