I bought an ice cream machine on Sunday. It wasn’t very hot at the time, but it was well over 90degF today, and it’s been that way for days. It’s so hot in my living/common room that the thermometer won’t go that high. So ice cream is a good thing (or so I tell myself).
Well, anyone that knows me at all knows I LOVE ICE CREAM. I have emptied out a vending machine of all its chipwiches. The weekly ice cream social is not only in my calendar, but my phone and computer will audibly alert me so that I get there early. I once went to almost every store in Cambridge to get a pint of Colbert’s Americone Dream. I’m not going to describe what I sucker my mother into making when I come home to visit and she’s too happy to say no. It’s probably worse than a supersized meal at McDonalds, but at least I get a lot of calcium.
So yeah, I like ice cream.
Unfortunately, the machine I bought takes careful planing. I am not good at planing, especially the ‘careful’ kind. Mostly the issue comes from the bowl. You have to completely freeze the ice-pack material inside the bowl and this takes at least a day. My solution now is to just leave the bowl in the freezer at all times. I’m always prepared – "churn in case of lack-of-ice-cream emergency."
My first attempt was making strawberry frozen yogurt. This choice came about after I saw what is in ice cream. It’s horrifying. You might as well just drink heavy cream straight out of the carton. You’ll save a few hours of waiting.
Anyway, the froyo came out okay, but was more of a sorbet. I thought it was alright, but my roommate really seemed to like it. I think I have to accept that fatty stuff just tastes better. And I know how the fatty stuff tastes.
Melody and I (well, mostly me) decided to simplify and just make plain vanilla ice cream, blob-inducing ingredients and all. This came out really good. It’s like gelato. Very light (well, tasting – certainly not in terms of ingredients). I think at this point, I’ve consumed at least a pint of heavy cream. And a lot of sugar too.