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You guys, I just had the best week EVER.

Jason took Asher on a trip to visit the grandparents for a week, leaving me home alone. I repeat: HOME. ALONE. Picture me doing the patented Macaulay Culkin hands-to-cheeks pose, but instead of screaming in fear, I’m shrieking with delight.

It was an entire week of sleeping like a rock, staying up past my bedtime with lights on and music blaring, watching zero children’s programming, not being bound by nap or sleep schedules, and putting sharp/dangerous/delicious items anywhere I wanted without a care in the world. I worked like a dog the entire time and it was still the most amazing staycation ever. (Some of you might be thinking this makes me sound heartless, but I’ll bet some other parents of young toddlers can understand the absolute glee and sheer freedom of a week home alone.)

Obviously, I owe Jason big time. Two long road trips plus a week of singlehanded parenting? Yikes. I’m not sure what I’ll do to make it up to him, but I suspect it might involve donating an organ at some point. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. In the meantime, I stocked our freezer with some of his favorite ice cream as a fun, non-surgical thank you.

Dreyer’s gave me the opportunity to try some of their Slow-Churned Ice Cream—if a giant bowl of ice cream isn’t a great way to say “Thanks for whisking our baby away for a week,” I don’t know what is! I went with Caramel Swirl, because Jason’s a caramel fanatic and it’s also versatile enough to go with lots of different toppings without clashing. I think I’m going to have to make another ice cream run in a week, because their Limited Edition Peppermint and Pumpkin flavors are coming out by September 15, and I need both of those flavors in my freezer immediately.

The other great thing about this ice cream is that it has tons of flavor, but half the fat, and 1/3 fewer calories than regular ice cream. This is especially useful when one is married to a certified ice cream guzzler (guilty) or when one wants to pair the ice cream with edible chocolate cookie bowls (guilty again)!

I’ve seen lots of chocolate chip cookie cups floating around Pinterest (and lots of failed attempts floating around Pinterest-mocking websites) and I think they’re such a cute idea. Ice cream is delicious on its own, but when you can actually eat the container it’s served in? I’m sold. I was intrigued, and eager to try it for myself, and only a little bit scurred. I decided to make double chocolate cookie ice cream cups—it’s a nice twist on the usual chocolate chip flavor, and the brownie-like chocolate cookies pair nicely with caramel-swirled Dreyer’s ice cream.

I’m happy to say that I got the recipe right on the second try! (Let us never speak of the first try again.) These chocolate cookie cups are crisp around the edges, a touch soft in the center, and they hold their shape perfectly once they’re unmolded. They hold a big, generous scoop of ice cream, with a little room around the edges for drizzled toppings. The deep, rich flavor is great with anything from plain vanilla bean to mint chip to peanut butter, and everything in between.

It’s not a perfect “thank you” gift, but it’s a start. I’m hoping if I thank Jason enough, he’ll forget how long this past week was, and be motivated to do these father-son trips on a quarterly basis. A girl can dream, right?

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