Well, hello Bamix! (Oh, and a yummy ice cream recipe.)

Andrew likes to make banana smoothies for breakfast, using a hand-held stick blender. About a year ago our Breville stick blender died of old age. It had done an excellent job ... lasting over ten years and making at least 3000 smoothies! Not to mention helping out with soups, sauces, dips and the like. We started looking into options for a replacement blender and were disappointed to find that, these days, it is REALLY hard to find stick blenders that don't come with a whole bunch of unnecessary plastic clutter. Bowls, jars, scrapers, and all manner of pointless attachments. As someone who has been functioning as an adult for 35 years, I already own all the kitchen clutter I'll ever need. So we set our sights on a Bamix stick blender as it was simply a blender. No jars, no bowls, no crap. The Bamix is more expensive than most brands on the market, but is famously reliable (it comes with a 20-year warranty on the motor) so it meets our criteria for expected longevity better than the cheaper brands would have.

Meanwhile ... we decided to make do for a while, using an ancient bench-top blender we'd bought years ago from a friend who moved overseas. This blender works OK, but is harder to clean and isn't suitable for some foods. So we finally splashed out on the Bamix a couple of weeks ago.

It's purple!

So, anyway, I'd always used a hand mixer:

to make my many flavours of home made ice cream. Today, however, I tried whipping the cream with the Bamix rather than by hand. It worked well. So fast! So little arm-ache! Here's what I made:

Avocado, Lime and Ginger ice cream

Don't be deterred by the idea of avocado ice cream. This is delicious. The avocado gives it a gorgeous colour and texture, while the lime and ginger provide the flavour.

1 avocado (or two if they're small)
juice and pulp of 2 fresh limes
125 g glacé ginger, chopped finely
0.25 cup caster sugar
1 cup cream

Purée avocado with lime juice and pulp. Fold in ginger and sugar. Very lightly whip cream. Fold all together. Put in freezer. Take out 15 minutes before serving.

Rest in peace, Breville blender ;-(