Here’s something fun for Father’s Day: Chocolate Peanut Butter Fried Ice Cream. The recipe is from QVC’s chef, David Venable.

It uses store-bought ice cream. If you’re comfortable with deep frying, this is an easy recipe.

While this recipe uses chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream, you can use whatever flavor you like; and substitute chopped almonds, macadamias, pecans, pistachios, or walnuts for the peanuts.

To make things even easier, you can prepare this recipe a few days in advance, through Step 4.

> National Chocolate Ice Cream Day is June 7th.

> July is National Ice Cream Month; National Ice Cream Day is the third Sunday in July.

> See all the ice cream holidays.

> The history of ice cream.

> The different types of ice cream and other frozen desserts.
 
 
EASY DEEP FRIED ICE CREAM RECIPE
 
Ingredients

cereal,* finely crushed

 
Preparation

1. SPOON out 8 large balls of ice cream onto a parchment paper-lined sheet pan. Freeze for at least 1-1/2 hours.

2. COMBINE the crushed cereal with the crushed peanuts in a large bowl. Dip the chilled ice cream balls in the crumb mixture; refreeze for 45 minutes. Do not discard the crumbs.

3. BEAT the eggs and sugar together in a large bowl. Dip the coated ice cream balls into the eggs and then into the crumb mixture, coating completely. Put the ice cream back onto the sheet pan, cover it with plastic wrap, and freeze it for 2 hours. Cover and refrigerate the egg and sugar mixture.

4. REPEAT the coating process again and refreeze for 6 hours, or overnight.

5. PREHEAT a deep fryer to 375°F. Line a plate with paper towels.

6. PLACE one ball into the oil and fry for about 25-35 seconds. Remove from the oil and place on the paper towel-lined plate. Repeat.

7. PLACE each ball on a dessert plate and drizzle it with chocolate sauce. Serve immediately.

 
 
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*Cheerios Frosted Whole Grain Oat & Corn Cereal, for example. You can substitute Corn Flakes or Frosted Flakes.

[1] Something special for dessert: fried ice cream (photos #1 and #3 © QVC).

[2] Use any flavor of ice cream you like (photo © Choctal Ice Cream [now closed]).

[3] Fried ice cream ready for its close-up.

[4] Start with purchased chocolate peanut butter ice cream (photo © Talenti).

Very fruity, lightly sweet but not sugary, and icy cold, we were tempted to have another as soon as we finished the first.*

The company says that the drink is “made with an alluring combination of blueberries and raspberries and a splash of pomegranate juice blended with ice and creamy low-fat yogurt.”

So why is it called Blueberry Pomegranate Smoothie instead of Blueberry Raspberry? Our guess is that “pomegranate” tested better with consumers.

And “splashes” of other juices are blended in as well, to get just the right flavor. The nutrition label lists, in order of the quantity (weight) of the ingredients:

What lingers is the lovely summer flavor of blueberry. The special McCafe machine creates the drink with a texture motr like a Slurpee rather than a conventional smoothie, but we’re not complaining: A Blueberry Pomegranate Smoothie is a great vacation from heat and humidity.

*What stopped us from having another were the carbs. The 12-ounce size (small) has 220 calories and 50g carbs, of which 44g are sugars. There is, however, 2g of protein from the yogurt.
  

Father’s Day is a week from today. If Dad enjoys a chocolate bar, how about giving him twelve of them, all in different fun flavors?

Hebert Candies of Shrewsbury, Massachussetts has created a gift box of delightful chocolate bars—a unique take on this favorite indulgence. There are 12-packs and 6-packs, plus individual bars in whatever flavors you like.

The gift box of 12 bars, $34.95, includes both milk chocolate bars and dark chocolate bars in:

If there’s someplace closer to chocolate bar heaven, we’d like to know about it.

96 YEARS OF FINE CHOCOLATE

In 1917, young Frederick Hebert purchased a copper kettle, a knife, a thermometer, a slab of marble and a table. He handcrafted chocolates and caramels in his home kitchen, and sold them to the small neighborhood stores that dotted central Massachusetts.

Business boomed, and Hebert built the Chocolate Mansion, his chocolate factory in Shrewsbury. If you’re in the area, take a tour of the factory. You’ll be enveloped in the aroma of chocolate that you won’t soon forget.

In the summer, the venue hosts an oldies car show every Thursday, with a build your own sundae bar. In the winter, you can have your photo taken with Santa, or with the Easter Bunny in the spring.

According to the company website, Frederick Hebert introduced white chocolate to the United States in 1956, after tasting “white coat” candies in Europe. (The first white chocolate bar was launched by Swiss chocolate manufacturer Nestlé in the 1930s.)

Discover more on the company website.

How about spicing up your iced tea?

This spin is from Ted Allen, host of Food Network’s series, “Chopped.”

Ted is a consultant to Lipton’s Pure Leaf Iced Tea.

He created this recipe with a prep time of just 5 minutes, using a bottle of Pure Leaf Not Too Sweet.

If you don’t like sugar in your tea or prefer a noncaloric sweetener, just brew your own tea and take it from there.

Make It A Cocktail

You can turn the drink into a cocktail by adding gin, vodka or tequila.
 
 
ASIAN SPICY CUCUMBER GREEN TEA

Instead of adding the pinch of red pepper, as called for in the ingredients, we prefer a Tajín rim.

A Mexican spice blend of cayenne, lime and salt (photo #3) Tajín is used on just about anything, savory or sweet.

Ingredients For 2 Servings

 
Preparation

1. CRUSH (muddle) cucumber, lime and red pepper with wooden spoon in 1-quart glass measuring cup.

2. STIR in tea. Mix well to combine.

3. STRAIN into ice-filled glasses. Garnish as desired.

Here’s more about Pure Leaf Iced Tea.
 
 
The History Of Iced Tea

Have An Iced Tea Party

How To Avoid Cloudy Iced Tea

The Different Types Of Tea

How To Brew The Perfect Cup Of Tea

How To Dissolve Sugar In Cold Drinks

How To Avoid Cloudy Iced Tea

The History Of Iced Tea

Essential Tea Facts

Grow Your Own Herbal Tea

The History Of Tea

The Afternoon Tea Party

Cold Infused Tea

Iced Tea Float With Sorbet

Thai Iced Tea

Watermelon Iced Tea

[1] Simply muddle cucumbers and add to iced tea with lime and red pepper (photo © In Pursuit Of Tea).

[2] Icy, spicy: Asian-style cucumber iced tea (photo © Pure Leaf Iced Tea).

[3] Tajín Seasoning is used in many recipes, and makes a spicy drink rimmer (photo © Tajín).

That’s one type of cooking, but we prefer the superior flavors of from-scratch cooking, using the best ingredients. Whether you’re making a marinade or anything else, the finest flavors come from fresh ingredients, including herbs.

Here’s a delicious marinade and steak sauce from a leading provider of quality beef, Double R Ranch. This family of ranchers wouldn’t dream of covering their fine steaks in bottled dressing.

They like a chimichurri sauce (a spicy parsley vinaigrette) as a steak sauce and a marinade—a classic Argentinian preparation from country of avid beef eaters.

STEAK SAUCE & MARINADE

Ingredients

Preparation

1. PLACE parsley, oregano, garlic and shallots in a food processor. Pulse until chopped but not puréed.

2. ADD vinegar, mustard and lemon juice to the herb mixture. Process on low while gradually adding the olive oil.

3. ADD salt and pepper to taste and pulse again. Store a sealable container. When ready to prepare the meat…

4. RINSE the steak briefly and pat try. Place the steak in a glass baking dish or other nonreactive shallow pan and cover with the marinade. Turn the steak to coat all sides and marinate for 30 minutes or longer. If you’re marinating for more than 30 minutes, cover the dish with plastic wrap, and turn the meat every two hours.

5. REMOVE the steak from the marinade when you’re ready to grill; do not reuse the marinade because it can collect bacteria.
 
WHAT IS A COWBOY STEAK?

Called a cowboy chop by Double R Ranch (it looks like an enormous chop), the cowboy steak is an impressive piece of meat.

It’s a bone-in ribeye steak with a frenched rib bone. This “raw bone” feature and the fact that the cut is generally around two pounds of meat, makes it big enough for the hungriest cowboy—or enables two people to share.

If you’d like to try a cowboy steak—or send one to Dad as a Father’s Day gift—Double R Ranch Co. is offering 10% off all cowboy chop purchases placed by June 11. To qualify for discount, all orders must be placed by 12 p.m. (EDT) on June 11 for shipment no later than June 12, 2013. Enter promo code “DRRDAD13” at checkout.

SEE ALL THE CUTS OF BEEF IN OUR DELECTABLE BEEF GLOSSARY.