Even after twelve years living in the Bay Area, Good Fridays here still feel strange.  Back in the Philippines, everything comes to a halt.  Everything slows down and everyone gets to spend a four-day holiday with family and friends.  Well, technically it’s more like a four-day retreat from the world.  Here it’s different.  The hustle and bustle of city life remains uninterrupted.

It’s different also because it isn’t scorching hot.  I spoke with my mom the other day and she was complaining about the heat. Too hot to do anything, she said.  I checked out the weather today and it’s a high of 95 and summer has not even peaked yet!  I remember hot humid Good Fridays growing up when I would go to church with my mom.  I always had a handkerchief in one hand to wipe off my sweat and an abaniko in the other to cool myself for even the briefest moment.  Traditions transcend even the hottest of summers, I guess.

With images of hot humid summers flashing through my mind (while it’s cold and gray outside — what happened to fleeting Spring?!), I joyously remembered I still have some frozen homemade pan de sal sitting in my freezer.  I had a brilliant idea!

I ventured out to Mitchell’s Ice Cream in the Outer Mission, bought a gallon of ube ice cream and hurriedly went back home.  I excitedly toasted my pan de sal, sliced them, and scooped a generous scoop of purple awesomeness onto the lightly toasted buns.  In a matter of a minutes, I made amazing ube ice cream sandwiches.

These colorful homemade ice cream sandwiches are so easy to make.  Substitute snickerdoodles or white chocolate chip macadamia cookies for the pan de sal or substitute mint chocolate or strawberry for the ube ice cream. There are so many choices.

To learn how to make your own pan de sal at home follow the link here.