it's dry. someone coulda warned me of this.

I promised myself that I'd post about astronaut ice cream before my big farewell ice cream date with Clare T. Since I have to be there in ohhhh, about 5 minutes, I'm gonna make this short and sweet: don't under any circumstances eat astronaut ice cream ...unless of course you are a. pregnant and anything will suffice, b. in the throws of a desert war, c. there's been an apocalypse and the only food you can find anywhere is in the Air and Space Museum, or d. you're in space. enough said. off on my date. big hugs, Clare!

A big mouth for Boccato

If you’ve ever dreamed of owning your own business, let the owners of Boccato in Clarendon be your inspiration. Co-owners Rob and his Peruvian friend (who, you’ll have to excuse me because I never learned the name of) are bursting with passion, and you can feel their excitement the minute you walk in the door. Rob’s enthusiasm can be seen in the twinkle of his eyes as he describes the way he plans to make coffee, the many teas they will have to offer, and of the way his Peruvian friend makes the gelatos and sorbetos they have available.
Mr. Peruvian friend's enthusiasm was immediately evident when I tried his creations. The gelatos and sorbetos he made were perfect: he combined unique ingredients, nothing was too sweet, and the flavors were true to the ingredients that made them. My favorite sorbetos were the pink cilantro and the Chilean peach. Both were a perfect contrast to the hot, sticky day it was in Northern VA last Saturday. As for the gelatos, the tiramisu and cake batter were great, despite the latter not being a traditional flavor, and leaving me perplexed as to how they created that taste. And while I was there, I overheard another customer asking for a very specific flavor that he ‘had to have’. They'd run out, so the customer decided to come back later in the day when they would have more. -That’s flavor devotion, if I’ve ever seen it.
I will definitely go back with my big mouth wide open to taste more gelatos, and also to soak up more inspiration for opening my very own ice cream shop one day.

Review: The Dairy Godmother

Many of you have heard of a Fairy Godmother, a type of fairy tale character famed by the likes of Perrault in two of his classic tales, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. But how many of you have heard of a Dairy Godmother? Probably not many. So what, might you ask, is a Dairy or even a Fairy Godmother? In Sleeping Beauty, there are three Fairy Godmothers that use their magic to guide and support the heroine. At The Dairy Godmother custard shop in Del Ray Virginia, the Dairy Godmother uses a powerful magic to convert eggs, milk, and sugar into thick, soft, and sweet, cold custard, that all of us everyday heros and heroines can enjoy.

Most of the magic at The Dairy Godmother presents itself in the method by which the custard is made. Very little air is introduced during the beating and churning processes, resulting in a dense, creamy custard that slowly extrudes from the metal hopper in which it thickens (see photo, left).
The remaining magic comes in the variety of flavors offered. Each day, Liz, The Dairy Godmother, creates a new 'flavor of the day'. On my first visit to the shop last October, I tried the Tollhouse cookie flavor, a vanilla custard speckled with chocolate chip cookie crumbles (see photo, right, half eaten).

So watch out, because with all this magic abound, you might just find yourself under a spell. A spell that lures you back into the shop on a regular basis. I know this spell well, and you will too, soon after your first visit.

http://www.thedairygodmother.com/

Seeing is believing

My newest theory to support ice cream snobbery is that if you can’t SEE the flavor, it’s not really there. This means, consequently, that if you do see flavor particles, you will be able to embrace the ice cream’s full flavor experience. Let me elaborate on this thought: the other night I was at a neighbor’s house helping myself to a bowl of ice cream. I chose the coffee flavored ice cream from his freezer selection. And as you can see by the photo above, this particular brand of coffee ice cream HAS flavor. And how do I know this? Because there are coffee grinds speckling the coffee ice cream! If there were no grinds, there would be no true flavor… according to my theory, that is.
Pistachio was another flavor in my neighbor’s freezer. And I feel confident using the term flavor to describe the identity of this ice cream because I could see individual pistachio nuts studding the pale cream base.
Don’t be fooled, however, by false flavor advertisements. If, for example, you buy mint ice cream and it’s fluorescent green, that is not the mint flavor you see, my friends. No, no. Instead, that is the evil green food dye. Which has NO flavor. If there were mint leaves caressing the cream, then you could say you were eating mint ice cream. Until then, stick with coffee grinds and pistachio nuts and whatever else you can find stashed throughout your ice cream container of choice.
So now I urge you to be the judge. Is seeing really believing? Does seeing ‘true’ flavor convince the consumer of the identity of the ice cream he or she is eating?

baklava ice cream. how NOT to make it.

if anyone has had the turkish dessert, baklava, they know that it is a layered concoction of phyllo dough, pistachios, honey, and cinnamon (for ingredients used, see photo). it's heart palpitatingly sweet and it's what i churned into a recent batch of home-made ice cream.










unfortunately, during the process, I encountered a few culinary mishaps. these, i would like to share with you so that, should you also decide to concoct something of such ambition in the future, you will not, as i did, go to bed disappointed.



DON'T:
-add egg yolks to bubbling hot milk and cream…the eggs WILL scramble (photo, above).
-start churning the ice cream before it has cooled *at least* to room temperature…ice crystals WILL ensue.
-taste copius amounts of the ingredients you are using to make the ice cream…you WILL feel sick afterwards.
-infuse all ingredients (cinnamon, honey, pistachios, and phyllo dough) into the ice cream mixture. honey and phyllo dough WILL become hard and soft, respectively. instead, opt these for garnishing (below).

good idea / bad idea

FACT: extremely cold ice cream is a) hard to scoop, and b) difficult to taste.

good idea or bad idea?:
blow dry cold ice cream to bring it to a temperature conducive to both scooping and tasting.

YOUR SAY!

fast food vanilla milkshake analysis

Ever find yourself on a road trip craving a vanilla milkshake? A GOOD vanilla milkshake?
Sometimes, I’ll find myself driving somewhere – to visit a friend, to tour a new town, or ohhhh, let’s say (hypothetically, of course) to go to jail for a couple of hours – and I am craving a good old-fashioned vanilla milkshake.
But I’m torn. Where do I go that is quick, makes quality shakes, and doesn’t leave me grabbing for Tums?
On a recent road trip, my mom and I set out to answer this question. We made it our mission to find the best darned vanilla milkshake that fast food establishments could offer. And succeed we did!







Here’s a summary of our findings:
But if you don't want to read any further...just know that Wendy's is where it's at! (photo middle left)
McDonalds: descent. yellow in color. goes down well. tastes great. but the milk mixture coats your mouth a little too aggressively and lingers a little too long. it also stays in your stomach for hours after ingestion.
Checkers: second best. very large sugar granules but the vanilla intensity blows your socks off. it tastes like pudding. and who doesn't like pudding?
Hardee’s: the most expensive at $3.30 and also the most artificial tasting. To make this shake the employee adds ice cream, vanilla syrup and cream to a cup, blends in a ‘Mix n’ Chill’ then tops with plastic-Cool-Whip-tasting whipped cream (yuck). This shake is too much. thus, I cannot give it the star that this fast food chain boasts.
Wendy's: yum. all around yum. and if plain vanilla isn't enough...add some oreos: