The Attack of the Butter Eaters and Low Fat Peach (Pit) Ice Cream

Since my dear husband’s heart attack, we’ve been searching for desserts that are a little lower in the dreaded “b” word. That word that used to bring joy and meaning to my existence.

Buttah.

I have a long and sordid history with butter.

If you can believe this, in my childhood, I used to eschew butter. (No, I didn’t say I CHEWED it. I mean I used to avoid it.) I would watch my sister, who shall remain nameless, and since I have two, it could be EITHER ONE OF THEM, put large pats of butter onto her Grecian bread (we bought it from the restaurant in town where the baker actually hailed from Greece, and he KNEW what he was doing with a loaf of bread) and then, I’d shiver. It seemed so thick and tongue-coating to me.

But then….sadly…something happened.

My tastes changed.

And I began my love affair with butter. Which has remained an undying kind of love. It’s true what they say, you know. Buttah makes everything bettah. Well….almost everything….

Honestly, I know, have known for years the evils thereof. And I try to eat butter in moderation. Seriously, I do! I substitute olive oil frequently! But there’s just something about that velvety melting on one’s tongue that only butter provides….

~sigh~

Early in our marriage, before the advent of Costco, before I began buying 4 1 pound packages of butter at a time (the Costco way), I used to buy a pound of Land O’ Lakes here, a pound there. It was used in baking, occasionally in cooking, and from time to time on a lovely slice of toast. But then, one day, maybe it was our first Thanksgiving where my siblings came to visit, my husband had a shocking realization: I came from a family of Butter Eaters. Where butter consumption was concerned, my siblings seemed to him to be Black Holes. Butter was sucked down their gaping maws like there was no tomorrow. The BB began to develop an appreciation for my own personal discipline and moderation in the realm of butter consumption.

Look at me: butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth. (I’m lying.)

In fact, as holidays and family visits approached, he would ask casually, “So…when are the Butter Eaters coming?”

Well, dear siblings of mine: the last laugh is yours. He had a heart attack, and you didn’t. Ha HA! That’ll show him! And, I’m stuck looking around for deliciousness without butter. Or, at least, where butter is used in moderation.

Which leads me to today’s recipe.

See, I bought some peaches, and the Big Bison was looking through our VitaMix cookbook for a healthy dessert, and he saw a lovely one for peach ice cream. “Hey, honey,” he called from the kitchen, “Want me to chop up and freeze these peaches? I think we can make peach ice cream if we freeze them.”

What wife is going to turn down kitchen help, I ask you???

“Yeah, hon, that’d be great!”

So, the BB allegedly chopped and froze said peaches.

Next night, he proudly brings me a bowl of “his creation” (to be read with your best Peter Lorre imitation voice). Mmmmm…peach ice cream. Fresh! And no cream! No butter! Just healthy peach yumminess!!!

You’d think…

But….you’d be mistaken….

I taste a bite of the cool peachy goodness…mmm….and I notice The Bison is putting his thumb and forefinger up to his lips, and picking something off, and is sporting a slightly troubled expression on his face. There is a furrow in his brow.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, cocking my head slightly to the side.

CRUNCH.

“Hey…what’s….”

CRUNCH.

“Pit. Bith of pit.” he lisps, picking one of the offending interlopers off his tongue.

Great.

My fresh peach ice cream is littered with the detritus of a ground up peach pit.

It seems the Big Bison accidentally froze a peach pit, which was dumped unceremoniously into the VitaMix. Now, for those of you who are VitaMix Virgins out there, a VitaMix is a blender that is nothing short of a wood chipper. That baby can chew up anything you’d throw in there, maybe even body parts, for all I know. But a peach pit won’t even cause it to break a sweat. Know what I mean?

But the story gets better…or worse….

Peach pits apparently have cyanide. You know, that almond-smelling poison that figures so prominently in so many Agatha Christie novels?

Well, thank God we didn’t find THAT out till the following morning, after we’d lived through the night with no ill effects. My friends who’ve had the courage to google for me tell me that it would have taken a lot more cyanide than what you find in one peach pit to have poisoned us. If I’d known that the night before, after I ate the ice cream, (and yes, I PICKED OUT ALL THE PEACH PIT BITS, it was THAT GOOD!!!!) I wouldn’t have slept a wink.

Anyway, I thought you’d enjoy seeing the evidence….

Bits o’pits

And because it was THAT GOOD, (and I never post a recipe I don’t find to be stellar) I thought those of you who have hung in to the end of my tale might enjoy a wonderful NO BUTTER NO CREAM recipe for wonderful, guilt free Peach Ice Cream…sans the pit.

You will probably need a VitaMix to make this, unless you have a really, really good blender of another persuasion that can tackle making ice cream. But don’t go burning yours up if you don’t think it can handle frozen peaches and turning them into ice cream.

Slightly Melted Peachy Goodness

Peach Ice Cream

1 cup Sweet Acidopholus Milk (you can use skim, or 1% or 2%, but we like sweet Acidopholus, so there you have it)

1 lb. frozen peaches

1/2 c. Agave Nectar (you can use sugar, but we’re trying to do stuff lower on the glycemic index)

1/2 t. vanilla extract

1/2 t. almond extract

Place all ingredients in the VitaMix in the order listed, and put the lid on. Select VARIABLE, speed #1. Turn on machine and increase speed to #10, and then to HIGH. Use the tamper to press the ingredients into the blades while processing. In about 30 to 60 seconds, four mounds should appear on top of the mixture, and the sound of the motor will change, indicating your deliciousness is ready to be consumed! Turn the motor off and serve immediately, or the ice cream will start to melt.

Got any Butter Eaters in your family tree? Any plans for peaches this summer? Any recipe mishap stories you’d like to share? Let’s talk!
(And if you enjoyed this, feel free to like it on facebook: I think I have a linky at the top of the post.)