Thursday 15 July 2010

Staying Cool

The SCS challenge this week was Beat the Heat. Well, it's not quite so hot here as it has been, and it's been pretty rainy too, so I had to do a bit of lateral thinking on this one. As I had 3 egg-yolks in the fridge waiting to make icecream, that quickly gave me one photo. It was going to be vanilla, but C has requested rum and raisin - again....

 I make the custard base for my icecreams with 3 egg yolks and 3 ounces (just under half a cup) of sugar beaten together. Bring a half imperial pint (1 1/4 US cups) full fat milk to the boil with a bit of vanilla pod split open. Mix the milk and yolks together, and then stir over a low heat till it thickens. Chill, and then churn along with just under a half pint of cream  - a 250ml carton, or a US cup. With an icecream machine you don't need to whip the cream, because the churning adds a lot of volume. Before we had one I'd whip the cream and fold in in, and whisk a couple of times during freezing. Mostly we have vanilla from this recipe, but sometimes I add Baileys, chocolate chips and some homemade praline, and C's current favourite is rum and raisin. He was wondering would it not just be cheaper to throw the egg-yolks out - but who would want to do that!

My other picture is a fan - and it's terrible, I can't remember whether we got it in Barcelona or in Paris. I slightly think Barcelona, but Paris would be more fitting as I have displayed it on an original 1940's Dior New Look dress which was my mothers. I've worn it a few times to parties, but at this stage I'd need to drop a dress size if I wanted to. It had lovely cream satin cuffs and collar with black braid, but the satin has got very yellow with age.

2 comments:

Lorraine said...

You've got me craving homemade ice cream now! Sounds delicious. I might have to splurge this summer and get myself an ice cream maker. And I do love the fan - it's such a beautiful remembrance along with your mother's dress. Satin has such a cool feeling - how well it also fits your challenge.

Charlene Merrick (LilLuvsStampin) said...

What a gorgeous fan and a Dior original? How cool!