I was about 13 and my sister was 11. It was august in phoenix, which meant it was 120 degrees out. My sister and I were really not used to this, we grew up in upstate NY. So in the summer you were outside. It was a foreign concept to us that summers consisted of TV, boredom, and getting really creative inside. So we decided to cook. The dream team, or maybe trouble making team.
My cooking experience included: making one batch of oatmeal cookies, (with my mother) making a batch of oatmeal cookies alone, and causing the oven to catch fire, and maybe making lots of pots of coffee. My parents believed in child labor.
I guess my parents thought we were old enough to cook without supervision, and clearly they had put me in charge of my sister yet again. We were sick of watching the tv and got our butts in the kitchen. We walked around, looking at what we had in the cubboards. Caroline found, the bisquick mix, (for those of you who don’t know this is a premade flour mix, which can be used for an assortment of baking). Then I found peaches. Together we thought up peaches with sugar, cooked, over a biscuit. I guess we liked to use fancy words back then to describe our food.
I coated the peaches with sugar. Lots of sugar! The non–organic cane sugar full of GMO goodness. I put them in the toaster oven. She mixed up the biscuits and we popped them in the oven. We were cleaning up and we smelled something funny, then we saw something funny. Caroline Screams “ the toaster oven is on FIRE! I turned around, oh my GOD the toaster oven IS On FIRE! Then we looked at each other and simultaneously yelled “DAD come quick. Clearly we had no idea what we were doing. He put out the fire. We were shocked he didn’t get upset.
I think the peaches burned. Obviously they burned. We plated the biscuits grabbed the peaches and dolloped a huge pile of whip cream on top. SUCCESS!
My sister and I eagerly served our Dad and much to our surprise he ate it. But what followed was an honest critique;" its good, but you can do better" He told us. Man, have those words stuck with me until this day.
That memory always comes to me from time to time. It reminds me where I started. I started in the kitchen with my sister, side by side. See we used to fight a lot, maybe because we both were bit bossy and wanted things “our” way. Maybe its because we didn’t have the tools we do now. The point is cooking together, we always found neutral ground, and if we didn’t find a common space we would have probably killed each other many times over in the kitchen. So we learned how to do this mutual dance, a good one at that.
There is just something magical about cooking. Don’t you think? My hope is to inspire you out there to make some magic in the kitchen to. To mess up learn from it, and keep going!
I am sad to say I wont give you that recipe for our burnt peaches. Instead I will give you a dairy-free vanilla ice cream recipe. Now the thing is its not vegan because there are eggs in it. Enjoy friends. Thanks for stopping by.
- Nicole
Coconut Vanilla Ice cream: makes 1 pint
2 ½ cans full fat coconut milk
½ cup of raw sugar, cane or turbine works fine
1 tablespoon of vanilla bean paste
3 whole eggs and 3 egg whites lightly whisked
Directions:
1. Place a large pot, or Dutch oven over the stove on medium heat. Add in the coconut milk, but be sure to add the two cans, then with the last can only take the fat of the coconut milk. Add in your sugar and vanilla and whisk. Heat until fully combined and the grains of sugar are gone.
2. In a heatproof bowl, such as metal or glass, crack your eggs and lightly whisk. Add in your coconut mixture. Then stir and combine. Taste to see if you need to add more sugar or vanilla. Don’t go over board though. You are looking for a creamy, yet subtle vanilla taste.
3. Then place in your ice cream machine and follow directions. Its key not to over churn. Once finished place in a baking tin, or ice cream storage bin lined with parchment paper.
4. Serve with Figs and honey, chocolate chips or waffle cones! Enjoy!
