Cooking with Blobby

You know, in summer months I don't think you see a lot of 'cooking' segments from me. 

As hot as it's been here - and it remains in the 90s - I'd rather do salads or stand over a grill for a short amount of time rather than turn the stove to 375°F . 

Still, there is only so much grilled chicken and corn one can have, you know?  So I opted to change things up. I thought I'd surprise 710 with something new. He knew nothing until we sat down for dinner. 

Truthfully, I wasn't sure how it would come out, but it's all about the sauce. And you could put it on most anything and no one is gonna complain about what it is on. 

I went with Dumpling and Smashed Cucumber Salad With Peanut Sauce. 

In what world is peanut sauce ever going to be bad???

None - I tellz ya!

It's not that labour intensive, and if you do things in a certain order, it helps with timing.  Overall it takes less than 30 minutes. 

Ingredients 

Yield: 4 servings 

For the Peanut Sauce 

⅓ cup smooth peanut butter, well stirred garlic clove, finely chopped. 

½ cup just boiled water (or more as needed) 

2 tablespoons soy sauce 

1 tablespoon rice vinegar 

2 teaspoons granulated sugar 

2 teaspoons chile crisp or oil (or use amount to your liking) 

For the Salad 

6 Persian cucumbers 

Salt 

2 tablespoons vegetable oil or other neutral oil 

1 pound frozen potsticker dumplings (not thawed) 

Big handful cilantro  Blech.  No!

Toasted white sesame seeds or chopped roasted peanuts, for topping 

Chile crisp or chile oil, for serving 

"Salad" might be a stretch. 

Preparation 

Step 1 Prepare the sauce: Place the peanut butter, garlic and hot water into a medium bowl and whisk well to combine. (If the peanut butter separates and looks curdled, that’s OK. It will come back together after you add the other seasonings.) Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar and chile crisp and whisk again until smooth and well combined. (It may look runny, but it will thicken up as it sits.) 

I also added about a half teaspoon of sesame oil. I mean, how could that hurt anything?? (it did not!)

Step 2 Prepare the salad: Cut the cucumbers in half lengthwise and then into 2-inch lengths. Lay them cut side-down on a cutting board and, using the flat side of a chef’s knife or a rolling pin, smack the cucumbers until they break apart. Tear or cut them into bite-size pieces, if necessary. 

Not sure why they are Persian cucumbers. I suppose Iranian cucumbers wouldn't sell as well. 

Careful when / how you smash these. Too hard and it can make a mess. Or put them in a ziplock bag before smashing. 

Step 3 Place the cucumbers in a colander and sprinkle with a pinch or 2 of salt. Allow to sit for 10 minutes to draw out excess moisture. 

NOTE:  probably do steps 2 and 3 first. The 10 minutes it takes to drain the cukes can be used to make the sauce and start step 4. 

Step 4 Meanwhile, heat a large (12-inch) nonstick or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet over medium-high for 1 to 2 minutes, until very hot. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil and, working in batches, add the dumplings, flat-side down, and cook until the bottoms are lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes. 

Maybe it was me, but it took a lot longer than 1-2 minutes to brown on the bottom. But when they go - they go! So not a time to walk away. 

Step 5 Carefully add about ¼ cup of water to the pan, just enough to cover the base of the dumplings, then immediately cover and cook until the water has evaporated, 3 to 4 minutes. (If your dumplings contain meat, cook for an extra 1 to 2 minutes, or according to package instructions.) Transfer the cooked dumplings to a plate and continue cooking the remaining dumplings. (If you prefer to steam the dumplings, see Tip.) 

Step 6 To serve, divide the dumplings among plates or shallow bowls and top with the cucumbers. Spoon over a generous amount of peanut sauce, top with cilantro (or throw in the trash can - your choice!), sesame seeds or peanuts and a few drops of chile crisp/oil. 

Sesame seeds or peanuts?  Fuck that - I did both. 

Serve right away, while the dumplings are still warm, or at room temperature. 

The taste was amazing. The chile crisp really came through, making lips burn and noses run, but the cucumber was an antidote for the heat - and it provided a good change in texture to the rest of the dish. The peanut sauce was great - and would be great on chicken as well. 

Dumplings were ok, but honestly they were a delivery method for everything else. 710 loved it.  So - yay me!

This would have NOT served 4 btw. We had partial leftovers, but barely for one. This serves two comfortably - you might be able to eke out three. 

Tip:  To steam, arrange the dumplings in a steaming basket lined with baking paper or cabbage leaves, place over a pan of boiling water and steam for 10 to 15 minutes or according to package directions.

My Music Monday

I pulled from the archives last week and will do this one as well. 

Electronic is (was?) an off-shoot group of New Order and the Smiths, sometimes with a little Pet Shop Boys thrown in.  .....but it mostly sounds like New Order because Bernard Sumner does the main vocals in both bands. 

But don't count out Johnny Marr's guitar work. He brings a talent and element that can't really be reproduced by New Order. 

Still, neither New Order nor Electronic put out a lot of music. The latter only has three albums in their discography, the last being in 1999 (!). Even New Order hasn't put out a new disk in a decade. 

"For You", today's selection, come from 1996. Yikes, almost 30 years old. 

Oddly, until yesterday, I never knew there was a video. 

Mayor of Simpleton

Where I live, we have our first elected mayor. 

Before he, it was pretty much an appointed and mostly ceremonial position. But in 2021 Kahlil Seren was one of many who ran for the office. 

I supported, campaigned and voted for him, as did many. 

We were fools. 

He was young. Is. A go-getter. And it all started off ok. 

.....and then it didn't. 

It's been more like MacBeth, but without the catchy dialogue. Or murders.  .....that we know of. 

The mayor's wife - unelected to anything - has inserted herself in just about everything. Crashing meetings. Questioning budgets. Employee intimidation. Making anti-trans and antisemitic comments in writing and on tape.  

Oh, and was indicted on trespassing on private property. 

Two city managers quit over her.......and of the mayor's non-response to her behaviour. One not lasting 90 days. Others city hall employees have quit under duress. A few filing lawsuits. 

Seren, being the dutiful husband and shitty civil servant that he is, not only doubled down on defending his wife, but then went triple and quadruple.  

There was no or little "I'll look into it" or "that doesn't sound right" or "you're right, my wife shouldn't be here in the office."

First off, he called her the 'first lady'.  It's fucking Cleveland Hts. .....and she's no lady.  

He's no saint either. He has been accused of sneaking in after hours to hide a laptop to secretly record the investigation into his wife!  He has purposefully misled residents about the investigation - using his email with many city residents on the cc. I've got 'em all. 

And my fave: he told city council - and I quote - "I am not your negro", after not showing up to the office for days on end. 

He is right. He's our 'South Asian'!

There was a petition to recall Seren. He was to be presented with this at a city council meeting, but now he won't show to said meeting, so he can't be served. Mature.  He also tried to veto the recall election, but the city law dude(tte) wouldn't allow it. 

So now it goes to the polls in September. 

While it seems silly, as even if recalled, he only had 3-4 months left on his term, but he's clearly doing damage and why give him another 90-120 days to do it. And you know he'd be retributive. 

Oh.Yes. One term. He could not get 342 (!) signatures to get him on the ballot. There are 44,000+ residents of our little burb. Sure, not all adults.....but still.  Even I think I could get 342 people to sign my petition.   .....and I'm, me!

I seriously don't know what he's gonna do when he's out of office. I mean, one Gooooooogle search and who the fuck is ever gonna hire him? Or his wife. 

Song by: XTC

Higher Ground

Ok, this time I got a number of unsolicited cat and kitten photos.  ......and it got weird. But you'll see. Three-fifths of the cats got 'the memo'.  The others didn't, or opted to ignore. 

Still........felines.  And canines. 

I wasn't sure which kitten this was. I had to be told it was both of them. 

Just keep looking. 

Happy Dog. 

Took a shot for 710 to let him know I picked up the dog from daycare and we were on a walk.

Bailey by the glow of the aquarium. 

For whatever reason, Shep insisted on taking one of his ducks outside. 

In almost 9 years, he has never taken a toy outside..

For two cats that never used to be near each other, Pippa and Willow seem to be changing their tune.

Simon made it another level higher. At least my SiL doesn't have to dust up there. 

Now both of them are up there!

His nonverbal response to "dinner?"

Song by: Red Hot Chili Peppers

I Think I'm Paranoid

During my last psychiatrist visit, earlier this week, I started the session by asking my shrink, "do paranoid people know they're paranoid?" 

I thought it a reasonable question like in the Sixth Sense that dead people don't know they're dead. Or in reality, it you have a mental illness, are you aware enough to know you do? 

The questions semi-stems from a post a while ago here when I was ranting and railing about the government and I called myself 'paranoid or an alarmist'.  What I actually said was that my readers probably think I am..........which got me thinking. 

Well, which got me overthinking. 

Which is a problem for me. A big one. 

Anyway, the answer wasn't that clear cut, but some do, some don't. I'm sure there are moments of lucidity where they recognize behaviour, but if they put two and two together, who knows. 

I was told I did not have any psychosis. Or he didn't see that in me. So......maybe? 

His conclusion was that I was spiraling, which is accurate (see: overthinking). My problem (well, one of them) was he didn't give me any coping mechanisms to avoid that or get out of it in a more real time scenario. 

I bring this all up because I'm back at square one today (well, yesterday, but I can guarantee you it will continue today).

The post where I deemed you deeming me 'paranoid' was one of ICE getting $750 BILLION dollars and me calling them the SS - and truly believing this is where we are. 

I'm thinking I'm less paranoid and back the fatalist that I've always called myself. As it turns out, I might be afraid of fatality. 

J. F. C. 

Folks - this is what was called the Hitler Youth. 

Is called. Present tense. 

I'm sorry - this is all out in the open for everyone to see. Granted, most people are morons and either didn't learn this the first time, or retain it should they have been taught it at all, but fuck!

I'm not even touching the child labor laws, which are on the way out anyhow. I don't ever want to hear about gays 'grooming' kids. These guys are grooming killers. 

I did roll my eyes at Dean Cain becoming an "honorary' ICE agent.  FFS - there is no way he's getting Lois & Clark residuals. And doubtful he could get off his shift at Long John Silvers to actually be an ICE agent. But 'honorary' can't pay anything. 

I do gotta say, the menu item on the left bar in Spanish is just fucking hilarious to me. Though I applaud anyone in the Hispanic community going to this site to read what is going to happen to them. 

Honestly, I think it was better when I thought you thought I was paranoid. 

Song by: Garbage

Hair

I can grow a mustache, goatee or beard in four days time. 

It's not a brag. Just a fact.

This is one of the reasons I'm so carefree with a razor and can of shaving cream. Should I not like what I see, in less than half a fortnight, no one is any the wiser. 

My niece will be able to choose how she wants to see me in her wedding photos - as long as it's not clean shaven. That I'm not down for. I have had some form of facial hair since, sheeesh, 1988? 1990?

I always say "it's the only hair I have, so I have to change it.....". 

710 rolls his eyes at me. "You have hair!", he'll remind me. 

I tell people I'm bald - including the DMV and the State Department - but in reality, I'm bald by choice. 

I started losing my hair at 21. Since 1997 (?) I had been buzzing my head down to the barest of stubble. Since 2011, I've been shaving that sucker. Never to look back. 

710 isn't lying. I do have hair. Some hair. Not like on the frontal lobe area. But the dreaded 'ring'. That ring that men will keep to their dying gasp as some kind of would-be virility symbol. Even before I was actively losing my hair, I knew I didn't want to be 'that guy'. 

I'm not extremely proud of this, but I had a stretch of a weekend and three runs where I just didn't shower. It was runs......then dog hikes......then yard work.....repeat. It seemed silly to keep showering, so I didn't!  It's not like I was going out an seeing anyone. 

However, when I don't shower, I don't shave. Yes, at home or the gym, I shave head and face in the shower. 

Nothing else. 

Just for you curious minds who were about to ask it anyways. (well, sometimes my shoulders.)

So in that 2-3 day time frame I had slight fuzz on my head. Low level curiosity got the better of me and I opted only to have my face and neck. 

In case anyone was wondering, that pic atop is not Crystal Gayle........but yours truly. 

This is what two weeks of hair growth on Blobby looks like. 

That's it. 

When I started this adventure, I was wondering what colour it would grow in to be. Honestly, I look at it in the mirror and I can't even tell. 

For the record, 710 never noticed at all.  A friend I ran into said - "hey! hair!!".   Yes, thanks for that. 

However hair works, it certainly doesn't grow at the same rate on my head as it does on my face or tops of my toes. It just makes it slightly harder to get lotion with SPF 45 on my scalp. 

It'd say it was an "interesting experiment" but that might be a huge fucking stretch of the term. Either word. Or both. 

The rub will be, it is just long enough to kill a razor with one use. I just haven't committed to when this will happen. 

Song by: Michigander

We're So Starving

For those not paying attention, those in Gaza are starving to death at the hands of Israel..............and the United States BLOTUS.

If possible, it gets worse. 

Now BLOTUS said he would withhold any FEMA funding to states who are refusing to do trade with Israel due to their starvation tactics. 

I'll draw the lines for you:  to get money for your home disaster, you MUST pledge allegiance to another country. 

Mind you, Maryland, Iowa, Oklahoma, Wyoming, North Carolina, Tennessee - and whomever else (well except Texas, naturally), weren't getting a dime from FEMA anyway for their disasters since BLOTUS came back to town. So, maybe the threats are empty. Well.......emptier. 

Not empty, I guess per se, but another threat on top of the hope that some state MIGHT get FEMA funding some day. 

Friends have asked me how I can be pro-Israel. And I am. But I'm anti-Netanyahu. I believe you can be both. 

I can also be pro-Palestine and anti-Hamas. Those two things can be true too. 

Palestine is not Hamas and Israel isn't Netanyahu. Not in totality. They're both just acting like each other is. 

Yes, the Israeli hostages should be freed. No question. Yes Israel can make Hamas pay for that. But the civilian collateral damage they are inflicting on Palestine is just not proportional at all. It's horrific. 

And BTW, that pseudo-fake Iran-Israel-US thing from a few months back was just that. Yes, it happened, but Netanyahu got the US BLOTUS for a few days (haven't heard a thing since, have you?) for some minor strike which Benjamin immediately nominated BLOTUS for a Nobel Peace Prize. 

Talk about stoking the ego for more aid, more support, less questions. I mean, of course BLOTUS ate that shit up. It's all about ego, attention and awards for him. There was no peace to be had, let alone a prize. 

It is all very disgusting. 

Song by: Panic! at the Disco

the R-Word

First off, I'm not even gonna pretend I know this song title, let alone own it. I do try to call out anytime one of ,my titles isn't in my music liberry.   ......and this isn't. 

It's strictly here for the title. 

Secondly, I'm being super-duper lazy today. Just a downloaded video that came through via my IG account. 

I can't say I approve of the 'r-word', but this administration has used it. So, in my way of thinking, it's ok to use it when speaking of them. 

Song by: B. Hughes

My Music Monday

I'm actually going back to 1996 (the late 1900s, as the kids are calling it these days) for today's selection. 

I can't say I was a huge fan of the band Sublime, but they had some notable stuff. I mean, if you like a mix of reggae, ska and punk. With today's selection, "Doin' Time" you also get "opera". 

The band only made three disks before their lead singer OD'd. This song, and the album from which it came, were both released post-mortem. Oddly, now that the singer's then infant son is all grown up, he now heads the band. 

But "Doin' Time" might not sound like a song I'd like, let alone usually sit through, but it's got a good rhythm. It flows with the ska / reggae / punk elements I mentioned above, and the addition of Gershwin / Gershwin / Heyward opera Porgy and Bess - with only the line "Summertime and the livings easy" which has a rushed cadence and is repeated multiple times throughout the song, which really ties it all together - believe it or not. 

Written by the band, the Gershwins and some of the Beastie Boys - there are a few versions out there with the original vocal being swapped out for others - including Snoop Dog. But this version is the original. 

Maybe it popped up on my radar again because it's summertime. But it's nice to visit the song again. 

Peach

I was thinking it, but last week David said it:  Peach 

710 loves peach ice cream, as do I, but it never occurred to me that I could pull it off.  But I did. 

....and I didn't. 

Making ice cream is like chemistry......I'm told. Well not true. No one actually told me that. And in high school I opted for physics over chemistry. Either way, making ice cream is like a science. You can't necessarily swap one item out for another and stick to the rest of the recipe. 

For this I mean strawberries for peaches. 

For the life of me I cannot find the actual recipe I based mine off of - so I might be making some of it up. But in reality, I stole from a few recipes because none of them were what I seemingly wanted. I def opted not to do use eggs and cook things. One day I'll try that approach, but not today.

I can get into details as we go along, right? 

Ingredients 

2 c. ripe peaches, peeled & chopped (about 2 large peaches) 

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/3 c  fresh lemon juice 

2 c. heavy cream 

1/4 c. whole milk 

Vanilla extract 

Instructions 

Peel and chop the peaches into small pieces. 

Add lemon juice and sugar together. Whisk. It will not fully dissolve, so no worries there. Then put it in a blender. 

Add milk, cream and vanilla into the blender and mix for 20-30 seconds. 

This I'd change up. I'd add the peaches first and blend, then add the milk / cream / vanilla. 

I added the 1 and 1/2 peaches (save the other half peach parts for the ice cream maker) afterwards and it took some manipulation to get them down to the blades to be pureed. That cream mixture is thick AF. 

Pour mixture into the ice cream maker. This is where I added the additional peaches parts and juice. Let it run for 20-30 minutes until it thickens......see below. 

Scoop into container and place in freezer. 

The flavour? Amazing. It was as good as any I've had from an ice cream shoppe.

It was a lot of lemon juice in there, and while there is some lemon qualities to the overall flavour profile, the peaches shine through. 

Peaches, to me, are like avocados. Hard as a rock one hour and the next they start to rot. So my peaches were ripe! And I think that is the way to go. Not only did the peaches go in, but all the juice that came out when cutting them. 

The texture?  ehhhhhhhhh.

The product was in the freezer for about three hours before trying it out. It was still soft, but formed. Actually, the texture was actually fine. And the peaches weren't icy like the strawberries had been. Later dishing ups were a bit crumbly - which seemed odd. 

What was really odd was the almost glycerine-y film it left on our lips and roof of the mouth afterwards. Distractingly so. 

Doing some 'research' afterwards, it seems like it could have been a few things:  cream:sugar ratio (though they didn't tell me what the correct ratio would have been!);  use half and half instead of heavy cream; churning time could have been cut down. 

Maybe one of these. Maybe some of these. Maybe all of these. I suppose it will take some trial and error to figure this out, though the same amount of cream and churn time did not have this effect on the chocolate or strawberry. 

I'm sure I'll do more 'scream later, but I also feel the need to take a little break too. 

Song by: Future Islands

Tired

I put out the Cat Signal™ to both my sister-in-law and nephew. 

Crickets. 

So, you are stuck with dogs today. Like me, you'll just have to deal. It will make the inevitable feline pics that much more special. 

When Shep really wants something, he'll put his big-assed paws on my knees. 

It makes him very very hard to ignore. 

Bailey pooped after charm school daycare.

He's weird. He gets up on this wall to walk through the ornamental grasses. 

Sploot!

And at daycare with some buddy. I don't know who he is - but he looks like a 'he', no?

Song by: LCD Soundsystems

I Do

On the Big Bang Theory - and there are two spoilers here for anyone who hasn't seen it - that when Sheldon and Amy marry, their officiant is Mark Hamill.  .....as Mark Hamill. 

As the show goes, it got lots of guest stars over the years from lots of sci-fi shows: Original Star Trek and Next Generation; Babylon 5, Firefly, Buffy and yes, Star Wars - the original trilogy. 

Hamill might have been the biggest get. Take that Shatner!

I only bring up the wedding episode because Hamill plays it so broadly, that it is funnier than it should be. I'm not 100% sure he's acting. I mean, clearly he is, but.......   I mean, it was Star Wars. No one was getting acting nods at awards season for those films. 

Still, he made me laugh. And his set-ups were good too. 

Ok, that's not the only reason I bring it up. 

My niece and her fiancé asked 710 and myself out to dinner the other night. Well, and drinks, but we ate too. Apparently two strong margaritas on a pretty empty stomach - when you've only had three drinks all year up to this time - hit hard. 

Anyhoo.....they had an ulterior motive. They asked me to officiate their wedding.

I wasn't expecting that. Nor was I prepared when Katie said I was like her third parent (!!!). She initially brought up the idea tentatively to her fiancé who immediately thought it was a great idea.  .....at least that is how the story goes and was told to me. 

I mean, how could I say 'no'? 

This is all a risky move......................for them. 

An open bar? Me with a mic, center stage and a captive audience?  It's like I'm getting my very own Netflix comedy special !!!

I kid, of course (?). 

It is their wedding. I'm sure they'll tell me what kind of ceremony they want and how much I can go off script, but there is no way I won't throw my own style to it. I did it for my parent's eulogies. Of course, they couldn't complain afterwards.  ....which tells me there is no afterlife. 

My first order of business is getting "ordained".  One of Hamill's best lines was, "Then by the power vested in me by evenyoucanperformweddings.com, I now pronounce you husband and wife".

Unfortunately, that url is not legit, but I do need to find a good-named one that is just as funny. 

Song by: Fleetwood Mac

Record of the Month

I figured I'd do a monthly 'what I'm listening to' kind of thing. This could be viewed as a lame placeholder kind of post. And probably it is. But it's my blog! So there!    

Besides My Music Monday selections, I'm backlogged on Record of the Month choices as well. 

2025 has so far had some good, and numerous, releases, but there aren't enough months to match up yet with the records. So this Garbage album is now like two months old. Let All That We Imagine Be the Light came out in May. 

For the record, I have purchased everything Garbage has released, and rarely been disappointed. Sure, songs here and there, but over all their albums have been pretty solid. 

The new disk is strong in many ways. The guys write and play tight still. Shirley Manson's voice remains powerful and strong.  I like the songwriting as well. 

I would say with the last few Garbage albums there are not "singles" or even potential singles. I mean, not in this era of radio - be it terrestrial or satellite. I know they attempted with the first track, "There's No Future in Optimism" - a title with which I agree. While I get the sound of it has the markings of commercial, when it comes to the actual vocals, there isn't a lot there, but the arrangement is cool. 

That said, I'm digging "R U Happy Now", "Get Out of My Face aka Bad Kitty". "Radical" is good, but one of the few low key songs. 

"Sisyphus" is one of the misses for me. It's not bad, but not my jam. Same with the album closer, "the Day I Met Gd". I get with the latter Manson wrote it and then recorded the vocals in her closet and those demo vocals were just used as the actual song. 

I know some of the underlying themes here are about ageism. If Manson were a dude, they would not comment on her age and looks. So "Chinese Fire Horse' takes that on, as do some of the others, to a lesser degree. 

Let All That We Imagine... is a nice solid disk. It won't make a huge commercial or cultural impact, but it's nice to know a band that is 30+ years into it can still make a quality record. 

Bare Trees

Almost two years ago, we had a storm that told us what we already knew:  we had trees that needed to come down. 

We had four large trees - maples all - residing in our front yard. Taking up much of that yard, as they were all probably into their eighth decade. Big mothers. 

The problem - ours and ours alone - was that we just couldn't part with them. Of course, it just became a risk / benefit analysis. It's one thing to take out part of our house with a fallen tree. It's quite another to have a neighbors house damaged because of us. That was really my sticking point. 

We decided to ease our way in and have two taken down. But when we got the estimate, the arborist said that would expose the weakest of the trees to the wind. So, we eased our way more into it and settled on bringing down three and trimming up the remaining one. 

Honestly, from estimate to take down was about 36 hours. Well 40. They arrived 36 hours after we got and approved the estimate. It took another 4-5 to get them down. They thought they'd be here all day. They were wrong. 

Sure, the above pic makes it look like our house is (was) completely obscured from the street, but it wasn't. It is just the angle. But now.......ugh......we are wide out in the open. A house you can now see four residences away. It is just jarring to us.  ....and maybe to our neighbors. I saw one, Zach, walking his kids the other day and he just stopped and looked and looked and looked. We feel exposed literally and figuratively. 

It will be a few weeks before they grind the huge stumps. Longer for the ground to settle. In the meantime, we need to have some landscape person give us advice on how to move forward. 

I'm guessing we will plant new trees, but we will be long gone from the house and planet before they mature. So we need additional solutions. 

Two days after taking them down, we got hit by a huge t-storm. I'm not sure as much of the rain would have pelted the house the way it did had the trees still been there. It was enough to wake me up in the middle of the night - not that it takes much. 

Yes, First World problems, I know. Still, we hate taking a chainsaw to mother nature. Many of Shep's squirrel enemies have been displaced. On a somewhat silver lining note: leaf collection in the fall should be easier. 

Song by: Fleetwood Mac

Strawberry Letter 23

I said I was going to make strawberry ice cream per my husband's request. 

I would do anything for love, but unlike Meat Loaf, I would do that!

The ingredients are even less than they were for the chocolate. The putting it together was slightly easier too, not that the first was taxing. 

The most timely part (other than chilling overnight) is hulling the strawberries. But that is only for a one and one-quarters cup worth. I did slice other for inclusion into the churning process and for garnish, for which the recipe did not call.  

I mean, I AM gay! Somethings just must be done. And Ina always says to have something on it to show what's in it. And one just doesn't cross Ina. 

Should this ice cream making thing continue, I find it highly doubtful you want updates on each kind I attempt. But I'm willing to bow to peer pressure - as always. 

Let's go!

Ingredients 

1½ cups strawberries, hulled and halved (if large) 

¾ cup whole milk 

½ cup granulated sugar 

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

Pinch sea salt 

1¼ cups heavy cream 

Preparation 

Put the strawberries, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt into a blender and blend on High until completely smooth and homogenous, 40 to 50 seconds. 

Washing the blender took longer than mixing. But it's a purdy shade of strawberry. 

Pour into a bowl and stir in the heavy cream. I licked the spatula and it tasted good. 

Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, preferably overnight. 

Assemble the Mix It In™ Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker with paddle secured and dispenser handle in its upright position. Turn on and pour in the chilled base. 

btw.....this was not soft serve, should it have supposed to have been. 

Churn until the desired serving consistency is reached, 25 to 30 minutes. 

If ice cream is not thick enough, pour back into the freezer bowl and continue mixing until desired consistency is reached, checking every few minutes. 

I had some snafus, to say the least. I'm still figuring out the contraption. Parts didn't move that I though were supposed to (I was incorrect). In trying to fix, the machine wouldn't churn what I had put in, as it had already started to freeze. 

Also, I thought I'd add in some cross-sectioned macerated strawberries for contrast and texture. More on that later. 

The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture.  It would have been more had more air been churned into it before freezing. 

I also added chopped macerated berries while preparing it for cold storage. Again: homo!

Serve in cups or cones, adding toppings while dispensing ice cream.

It served up just fine. It tasted very very strawberry-y.  

Ironically enough, the strawberries were the problem. They froze froze. It was like eating strawberry ice cubes. They were icy, not just frozen. 

The thing to do would have just been to spoon macerated berries over the ice cream after dishing it up. 

Live and learn. 

710 loved it and told me strawberry was his favourite. 40.5 years in and I'm STILL learning something new about this man. 

To me, strawberry was the section of the Neapolitan carton that was thrown out after someone ate the chocolate and vanilla. 

Song by: the Brothers Johnson