Lemon Poundcake Ice Cream

You will need:

3 lemons

1 1/2 c. Confectioners Sugar

4 egg whites

2 c. heavy whipping cream

1 c. milk

1 tsp. Vanilla extract

A pound cake

1. First, squeeze the juice from all the lemons and mix/whip it with the confectioners sugar. It'll be a delicious, lemony viscous liquid. (I only used 2 lemons, but I think another would perfect it)

2. Beat the egg whites until über fluffly.

3. Pour in the sugar/lemon mixture, slowly, beating slowly while doing so.

The result should be pretty much a lemon meringue.

4. Slowly pour in the heavy cream, followed by the milk.

Put this in the fridge for 45+ minutes. Turn on an hour-long television show, grab your zester, and zest those lemons. Just when you've felt every cut you've ever had, the show will be over, and you can start making the ice cream.

Start freezing according to your ice cream maker's manufacturer's instructions.

Take as much pound cake as you care to throw into the mix (I used about half of a 3x6ish loaf). Dice it up into tiny, tiny bits. When the ice cream is nearly done, throw in the pound cake chunks and the lemon zest.

Finish up. Gorge yourself. You're welcome.

-tom

sic luceat lux

Okra!

Okra!
Originally uploaded by coronacolada

Baby okra! Yaaaaaaaaaay. I can't wait to fry it!

The only spiders I really love

The only spiders I really love
Originally uploaded by coronacolada

Araneae salticidae!

Google Undercover

I have noticed two things that Google now does, of which I had no idea until the last few days. I thought I'd share, though maybe I'm just slow on the uptake.

1) Automatic Calendar Functionality - Next time someone sends you an e-mail through gMail that says something like "Let's get together next Saturday at 10:00!" check out the right-hand side of your screen. You should see an option to add "Let's get together" to your calendar, for next Saturday at 10:00.

For those like me who love calendars and everything they do, this might make you tinkle just a little.

2) Digg(ish) - Links now have the ability to effectively be dugg. You can "promote" a link after searching by clicking a thumbs-up button next to it. You can also demote one you think is rubbish by pushing the thumbs-down button.

I have successfully created a blog post including the words "tinkle" and "rubbish".

-tom

sic luceat lux

Six Things That You Might Have Wrong About Coffee

I've been steeped (intended) in the coffee world for a long time, and I've learned to bite my tongue about some things.

For some reason I have chosen today to be out with it all. These are things that are wrong. I don't blame you if you're one of those who've gotten it wrong, but it's time someone took a stand:

1. Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans.
Why it's wrong: There's no such thing as an espresso bean! Espresso is a brewing method, not a type of coffee. They are delicious, yes. But they are just coffee beans.

2. Espresso Roast. There's also no such thing as an espresso roast. In fact, most espresso roasts are too dark, and give espresso a bad name. Here's the thing, folks: the most important part of espresso making is oil extraction. Dark roasts are really shiny. Why? Because all the oil is outside the bean. Which means it's not inside where you need it when you make espresso, leaving you with some sort of bitter sump that people drink because they think it makes them more of a man.

3. Kona Coffee. I hate to say it, but you paid too much. Unless what you bought said "100% Kona", you probably got screwed. It only has to contain about 10% Kona to be called a Kona coffee.

4. French Press Is the Best Coffee Ever. I am not going to lie. I love French press coffee, and I drink it almost daily. However, my friend Seth wrote a great article about all the things that this brewing method does wrong. I won't stop drinking it, but I have to concede his rightness.

5. Dark Roasts Have More Caffeine. WRONG. Now, in your (if it's you) defense, the difference is negligible. Still, the darker you roast coffee, the more crap you cook out of it, so there's less there. Including caffeine. So when you ask for "strong" coffee, and are expecting something dark, you are actually getting less caffeine.

6. Coffee Keeps Longer If You Put It In the Freezer. Nope. Sorry. Coffee has a shelf life that is not improved by keeping it in the freezer. Your best bet is to buy bulk coffee enough to last you 7-10 days, keep it in Tupperware away from heat and sunlight and drink it before it gets stale.

-tom

sic luceat lux

Key Lime Pie?

Key Lime Pie?
Originally uploaded by coronacolada

Lyrics & Brand Names

So I woke up with the song, "I'm Through With Love" stuck in my head.

I never understood the line, "I've stocked my heart with icy Frigidaire", because a) Frigidaire is brand name, and b) what a WEIRD metaphor, even though the visuals work.

So I looked it up. Apparently the line is "Icy, frigid air." which makes WAY more sense AND I know now where Frigidaire gets its name from!

How did those dots never connect before?

-tom

sic luceat lux