Here’s a topic appropriate to a warm Saturday afternoon during a sunny, spring long weekend (or it’s a long weekend up here in Canada, at any rate. Victoria Day, don’t you know…). You have probably found, as I have, that as people get older it becomes more and more difficult to buy them good birthday presents. After all, when you are a child you have no means of getting the things you so desperately want. But as an adult you can usually just buy the things you want and need. Every year when my wife’s birthday rolls around I try to find something to buy her that will surprise her and be at least somewhat exciting. This year I found the perfect gift. Or that’s how she described it. So I post this for the benefit of other men who may be scrambling to find a good gift.
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Aileen has a soft spot for soft serve. When she was pregnant it was not at all uncommon for me to head out late at night on a run to McDonald’s to buy her a hot fudge sundae (with extra peanuts). Though no longer pregnant, the ice cream cravings continue to show up quite regularly. Without a baby in her belly she hasn’t had the leverage to get me to do quite as many late night jaunts to the store. But knowing of her love of ice cream I came up with a great gift idea. Since her birthday a couple of weeks ago she has often said that this is the best gift I’ve ever gotten her. I choose to believe that this means that this gift is exceptionally good rather than that the rest have been exceptionally bad.
The Cuisinart Ice-45 Mix It In Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker is a marvel. In about 20 minutes it takes 1.5 quarts of sugar, cream and milk and turns it into really good ice cream. It has the unique ability to mix things like M&M’s, peanuts and sprinkles right into the ice cream as it dispenses it. With the purchase of a bottle of chocolate fudge, we can now make the equivalent of a McDonald’s sundae in twenty minutes without having to go out of the house. The other night we tried frozen yogurt (raspberry) and found that really delicious as well. And it made enough for four adults, two children, and a baby.
You can see this little machine at Amazon by clicking here. If you do end up getting ahold of one, here’s an important tip: make sure the freezer bowl is really, really cold. That means you’ll probably need to put it in a chest freezer or turn your refrigerator’s freezer down a few degrees. Since we did that we’ve had no trouble and it makes perfect ice cream every time. And now the ball is in my wife’s court to blow me away when my birthday comes in December!