Whack! Whack! Whack!

Raja and I had a mini pot luck dinner last night.

We were in charge of the drinks. Naturally, that includes ice too. So we bought 4 packets of ice cubes from 7-11.

The evening went by as it should. Eating, drinking, laughing, gossiping, etc. While all this was happening, Raja and I took turns refilling the ice cubes into a bowl. Which by the way, was a stainless steel bowl instead of an ice bucket. How sad is that? I need to start being a better wife and get proper kitchenware.

Anyway, I emptied the first packet into the ‘non-ice bucket’ bowl and placed it next to the drinks. As it got later into the evening, Raja emptied the second packet. When I got to the third packet, I realized that the ice cubes were no longer in small pieces, rather frozen together like a big block of iceberg.

So I stood there in the kitchen alone, contemplating on whether I should actually do something about it. Heck. It was too much work. I decided to let it be. With a hint of optimism, I was hoping it will melt and break into smaller pieces. That, ladies and gentlemen, did NOT happen. What was left was a chunk of semi-melted ice cube. Still the same piece, only much smaller than before.

When the fourth time came around, I decided to teach the stubborn ice cube a lesson. So I whacked it with a spoon. The biggest baddest spoon I had in the kitchen. Whack! Whack! Whack! Just when I thought I was getting the message across, Raja’s voice came from the living room. “Err…Baby, are you okay? What are you doing?”. Apparently my disciplining method was making too much noise. Damn.

In the middle of explaining what was happening, I soon found out that Raja had encountered the same problem while emptying the second packet. Unlike me, Raja and his friend used the pestle. The pestle?! So that’s how it’s done. Raja was warning me about the coldness of the ice against my hands and something about using warm water, but I wasn’t really listening. I was drifting away thinking, Man, I seriously need to hunt down the person who gave us that wedding gift and seriously thank him or her.

Thrilled, I held the pestle using my right hand and push aside the mortar. Because really, what could be better than a huge stainless steel bowl as a substitute mortar? Then I started pounding on the block of ice. Bam! Bam! Bam! Again, Raja’s voice intervened from the living room.

Raja: Baby, is it working? By the way, why is it so loud?

Me: I don’t think it’s working yet. But the ice is turning yellow though, from the ‘kunyit’ stain.

Raja: Don’t use that end. Use the other end.

Me: It’s still not working. It’s just flat.

Raja: Are you pounding on the ice??! You’re suppose to lift it in your hand and knock it, not pound on it. Which is why I told you to let the warm water run incase your hand hurts.

Ooooohhhhh, so that’s what he was rambling about earlier on. Seriously, sometimes I seize to impress myself with my stupidity and naivety. It’s also pretty impressive how I got through life this far.

Anyway, here’s a shot of the devil ice cubes in the ‘non-ice bucket’ bowl.

Side note: I’m kind of bummed because not only do I not know how to “properly” operate a blender, I’m also failing at basic mortar and pestle 101. Just when I thought I had fully mastered it. Sigh.