Show and Tell: February Challenge Projects

It's time to show you the projects we were sent for February's challenge revolving around the weird, obscure, funny, and bizarre holidays and observances of the month!

First up we have this submission from Elaine for "Ice Cream for Breakfast Day":

Hey there!

I read "Ice cream for breakfast" on the February challenge post and instantly  thought of the "sooo easy" two-ingredient ice cream bread pins that dominated my Pinterest feed for several days. 

As if he read my mind, my husband brought home cookie dough ice cream (full fat, full sugar, full calories) and the instant gratification junkie in me panicked. Ice cream? In my freezer? Readily available? ALL DAY?? Then, I tasted the ice cream and found I was not pleased by the paltry cookie dough chunk to ice cream ratio.  It was seriously lacking in the dough department, but I still couldn't have an entire gallon of ice cream taunting me from the freezer.  What better way to eliminate a dessert temptation than to turn it into an equally tempting baked good??

So, I found this recipe, gathered my supplies, and set out to bake bread using nothing but ice cream and self-rising flour... Oh wait.. We only had all purpose flour in the house. Whoops. So a quick substitution search revealed that all I needed to do was add baking powder to the flour. Simple, right? Only, apparently adding fractions isn't my forte and I flubbed the baking powder by adding too much.  Too late to turn back now.

The recipe calls for softened ice cream, and I figured that since the carton  was sitting on the counter while I set up, preheated,  measured the flour, unsuccessfully attempted mental math, added too much baking powder, and greased the bread pan, it should have been soft enough.  I measured the ice cream, plopped it in a bowl, added the flour, and combined them using my hand mixer.  It was challenging to blend at first, as the ice cream was still frozen in the center. The consistency seemed drier than it should have been, which i attributed to the "hardness" of the ice cream. Perhaps had it softened for longer, two cups would have yielded more ice cream? Or is my knowledge of physics on par with my math skills?

I dumped the dough into the pan, set the timer for 35 minutes and enjoyed the surprisingly delicious aromas wafting from the oven.  The finished product was golden on the edges and firm to the touch. It seemed a little too dense and flat, which is probably a direct result of the flour flub (darn fractions). 

The chocolate chips did not soften much, but the ice cream dough bits melted into caramelized gooey holes in the bread. I didn't dislike them.  It had a dense, slightly vanilla flavor with hints of chocolate.  Nothing was overwhelming in the flavor; if anything is was a tad on the bland side. The bread was slightly crumbly on the edges and stayed moist for 3 days.  I munched on it for breakfast a couple of mornings and snuck slivers throughout the day as snacks. 

Final thoughts? I probably turned an unhealthy treat into an equally unhealthy breakfast.  It wasn't amazing enough to immediately repeat. I would, however, try it again with a fruity or nutty ice cream. Butter pecan? Banana pudding? Endless options!

Pic 1: uncooked dough in the pan 

Pic 2: finished product 

Pin: http://www.yourmodernfamily.com/ice-cream-bread-recipe/

Thanks so much!

-Elaine

Next up we have this submission from Carolyn for "Random Acts of Kindness Week":

Once again I combined this month's challenge with my Iron Crafter challenge.

In Pinstrosity we were challenged to do a pin for one of the many holiday's during the month of February.  I decided to do a series of random acts of kindness for Random Acts of Kindness week.  I wrote cards to friends.  Left a thank you note for the mail lady.  I stuck a card with a happy note on the window of a random car.  And I tried a new cookie recipe to give to a friend.  (Iron Crafter's challenge was to do/try/make/use something new.) You can read more about it here.

And now it's time for this submission from Eilonwy for "Grapefruit Month":

At long last, failure!

My obscure holiday was Grapefruit Month. http://www.oceanspray.com/club/newsletters/newsletter_feb07.htm

Since I recently bought a waffle iron, which makes everything look like a waffle, I thought I'd make grapefruit waffles, as in this Pin, but not for V-Day.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/46161964907103699/

http://gormandizewithus.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/grapefruit-waffles-with-chocolate.html

As I mixed it up, I was a little leery about the reliance on whole-wheat flour, the lack of corn starch, and the lack of any egg equivalents. I greased my waffle iron, followed the recipe (the only change I made was to use regular milk instead of soy milk, which should make no difference), and... ta-da!

Once pried out of the waffle iron, the waffle had really fantastic crispy edges, but... don't let the grapefruit pulp get in the batter (as the directions say to allow). Bitter waffles!

The second waffle turned into a gummy mess that I'm going to be spending days scraping out of the waffle iron. So "bitter waffles" may be my new euphemism for my emotions following kitchen disasters.

When I get the waffle iron clean, I'm making those nice cinnamon roll waffles.

~eilonwy

As for me, I celebrated "Read a Book in the Bathtub Day", but definitely did not take pictures. I saw someone pin for "The Glass Magician" and realized it was finally out (it's the sequel to "The Paper Magician"). So I went to Amazon, bought it for my kindle and celebrated the holiday. It was a pin win!