Truly, Truly, Truly Outrageous

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I'm going to be brief today, but I want to give a big nod to the history we've made in the past few weeks here in the US of A. Healthcare and marriage for everyone! Punching it in with Cuba! BP has to eat it, big time! And a birthday! No, it hasn't all been positive. Some extraordinarily sad stuff has happened as well. But the optimist in me is hoping it all leads to a Greater Good. Movement forward. For the first time since I entered college, voted in my first presidential election and had my vote count (when Bill Clinton won his first term), I feel hopeful for, and a little proud, of my country. I feel like I'm a part of it; a rare emic approach to my United States. Doesn't it kind of feel like we're in the middle of a “Mercy Mercy Me” or “Turn! Turn! Turn!” video? Like, it's all happening. Now.

But also, ALSO, it's Emerson's first birthday next week! A year, the first year, of the most important life in my life (that's a whole other discussion that's probably only interesting to me). And we'll be on our little family Summer vacation at a charming house on the Rappahannock River. Fred and I have been wildly busy with work and really feel like we need, deserve this coming week. That's always a good feeling.

Tomorrow, however, to celebrate Independence Day, we will be reveling with our friends. Our friends with a pool. Emerson will don her red, white and blue – with stars – jumper and I am strongly considering bravely donning my swimsuit. We will eat, drink and be merry. And we will hopefully be indulging in these DIY-but-not-too-much-DIY, truly, truly, truly outrageous (yes, I just took it back to Jem) ice cream sandwiches.

Because, when it's Tennessee William's hot, what could be better than cool, sticky, drippy, messy decadence? Yes, I'm still talking about the ice cream sandwiches.

Triple-Dipped Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches

Makes 2 ginormous ice cream sandwiches

INGREDIENTS
4 large quality chocolate chip cookies (buy or make!)

1 pint of vanilla ice cream

12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

DIRECTIONS
Keep the ice cream in the freezer until the second you're ready to assemble your sandwiches. Additionally, keep your cookies cool in the refrigerator so they are hard and resilient enough to hold the ice cream.

• Assembling the sandwich:
  We found that cutting straight into the cardboard of the pint of ice cream was the easiest, and least messy, method for getting the perfect slab of ice cream to fit into the sandwich. Use your knife to make an incision in your ice cream pint, dragging it vertically from the top of the pint to the bottom. Follow the line where the cardboard meets and overlaps. The best discs for large cookies come from cutting the top of the pint as that’s where it’s thickest. Cut all the way through until you have a disc. Peel the cardboard off the ice cream starting with the incision you made. Then simply place the ice cream disc on the underside of one of the cookies, put a second cookie (underside down) on top, and you have your ice cream sandwich. Place sandwiches on a parchment-lined baking sheet in the freezer for about 30 minutes to re-freeze prior to chocolate dipping o-clock.
• Meanwhile, you'll need to temper your chocolate, which is essentially melting it down to be dippable. Here are some good, simple instructions on how to temper without even using a thermometer.
• Once your chocolate is melty and smooth, and your ice cream sandwiches are anything but, remove the sandwiches from the freezer. One by one, dip them into the chocolate, place them back onto the parchment and re-freeze them for about 15 minutes. Yes, you could actually eat them, and happily, at this point. But we thought it would be fun to repeat the dipping process not one, but two (2!) more times for maximum chocolate, triple dippage action. And we suggest you do the same.

These are to be eaten fast and furious(ly). They're big and rich and sweet and truly, truly, truly outrageous. After you lick the ice cream and chocolate off your hands (and maybe arms?) you can queue up Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and enjoy the rest of your sultry Summer evening.

Printable recipe.

One year ago: The Perfect Tomato Sandwich

Two year ago: Fig, Peach & Mascarpone Tart

Three years ago: Sausage, Egg & Fontina Cheese Pizza

Four years ago: Yerp: Part 4 - Les Sentiers Gourmands

Five years ago: Summer Squash Gratin with Salsa Verde

Six years ago: Pimiento Cheese