Chocolate/ Honey/ Clare

Now as I'm sure many of you know, Clare at eat stuff had a nasty little accident recently, resulting in hospitalisation and ivs and lots and lots of disgusting food.

I sent her my get-well-wishes and I noticed that around the place other bloggers were dedicating posts or baking cakes, hoping Clare would feel better and mend faster. I was particularly taken with Cin's yoghurt cake, but I haven't baked a cake in whoknowshowlong? And when I first found eat stuff, I remember Clare getting down and dirty with the new Tim Tam icecream (ah Tim Tams, the double chocolate coat can do no wrong!). So when on Saturday night, I had to bring a low key dessert to dinner, I stood in front of the ice cream cabinet at my local supermarket. To be honest, I was there to get some vanilla icecream. I had just bought some almost-overripe mangoes at the market and was after that vanilla hit.

I haven't eaten Connoiseur icecream in ages, but during my stay in Perth, Figman's mother served up some of their Strawberry Stravaganza and it was good. So I casually wandered over to the Connoisseur display and there it was - Chocolate. Honey. Nougat. Apparently a "harmonious blend of chocolate and honey ice cream with a generous amount of the finest chocolate coated almond nougat". There was no other choice. This was it.

After an incredible Thai feast courtesy of my friend J. (who, unlike me, managed to crack open her copy of Thai Food and actually cook something from it!), we got stuck into the icecream. Well, except the Figman who ate so much prawn curry and chilli beef that he had to lie down on the floor (I'm not joking). The theory was to try the icecream first and then move on to the mango, but it didn't happen. Aaah, rich chocolate, mellow honey and gorgeous crunchy bits of nougat. T. was spooning out seconds and said "make sure you get some chunks" and he was right - the texture and crunch of the nougat was the perfect accompaniment for the smooth ice cream. And I thought of Clare and how much she might like this.

The mangoes were left spurned and uneaten - although my share wound up in a salsa the next day. And I tried to re-create the taste in a sandwich - brown bread, a drizzling of honey and chocolate chips, but it just wasn't the same. As soon as I get space in my freezer, a litre tub is going to come to visit methinks!

I was reminded of all of this when I read eat stuff today and saw that I wasn't the only one getting all excited. And Clare, I rang the Figman on his mobile yesterday morning while he was in a Very Important Meeting and said "How could you not tell me that Australia made it into the World Cup finals??!!!". He didn't think I'd think it was important. Would you believe it?? Thank goodness the man can wash up.