s u n d a y s f o r s u n d a e s

hello fellow ice cream lovers!  

yes, i am back from my sugar hiatus and i must say, it does taste good.  first of all, i should say that giving up sugar was a rather interesting experience.  i didn’t realise my body would react like it did.  i mean, i actually got nausea, i wasn’t very pleasant to my other half and i was a little bit angry for the first 3 days.   but, it was all worth it, just to say i did it, and now it’s done and dusted.

so back to the business of ice cream :)

I have to say, since being back, i’ve done exactly what i thought i would, i completely OVERINDULGED.  look, i’m not ashamed, it truly was expected.  i mean, it’s not fair to be deprived and then have to walk to MESSINA and be bombarded with new and exciting flavours!

i avoided going past the place at all costs while i was off sugar.  on my lunch breaks, i would purposefully walk the other way as it was just too hard not to look inside.  all those yummy mounds of gelato, in every colour imaginable just calling out my name. my definition of torture for real.

so what does an ice cream deprived girl get on her first taste back you ask?  it was a hard choice but i couldn’t go past HELLO BOSS, CHERRY PIE and TOUCH DOWN.  oh yeah, i’m back baby!!

HELLO BOSS: coconut and caramel gelato

i actually let out an involuntary squeal when i saw this written on the specials board.  i mean, coconut and caramel are some of my favourite flavours as y’all know by now.  so yes, i was beyond excited to say the least.  so i was left a little disappointed at the taste i’m afraid :( yes it was yum, i could taste the coconut, and yes, the caramel flavour was there also but for me, it just wasn’t up to messina standard.  first of all, where was the coconut flakes? i know not everything has to have texture but i think in this case, it would have really lifted this to the next level .  the flavours were there but they were so subtle that after a while, it just tasted a little bit bleh.  if only the caramel had been lashings of actual caramel like in the yoghurt and caramel gelato, this would have been one killer flavour.  but alas, it was not to be, so hello boss, you’ve been demoted to mediocre employee with a serious need for some development training.

CHEERY PIE: egg custard gelato with cherries and pie crust

This was the winner out of the three.  the custard gelato was so delicious; creamy, vanilla-e, and sweet. the cherries, tart and with just a hint of sourness at the end, broke through the sweetness of the custard and made it so moorish it was sinful!  what took this to winner for me was the chunks of pie crust.  seriously brilliant combination of texture and flavour that when i closed my eyes, i could actually imagine biting into a cherry pie.  mmm, i’m getting cravings for this just remembering the moment………and i’m not even a fan of cherry pie.  see, that’s what i love about gelato, it harmlessly takes you out of your comfort zone, pushes you to try new things and results in new and wonderful experiences being created.  ice cream is AWESOME.

TOUCH DOWN: whiskey and pecan

now i’m not adverse to the old rum and raisin ice cream, i really like it in fact.  it’s just comforting and reminds me of being old and sitting in front of a fire with my life partner, looking at the flames as we sip a glass of whisky and eat chocolate covered sultanas…….ok, that doesn’t make any sense but that’s what i picture when i eat it so this took me to that thought and it made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

the whiskey flavour is really prominent so not for those who don’t like liquour flavoured ice icream, and the pecans are crunchy and chunky and just makes you want to keep eating more and more.  did i say i love texture in ice cream? yes, i did, and i do.  it is the best and takes it from a harmless cone to decadent dessert.  this would really appeal to, yes you guessed it, distinguished (older) gentleman and ladies who like to sip liquour by the fire and eat chocolate covered sultanas, and everyone else with a taste for the frisky :)

so my friends, that is the first tasting.  it was only meant to be one, but it ended up being three.  see what i mean by overindulging?  

well, i am human after all.

it’s been a while but i’m back.  the silly season really put a dent into everything; my pocket, my waist to hip ratio, and my life.  to tell you the truth, once all the family festivities were over, i really could not wait for it to be done and dusted.  everyone loses their heads, it seems.  overspending, overeating, overindulging…….really, it had to stop!

so here i am, possibly 3 weeks or more after my last post.  things are slowly creeping back to normality, there’s some kind of structure beginning to take shape again, and i’m feeling more and more like myself.  

one thing has changed though, and it’s a little bit big.  i’ve decided to give up sugar for 8 weeks.  yes, it’s not a misprint, i, executive chief inspector of the fun police, am giving up sugar for 8 weeks.  it’s already been 1 week and so far i’m doing ok.  i thought a lot about it before i commited to it.  the amount of sugar i eat has been playing on my mind for a while.  i’m not the type of person who can have a sliver of cake and be done with it, or one scoop of ice cream and that’s it.  i’m more like the type who has to put the cake in the bin and douse it with water other wise i’ll eat the lot type.  you know the one, the one who eats ice cream straight from the tub and leaves a tiny little itty bit so it’s not like she ate the whole thing. which obviously she did because the tiny little itty bit is so miniscule, you could really just call it a smudge.

anyway, it’s not all bad news.  i did do some gelato indulging prior to my sugar abstinence, so i will tell you all about that.  i have to admit though, i was a little bit naughty and cheated on gelato messina…….twice!!  but we’ll start with the mother of all gelato bars first.

GELATO MESSINA

CHOCOLATE FONDANT:   i never, ever , order chocolate gelato. ever.  to me, it’s like a non-event.  you know it’s going to taste good, chocolate always does.  it’s just a waste of a tasting in my view.  but i know that chocolate is loved by so many people and also, it’s probably a good basis to use when you’re making comparisons.  

first, i had to choose between the chocolate fondant and the chocolate sorbet.  mmmm, both sound delicious, both look scrumptions, but the chocolate fondant won for me.  it has that lovely dark chocolate colour, shiny and luxurious, which makes you think satin for some reason, or maybe that’s just me.  the flavour is what i would expect lindt chocolate 70% cocoa to taste like, except, a little bit creamier and just with a hint of bitterness that only hits you at the start and is gone by the time you realise it’s there.  i also think that there may be a tiny little bit of cinammon in there.  it could just be wishful thinking (chocolate and cinnamon should get married, they are SO unbelievably good together) on my part.  It wasn’t overly sweet or overpowering like some that i’ve had and you can really taste the quality of the ingredients.  waiting until it’s mostly melted and a thickshake consistency gets my tick for manner of eating.  definately great one for taste combining.  which is what i did when i ordered it with a side scoop of:

PEANUT BUTTER:  yes, this is how i justified getting the chocolate flavour.  as you know, peanuts and chocolate are also two flavours that were destined to embrace.  what’s there not to love? i don’t know anyone who doesn’t like peanuts! or chocolate for that matter.  so, i’m ordering this and i’m thinking, peanut slab in the gelato version when combined with the chocolate.  and yes, that it was and more.  but to the peanut butter gelato first.  what can i say? it’s rich, so be warned.  it’s peanuty, very peanuty, but so bloody delicious!! it’s a little bit on the too sweet side but the peanut flavour tastes to creamy and good that you really don’t care that you’re about to assault your teeth and possibly send them to an early death.  and combined with the chocolate. well, let’s just say, if you died after having eaten it, then it would be sad, but you would be happy because the last thing you ate was still swirling around on your taste buds.  it’s like eating a reece’s peanut butter cup, get the drift?  if you’re lucky enough to find it next time you go, i say try it or else you’ll be very sorry.  and if you’re extra game, or don’t want to eat anything else for the rest of the week, give it a go with a scoop of the dulce de leche.  DEATH BY GELATO BLISS.

POMPEII

pompeii is a little pizza and gelato bar you can find on gould street, bondi beach. it’s been there for as long as i can remember.  and now looking back, i don’t think i ever took advantage of having it so close to me when i lived there.

i must tell you the story leading up to my visit though.  so i decided to take my two girls to the beach that day.  i’d never done it on my own as yet as they are little and i was a bit nervous about it, thinking the worst as mum’s tend to do.  so i was lucky enough to have a friend pop down to hang out with us.  as it turns out, my 1 year old decided that she would do THE biggest and smelliest poop you’ve ever seen.  but not just that, it was whilst she was in the water, so of course it disintigrated in to a pile of yellow mush with bits of corn thrown in for extra embarrasment!  it doesn’t sound bad, but i had no wipes, it was a busy day at the north bondi grassy knoll, with people buzzing every where, we had to walk to the bathroom, which was a little distance away from where we were, with a double pram, a big beach bag, an insulated bag, and a 3 year old (who i must say, was extremely calm under pressure).  luckily i had ange with me, otherwise i would have had to sit the poop monster on her own poop and wheel her around to the toilet, whilst the 3 year old sat in the back and i carried all of our beachly* possessions as well as pushed the pram, all in my poop smudged kaftan.  by the grace of mother nature, the disabled toilet was vacant so i was able to take her in there, whip off the offensive poop carrier and wash her bottom in the sink.  as you can imagine, i really needed a treat after that, and a glass of wine.  but i settled for the treat :)

COCONUT SORBET:  i read somewhere that pompeii use actual egg whites when they make their sorbets, instead of powdered which apparently most places use.  this could explain the silky smooth texture of their sorbets.  it’s not icy at all as some tend to be.  the coconut flavour is spot on, and it has just the right amount of sweetness.  i don’t know about you, but i like to chew on the coconut shreds when i get coconut ice cream/gelato/sorbet, so for this reason i have to say that this is not one of my favourite coconut flavours.  delicious it is, but not a fave. i agree that this is totally a personal taste thing.  some people love the smooth texture of coconut gelato and prefer not to have that chewy texture and that’s valid.  in terms of coconut though, i think i much prefer the BOUNTY from gelato messina (although that’s cheating a bit as it has chocolate).  

ok, so where to from here?  i’ll tell you this:  i don’t think i’ll be off sugar forever, however,  i have made a commitment to myself to stick with it for 8 weeks so that i will do (thanking you in advance for your support).

maybe on my return to the sweet dark side i will look at ways to make ice cream at home without using sugar? just an idea……but i think i might have a flavour:  BANANA AND COCONUT.   doesn’t that sound delish? and only using the sugar already in the fruit.  apparently bananas are 50% sugar and coconut is naturally sweet without containing any fructose so that’s a win.  i’m sure i’ll discover more things whilst on this no sugar journey.

hey, maybe you can do it with me? just a thought :)

until we meet again, you’re all sweet and you’re all my favourites.

xxb

*beachly is not a word, but it should be.  i borrowed it from Cameron’s Dictionary.

So I said I wasn’t going to do another review but as I found myself wondering down Victoria street on this very humid boxing day, I saw our (current) favourite gelato bar opened. Well, there was only one option really. Sweet gelato action!!
I decided to settle on some of their staples and went for the raspberry (previously shunned) and the yoghurt and amarana cherries. Not very exotic I know but i find myself in a very plain mood. I’ve been working all through the silly season, and it’s been overwhelmingly hectic at home and at work, I think I’ve had enough excitement to last me a while! So, with that in mind, plain and simple it is.
RASPBERRY: just as I imagined, tart and sweet without being overwhelmingly neither. It’s very refreshing and perfect for the current climate. I must admit, I’ve tasted better. I won’t tell you where yet because that little place is also on my things to do list.

YOGHURT with AMARANA CHERRIES: I’m a huge yoghurt lover, I have it for breakfast every day and sneak it into everything, soups, dips, dressings, dessert, cakes……..you get the picture. Anyways, I was really looking forward to this and it was yummy, a little bit sour in that yoghurt way and the cherries gave it a nice flavour but I would have liked it if the flavour of the cherries had been a little bit more pronounced. I even closed my eyes in order to see if I could taste them but it was still very subtle.
I guess I can’t complain, I was after all a simple and straight forward flavour hit.
Hmmm, this has reinstated what I’ve always thought; simple flavours although nice, can be a little bit boring and if you’re after a flavour hit, the more exotic, the better!

Maybe this is the only time when less is not more.

I’m not satisfied, not in the least. So I order myself a single scoop of the Italian nougat and walk happily back to work. Will review that little treat later.