Homemade Ice Cream

As a kid, I've always wanted to make my ice cream. Which would never occur to my immigrant Vietnamese mother. Why make things from scratch when you can buy them already made at the store? Luxuries that we Americans are used to were rare (if even available) for my parents when they lived in Vietnam. Wal-Mart is a mecca for them. Anything they want, they can buy. They worked hard to move to the States and to be able to afford the things they like.

Of course my sister and I have the opposite mentality. We attempt to re-use and recycle. We even go thrifting (to the horror of my dad who doesn't understand why we would buy something used when we can afford something new)! To them, shopping at the thrift store reminds them of when they first immigrated to the States and all they could afford were used dishes and furniture.

Anyway, I took Sophia to one of our favorite places, Whole Foods to hang out with one of our favorite people, Chef Egg. August's class was homemade ice cream! No ice cream maker required. It was so easy, you can make it at home in 10 minutes!

We love the Half Pints classes at Whole Foods. They're free and they teach kids to have fun making/cooking food. Check out your local Whole Foods page for the calendar of events. Our Silver Spring location will have one about after school snacks later this month.


First, add sugar, vanilla extract, and half & half to a quart sized ziptop bag (recipe will follow after pictures). Make sure bag is zipped closed completely. Squeeze to mix everything up, making sure you don't feel anymore grains of sugar. You can add any other flavorings you want in this step too: crushed berries, smashed bananas, chocolate syrup, etc.


Add lots of ice and sea salt to a gallon sized ziptop bag. Place sugar & half & half bag into larger bag. Close it up and start shaking. (Love that action shot) Shake and shake. Then shake some more. If you have leakage, you'll have to start over (we did). It takes about 10 or so minutes. Don't get to vigorous with the shaking as you might break open the inside bag. Once the ice milk (that's what you're really making) is to your desire consistency, remove it from the ice bag.

Squeeze all the ice milk into a cup, add your favorite toppings and enjoy! As you can see Sophia added lots of whipped cream and strawberries.

Double Bagger Ice Cream Recipe (courtesy of Whole Foods)

1/2 cup Half & Half
1 drop of vanilla extract
1T of sugar
1 Ziptop bag, quart sized

4C of Ice
4T of Rock Salt (Chef Egg used sea salt)
1 Ziptop bag, gallon sized

Mix the half and half with the vanilla and sugar in the small bag. Place ice and salt in the big bag. Place small bag inside the big bag and shake for 5-10 minutes until the ice cream is solid. Scoop out of bag and enjoy.

Making Sushi with the Spice Girls

I took Sophia to a kids sushi making class this afternoon at Whole Foods. Turns out there was an adult class later tonight. Thanks to DH rushing home from work to grab Sophia from me, I was able to take it!

Now I've made sushi rolls before, many a time. Before Sophia was born, I would hold sushi parties. Everyone brings a fish or condiment (pre-assigned before the party) and I would roll sushi. YUM! So much cheaper than eating sushi in a restaurant. I would also make fried rice or Vietnamese green papaya salad.

Gotta love the music in Whole Foods though. The Spice Girls' If You Wanna Be My Lover came on while we were rolling. That & Total Eclipse of the Heart. Talk about a trip down memory lane! (Speaking of memory lane, did you know that Seether remade WHAM!'s Careless Whisper? I mean, I love Seether, but a rock version of Careless Whisper? George Michael was so angst ridden in that song--the way it's meant to be. Plus Seether didn't hit the high note at the end)

I was totally taking the class for the sushi! I mean for $10 I got to make a ton of sushi. It was dinner for the whole family. Since this was impromptu, I didn't have my camera with me. Excuse the crappy cell phone pics. iPhone, I have not. Check it out:


Chef Egg, who teaches all the cooking classes at Whole Foods Silver Spring. I took Sophia to a kids Strawberry Shortcake class in May that she loved! I tried to pry what his real name was but he wouldn't tell me! (Pssst, that's the new dress I made from the old dress. Will try to remember to take better pics)

Chef Egg totally rocked the class! Everyone was all serious and nervous until he showed us the sushi rice spreading fingers (your thumb, forefinger, and middle finger). He used a Japanese term for it that I forget, but my favorite part was when he says, "What do those fingers say?" Then he made them move and roar. LOL! Imagine 15 adults doing that. I thought it was a riot. Chef Egg was tons of fun.


Dawt, who didn't want a pic taken but was nice enough to let me. She actually makes the sushi that you can buy fresh in the deli section. Reon was another sushi chef, but he disappeared for while and my battery on my phone was low.


Rolling towards California. A California roll, that is. I think this was one of the later ones that I made. There's some roasted sesame seeds on top. Did you know that Whole Foods offers an all-natural imitation crab? How cool is that?

We also learned to make inside out rolls. Chef Egg shared a cool trick. After you put the rice on the nori and flip it over, put a very very thin line of rice on the nori (seaweed) side so your insides don't slide out when you roll. How cool is that?

Rolling up the sushi. Pic is of person next to me. I never asked her name (bad blogger), but she was super nice! After we learned the basics, we were allowed to make as many more rolls as we wanted. I made 8 rolls all together!

We also got some edamame, seaweed salad and pickled ginger to take home too. It was very generous for $10. I mean, if you just bought sushi from their prepared section, you might get 3 rolls for $10! We also got to take home the bamboo rolling mat we used in class.

Plus we all got some Honest Tea to drink while we rolled sushi. It was good tea. Usually when I tried bottled teas they are waaaay to sweet for me. I'm a tea purist. I'd rather have good unsweetened tea (sorry Nestea). Besides Honest Tea is a local company, in Bethesda, MD.


Here's the bounty spread out on my dining table. Sophia dug right in! She loves sushi, but only eats the rice.

It was a ton of fun! Even though I've rolled sushi before, I did learn some cool tips about rolling sushi. Hubby thinks I should take some more cooking classes. I love to cook and learn new things. Sounds like a good idea, right?