by Rock Paper Scissors -

Let’s make homemade ice cream

During this summer, my daughter had to make homemade ice cream as one of her summer science experiments. I tried making ice cream several times in the past with my daughter, but it never really worked. We would just stare at a white blob together and pour sweet milk (sadly not a vanilla shake) into a cup. This time, her teacher provided us with a video and it actually worked this time!

homemade ice cream
homemade ice cream

Homemade Maple Syrup Ice Cream
PREP TIME 5 MIN      COOK TIME 10 MIN      TOTAL 15 MIN

Ingredients

1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
2/3 cup of milk
2-3 teaspoons of maple syrup (or honey)

Things you will need

1 small storage bag
1 large storage bag
4 cups of ice
3-4 tablespoons of salt

homemade ice cream

Directions

1. Pour 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream, 2/3 cup of milk, and 2-3 teaspoons of maple syrup into the small storage bag.
2. Remove all the air from the storage bag and seal tightly. (Closing the bag properly will save you from spilling all your ice cream or salty ice cream!) And mix well!
3. Now pour 4 cups of ice and 3-4 tablespoons of salt into the large storage bag.
4. Put your small storage bag with ice cream into the large storage bag filled with ice with salt.
5. Shake, shake, and shake! (I mean rigorously but also without destroying the small storage bag.)
6. Check your ice cream. Add ice and salt into the large storage bag, if your ice cream is still liquid. If your ice cream is ready, go ahead and serve!

From my experience, lots of ice and salt (plus adding a little more heavy whipping cream) are the success of making delicious ice cream! I’ve tried honey instead of maple syrup – my kids loved them both! I hope you will have fun making ice cream as well, and please follow me on my Instagram account @byasamihasegawa for more tips and more.

by Rock Paper Scissors -

Summer Fruit Salad

Fruit-Salad
On hot summer days, I usually lose my appetite and go straight for an ice cream or fruit bar. But now that my toddler is old enough to understand the wonderful vocabulary “ice-cream”, I have to opt to a more healthier solution. This fruit salad is definitely healthy and enticing even for my toddler!

Summer Fruit Salad
PREP TIME 10 MIN      COOK TIME 1 MIN      TOTAL 11 MIN

Ingredients

1 cup of Strawberries, sliced
½ cup of Blueberries
½ Apple, diced
2 Kiwis
1 Orange
½ Cantaloupe, diced
Teaspoon of Lemonade

Instructions

1. Mix together all the fruits in a large bowl

2. Add a teaspoon of Lemonade and toss gently

by Rock Paper Scissors -

Mizuyokan – Red Bean Jelly

Mizu-Yokan-Red-Bean-Jelly

Unlike breezy Bay Area, summer in New York City was hot and humid – filled with hot air and musty smell. On certain summer days, garbages are dumped and cooked on scorching hot streets releasing a perfectly sour odor. Waiting for the 1 train at 96th Street Subway station was like sauna bathing and the air-conditioned subway cars felt like heaven. After a long and steamy afternoon walk in Soho, Coffee Milk Tea Boba in China Town seemed just right.

Then I remembered the ferociously long hot and humid summer in Japan. The traditional sound of wind chimes, fuurin, are everywhere in summer and incredibly soothing. Despite the hot summer, Japanese enjoy summer with various cold summer treats – shaved ice, yokan, fruit jellies, green tea frozen yogurt, and many more. One of my favorites treats are Yokans – Red Bean Jelly. If you are in the Bay Area, you can find them at local Japanese Supermarkets like Mitsuwa, Nijiya, or Marukai. I personally find them too sweet for my little one, so I usually whip up this treat with less sugar and add honey.

Mizu-Yokan-Red-Bean-Jelly

MIZUYOKAN (RED BEAN JELLY)
PREP TIME 5 MIN      COOK TIME 5 MIN      TOTAL 30MIN

Ingredients

200 grams of Sweet Red Bean Paste
2 grams of Kanten (Agar)
1 teaspoon of Honey
1 cup of Water
Pinch of Salt

Instructions

1. Combine 1 cup of water and add 2 grams of powdered kanten in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.

2. Lower heat and dissolve powdered kanten with a wooden spoon for 2 min.

3. Add 200 grams of sweet red bean paste and dissolve the paste with wooden spoon for 3 min.

4. Add 1 teaspoon of honey and pinch of salt. Remove from heat and let it cool for 5 min.

5. Pour mixture into a pan and cool in refrigerator for 15 min.