The traditional ice cream sundaes

 Once again this year we took four of our local grands for ice cream sundaes.  This is a tradition of some years' standing.  (Photo at top is an older one.)  For a number of years we did a meal out, Christmas shopping for their parents, and the ice cream smorgasbord at Kellerhaus, with 3 of the kids.  Their little sister joined in for December 2019.  In 2020 we tweaked the tradition, serving both breakfast and ice cream sundaes at home.

In 2021 we changed it up again, skipping the shopping trip and having breakfast, craft and candy making, all at home before heading off for ice cream sundaes.  We followed that same general format this year.  Maybe tomorrow I can post our breakfast recipes.

Josiah with spoon poised for a first taste!

Sam, Josiah, Grampa and I were at this table.

Julia and Ari had their own table.  The tables are fairly small.

I was a little disappointed in Kellerhaus' Christmas decor this year.  It wasn't as festive as of old, and the player piano still isn't working.  But the homemade ice cream is better than ever, and there are many more flavors to choose from.  Most still prefer vanilla, though, as there are so many toppings.

And that was this year's ice cream extravaganza!

A few photos from yesterday

I will take just a moment tonight to share a few photos from our annual outing with several of our local grands.  I can't take time for a long post, as I am trying to finish up the local Christmas cards. 

We always begin our day with breakfast or brunch at a diner or, often,  McDonalds.  Yesterday it was a diner.  The older kids all ordered biscuits and gravy ("almost as good as Mommy's" was the verdict!) and Mr. T and I had omelets.   Little Arielle had a pancake and some bacon and apple juice.

Then we go shopping at Ocean State Job Lot where the kids buy gifts for their parents and sometimes for each other.  Photo below from a previous year ...

Lastly, we end up at Kellerhaus for the ice cream buffet, browsing the toys and other rooms, and getting a small amount of candy to take home.

This year the five-year-old joined us:

A highlight is always the player piano.  25¢ plays one of a marvelous lineup of Christmas carols and songs.

 Photo below is also from a previous year.  The kids love to see the piano play.  Sadly, last year it was not working, so this year I didn't even think to bring quarters.  But we got a dollar bill changed so they could have the fun of seeing it again.

A fun time together, as always.  Lots of memories made every year.  Two of the kids are teenagers now, but in no way do they seem too old for this sweet tradition.

A festive ice cream flavor to try!

Photo from Craftstorming

What could be more perfect for Christmas in July than homemade ice cream?  Here's one of the most festive flavors of homemade ice cream that I've ever seen: Vanilla Ice Cream with Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Cookie Dough!  It's from Laura at Craftstorming and is certainly an inspired thought as far as ice cream flavors are concerned.

I mean, chocolate chip cookie dough is a mainstream (and very good) flavor, but using gingerbread cookie dough in ice cream is just plain inspired.  The chocolate chip component comes in when you add dark chocolate chips to the cookie dough, and if that doesn't appeal to you, the chocolate chips can be omitted.  (But do keep an open mind; dark chocolate and gingerbread flavors are really good together.)

The really cool thing is that the gingerbread cookie dough recipe makes enough so that you can use half of it for the ice cream, and half to bake cookies with.  You will notice that this is a British recipe so you will need to "translate" some of the terms and measurements.  Here is a helpful tool for calculating the recipe amounts: Recipe Conversion Calculators.

I recently acquired a somewhat vintage electric ice cream maker (1990s; it uses salt and ice) and I am going to use it to give this recipe a try.   Try it yourself, and let us all know what you think!