Ice Cream Day

Monday 20th September

Day 152

It’s surprise ice cream weather. We promise ourselves one after our walk by the estuary, where sail boats are marooned on the pockmarked mud and the smell of hot seaweed rises up, reminding me of all those childhood holidays we had on the beach.

In the delicatessen shop they only have small rock hard tubs of a well known and delicious local ice cream but not the flavours my mouth is watering for. We go home. I feel deprived.

Later, after an appointment, when the sun is still hot, I drive past the supermarket and notice my ice cream hankering nibbling away in my mind. I remember the contents of the freezer at home and decide not to stop for Magnums.

I throw handfuls of ice- dusted jewels into the blender - redcurrants, blackberries and raspberries - they rattle like stones against the blade. I find a tub of frozen mango puree, dig out wedges of it with a knife and plop it in with a chopped banana and two big spoonfuls of Greek yogurt. In seconds it’s blitzed into a deep pink and orange flecked creamy drift, thick and icy smooth.

I scoop it into two bowls, pour over some maple syrup and carry it upstairs to my husband’s office. I sit on the carpet and we pretend it’s the seaside. Only later I notice several pink dribbles on my top which unfortunately is white and blue striped.