Four for the Fourth: Berry "Ice Cream"

After checking out some “ice cream” recipes from Veg News last night I was really fiending for a cold, creamy, dairy free dessert. The Veg News ones required ingredients I didn’t have here (cacao
powder and nibs) so I started researching other options. I wanted the ice cream to be heavy on the berries since I had a freezer full of blue ones and a refrigerator full of straw ones. I clicked on a berry ice cream cake version at This Rawsome Vegan Life and I was immediately smitten. It included cashews, bananas, almond milk and coconut oil (for the creamy) and dates (for the sweet).

I did it this morning although I slightly changed it by halving the recipe (except the vanilla bean as I
love a strong vanilla taste) and instead of waiting for the berry topping to set, I just poured it over and froze it all together. This created more of an outer shell than a top layer but I was fine with that.

As I waited for the “ice cream” to freeze I ventured into another cold space. The space where steel presses against skin and bone. There is nothing quite like the creepy feeling evoked by moments like these. I feel slightly the same when “Steel Bones” by the Vuvuvultures comes onto my radio. “What did they do to you?” is questioned over and over throughout the song. It makes you doubt yourself and wonder if there is something wrong with you, if you are destined to be strange and alone for the rest of your life. Not until you show up at a boys camp and see that everyone else has a little you in them do you relax realizing that everyone feels a little bit of this at times.




 Also cold is the music industry. Especially when you sign your soul over to them only to try and escape and see that you can’t. This is the story of the Coppertone. She signed a deal, after years and years of running the streets. The deal was unfair, but she had done the hard time for so long she hoped for a bit of relief. About a year ago, she woke up and realized the mistake she made. She knew there would be repercussions that she had to deal with and that she would have to start over at 27 but still, she wanted out. Thanks to a successful campaign at indiegogo, the Coppertone has raised 20,000 dollars and can free herself from that awful deal. Here is her song to celebrate the successful campaign that bought her freedom. “Young Blood”:




Since we are celebrating today, how about something uplifting like “Detroit City” by Texas. Texas just recently passed the 25-year mark as a band. In honor of themselves, they made a record that was good enough to return to the top of the European charts. The Conversation has garnered some pretty serious acclaim from the critics because of its songwriting and musical depth.



And finally, we’ve got a bit of Ted Leo meets Arcade Fire in the form of Exohxo. The band's latest release STORIES AND FICTIONS shows the band’s song-writing versatility. It is a quick fix, with the
seven tracks clocking in at just over twenty minutes. The album is due out on July 30th. Check
out the first single “AnnaLea”: