I SCREAM

It was a cold, raw, rainy night here, with a chill that penetrated the multiple layers of my storm coat. I could perhaps be forgiven for doing a double-take when I noticed a man at the food store checkout wearing nought but a T-shirt, shorts, and sneakers. Standard workout gear, but nothing that afforded any protection against the elements.

Either I was a wimp for bundling up against the cold, or this guy was certifiable for risking pneumonia. It had been sleeting only an hour ago, so I decided in favor of Option B.

On a rotten night like this, you need a bit of creature comfort. And that’s why we had this for dessert:



Homemade blueberry ice milk!

Yes, a few days ago we went and got one of those little Cuisinart machines, the kind where you stick the bowl in the freezer before making your Frozen Dessert Concoction. And I’ve gotta admit, it beats the crap out of our old rock salt ’n’ ice machine.

Experimentation is the order of the day. The ice milk shown above is a reduced-fat and -sugar version of a Chez Panisse ice cream recipe, and it is superb. Pretty soon we can play around with other exotica: Greek yogurt, honey, tea, mango pulp, et cetera. Sure, we can make plain old ice cream, but where’s the fun in that?

Lest we go too far, when I start making tasty flavors like Beet Chip and Duck Fat Ripple, kindly take the machine away and bury it in an undisclosed location, OK?