Twenty-fourth of May. Eh?

It's a long weekend here in Canada land. Officially, we are meant to be honouring the birthday of Queen Victoria. Unofficially, it's the weekend that, for many Canadians, heralds the start of summer. For the ambitious, it's a weekend of camping or gardening. I'm not so ambitious, so my tribute to the beginning of summer has involved ice cream. 

Saturday was our first trip of the season to Benino Gelato. Raspberry for me. Salted caramel for Hubby. In spite of the rain we sat outside with our treats. It's the May long weekend dammit. Must... enjoy... food... outside... Actually, it wasn't too bad. The seats were sheltered, and the rain had pretty much stopped. That's another feature of the May long weekend... unpredictable weather.

Of course, exposure to the good stuff means the store-bought frozen treats just won't do. Solution? Make my own. The less-than-cooperative weather worked to our advantage in this respect. Our planned adventure to the Monster Truck extravaganza was out, but ice-cream making was in.  

I could have gone with a tried and true recipe, but where's the adventure in that? A comment by a friend at book club inspired me to try something new. She wondered if I had tried the Silk Road tea I served as ice cream. I had not. Hmmmm....

It seemed appropriate that ice cream made on Victoria Day be made from tea purchased in Victoria. 

Lullaby Tea Ice Cream

Adapted from the Vanilla Ice Cream, Philadelphia Style recipe in David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop 

1 cup whipping cream
2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp Silk Road Lullaby tea leaves
1 tbsp vodka
3/4 tsp vanilla
pinch salt

• Combine cream, sugar and tea leaves in a saucepan. Heat slowly, stirring occasionally until sugar has dissolved
• Remove from heat. Add milk and vanilla.
• Steep for 30 to 60 minutes. (Taste occasionally for desired flavour.)
• Strain out tea leaves. Add vodka. Chill.
• Churn in ice cream maker.
• Enjoy!