I put the ice cream in the oven

When I was younger, around 8 or 9 years old, I wanted to learn how to make this ice cream that my mom had bought for me. I had just moved to Arizona from Haiti and I didn't know jack squat about America, let alone the various flavors of this well-known frozen dessert. And yes I've had ice cream prior to my move but it was rare and it was a different country...I don't know what else to tell you.

Anyways. I remember the ice cream carton had just finished and instead of asking my mom to buy more, I took it upon myself to recreate it and just use the old tub as a container for my new creation. It was around 2007 so the internet wasn't as advanced as today, nor did I have a computer to use at the time anyway, and even if I did, I'd most likely be found playing Club Penguin or getting lost in the magical world of Pixie Hollow; NOT looking up ice cream recipes. So it didn't come as a surprise when, spoiler alert, the ice cream didn't turn out anywhere close to what I wanted it to.

I don't know what possessed me to use the ingredients I did but I did. There were eggs, milk, juice, flour and, I'm sure, a bunch of other things that made sense to my pea brain at the time, but 22 year old me now can't help but question why my mom didn't put a stop to that nonsense then. I ended up putting all the ingredients together in a saucepan to be heated on the stove, then transferring it to an oven-safe dish, then transferring that to the old ice cream tub I mentioned earlier and placing it in the freezer. I'm pretty sure I invented a new color in the process. I can't even begin to describe the vile concoction I came up with, mainly because it's been so long and I can't even remember what I had for lunch yesterday, but I know without a doubt it was NOT pleasing to the eyes by any standards.

But fast forward to over a decade later, I remember this moment as I come to the end of my college...career? would you even call that a career? probably not. Anyways, I'm about to graduate college and that story comes to mind because I plan on opening a bakery.

I find it ironic that a year ago I switched my major from Hotel & Restaurant management to English, and now, a year later, I’m going to be managing a restaurant after all. At first, like many other soon to be professional bakers that came before me, I wasn’t really sure what signature baked goods I’d be providing. I watched countless videos and swam through many Pinterest posts before deciding that I’d be baking bread. I wanted to take the phrase “let’s get this bread” and make it as literal as possible. No, my bakery will not be named “let’s get this bread”, but hey, who’s to say I won’t change my mind. I’m currently in the process of developing recipes for different flavors of stuffed breads and I hope to open my bakery in late October of 2021.

No one was surprised when I told them my decision and that’s when I realziaed that everything was finally coming full circle. After countless days and nights wondering what my future would look like. I know I didn’t want to keep working different jobs just for money because my thinking is “if I’m going to work somewhere for the rest of my life, I’m going to do something I love and something that makes me happy even if hardships come my way. At the time, when first making ice cream, I never thought I'd get here. I'm thankful my mom didn't stop me from creating that awful mess because seeing the woman I've become now, it all makes sense. I'm a mess and so my creations are a mess. They're way better now otherwise I wouldn't be opening a bakery, but it all makes sense. I truly am living proof that everything happens for a reason.

Oh! And I know how to make ice cream now...for real this time.