**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. ​  But, all opinions expressed are my own.

Alicia back with another International Heritage recipe for you guys. This month we're doing Spain and so far it has been delicious! I was worried because I've not had much Spanish food in my life, and when I asked for suggestions I received ideas for dishes from other Spanish speaking countries but not Spain. But in the end my friends came through! Today's dish was the first suggestion I'd never heard of or tried. But I'm so glad I did, it will definitely be making its way onto our regular menu.

​Today's recipe is Spanish tortilla, which is nothing like a Mexican tortilla (which I also love). No, the Spanish tortilla is a whole meal in itself.

If you know Spanish you'll know from the title of this section that it's a potato dish (papas=potatoes). And honestly when I first read the ingredients I thought I knew what this was going to taste like. But I was so wrong, in the best way! This is really one of my favorite things I've made so far for this experiment. There was almost a melt in your mouth quality to this. And although everything was fried in oil it wasn't too greasy! Just so, so, so good. 

I do have a couple tips though. This is the first thing I made in my cast iron skillet and I think it added to the flavor. So if you have a skillet use it. Mine is 10.25 inches and I use it almost everyday now. I love it. So you need a skillet that's about 10 inches wide and 1.5 inches deep. And at one point you have to flip the tortilla out of the skillet. It's pretty easy but be sure to use oven mitts/pot holders to avoid burns.

Spanish Tortilla

Please make this for dinner some day. You will not regret it.

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. ​  But, all opinions expressed are my own.

     My husband and I are truly empty nesters now.  This past weekend Madalynn moved in with a friend to be her roommate.  It is a new chapter for her and it makes me a little sad, but I am glad that she still works nearby and is still in Phoenix, so I know I will still be seeing her quite a bit.  So, until our youngest gets home from his 2 year mission in Africa, we are empty nesters.  
      One thing about being empty nesters is that we use a lot less milk than we used to.  It is hard to use a gallon before it sours, so I am having to start buying half gallons.  But, when Alicia was here with her children, I bought milk for them and there was still almost a gallon left when they were gone. The expiration date was coming and I hated to see the milk go to waste, so I found some recipes that use large quantities of milk.  Do you remember the post about Lindsey coming into a huge amount of canned pumpkin?  This Pumpkin Brulee recipe made it possible for me to use both the milk and some of the pumpkin! 
     This brulee gives you the pumpkin pie taste without the crust. Because it is made with regular milk rather than evaporated milk, it is a soft, creamy custard, less firm than you get in pie. My favorite perk is that I got to use my brulee torch to make the crunchy topping!

Pumpkin Brulee

       I must add that this Pumpkin Brulee received Lindsey's seal of approval!
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**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. ​  But, all opinions expressed are my own.

     I have loved Hot Fudge Sundaes since I was a child.  I learned that love from my mom.  It was always a special treat to get to go to Foster's Freeze in our little town and get a Hot Fudge Sundae! I could have eaten that hot fudge sauce all by itself, but tasting the hot fudge with a bit of the cold ice cream was like going to heaven with every bite.  Over the years, I have tried many different recipes for Hot Fudge Sauce.  I haven't really found one that replicates that flavor of long ago.  They often have chocolate chips in them and they harden too much when they hit the cold ice cream.  But, the other day I was going through an old recipe collection when I came across what is possibly the simplest and closest to the mark version of a hot fudge sauce that I have ever tried.  The beauty of this recipe is that I already had everything for it available in my kitchen staples! So, I put my baby granddaughter in her highchair and we got busy making it! It made a nice good sized batch,  cost very little and the taste is great! I immediately spooned some over a bowl of my favorite mint chocolate chip ice cream, which it melted down the sides of, then squirted on some whipped cream. I tasted it and pronounced it good!  (Look up at the top picture and see the goodness that I am describing!)

     So, after making this delightful treat, which believe me is a relief to eat during our terribly hot summer, I started wondering what types of toppings my family loves best on their ice cream.  Isn't it weird that after all of these years I don't really know!  So, today for Friday Faves, the question is, "What is your favorite ice cream topping?"
I polled my family and here are the answers I received:

     I was surprised when Alicia answered that her favorite topping is Gummy Bears!  I guess she likes something a little chewy to go  with her smooth ice cream. She followed that up with sprinkles. I always have lots of those on hand in my Hot Cocoa Bomb Supplies. 

     Maddy says she loves brownie bites and cookie dough bits sprinkled on her sundaes!  I have to agree that those are delicious! 

     My DIL Korina likes the chocolate that forms a shell on the ice cream when it hits the cold.  Smucker's Magic Shell is available in a 4 pack from Amazon! Her husband, my oldest son Aaron, predictably answered with Bacon Bits as his choice!  
        My other DIL, Jessica, likes good ol' Hershey's chocolate syrup! My husband feels the same. 
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Hot Fudge Ice Cream Topping

     Do you like my ice cream dishes?  I bought them in Switzerland when my husband and I were living in Germany during his army years. But, here are some cute ones! 

     What are your favorite toppings?  Have you tried Bacon Bits?  That salty sweet taste might be pretty good, I do like bacon on donuts.  Let us know in the comments! 

        Be sure to subscribe to our blog and stay in the loop of all of the recipes and ideas to come!  It won't be long before the holidays will be upon us.  Did you subscribe to get our ideas for Christmas in July?  Hint:  These ideas will work all year!  Go ahead and subscribe right here.