The house is slowly coming together, though it will be a long process, and I'm even excitedly thinking about colours for some walls. The previous owners only added colour to two walls in the whole house - and they're light blue and dark purple both of which really don't appeal - so I'm pouring over colour charts and Ikea catalogues to make colour and storage decisions.

Our new kitchen is ridiculously larger than our previous one where any more than one person just wasn't really possible and cooking meant you were isolated and stuck staring at a wall 2ft in front of you- which was my excuse for not cooking much. Now I no longer have than excuse and I'm embracing it.

Tomorrow we're having a quiet New Years Eve with my sister and niece and I'm making brown bread ice cream for dessert. I chose to make this as it was the first easy looking thing out of the first cook book I opened yesterday and so I went with it.

It's was only as I began to make it that I remembered my Father-in-Law, Brian, who sadly died last year, talking about seeing it on a menu once and being amazed by it. The pub they were in were sold out, which amazed him even more, and he often told me about it and we agreed that one day we'd eat it. Sadly I never got to make it for him and my mind was flooded with memories as I followed the recipe.

The Recipe:

• 200g Brown wholemeal breadcrumbs
• 300ml Double cream
• 300ml Single cream
• 2 eggs separate
• 150g icing sugar
• 1tbsp rum (optional)

Gently toast the breadcrumbs in the oven or under the grill until crispy and lightly browned. Mix the creams together. Add the rum, if using, to the egg yolks and then add to the cream making sure fully mixed in.
When cooled down gently fold in the breadcrumbs into the mixtured.
Whisk the eggs whites until stiff and then gently fold into the mix.
Place the mix into a container, seal and freeze. That's it- no stirring and no machine needed- easy!