Pistachio Ice Cream – Learn from it!

It goes without saying that foods bring about memories but did you ever stop to consider that they also have a duty to impart life’s more simple lessons on us? Obviously I knew about the memories part for I wouldn’t even have a blog if memories weren’t part of most recipes. That said, I hadn’t really stopped much to think about whether the cook’s notes in my favorite recipes contained “life’s lessons”. It turns out they do. I just hadn’t really stopped to listen for them before.

Then I met this particular ice cream and failure to listen was just not going to be an option. I tried to to just eat my newly minted ice cream in peace but it wouldn’t stay quiet. Pistachio Ice Cream just kept screaming some of life’s lessons at me without letting up. Scream-ing. Pistachio’s lessons were more of the kind you might expect to learn in kindergarten than the kind you learn from a therapist. Nevertheless, I certainly didn’t expect to hear them from my food.

“If you are going to do something, do it right.”

“Don’t look for the easy way.”

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again.”

“Patience is a virtue.”

and finally,

“Excellence is its own reward.”

Man this was some really preachy and verbose ice cream wasn’t it? I usually don’t respond well to the preachy types around me but in this case I found pistachio ice cream quite hard to ignore.
Because it was right!

I had attempted pistachio ice cream before with somewhat tragic results. Essentially a plain vanilla base and using a pistachio extract. The result reminded me of that weird green stripe of ice cream found in cheap supermarket spumoni. It tasted as much like real pistachios as elementary school banana pudding tastes like real bananas.

I didn’t give up and knew I had to try again. I began to feel silly for thinking I could get a good result using an extract. If you are going to do something do it right. There had to be a better way to make this but how? Pistachio paste! If you are patient you can order it online and it is well worth the wait. You can look around for a Greek or Middle Eastern market as well as as there is a lot of it found there too. Either way, trust me that it is worth the wait. Patience is a virtue and all that.

This batch was gone before I realized it! Dear husband surreptitiously packed up the unused portion and sent it home with my sister-in-law without asking me! She didn’t even like nuts and yet she succumbed to its magic. She couldn’t stop raving and so it was now hers. As I watched the pistachio ice cream walk off to my sister-in law’s-house I thought, “fine –let it scream platitudes at her now so I can get some rest. Wise ice cream is her problem now.”

As the Pistachio Ice Cream walked out the door it turned around to leave me with one more pearl of wisdom; one of my grandmother’s favorites:

“Just eat your ice cream while it is on your plate.”

Only when she said it she wasn’t talking about ice cream. Pretty smart ass ice cream that Pistachio. If you’re smart you’ll make this and find out what else it has to teach you!

Pistachio Ice Cream