Ice-Cream1

When Joey and I first moved to Seattle, I was shocked at how few homes have air conditioning, but it didn’t take long to understand why.   Seattle has amazing summers, which are not nearly hot enough to merit the cost of installing air conditioning. But this year has been different.  We’ve had record breaking heat, and I’m sweltering.  It’s so hot, I refuse to even turn on the oven or stove to cook because our house becomes a sauna. I can’t take it.  I moved away from the Southwest to get away from the unbearable heat, but it seems to have followed me.  The best coping mechanism I’ve found is to drink water and eat lots of ice cream, which is why I’m going to share the banana ice cream recipe that I’ve perfected the past few weeks.  All you need two ingredients — 1-2 frozen bananas and a topping of your choice.  I choose dulce de leche, because as far as I’m concerned, dulce de leche is the greatest food ever invented.  You’ll also need a food processor or blender.

Ice-Cream-3Directions:

  1. Chop a ripe banana into small slices, and place the pieces in a freezer bag.  Let them freeze for a few hours.  I used 2 bananas, which yielded 3 – 4 servings.
  2. Blend the frozen banana slices in a food processor or blender.  You’ll need to blend for quite a long time.  First the banana looks sort of crumbly. Then it will start to smooth out and begin looking like soft serve ice cream.
  3. Put your desired toppings into the blender and pulse for a few more seconds.  I put in about a tablespoon of dulce de leche.
  4. At this point, you can either eat the ice cream right away, or transfer it to a air tight container, and put it in the freezer.

It’s so simple, yet so delicious. Without this, I might not make it through the summer.

Ice-Cream-2