Bright and colorful and decidedly retro in the best way, bubble gum ice cream is a unique ice cream with a whole lot of whimsy and hints of banana, cherry, and strawberry.

Bubble Gum Ice Cream

My earliest ice cream memory is a trip to Baskin Robbins with my Grandpa Zintz. This is the grandfather that introduced me to Pralines and Cream ice cream – my forever favorite as an adult, however my taste buds simply did not appreciate its awesomeness as a young child.

I remember ordering a scoop of bubble gum ice cream “in a cup, please” and Grandpa humored me as I carefully saved every tiny piece of bubble gum and took them home with me. Never had I had such richness as a whole little cup half filled with pieces of bubble gum.

I’m not going to lie, the very thought of all that saved bubble gum makes me cringe now. But boy, did it rock my 6-year-old world.

Whether you choose to actually stir in the bubble gum balls or simply have them on the side, the flavors here are so nostalgic, I can’t help grinning.

The most popular question I get is whether it’s possible to make ice cream without a machine. The answer is YES. You can make ice cream without a machine. Find the full directions here!

Retro Ice Cream

To make this sentimental and delicious ice cream, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• strawberries
• banana
• cherries
• sugar
• kosher salt
• vanilla extract
• almond extract
• milk
• heavy cream
• small bubble gum balls

Combine the strawberries, banana, cherries, sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and milk in the blender. Blend until smooth. Add the cream and pulse to combine.

Pour into the ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

This coffee flavored cake is truly for coffee lovers. The coffee flavors both the cake and the frosting, cutting the sweetness without detracting from the flavor. But you gotta like coffee. A lot. Luckily, we do, so this is a very popular cake in our house.

Coffee Flavored Cake

Our friend Tom introduced us to this cake last year and I couldn’t get it out of my head. His version started with a cake mix, and it was truly irresistible. So, I challenged myself to recreate it from scratch. This is truly a coffee lover’s dream come true.

As much as I love a great coffee cake -which is typically made without a bit of coffee in it, but served with coffee- this is a cake for the coffee lover. Coffee flavored cake topped with fluffy coffee frosting? I very happily make and eat this cake as often as possible.

Coffee Flavored Cake Recipe

To make this little piece of coffee heaven, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• instant coffee
• water
• brown sugar
• white sugar
• vegetable or olive oil
• eggs
• vanilla extract
• all purpose flour
• baking powder
• salt
• coffee frosting

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As fluffy as a summer cloud, this intense coffee frosting is for true coffee lovers! Top chocolate cake, coffee cake, vanilla cupcakes, or sandwich between your favorite cookies.

This is a coffee lover’s dream come true.

Coffee Frosting

In our family, we love coffee – a lot. We also love cake. And we take our frostings seriously. This coffee-flavored frosting is always a great choice for chocolate cake, naturally, since coffee and chocolate go so well together.

But don’t stop there! It makes a killer filling between two cookies of just about any type. If you’d drink a cup of coffee with that cookie, you can frost it with coffee frosting. From 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies to Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies, we have so many options for cookies here.

Chocolate Chip Blondies are heavenly when topped with this frosting too. Pour a cup of coffee and let’s frost something!

Coffee Flavored Frosting

To make this coffee-fanatic fantasy frosting, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• instant coffee
• water
• butter
• powdered sugar
• vanilla
• heavy cream

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Tangy, creamy, and packing a little mysterious kick, Russian dressing is a classic salad topper and dip that deserves a little more attention. Coming together in five minutes or fewer, you’ll want to have a bottle of this in the fridge at all times!

Russian Dressing

If you’ve ever eaten in a diner in the US, chances are you’ve eaten or seen Russian dressing. Whether it’s on a salad, burger, or reuben, or used as a dip for french fries or fried pickles, you’re probably familiar with this red-flecked, creamy orange dressing.

What is Russian Dressing?

This ubiquitous dressing is a combination of mayonnaise and ketchup punched up with a little prepared horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, and onion, and brightened up with a little fresh lemon juice. And despite the name, it’s decidedly American.

Dating back to the early 1900s, it was called Russian dressing because the original version contained caviar which was considered to be a Russian ingredient at the time. While many restaurants use Thousand Island dressing on Reubens these days, Russian dressing was the original spread used for the sandwich.

Russian Dressing Vs. Thousand Island

So what’s the difference between these two dressings? They sure appear similar at first glance.

Both are made from that delectable combination of mayonnaise and ketchup, and both contain some minced or grated onion, but the similarity ends there. Thousand Island is decidedly sweeter, containing sweet pickle relish. Russian has more zest and punch courtesy of the prepared horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, and paprika.

In many cases, you can use them interchangeably, but my preference leans toward the Russian, personally. I like the hint of horseradis