Muffin tins: one of the world's best inventions.

Last night was the Air Force Birthday Ball. My boss being active duty AF, she and her husband went. Somehow, I got voluntold to have a pizza/ice cream party at our house with all the neighborhood kids. There were 4-5 little boys, and one little girl running wild around the house last night.
Wednesday, when I did the shopping, I picked up 3 cartons of ice cream; chocolate, vanilla and cookie dough. Yesterday, as I prepared for the party, I remembered seeing this on Pinterest:

source

I thought it was brilliant and worth a try. So I scooped 4 of each flavor into a lined muffin tin. I popped it in the freezer and several hours later when it was time for ice cream I just pulled out the muffin tin and told the kids they could have two scoops of different flavors. 

I popped the balls of ice cream into the plastic bowls (you don't think I'm crazy enough to want to do all those dishes, do you?) And the kids decorated to their heart's contents (whipped cream, sprinkles, chocolate syrup... the goods). 

My bosses even came home and were impressed with my ingenuity. (Thank you pinterest!)  

The upshot is: next time you have a party with lots of *super patient* children, give this a try. Brilliant I tell you. Brilliant.  

Tip du jour

Recently I have been eating dairy free to help my baby's tummy. In doing so, I have deeply missed chocolate. Then I remembered something...there is no dairy in canned frosting! I remembered that I had some left over chocolate frosting in the fridge (don't judge) so I had a teaspoon full just to take the edge off. And then I remembered this wonderful tip to frostings:

In order to get that smoothness that you would get from a wonderful frosting (whether from the can or bakery), add 1-2 tablespoons of corn syrup when you are making your frosting. It will help the powdered sugar break down without dissolving, which makes it smoother and eliminates that "powdered sugar" taste.