Tossing the Ol' (Ice Cream) Ball Around

Family reunion, 1976. My husband’s Great-Uncle Bud takes the top off his hand-crank ice-cream maker and wows everyone with the marshmallow-studded pink-and-green-swirled ice cream inside…until they figure out that he'd just, uh, bought some fancified flavor at the store, scooped it into the ice cream maker and tried to pass it off as his own creation. Truth is, hand-cranking any flavor of ice cream is hard work: It takes a ton of elbow grease and approximately forever to make.

Enter the Play & Freeze™ ice cream ball. Here’s the scoop: It looks like a plastic soccer ball, but you pack it with ice and rock salt, fill it with cream, vanilla and sugar, and then play with it. Brilliant, right? No hours of tedious hand-cranking, just 20 to 30 minutes of tossing, kicking or rolling the ball around and voila, yummy sundaes. So I took the original ball (which makes a Ben & Jerry’s-size pint of ice cream) and the new MEGA size (which makes twice as much) along with the old hand-crank my hubby used as a kid to a barbecue last weekend to test them out.

It started cheerfully enough. All excited, we filled up the makers with the ingredients and the ice and salt, got in a circle and started throwing the balls at each other while someone took turns turning the old-fashioned hand-crank. But after a few throws, we realized the balls were heavier than we thought. You had to fight the instinct to just plain get out of the way when someone tossed the MEGA at you—it’s hard plastic, after all, and weighs a good ten pounds when full.

magic grapes

These grapes flavored with cherry Jell-O mix don't really have magical powers. And the name of the recipe given to me years ago was "cherry-flavored grapes," which prompted one friend to say, "Why would you make one fruit taste like another?" We will ignore that friend. 

Instead, we will pay attention to another friend who, whenever she throws a party, calls me up and asks, "Can you please bring the Magic Grapes?" I've referred to this recipe as Magic Grapes ever since, and I like to think of them as the ruby red slippers of the fruit world.

Both adults and children are pretty amazed by this crazy-simple recipe, and these grapes would be especially appropriate for a slumber party or really any party at all.

Magic Grapes

• 2 bunches of red grapes or thereabouts
• 1 small package of cherry-flavored Jell-O

Place the grapes in a Ziploc bag, pour in the Jell-O, seal, and shake shake shake until coated. Remove grapes from bag and place grapes in a clean Ziploc bag (since excess Jell-O creates an undesirable, soupy effect). Freeze; then serve. And be forewarned: These suckers are messy!

Note: Despite the ease of the recipe, there are a surprising amount of opportunities for screw-ups. I once froze the grapes before shaking them in Jell-O, and the Jell-O clumped and created a red pool of a mess, prompting someone to say at one party: “What is this?” Nobody really touched those grapes. When I made the same recipe correctly the next day, everybody thought they were the greatest thing ever and ate them until they were gone.

here's to beer! (part 1)

In the summer, a young woman's fancy turns to thoughts of beer. At least, mine do. And beer sommelier, educator, writer and super-cool beer chick Christina Perozzi is here to tell us all — chicks and non-chicks alike — about the finer points of our favorite fizzy lifting drink.

In this installment of our three-part interview, find out all about beer trends and summer favorites. Then stay tuned for future posts with advice on throwing a beer-pairing dinner and how to turn your favorite beerphobes into beer fans.

As a beer educator, what are the most common misconceptions you hear from people learning about beer?
Oh, beer is completely misunderstood, in almost every way. People don’t even know what its made of. A lot of people have heard the word “hops” but they have no idea what it is or the effect it has on beer. The biggest misconception by far is that a beer that is dark is a bitter and heavy beer. The color of a beer has absolutely nothing to do with how bitter it is or how much alcohol content that beer has. I always say that judging a beer by its color is like judging a book by its cover!

How much difference in flavor and quality is there between beer on tap, in bottles and in cans?
Well, some beers are bottle-conditioned and/or bottle-fermented and meant to be served out of a bottle and are better that way. A lot of people assume that draught beers are always better, but that’s not the case at all. It all depends on the style of beer and how the brewer feels that the beer is best served.

Whether the beer is served from a bottle or a can or on tap affects the balance of the beer in terms of temperature and carbonation levels. I actually like beer in cans…but not the ones that you are thinking of. You’ve probably heard people talk about a beer being “skunky.” Well, skunkiness in a beer comes from the hops in the beer being hit by light rays. That’s why the best beers are always served in dark bottles.

A can is even better because there’s no threat of light hitting the beer. The cans I like are a little different. They are lined inside with some kind of plastic, I think, so you don’t get any of that tinny flavor. And these beers should be poured into a glass and not consumed straight from the can so you can get the aromatics. There are some great craft beers that are being served in a can these days. There’s Oskar Blues and Surly Brewing Company, off the top of my head.

question of the week: invitation faves

I know I may a little bit biased, but Evite invitations are just plain fun. Even before I started working here, I was always so excited to get see an invitation in my inbox. For me, seeing "Evite" in the subject line always holds the promise of fun to be had and memories to be made.

Now that I'm an official Eviter, people always tell me what they love most about our invitations. One friend claims to be the master of writing the best message to his guests when he's sending out his own invitations. Another person I met told me about how she loves leaving clever comments along with her RSVP — she even said she'll spend hours thinking of just the right thing to say.

twiigs.com

bowl me over

Depending on your cravings and current state of mind, this popcorn bowl from Perpetual Kid is either a cool bowl or a cruel joke. It gives you the illusion of popcorn without delivering on any of the buttery goodness. I vote for cool bowl — even though you're pretty much limited to only serving popcorn in it. But still, popcorn is never wrong.

This would be great for a movie night, watching the game, a casual party or any other time the urge to pop strikes. Like now....

There are also potato chip and tortilla chip bowls, if that's more your speed.

share your old chef's tales

Like this design? Create an Evite invitation with this image.

At a recent party, the host popped a spoon (handle down) into an unfinished bottle of champagne to keep it fizzy. I was left puzzled over two things: One, why didn't we drink all the champagne? And two, does that trick even work?

An online search turned up several debates about this topic, as well as various attempts to debunk it. This got me thinking about other cooking folklore, so I searched around and asked fellow Eviters about their favorites. Here's what we came up with. Vote true or false in the comments — and add your own tips!

• An avocado pit in guacamole prevents it from browning.
• Salting water makes it take longer to boil.
• Putting a slice of bread in with cookies in your food storage container lets the cookies soak up the bread's moisture, keeping them fresher longer.
• Soak apples in Sprite to keep them from darkening.
• Toss in a wooden matchstick when hard-boiling eggs to keep the whites from seeping out if the egg cracks.
• Ripen food by putting it in a paper bag with a banana.
• Raw potato soaks up excess salt in soups, stews and sauces.
• Turning on a gas burner keeps you from crying when chopping onions.
• Rub garlicky hands on something made from stainless steel (faucet, spoon) to remove the smell.
• Tossing pasta against the wall tells you if it's done.

the great scape

When I think of Smuckers, my mind goes right to those single-serving jam and jelly packets you find at diners. Or, more specifically, to digging through the stack to snag the strawberry one before someone else does.

But my supermarket sleuth, aka my friend Beth, recently alerted me to this find: Smuckers PlateScapers Dessert Toppings. Did we know about this? Squeezy bottles of sweet sauces you use to draw designs on a dessert plate, swirl over whipped cream in your sundae or use to lace a latte, girlie cocktail, whatever you like.

Of course, homemade hot fudge sauce is tough to beat. But sometimes you just need a quick squeeze. And this sauce, which comes in caramel, chocolate, raspberry, vanilla and chocolate fudge, looks like just the thing to impress your guests. Easy, squeezy, beautiful.

as if wines aren't mysterious enough

Once, a mystery wine party was born following a friend’s bad breakup. I figured an all-girls-night-in was just what my friend needed to get her mind off the topsy-turviness of her life.

But a friend doesn’t have to go through a brutal breakup for you to host your own mystery wine-tasting party. Bastille Day — the July 14th French holiday — is the perfect time to host one. You can stick close to the Frenchness of the event and have all French wines and foods or have a loose French-people-like-wine-and-so-do-we! theme with wines from wherever you please.

When I hosted mine, I supplied the wines and asked friends to help with food. But I’ve also attended a bring-your-own-mystery-wine party. Just ask people to bring their wine in a brown paper bag and report to you.

question of the week: summer songs

There are certain songs that are synonymous with summer. You know the ones — whenever you hear them, you can close your eyes and almost smell the salt water and suntan lotion. For me, it's really anything by The Beach Boys or Jimmy Buffett. Eva, my fellow Evite Blog contributor, loves a little Beach Blanket Bingo and the original "Summertime, and the livin' is easy..." from Porgy and Bess.

Your turn! We want to know what songs make you want to hit the beach or sip a drink out of a coconut. Maybe it's one of the classic summer party songs below. Or if you're into more current tunes (hello, Doin' Time by Sublime), tell us your faves in the comments.

twiigs.com

kids' toys are blowin' up

When I was a kid, my inflatable outdoor toys consisted of beach balls, a swim ring shaped like a crocodile and a raft that deflated instantly upon contact with water. Fun was had, to be sure, but between chasing after toys that drifted off on ocean currents or wind gusts and chronic dizziness from blowing things up (and re-blowing them up an hour later), my memories are a bit meh.

Well, things have changed, people. We all know renting bounce houses is all the rage at kids' parties, but you can also buy your own inflatable fun. Today's toys run the gamut from cute (octopus-shaped sprinkler) to clever (large bowling ball and pins) to unbelievable (a three-slide "roaring rapids" backyard water park).

I've featured ten of my favorites below, ranked in order of cost — there's great stuff to be had at all sorts of prices.