And it... was awesome.

Did you ever think that you knew your own mother better than you actually did??

I did.

Background:

My parents hail from the great state of Illinois, which also happens to be the home of Krekel's, the birthplace of the best frozen lemon custard in all 50 states. I spent many a dinner time at Grandma's house, eating only what was required to earn some of that tasty treat. Ah, Krekel's. A long time it's been, my friend.

12 years, to be exact.

Desperate for some of my favorite frozen treat, I devised a way to make it... substituting lemon pudding for vanilla in my favorite homemade ice cream recipe. It was divine! After tasting the dessert for himself (after 6 years of waiting...) Josh suggested that we make it for my mother as a surprise while visiting in August. What a great idea! Or so I thought...

After keeping the recipe under wraps for 2 months, lying through my teeth to keep it a secret, and a secret shopping trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond to pick up the only ice-cream maker left in Post Falls, Idaho, our mission was accomplished.

Mom sat at the table quietly, her ice cream in front of her. Josh, Brookie, and Jana all peeking over their bowls and snickering with anticipation for the scream of excitement that surely would follow, "Lemon ice cream?! How could this be?! It's all I've ever wanted and more!"

After moments of agonizing silence, I decided to prompt her: "How is your ice cream, Mom?"

Mom: "Well, it's good, but it tastes like lemon."

Brookie:"Yeah..."

Mom: "Well, I'm trying to find the Brickle" (She was expecting the original recipe, "Brickle-Frickle" with Butterfingers candy bars.)

Brookie (laughing): "We changed the recipe, what do you think?"

Jana: "Oh, no. This isn't going well."

Mom: "Well, it's good, but I don't know why you'd make me lemon ice cream."

Brookie: "You don't think that it tastes like Krekel's?"

Mom: "I wouldn't know. I've never had Krekel's lemon ice cream."

Brookie: "What?!"

Josh (snickering): "This is awesome."

Jana: "Oh... I want to cry for you."

Brookie: "What?!"

Mom: "I always had the strawberry or chocolate ice cream."

Say what? My mind is still reeling. I guess I still have a lot to learn.

*If you want to try the recipe, I'll have it posted on another (not so long) post, later.