Thirty plus years ago I had a friend named Kathy.
Kathy and I were friends by default.
Our husbands had been boyhood friends,
having grown up across the street
from one another.
We became friends early in
Kathy's marriage
because of our
husbands' friendship.
We lived in different states,
but had periodic visits.
We welcomed all our children
into our circle
as they came into our lives,
four for Kathy,
one for me.
As lives became busier with
children, careers, and homemaking
our visits grew less and less.
By the time my marriage ended
ten years ago,
I had not had any
contact with Kathy for some time.
As is often the case in divorce,
alliances form along the lines
of "couple" relationships
("his" friends/"her" friends).
I moved ahead,
getting totally engrossed
in forging a new life for myself
and never made any attempt to keep
my relationship with Kathy alive.
Then out of the blue
a few weeks ago,
I got an email from...KATHY!
She had stumbled upon
my Etsy shop and hence this blog.
She took the time to read my past posts
and reached out to me.
She tells me she read
ALL my blogs posts!
I can say without a doubt,
no one has done that except me!
I don't doubt her because this week
I received the above three bottles of
Mexican vanilla in the mail
from Kathy as a result of my post of
Now Kathy and I are
reconnecting totally on our own
as two middle aged, divorced women
with grown children.
We will create a new friendship
based upon who we are now.
Life is certainly
a twisty tale,
isn't it?
Now about that Mexican vanilla...
I used to make a wonderful
homemade vanilla ice cream.
But, with our current consciousness
concerning uncooked eggs,
I hesitate to share the recipe with you
because it is a "no-cook" one.
It also requires an ice cream maker
which I no longer own.
It was one of the many "things"
I shed when I reinvented myself
at Buttermilk Cottage.
I offer you instead a simple new
one I intend to try soon
with some of my
Mexican vanilla.
Easy Vanilla Ice Cream
2 cups heavy cream
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Mix the condensed milk and vanilla in a small bowl.
Whip the cream with an electric mixer
until stiff peaks form.
With the mixer on low speed,
slowly add the vanilla mixture
to the whipped heavy cream and combine.
Pour into a freezer safe container
and freeze for 6 hours or overnight.
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Thank you Kathy
for the Mexican vanilla,
I've been without it for quite a while.
But mostly, thank you for reaching out.
You've put the cherry on top of my ice cream!
