Making the easiest ice cream ever

Where have I been these past few days? Well, it’s been crazy. I contemplated taking a hiatus from blogging, but that would be the absolute worst thing I can do for myself, especially at a time like this. I don’t want to give up all the things that keep me sane. I’m firm in my resolve to keep blogging in general, and to keep having kitchen adventures to write about. But sometimes, things happen that can get in the way of the things we want to do.

The days following the 15th of January have been tremendous, and in a bad, really tiring way. It feels like someone pulled a rug from under my feet, and I keep trying to get up but slip back down because there’s actually a puddle of water underneath that rug. It feels like I’m running through a narrow path in a forest where all the trees seem to be reaching for me with their wooden fingers, and no matter how much I swat them away, they keep bouncing back and scratching me instead. Heck, it feels like I’m in a game of dodge ball, and there’s no place to run to because all the balls are coming at once in every single direction.

And maybe I’m having a difficult time getting back into stride what with this whole situation, but goodness does it suck up all the life out of me. ‘When does it end??’ I ask myself. Yeah, I want my life back, but as I shared in my personal blog recently, it’s gotten to the point where I have no idea when that is going to happen. This adjustment period is pretty ridiculous.

So Sunday morning I wake up and all I want to do is lounge around in my jammies, and yet a teeny weeny part of me is telling me to go into the kitchen. Surely it’ll do me good. Besides, didn’t I promise myself to post something for World Nutella Day this year? I already missed baking and posting for my birthday so I really didn’t want to miss another promise made to myself, but what to make that wouldn’t take too long and too much effort?

Well here it is: Nutella-Banana Ice Cream. Would you believe this thing only takes four ingredients?!

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Of long-lasting friendships and not-so-long-lasting cupcakes

This is a story about a boy named Gilbert. He’s our resident culture boy; the multilingual dictionary we consult when we want to learn new foreign words. He absolutely loves India and its culture, and I’m convinced he had been Indian during his past life. But most of all, he’s one of my longest-standing friends. I’ve known him since before I knew my multiplication table!

I first met him during preschool, when we were 4 or 5. As luck would have it, we were classmates all throughout kindergarten and grade school as well. When high school came along, we got assigned into our separate classes. If anything though, I think this was the time we became closer friends. To be honest, I don’t even know how to describe our friendship, or how to describe the closeness that we have. It’s just always been there, you know?

I remember in high school, he used to pop over to our classroom during lunchtime to chat and have a taste of whatever we were eating. And then he would go up front and perform uncanny impressions of some of our “favourite” high school teachers. I guess you could say that I’m pretty used to having him around, and occasionally, I would even invite him and my best friend out to family gatherings (this was when we became a trio). We saw each other less when we went to college, each of us leading very different lives from each other, but we would still make it a point to meet during special occasions. Specifically, eating out on our birthdays has become a bit of a ritual for us.

When Gilbert texted me about meeting for a post-birthday celebration, I jumped at the chance to make him something as special as this cake I made last year for my best friend Margarette. There were two things that I knew I had to do: First, incorporate Nutella into the cupcakes (he loves the stuff!); and second, I had to have some sort of surprise in the middle of the cupcake.
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Going no-frills for World Nutella Day

I had imagined all manners of extravagance for my first World Nutella Day offering, and even though what I have cooked up today is rather simple, it is in no way plain in flavour. And quite frankly, if this is the sort of breakfast one wakes up to everyday, perhaps even the late risers would pull in a little more effort to wake up early, if only to ensure they get their fair share.

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Nutella and discipline

Not really two words you would find uttered together in one sentence is it? I’m sure many people could attest to the difficulties of finding the latter in the presence of the well-loved hazelnut spread, and yet these are the exact two things you would need to successfully see this recipe through.

I’ve never really been a jam and bread type of person, but occasionally we buy jams and spreads that I could use in baking. And while I’ve never been a fan of the Nutella-filled chocolate Ferrero Rocher, I do sometimes enjoy Nutella in other ways. I chanced upon this recipe as I was browsing food blogs and thought it would be worth a try because of that big waiting bottle of Nutella in the pantry. And because I know I’ll probably be too “busy” to even be aware that World Nutella Day has already passed me by, I’ve decided to make it today. But who knows, maybe I’ll be able to make something for February 5th anyway. :3
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