My absolute favorite ice cream is Dave’s Green Tea in the cardboard like tub. Creamy, flavorful, and green with just the right taste of tea. I still remember a dessert from the Wisteria Restaurant – that iconic wonderful Japanese American restaurant with the best nishime, chicken with eggplant and almost everything else they served. The dessert I loved there was a scoop of green tea ice cream topped with lime shaved ice. Super delish!!! However, it is so sad that they packed it all up and closed several years ago.

But I digress. The reason I wrote this post was to share Aunty’s tip on serving ice cream from the freezer. I used to have the kids be in charge of scooping out the ice cream from the containers because it would be so cold – rock hard and very difficult to scoop out – even with the best scoops and dipping it in hot water, etc. They struggled and struggled, and succeeded because their desire to eat ice cream surpassed the effort and muscle they had to put in.

One day, without any kids to help, I wanted to have just a bit of wonderful green tea ice cream. I stuck our best scooper in the tub and couldn’t even make a dent because it was rock hard cold. Hmmm. I could wait but then I might forget it and it the whole thing would melt. I could put it in the refrigerator and return in about an hour but I wanted it right then and there.

So, I stuck the container in the microwave and heated it for 10 seconds. And by golly, the ice cream soften up enough to easily scoop it into my bowl and was perfect!

Why 10 seconds? I dunno. Maybe 8 will work, maybe 12 will work. In any case, because of that I am eating more than I should. However, somehow, life is even more wonderful when eating something as delicious and refreshing as a scoop of ice cream. That must count for something, right?