I don't know about the rest of you but here in central NC it is ridiculously hot. So hot. Too hot even to swim. We are just staying inside in the nice air conditioning. Dog days of summer are coming up quick.

I found some cooler-temperature Russian recipes to try on days like these. In weather like this I don't like to cook. Freezing stuff or chopping stuff I can handle.

I found a bunch of recipes for cold borscht and another cold soup called okroshka, which involves boiled eggs, potatoes, and beef, all cold, as well as a recipe for holodets, a mixed meat jelly (!) and for fish jelly (!!). Gag. Fish aspic. And does any kid *really* like borscht?

I did find a wonderful recipe for a cold spinach soup, which sounded lovely to me, but I could not imagine anyone with children making it, or the other possibilities I mentioned, for their family. So what I found was a tasty-sounding recipe for Ice Cream that you don't even need an ice cream maker to make.

Enjoy!

From the "Russia in US" website

Plombir Slivochnyi (Ice Cream)

To serve 8 to 10

1 1/2 cups of finely chopped glazed mixed fruits
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of almond extract
3 cups of chilled heavy cream
1/2 cup of powdered sugar (confectioners’)
1/2 cup of blanched, toasted almonds, pulverized in a mortar and pestle or in a nut grinder


In a small mixing bowl, sprinkle the glazed fruits with the vanilla and almond extracts and let them soak for at least 15 minutes.

In a large, chilled mixing bowl, beat the heavy cream with a whisk or rotary or electric beater until it begins to thicken. Gradually beat in the sugar, a tablespoon at a time and continue to beat until the cream hold fairly firm peaks on the beater when it is lifted out of the bowl. With a rubber spatula, fold in the glazed fruit mixture and the ground almonds and continue to fold until the ingredients are well combined.

Transfer the mixture to a 1 1/2-quart soufflé dish or a charlotte mold, smooth the top and cover with plastic wrap or foil. Freeze for at least 4 hours, or until firm. To remove from mold, run a narrow knife or spatula around the inside edges of the ice cream. Then dip the bottom of the mold into hot water for about 15 seconds. Wipe the mold dry, invert a flat serving plate on top of it and grasping mold and plate firmly together, turn them over. The ice cream should slide out easily. To serve, cut into pie-shaped wedges with a knife dipped in hot water.