Chai-ce cream

Many people who know me know of my affinity for Chai and Chai lattes. It even got to the point where I went and got myself an inexpensive milk frother so I could make "authentic" lattes.

The other day, I decided I wanted to make ice cream, and wondered if I could integrate Chai into the ice cream. I found plenty of green tea ice cream recipes, most of which used green tea powder (Matcha). Since that didn't appeal to me, I kept looking and found a Emeril Lagasse recipe for green tea ice cream, in which he steeped loose leaf green tea in the milk that would be used to make the ice cream. I figured the same method could probably be applied to any kind of tea, including Chai.

So, I took Alton Brown's custard-style ice cream and incorporated Masala Chai into the milks, ala Emeril. It turned out rather well. Yeah, it's custard-based, meaning its not exactly low-fat - but you have to live a little every once in awhile. Plus I like making the custard-based ice creams, since it gives me egg whites to make angel food cake. So thanks to Emeril and Alton!

Chai Ice Cream
3 cups half and half
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
8 large egg yolks
9 ounces sugar
2 tablespoons Masala Chai (or more to taste) - or any kind of loose leaf tea you'd like

Place the half and half, heavy cream, and Chai in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a bare simmer, cover with a lid, then remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the sugar, and whisk to combine. Strain the tea leaves from the milk mixture, and place the milk mixture into a clean saucepan. Temper the egg yolk mixture with the milk mixture by gradually adding small amounts, until about 1/3 of the milk mixture has been added to the yolks. Return everything to the saucepan, then place over low heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture reaches 170-175 degrees F. Pour the mixture into a container and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Place the mixture into the refrigerator, and once cool enough, place a lid on it. Store in the refrigerator for 4-8 hours (overnight is best). Prepare according to your ice cream maker's instructions. Once it comes out of the ice cream maker, it is technically soft serve, so you'll need to place it in the freezer to harden (unless you like soft serve, of course.)

Things you probably don't want to say out loud in public

Overheard while exiting a store:

"We really need to find a bathroom - that Diet Coke went riiiiiiight through me!"

Vote for the New Wonders! Win fabulous prizes!

Okay, there's no prize winning involved, but you can now vote for the New 7 Wonders of the World.

How this whole thing all came about, how the nominees were picked, I'm not sure - but it's interesting nonetheless. I'm pretty much for the majority of the nominees being there, but I can't help but think there certainly could be a lot more to choose from. When I think of the "original" 7 Wonders of the World, I think of architectural marvels that make people think "how the heck did they do that?" I don't think a Wonder should necessarily be something that's interesting to look at, but something that was the first of it's kind, an architectural and Engineering feat.

Some notable "snubs" in my opinion: where's Big Ben (Parliament)? The Chrysler or Empire State Buildings in New York? Mt. Rushmore? The Notre Dame Cathedral?

I think structures such as the Statue of Liberty, the Sydney Opera House, the Eiffel Tower, and the Taj Mahal got picked more for being well-associated with their respective countries and less for their "wondrous" appeal. Heck - many Parisians wanted to get rid of the Eiffel Tower after the World's Fair! That's not to say the structures are not feats of Engineering.

If the organizers of this vote wanted to see some serious publicity, they would hold a American Idol-style reality show, with potential Wonders getting voted off each week until 7 remain. Get a snooty Engineering expert, someone who just gushes at all architecture, and then, I don't know, one of these people who works for a style magazine. Each country would present their nominee(s) and what went into building it, and the judges would have their say. Imagine the snooty Engineering expert telling the Eiffel Tower, "please, that thing wouldn't stand up to the air coming out of my hair dryer." Or the style person saying about the Colosseum in Rome, "I'd be embarrassed to hold a concert there!" Of course the gusher would gush about everything, making their presence as a judge useless.

I'll be interested what the final results will be. I hear some countries are having local celebrities campaigning for their potential Wonders, such as the Brazilian soccer team chatting up Christ Redeemer. Which reminds me, where's all the publicity for the Statue of Liberty?? Screw immigration reform, let's pimp the Statue of Liberty! Er- um - that didn't sound quite right. You know what I mean.

And in case you ask (and no one will), I'd honestly have to say, out of all the nominees there, the 7 Wonders would be the Acropolis, the Colosseum, Angkor, the Great Wall of China, Petra, the Moai of Easter Island, and the Statue of Liberty (hey, I'm biased, sue me).

Yellow Pages: Unwanted, unloved

Surely many know of the good ol' Yellow Pages (YP from here on in), and its many imitators. Easy access to the phone numbers and addresses of people and businesses everywhere. Sometimes they say you can find anything in the YP!

But as the Internet becomes more widespread, and connections faster, the Yellow Pages seem to be growing out of favor. Why look up an address in the YP, then try to plot it out on the map included, when you can look up the address on your favorite search engine, then have said search engine give you turn-by-turn instructions on how to get there?

Still, the YP arrive regularly in front of my apartment door - not only from AT&T, but from Verizon, and other major phone companies. What to do with all these phone books? The simplest answer would be just to go ahead and recycle them, which is what I do with most of the YP that show up. Sometimes I'll keep one to use as a "shelf" to raise Mocha's food and water up so she doesn't have to stoop. And of course, it doesn't hurt to have a YP lying around in case the Internet or power goes down.

So there's lots to do with all those generally unwanted YP - but why do people just basically try to ignore the fact that the YP got delivered? Again, my YP are usually left outside my apartment door, so I can just grab it on the way in/out. My neighbors seem to be completely oblivious to the fact that these YP have been sitting outside their door. The last set was delivered about a week ago. Most of my neighbors still have those YP sitting right outside. Do they think the YP will self-destruct? That maybe they'll get swept away by some rain and become fertilizer? It can't be that they don't see the YP there, their existence is fairly obvious. What gives?? Is the YP fairy going to come, take the YP back, and leave you a quarter or something?

It's just another one of the many things I just sit back and wonder about. Maybe I can find the answer in the YP.