Many Happy Returns

Thanks for all your birthday wishes. All in all, #28 definitely wasn't my worst birthday ever. No, that honor is still held by #18, when I was working for Bailey's Moving & Storage, and got stuck on an office move for 17 hours. Oh the memories.

After I got home from work on Thursday, we went to visit Eddie's newest cousin, Sarah (see Eddie's Photo of the Week), then stuffed ourselves silly at Texas Roadhouse. I got a card in the mail from Kristen's Grandparents. As I was opening it, I remarked to Kristen, "I hope it is old lady-ish," and it did not disappoint. I particularly enjoy the model sailboat.




Friday night we had some of my friends over for a barbecue, and Kristen made me a non-traditional birthday ice cream pie. This is one of those hidden treasures from the Barton Family Cookbook. It has been years since I had it last, but it was just as delicious as I remember. I made a few tweaks to the recipe based on Kristen's recommendations to thicken up the crust and forgo adding a layer of the topping in the middle.

Ice Cream Sundae Pie

Phase I: The Crust
• 1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 4 1/2 tbsp butter
• 3 cups Rice Krispies
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Line a 9 x 13 pan with foil. In a heavy saucepan, melt chips and butter, stirring constantly. Add cereal and vanilla. Toss to coat completely. Press into bottom of pan. Freeze until firm.

Phase II: The Filling
• Half gallon of ice cream (we used cookies & cream)

Soften the ice cream. Remove crust from freezer, peel off foil and replace the crust in the pan. Spoon on the ice cream, and spread evenly over the crust. Freeze until firm.

Phase III: The Topping
• 1 12 oz package semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups mini marshmallows

Melt chips in heavy saucepan. Stir in milk, vanilla, and salt. Allow to cool and stir in marshmallows. Spread the sauce evenly over the ice cream and freeze. Serves 12-15.