Mmm Malted Milo Malteser Ice Cream

Ice cream is exquisite.  What a pity it isn't illegal ~ Voltaire.

I got brain freeze walking home tonight.

Yes, an ice cream headache just because it was so darn cold down here in Dunedin and not because I got to eat delicious ice cream.  Talk about jipped.

I gotta say though, despite the freezing temperatures outside, I could still totally do a big bowl of ice cream for dessert.  Just what is it about this classic frozen dessert that makes it so universally loved, so good, so addictive?  The endless flavors and toppings?  Maybe its dreamy smoothness?  Or the way it melts into creamy sweetness in your mouth?  Whatever it is, there's one thing that's for sure: ice cream equals happiness.

{via icanread}

Getting that pseudo ice cream headache just made me long for this Malted Milo Malteaser Ice Cream I made a wee while back.  It's a glorious malt bonanza.  Chocolate malt powder, malted milk power AND chocolate coated malt balls.  Coz let's face it, everything tastes better as ice cream.

Not Your Grandma's Port & Prunes Gelato

Port is not for the very young, the vain and the active. It is the comfort of age and the companion of the scholar and the philosopher. ~ Evelyn Waugh

Ok, I confess: I used to watch Iron Chef America.

All that over the top commentary, intense knife skills, and big complicated chefy creations: a foodie's ultimate guilty pleasure.

And then there was always some muppet who thought fish ice cream would be a good idea.

Fish ice cream is never a good idea.

However, there are some ice creams that sound odd but are actually incredible. Case in point: Port & Prunes Gelato.

Now, when I say port and prunes, you're probably thinking bingo and zimmer frames.  Not exactly the sexiest sounding combo but trust me when I say this gelato outta this world.

It would make Morimoto proud.

Creamy and dreamy, with bursts of port soaked prunes with the frangrance of ruby ripe grapes, in a malty almost caramelly gelato base, this boozy ice cream is like a rocking chair...it's gonna rock your world.

Ice ice baby: Ambrosia Ice Cream

All right stop.  Collaborate and listen.  Ice is back with a brand new invention ~ Vanilla Ice

Amazing sun-drenched holiday in Piha last week.  Like.

All of a sudden being in my last week in Auckland before I head back down to the chilly south sans husband.  Dis-like.

My, my, how fast time flies when you're having fun.  

Just to prove how fast we are scurrying over the hill these days, my very dear friend Tuxy came back to NZ for the first time in four years since moving to the UK.  Four. Whole. Years.  But it feels like she'd only popped away for a couple of months and as we yakked away in the sunshine it felt like we were 12 year olds again gossiping about boys, wearing scrunchies, making mixed tapes, teeny-bopping to the Spice Girls and vowing to marry Leo.

Yes, we were children of the nineties.

{ambrosia ice cream: a brand new invention}

Being a child of the 90's also meant we grew up on kiddies birthday parties with delightful party nibbles such as fairy bread, cheerios with T sauce, and of course that creamy dreamy fav: ambrosia.

If you didn't grow up in New Zealand, you might not know what ambrosia is.  The concept is deceptively simple: take yoghurt, mix with whipped cream, add marshmallows, berries or other fruit and crumble in some meringue. Very much like a slightly healthier version of Eton Mess.  It's light and creamy and on a hot summer's day it's what definitely what you want, what you really really want.

And just how did I get from ambrosia to ambrosia ice cream?  Well, now this is a story all about how ambrosia got flipped-turned upside down, and I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there, I'll tell you how ambrosia became Ambrosia Ice Cream.

Lemon sorbet: when life gives you lemons, make sorbet

Every white will have its black, And every sweet its sour. ~ Thomas Percy

This year hasn't been the smoothest of years.  A bittersweet roller-coaster ride of a year.  It's crazy coz so many people I've talked to have also had a lemon of a year too.  Illness, marriage problems, family dramas; not to mention earthquakes, tsunamis and riots: you name it, its happened this year! What was it about twenty eleven?!

This year I've gotten married, passed my first year of med school and celebrated NZ's historic RWC victory but also said goodbye to a dear family friend, my grandma and my uncle. This topsy-turvey year has really driven home for me two important truths:

Fact 1: Life really is like a box of chocolates....dark chocolates.  The bitterness only makes you appreciate the sweetness all the more.  The deeper that sorry carves into your being, the more joy you can contain ~ Kahil Gibran.

Fact 2: Everything happens for a reason so when life gives you lemons, make lemonade...or Lemon Sorbet.

Monsieur, a wafer thin mint? Or mint & dark chocolate ice cream?

Maitre D: And finally, monsieur, a wafer-thin mint.
Mr Creosote: No.
Maitre D: Oh sir! It's only a tiny little thin one.
Mr Creosote: No. F*** off - I'm full... [Belches]
Maitre D: Oh sir... it's only wafer thin.
Mr Creosote: Look - I couldn't eat another thing. I'm absolutely stuffed. Bugger off.
Maitre D: Oh sir, just... just one...
Mr Creosote: Oh all right. Just one.
Maitre D: Just the one, sir... voila... bon appetit...
[Mr Creosote eats the wafer-thin mint. The Maitre D takes a flying leap behind some potted plants. There is an ominous splitting sound. Mr Creosote explodes.]
Maitre D: [returns to Mr Creosote's table] Thank you, sir, and now the cheque.
~ Monty Python, The Meaning of Life

First: A lesson in Kiwi slang.

mint:
1. A flavour based on the mint herb.
2. A hard candy of mint flavor.
3. A place where coins are made.
4. What collectors call something in perfect condition.
5. Something is cool, great, sweet, excellent, good: e.g. "I had a mint weekend." 

I really did have a mint weekend. Literally and figuratively.

Saturday: Went to good mate of mine's wedding at the beautiful botanical gardens. Stunning setting, absolutely stunning couple.  Got to catch up with some of my fav people in the whole world, spend the day in the sunshine, and then stuff our faces at the Chinese banquet.  And I got to exercise my democratic rights, flex my civic duty muscles so to say.  A pretty mint day really.

Sunday: Made Mint and Dark Chocolate Ice cream. You could say I had an ice cream Sunday.  A mint Ice cream Sunday.

Oh dear, I'll stop that now.