Ice cream diaries

[gwyn]

So, now that I've made a few batches of ice cream, what have I learned? One, it's important to follow ALL the instructions for putting the device together. Two, I need to find some insulated gloves that I won't care about getting ice cream all over them, because frostbitten fingers just for the sake of dessert are not good.

I've made five different batches so far. Each one of them has turned out differently.

* The first was basic vanilla. This was the best one of all until the recent one. Possibly it was the ease, possibly it was also that dad put the contraption together correctly.

* Chocolate was next. That one turned out very badly, though my friend's kids loved it, and dad didn't complain. I just couldn't get the chocolate to unseize, first of all, no matter how long I heated it once the milk was in. My arm became so tired from stirring that I finally gave up and left the lumps in. I also didn't like the taste -- too dark cocoa powdery for me. I think I will eschew the B&J's recipes on chocolate and instead use the one in my West Coast Cooking book.

* Coconut actually tasted pretty good, although it was a little... foamy is the only word I can think of to describe it. It had a kind of consistency that reminded me of froth in a drink, which I hate. So I think I may tone down the coconut cream next time, just a little. This one also was waaaay more than the "generous quart" they said, and it was overflowing the mixer so bad I had to take it off before I think it was totally ready. And if I had put the damn thing together right, that might also have helped.

* Lavender was an especially valuable learning experience. I'd read repeatedly that steeping the lavender too long would make it bitter, but I did what the recipe called for, only I think it was much too long. I also think that between the too-long steep time and the lavender honey, it was a bit of sensory overload. Next time I'll steep it a lot less, and use half regular honey to half the lavender honey. And this was where I finally figured out a crucial small detail about the machine I was forgetting, and that's why it wasn't giving me the slip and locking sound signal that it was done.

* Peach, my latest batch, is probably the best of all of them. It's super, super creamy but with this faint peach taste, and small chunks of sweet tart peaches. And since I finally put the mixer together right, it did tell me when it was done, so I was able to get the peach pieces in in due time, and just as it started to runneth over, it was done. Yay! Everyone liked the lavender ice cream last week, even though they agreed that it was powerfully lavender, so this week I hope they will like the peach as much, if not more, for being more balanced.

Some people have summers of pie, I have summers of ice cream experiments, apparently. Although it's a little expensive to make, with the fresh summer produce, I'm enjoying it a lot. I think next week I'll grab some of the last of the plums and try that.

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I bought a new cell phone (long story short, the old one wasn't keeping a charge and had a fatal flaw that was really bothering me, even though I mostly love the phone) off of ebay today. It was such a good price even on the buy it now price, it was unlocked and no contract, works with my carrier, and had free shipping. The one thing I don't really know how to do, though, is make it mine. When it comes, is there anything I have to do besides slip my old SIM card into the new phone? Does that carry over my numbers and information? I think I understand this stuff, but in practice, I really don't, and I've never done this before. I always went to the Cingular store, but I really don't like going there at all and I just loathe having to deal with the hard sell, when I know what I want to do and buy.