Marshmallow Ice Cream & How Social Media Saved my Ass

Ice Cream and Frozen Recipes, Montreal Buzz

Marshmallows are not just for campfires in the summer. Oh no! They can also be mixed in with your coolest estival treat to become Marshmallow Ice Cream.

Here is a new unusual ice cream to add to my long list of exotic frozen treats. Marshmallow ice cream reminds us of camping, summer, lakes and all that good stuff. Marshmallow ice cream also evoke scary story telling around the campfire.

Therefor I am taking this post hostage to recite my scary spooky urban tale (the story is scary, not were I live as people have misunderstood) where two friends answered my bat signal for help in the middle of the night. Also we could not have have come out victorious without all of today’s modern technology. And so the tale begin….

Campfire worthy Marshmallow ice cream

It’s Silent Bob’s fault 😉

This 100% true story happened to me last night. I should have know better than to go out to a movie that was due to start at 10 PM. Yes 10 PM, whom do I think I am, a teenager? I headed out to see another flick at my annual guilty pleasure movie festival: Fantasia. This fateful night’s late screening was Kevin Smith’s (Clerks, Dogma, Chasing Amy… and he is Silent Bob!!) newest project entitled Yoga Hosers (trailer is in link). It is a ridiculous funny film, a horror-comedy, where two teenage yoga enthusiasts team up with a legendary man-hunter (Johnny Depp) to battle with an ancient evil presence: sausage-shaped Nazi monsters known as Bratzis. Oh yeah this all happens in Winnipeg and the movie is riddled with Canadian silly clichés, eh.

Kevin Smith was there himself and introduced the film for 50 minutes! The film started at 11 PM (BED please!). The Q&A with Kevin lasted another 50 min! My gosh he is a great entertaining story teller but man can that dude talk FOREVER lol. Now I know why he was Silent Bob. He was really happy with the audience’s reaction to the film and being in Quebec (the film has several Quebec bits) he said we got some jokes no one had ever gotten before.

And now the terror part of my story begins.

By the time we got out to the theater it was 1h35 AM. There was no regular public transportation left running. Quickly I got on to a car sharing service app Car2Go. The battery on the phone was about to die, like 5% juice left. I reserved a nearby car, got to it, and drove home in 17 mint flat! Luckily I even found parking easily. I get out of the car, and start walking home. “Is my phone in my purse”? “Oh no did I leave my phone IN the car?” One has 15 seconds to go back and retrieve anything before the doors lock.

It was too late. I could just make out in the dark my phone sitting right on the passenger seat, confined in the now locked car. Ironically, I was just like the 2 teenage girls in the movie when twice their phones are taken away. OMG I thought that my life was going to end right there and then!

2 AM feeling utterly stranded and desparate

Now you will tell me: Evelyne just open the car again with the service and get your phone. Yeah, big problem: you can only unlock a car WITH A PHONE…which is in the car!!!!!! Everything else I own is Wi-Fi only and this car is sitting in a residential area a good 10 min walk away from my place. And I don’t have a landline so I cannot go home and call anyone either.

What did you do Evelyne? Well at first I panicked. But then a plan took shape in my mind. I would send out a bat signal out on my social network and hope someone will come to my rescue. “URGENT if you are in Montreal and awake please message me ASAP“. Nothing. I waited for a notification, a private message, a sign of life. Nothing. Proper people my age are sleeping at this time.

I also went on the Car2Go website and I realized I could call them via Skype! YES love you Skype. Yes I love you Car2Go that answers at 2:15 AM. After talking to the operator and exhausting all possibilities, she locked down the car so no one could rent it until I could get my hand’s on someone’s phone to open the car. Even Car2Go cannot unlock a car for you, you must use the app on the phone.

Modern gadgets and Social Networks to the rescue!

OK so I am less panicked, no one can take my car. Someone could break into the car if they see a phone but odds have tilted a bit more in my favor. As I get ready for bed, trying to think of who I should get in touch with via a message, post, email in the morning. I know I am not going to sleep well. Jut as I am about to turn the lights out at 2:30 AM, all hope lost, I see someone has sent me a message on Facebook.

OMG some insane friends (just like me) are still awake and they have seen my bat signal emergency call. Andrew and Vitalia just got home from the 1st night of Osheaga, a 3 day major rock fest event. I try my best to explain my situation. After a little confusion we manage to speak on a call via Facebook to explain everything and what has to be done. Isn’t modern tech the best sometimes? This would require a lot of strategy and perfect timing. All things no one has at this time of night.

30 seconds on the clock!

My friends download the Car2Go app and log in as me (I temporarily changed my password to helpme911, everyone got a giggle out of that) and I told them to find my car on the map and wait. Then I Skyped Car2Go back and told them I had someone who could open my car via my amount on their phone. Crystal took my call and she was great. She reserved the car to my name and confirmed anyone within the city could unlock a car, you do not need to stand by the car (AWESOME!!!). But you have 30 seconds to start a rental and open the door…or it will lock again. She said to call back Car2Go again to let them know if it worked and adjust my account.

I call Andrew back on Facebook and told him to wait for 3h10 AM exactly and start the rental on his phone while logged into my account. Off I went back to the car full of anxiety. If our plan was foiled I would not be able to get back in touch with anyone till I got back home again, a good 10 min. I got to the car at 3:06 AM, heart beating like crazy. Minutes felt like hours. 3:09 AM “OMG I really hope this works”

And then it happened. 3:10 AM on the dot. I hear the most beautiful noise in the world. The noise of a car door unlocking. I got into the car! I got into the car! OMG I got into the car!!!! I have my phone back!!!!!!!!!!!

Go team work!

Andrew and Vitalia you guys ROCK! They stayed up a whole 45 min later for me. After calling my friends first to thank them profusely, I called Car2Go and it’s Crystal again! After the obligatory verification steps, she can say she knows it’s me. She asks for the phone number my account is associated too. I tell her the number and I say I am calling you from MY phone. Our insane plan worked! She was so happy and she told me everyone in the call center was now aware of my situation and everyone was on pins and needles to see if I got my phone back.

When I got home, changed my Car2Go password back on my laptop. I got on my phone to the app to make sure it was also on the new password. Before I could confirm the battery of the phone died right there in my hand. Oh well just plug in the charger and check in the morning. I finally got into bed, with a calm mind, at 3:30 AM.

Marshmallow ice cream with Caramel Sauce

Silent Bob was right!

Who knew one day I would be so happy for the existence of apps, Skype and Facebook! Sometimes they can do good. Funny enough, Kevin Smith harped on in the end of the Q&A that anyone can accomplish anything as long as you willed it. Turns out, he was right. I never gave up and willed my way into getting my phone back by any means I had at my disposal. So thank you to Kevin Smith too!

Was that not the scariest urban story ever? 😉 Have you ever experienced anything like this? Is this not a scary worthy campfire with Marshmallow ice cream story ? I saw this marshmallow ice cream recipe last year on Liz’s blog. Although the idea of using marshmallows sounds different, the taste is similar to a very sweet and delicious vanilla ice cream. It would be fun to try again by slightly toasting the marshmallows first and see if it gets more of a campfire taste. The marshmallow ice cream tasted wonderful covered with my homemade caramel sauce and would be also fab with Liz’s fudge sauce.