Mom's Pretty Awesome Too

You might be thinking at this point that Dad and I rule the kitchen and that Mom can’t boil water to save her life. You would be wrong though. It seems as though my interest in baking and cooking has simply pushed Mom out of the kitchen. It wasn’t always like this. Before I was born, my parents had goats and rabbits and other assorted animals, (who knows what Dad would come home with?) and Mom made everything. Each week she made bread and yogurt and cheese and ice cream, (those goats sure did produce a lot of milk) and what’s more, it was really good! Or at least that’s what I hear, they got rid of the animals when I came along, only my brother and sister benefited from those, apparently I was too much to handle. But I certainly did benefit from Mom’s great cooking, which I experienced for years and years.

Then, when I was in second grade Mom went back to work. Her days in the kitchen began to dwindle after that, but her talent did not. When my brother would come home from University Mom always made sure to go all out, baking bread and making whatever he missed from home. Even when she wasn’t cooking a whole lot Mom would still bake birthday cakes and dessert on the weekends and was more than capable of making an amazing dinner.

In more recent years I’ve taken over all of the baking duties, making desserts for every occasion and then some. I haven’t given Mom the chance to do any baking even if she wanted to. Then I moved back to Toronto and all of a sudden I was getting emails with photo attachments of all of the things Mom was baking; angel food cake, sour cream apple pie, kiwi torte, a chocolate ice cream cake with cherries, kiwi ice cream… Kiwi ice cream?! Are you serious? I read about that and soon afterwards got on a bus and made the trek home. The ice cream alone was worth the trip, (and let me tell you, for the price of the bus ticket, that was no cheap ice cream).

So it seems that when Mom started working it was her job that prevented her from being in the kitchen as much as she had been and then when my love of cooking kicked into gear she didn’t have a hope of getting in there. I had effectively kicked Mom out of the kitchen. Now that I’m not there to impede her progress she’s back at it and making amazing things. This kiwi ice cream has quickly become a favourite of mine. I couldn’t stop eating it while I was home. I stole spoonfuls of it whenever I had the chance. I craved it when I woke up in the morning and needed a taste before going to bed. It was just that good.

Of course, while I was home, I had to make ice cream too. I made a basic chocolate ice cream and then added raspberry puree. It was alright, but Mom’s kiwi ice cream had mine beat hands down. I can’t wait until Mom’s retired. Then she’ll have way more time to make tasty treats like this. I’m a lucky girl to have such amazing parents.

Ben & Jerry's Kiwi Ice Cream

6 ripe kiwis
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups heavy or whipping cream

Peel the kiwis and mash them in a bowl until pureed. Stir 2 tablespoons sugar into the fruit, cover, and refrigerate 1 hour. Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in 1 cup sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended, about 1 minute more. Pour in the cream and whisk to blend. Stir in the kiwis. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze following manufacturer's instructions.

Yield: 1 quart

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Ice Cream + Kiwi