Smith House Home Made Ice Cream - cream style

For a traditional approach:

In a mixing bowl:

3/4 granulated sugar

1 1/2 cup of whole milk

Mix until sugar is dissolved.

Pour in ice cream maker tub with flavoring (fruit, for instance) and a pint of half and half.

Follow ice cream maker manufacturer directions.

For extra treat, serve in chocolate-dipped waffle bowls.

Smith House Home Made Ice Cream -whipped style

For a light and frothy refreshing treat:

In a mixing bowl:

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 cup whole milk

Mix until sugar is dissolved.

2 capfuls of vanilla and mix.

Pour into ice cream maker tub with 1 pint of heavy whipping cream

For extra flavoring, put in the juice of whatever fruit you are going to mix in now. Then following directions per ice cream maker manufacturer. Wait until curling begins, stop ice cream maker and toss in fruit pieces), then continue mixing until ice cream maker is finished.

Legit!

It has long since been a passion of mine to write...legitimately. As in paid. No matter if the payment is in kittens...it is payment nonetheless! Okay, so it may be more material than KITTENS. Ferris would kill me if we collected kittens. It might be enough to buy a Starbucks mocha once a month...er...quarter.  But! This offers a forum for me, a validation to my street cred, yo. Something upon which I can expound into further legitimate writing practices like, oh, say, that damned book I'm trying to get published! I can now put on my query letter a list of CREDENTIALS they can go look at. A resume, if you will.

So, the pay is minimal and largely depends on how many people love me. Yes, as in all things, this hobby is  POPULARITY contest. So click away, my minions! Click away. Marketing rules the world. Check me out.

Doing the Can-Can

It's that time of year! First up was cherries this year. We partnered with our neighbors to show them how to can and experimented even! Our neighbors are growing a healthy garden of peppers and we tried Hot Cherry. Basically you boil down cherries with finely chopped Fresno chili peppers and viola! You have a hot and sweet cracker spread.

To avoid looking like mass murderers as we pit cherries and topped strawberries, Vin thoughtfully brought home some powder and latex-free gloves so we could work relatively unstained. Two flats of strawberries and four bowls of cherries later, we had five gallons of fruit to make a year's worth of jam!

Next to can will be our peach tree and hopefully our plum that has been producing very well for its first year!

MV Merchant

Pen Name:

–noun

a pseudonym used by an author; nom de plume.

As many of you know, I write. Not published, but it is a goal. With several projects in the works, and several more completed, I'm inviting you to this site. Thanks to the Coopers, they've set me up with a comprehensive, stylish, professional site to showcase it all.

Don't be confused by the name MV Merchant, my pen name. M forMichelle (Monkey)and V for Vincent (Skinny!). Where did the Merchant come from? It's the name of one of my favorite characters by one of my favorite authors. So, sit back, relax, read a story synopsis or two and let me know if you want the version in full--I'll gladly send the manuscript your way.