First Hummus and Ice Cream

Watching the Food Network recently has made me want to become some sort of chef. Or at least feel like I can try new recipes without creating a disaster in the kitchen! (and in my head I hear my nephew saying "diaper disaster" in honor of his little sister....) Anyway, many times I see such personalities as Rachel Ray, Alton Brown, Bobby Flay etc. using a food processor. And initially I just figured, "So what? I'm only making food for two, my Pampered Chef hand chopper will be enough." Yeah, and then I kept watching those shows, and realized that I really did want a food processor for myself. Nothing fancy, nothing big, but one nonetheless.

So I did some research, and using the last two Macy's gift cards from the wedding I bought myself this seven cup Kitchenaid food processor last week. The first thing to have the honors? Why, hummus of course!! But not just any hummus. This was Smoky Chipotle Pepper Hummus!

A little background: When I was in Massachusetts over Memorial Day Weekend, Dave and Erica hosted a Sunday brunch at their house. And for an appetizer served Chipotle Hummus from Trader Joe's - it was scrumptous! Sadly, the closest Trader Joe's is somewhere in North Carolina...or Georgia...I haven't actually googled which one is closer. Anyway, I googled around and found a recipe pretty similar!

To start I needed Tahini, which, shockingly enough, our local Bi-Lo doesn't carry. They DO however, have the sesame seeds. I will never buy tahini paste (and neither will Heather now!) since all you do is toast sesame seeds, and puree them with some oil. Wala! Now you have tahini!

In addition to the usual garbanzo beans (chickpeas), lemon juice, tahini and oil - this recipe uses chipotle peppers, roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes, ground cumin, garlic and cilantro. Yummy! So good, in fact, that Trip just had extra with dinner. That's right, on his own =) If you'd like the recipe I can send it your way. However, you can always search recipezaar since I won't lie - I didn't make it up myself.
Then on Saturday evening, in honor of Father's Day, Trip and I got to use our White Mountain Creamery Ice Cream Maker. Yummy! I'm a little confused by the Ben and Jerry's directions, as their recipe clearly says it make 1 quart, which doubled should only make 2 - yet somehow I managed to get 4 out of it. Alas, it was awesome. We made coffee ice cream since Trip's dad is a fan of coffee. Unfortunately Katie couldn't have any due to her new dietary restrictions (no dairy), but everyone else thought it was good. Of course, since we made twice as much as planned, Trip and I even got to bring some of the extras home. Score!