6 Months of Liking Sam

“Aunt Hannah!” Gloria whispers as she leans on the air bed.  
“What?” I whisper back.
“I think you kind of like Uncle Sam!”  She covers her mouth with her hand and giggles quietly to herself.
“I do kind of like Uncle Sam.  How did you know?”
“I just did!” She giggles again.
“Well don’t tell him!  I don’t think he knows yet.”  

That conversation is in honor of mine and Sam’s 6 month anniversary today.  Gloria, my 7-year-old niece is hilarious and sweet, and is convinced that I kind of like Sam. She is right.

I had a great weekend with my sisters, my niece and nephews.  Having my house full of so many people I love was fantastic.  They rolled in on Saturday night and left early Tuesday morning, and even though they were barely here, I enjoyed every minute.  We went to Big Hill lake on Monday morning.  I made 26 (or so) turkey and cheese sandwiches on my home made bread, and brought a sliced loaf of bread for PB&J sandwiches if we ran out of the others.  Everyone loved the bread.  My cousin’s husband, Ted, told me I could open a shop and just sell that bread. Someone else said it was the best home made bread they’d ever had.  So, if you try the recipe I’m guessing your families or friends will like it too.

Sam has been off work all week.  The college decided to give everyone a summer break this year, so he has been free since Friday. This has been the perfect week to have him home every day.  I haven’t been feeling that great, so just being able to lay around and “vacation” with him has been perfect.  We have rented movies, watched Netflix and Hulu, had friends over, and relaxed.  Sam asked if I wanted to go on a date tonight to celebrate our first 6 months of marriage and I’m excited to go out with him.  We decided to try selling ice cream at the Altamont farmers market this evening to try it out and to pay for our dinner!  Last weekend, Abby brought me a ton of frozen cream, so today’s venture will cost us a total of $4.08 for milk, plus tax.  I plan on selling the ice cream in foam cups for a dollar a scoop.  I’m bringing chocolate and vanilla, and maybe the left over cheesecake ice cream from last weekend.  Hopefully we make enough for a tasty anniversary dinner.  

So, in case you’d like to try this at home, here’s my ice cream recipe!

 2 C sugar
2 T cornstarch
¼ t salt
7 C milk
7 egg yolks, beaten
3 C cream
2 T vanilla


Stir sugar, cornstarch, salt and milk together over medium heat until slightly thickened (do not allow to boil).  Separate the eggs (I give the whites to my dogs, but you can find something else to do with it), beat the yolks, and quickly stir into the milk mixture.  Cook on medium again (keep a good eye on it this time), stirring constantly until slightly thickened again.  Stir in the cream.  Remove from heat and add vanilla.  Let the mixture cool and then freeze in your ice cream freezer.  This is enough for just about a gallon of ice cream!  Enjoy!