every ice cream sandwich has a story...
...even the slightly iffy rectangular ones that you're almost embarrassed to admit you like from gas station mini-marts. you know - the ones that leave the chocolatey sticky residue on your fingers? yup. even those. i don't know the stories of those ice cream sandwiches. but these are mine. each squishwich™ has one. i hope you enjoy them.
classic
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because i'm not sure you can start on an adventure making ice cream sandwiches without FIRST understanding the basic, fundamental, deliciousness of the timeless classic. but this time with a crispy cookie. because the residue left by the traditional old school types was gross. and made me just a little mad.
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cupid
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the first public appearance of squishwishes™ was only day or two from st. valentines day. and in a mad rush to come up with an appropriate seasonal flavor, a brainstorm yielded a riff on the chocolate-covered-cherry trend that seemed to be a popular box-of-chocolates choice. thus was born 'cupid'. mmmmm. more love please.
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george + martha
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in honor of the woman who helped me name squish. and our friendship that blossomed when we were green-as-grass. because of the crazy antics we got up to during our high school years. in the minnow.* taking on the alter-egos of a bickering and nearly deaf elderly couple named...
...wait for it... george. and martha. *yes. the minnow as in the boat from Gilligan's Island. but more importantly, her light metallic blue mazda 626. and yes. we named her car. we were in high school. of course we did. |
make it so
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because star trek. because jean luc picard. because delicious. and because i like to think that if he liked ice cream sandwiches as much as he liked his tea that this would be his favorite.
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wide awake
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this started as 'sunday morning' - but went a little sideways. which was ultimately a good thing.
it all started with leaving the coffee to steep in the cream for a bit too long (read: HOURS, as it turns out) combined with the grind of coffee i used on this particular batch. it was fine. like fairy dust fine. so when i strained the cream mixture, many of the grounds escaped and would NOT be filtered out. so the look was, well, more like espresso. and the flavor - WHOA! delicious - but certainly not an 'ease into your day' sort of flavor, rather a 'GET OUT OF BED AND GET GOING' sort of flavor. and so? wide awake bounded into the world of squishwishes and has been causing a ruckus ever since. |
sunday morning
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coffee is kind of a thing in my family. and the scent of it is one of my very first memories. dad, being an early riser, would make his first cup before the rest of us were awake. i would wake to the smell of coffee wafting into my bedroom and i'd wander down the stairs to join him in the kitchen. this pattern continued and, when i finally was old enough, he taught me how to make coffee myself. and i started getting up when he did so i could make his coffee for him. that evolved into what is now an incredibly special morning ritual. dad still makes coffee every morning, but now with his fancy espresso machine. and when i'm home, this is our special morning visiting time. where we explore crazy ideas, follow the connections into unexpected spaces, laugh, share, and just be. especially on sunday mornings. before the rest of the household is up. and we have our coffee. heaven.
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whoa.
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as it turns out, 'toasting' sugar to simulate the camp-fire-flavor of toasted marshmallows doesn't really work out the way you might expect. so when i ended up with a molten dark caramelized mess of hardened sugar, did i panic? heck no! i figured that an ice cream that tasted like the crispy top of creme brule might be pretty darn delicious. and the two girlfriends who tried it on separate occasions seemed to agree. right down to the single word they used to describe it:
"whoa." and so? we promptly abandoned the idea of anything remotely salted caramel because: burnt sugar. |
recess
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who doesn't love recess? and who didn't love saving a special treat for the last break during an endless school day - especially at the end of the year when days seemed to drag on FOREVER. and who doesn't remember two great tastes that taste great together. with a tip of the hat to the delightful Reese's folks who introduced the mainstream world to the wonder of peanut butter and chocolate combined in the 1920s, and as a snack that i TOTALLY ate on the playground, we have recess.
peanut butter. chocolate. delicious. |
april in paris
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inspired by a shopping adventure with the tabers of paris: kim, aleyna, mira, matthew, and once upon a time - andrew. i remember very fondly the afternoon adventure kim and small aleyna took me on into a beautiful tea shop in le marais, an exquisite shopping district, in paris many years ago. it was my first, and so far only, trip to the beautiful city, and the last time i saw andrew before his light was extinguished. he was an extraordinary man, and like another brother to me. i miss him, still, every day. i think often of his gentle spirit and how he inspired the best in everyone around him. i like to think he would have gotten a kick out of my crazy adventure.
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blackberry cobbler
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story coming soon...
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apple crisp
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because sometimes the best things start out as something that went a bit sideways. like mulled cider left to "simmer" too long. and by simmer, i mean something resembling a rolling boil. but when you end up with something sweet and syrupy... doesn't everyone drizzle it on ice cream to see what happens? well i do. and did. and the rest is history.
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pecan pie (or when harry met sally)
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i love the movie "when harry met sally" (especially this scene - it totally cracks me up). and I love pecan pie. but the pie is (for me) annoying to make, and SO SWEET!! so... i changed the game. and this makes me so much happier!
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