Can someone please explain “traditional anniversary gifts?”

You know…
1st- paper
2nd- cotton
3rd- leather
4th- linen
5th- wood

Yes, wood. Today we celebrate five wonderful years of marriage. Nothing says I love you like some tree bark. But seriously, the only wooden gift I could think of that seemed fitting was bourbon…an entire barrel of it. So after some research I found a barrel of bourbon is a mere $10,000 so…I went with ice cream. I always go with ice cream.

I’ve mentioned our ice cream wedding cake before, so ice cream on this day only seems right. On our honeymoon in Italy, Jon and I stopped for a nightcap every evening. And by nightcap I mean he’d get Grand Marnier and I’d get gelato. So I combined the two, added some chocolate and ended up with a boozy, creamy, anniversary dessert.

This ice cream comes together quickly. There are no eggs. There’s no heating the cream. Just stir, chill and churn. It’s citrusy and silky with chunks of milk chocolate. It’s the perfect way to say thank you for putting up with my crazy for the past five years. Thanks for not freaking out when you spent an hour putting together a book shelf that I hate. Thanks for telling me you like my hair when I haven’t washed it in three days. Thanks for leaving me the softest pear in the fruit bowl.  And most of all, thanks for never giving me paper, or cotton or tree bark. Happy Anniversary! Love you!

Grand Marnier Ice Cream

Ingredients:
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup 2% milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup Grand Marnier
6 oz milk chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon orange zest (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl combine cream, milk and sugar. Whisk until the sugar is dissolved (Although I never felt like mine was completely dissolved. So just mix extremely well). Add the salt, and Grand Marnier.
2. Refrigerate the mixture for at least an hour. I didn’t have time to churn it and it sat in my refrigerator for two days.
3. When you’re ready, and the mixture is cold, churn according your ice cream maker’s directions.
4. In the last minutes of churning, add in the chocolate and zest. Let it churn for a few more minutes.
5. Scoop into a freezer safe container giving it a few good stirs with a wooden spoon, mostly to make sure the zest is mixed in. Freeze and enjoy!

Notes:

1. My head wants to do something ice creamy with amaretto and cherries. Wait for it…
2. Don’t use skim milk in place of the 2%. It needs the fat. It gets icy without it, even with the cream.
3. Use whatever type of chocolate you want. If this wasn’t for Jon I would have used dark, but he’s a milk chocolate fan.