How to do nothing....make icecream.

Its been a week of coughing, sniffling, washing our version of hankies (s'not paper tissues), aching muscles, chicken soup and too much TV.  The boys and I were struck down with the dreaded lurgy.  Its been a doozy and we're just starting to feel human again now.

Yesterday was the big school excursion to see Annie in Melbourne.  We'd paid, and the boys had been looking forward to it for months, so they went.  I was too sick to see them off.  They got there, they saw the show, I got a phone call in the afternoon to tell me that one was asleep and to ask permission to give the other panadol.  By the time they got home at 9pm, they were exhausted and crashed to sleep very quickly.

I thought they'd be home recovering today, but they've gone to school (their choice) and will no doubt be having a quiet day there as more than half of their class is away sick.

I've been trying to be gentle on myself.  I've given myself permission to watch TV and drink tea and do not much.  But I'm hopeless at doing nothing, and I sit there thinking about all the things that need doing.  So I've compromised.  The house is a mess, but the washing is done and the dishes have been put away.  I ate leftovers last night and have agreed to buying hot chips for dinner tonight, but I baked a batch of bread and biscuits today.  I did the groceries yesterday, but only went to one supermarket rather than my usual round the town trip to get the best and cheapest options.  I will be teaching my classes tonight, but they will be gentler than usual, and I'll ask my students to help out.  For me, these compromises are taking it easy.

I'm just not good at nothingness.  Yesterday, with a whole day to myself (the kids gone from 8am-9pm and Stu from 8.30am and then overnight), I wanted to do something special just for me.  People suggested going for a massage, to see a movie, a long bath, or a quiet lunch out.  I know that these are things that many women love, and I certainly don't begrudge them those luxuries, but I find that sort of thing very tedious.  I sit there, knowing I should be relaxing and enjoying the moment, but wanting to be anywhere else doing something.....anything!

Thankfully, I found my luxurious moments where my body relaxed and my thoughts slowed.  I went to the nursery in a moment of clear skies and wondered the aisles daydreaming about the garden.  I imagined all of the fruit that I hope to one day grow, and I bought myself a beautiful big orange tree and a feijoa bush (cheaper than a massage and will last much longer too!).  Then, when I came home from town, I made icecream.  I took my time, seperating eggs, pouring cream and watching the beaters change runny, slightly yellow goo into fluffy, snowy white peaks.  And then I folded it all slowly together and swirled the top.

My luxuries are homemade and simple.  They bring a smile to my face, which relaxes every muscle in my body. 

Do you find luxury in making and doing?  Or in the nothingness of a massage or bath?  Either way, I thought I'd share my very simple icecream recipe with you - if you're like me, you can meditate watching the beaters, otherwise, make it and then eat it while in the bath :)

Basic Icecream

1. Beat 6 egg whites until stiff.  Beat in 3/4 cup of icing sugar.
2. Beat 600ml of cream with 3/4 cup icing sugar until thick.
3. For whole egg vanilla icecream, beat the egg yolks with 2 teaspoons of good vanilla and then fold into the cream.
4. For other flavours (use your imagination here - strawberry swirl?  peppermint choc chip? honeycomb? cookies and cream? banana? chocolate? etc etc etc), fold your flavouring of choice into the cream instead.
5. Carefully fold the egg whites into the cream mixture until well mixed and then pour the lot into a 3-4 litre container and freeze.  No extra whipping required.

NB: A chef once told me that this isn't icecream.  He called it something else.  I say, whatever!  It tastes like icecream, works like icecream, is cheap and made of real food.  If supermarkets can call some of the crap they sell 'Icecream', I can call this icecream too.