For an indulgent treat, make your own ice cream. Granted, it’s not as easy as slipping a pint of Ben and Jerry’s into your shopping cart, but there are so many advantages to making your own ice cream. You can customize the level of sugar and richness according to your own personal preference. The add-in ingredients can be suited your taste and dietary needs. Perhaps the most important aspect of making your own ice cream, according to classic French cooking principles, is that you alone control the attention paid to, and therefore the quality, of the food prepared. Chocolate pistachio ice cream is a great beginner recipe; it has a rich custard base with a refined blend of chocolate and nuts – perfect for a dinner party! Bon appetit!

More delicious French frozen dessert recipes!

• Apple and Calvados Sorbet
• Glace au Pain d'Epices
• Peches Melba
• Framboise Sorbet
• Pomegranate Cranberry Sorbet
• Watermelon Sorbet

Chocolate Pistachio Ice Cream Photo: Lotus Head

We've spent the summer weeding and tending our garden, and now we have something to show for it. In addition to the mounds of baby spinach and romaine lettuce, my husband brought in the first zucchini of the season. It was a perfect, shiny green baby with the withered blossom still attached. It is so beautiful sitting on my kitchen counter that I'm a little afraid to cook it. Does anyone have an opinion on what recipe I should prepare with my little squash? Here some garden food for thought in the meantime.

French Recipes with Garden Vegetables:

• Citrus Chicken Salad Recipe
• Cucumber Dill Salad Recipe
• Minted Zucchini Salad Recipe
• Red Pepper Bean Salad Recipe

Zucchini Salad Photo: Slavomir Ulicny