Homemade Ice Cream Fail #1

Okay, I'll admit it. I thought I would have soy ice cream success on the first try. And, if you count the fact that Ren liked it and Stow was willing to eat it, I was partially successful. Of course, Ren will eat just about anything.　If it's stale, slightly moldy, or just a tad too alive for my taste, he's okay with it. Given that he eats more than the rest of us combined, it helps that he eats what no one else will (it also doesn't hurt that he's got a stomach of steel). And since Stow has been on a pretty steady diet of all-natural and completely unseasoned veggies, fruits, tofu, and meat, my ever-so-slightly sweetened soy ice cream was a huge hit with him.

I started my ice-cream-making venture (like I start many of my ventures) with an Internet search.  We didn't have any eggs or powdered sugar, so I went with the recipe that called for soy milk, tofu, vanilla, and syrup. Ren and I had misgivings about the syrup but decided to stick (hee, hee, hee, "stick") with the recipe. (For the record, Ren and I were right).

On the bright side, the new ice cream maker worked like a charm. Twenty minutes after I put the blended mess of tofu-like products into the chilled bowl of the maker, voila! Ice cream. But Sky and Pink P weren't having it. In Sky's estimation, "Yuck! It tastes like tofu." Apparently, they like tofu, but not when it's supposed to taste like ice cream. Both gave their half-eaten leftovers to Ren--a first in the history of, well, ever.

So, my initial attempt was essentially a fail, but it totally reminded of my favorite post-hike, pre-hot spring restaurant, Okamoto Tofu. And Okamoto Tofu reminded me of Kurokawa Onsen (onsen=hot spring). And that kind of depressed me, really. I mean, look at these pictures. 

Oh. My. Gosh. The food. Yum.



And then, there's the ice cream...


Now that's good tofu ice cream.

Next time I use the ice cream maker: more sugar, less syrup, and maybe a nice hot spring.


And, if you're ever in Okuni in Kumamoto prefecture, you have to check out Okamoto Tofu (and they're not even paying me to say this, though they totally should).





Images from Okamoto Tofu-ten