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6:00 PM
I still wonder who visits us from these generic search words
When I search for them, we don't appear on the first ten pages
 
I fear, though, that my inclusion of an image in the post may negate the need to click on the blog link.
Ah. Appears its a dup.
 
so, anyway. Put me down for the blog, i'll take care of it
 
@rumtscho ok, I'll mark @rfusca down in the calendar
 
@rfusca Thank you, that's great
@derobert OK. Then mark Yossarian's reviews as every second apparance maybe?
Then he appears on 6.6., 4.7. and 1.8.
 
@rumtscho I think we can use that as queued content at this point, and just fill them in when we can't get anything else
 
6:04 PM
@derobert I think that maybe we shouldn't try to stretch the review thing too long apart
 
@rumtscho no, probably not. But I'm still hoping we can get a 4th of July post.
 
Sure - if one appears from somewhere, the reviews get shuffled
I just think that this is the most likely scenario right now
Maybe you can nudge Cos Calis?
He got an account from us, so he is interested in writing
 
What would a 4th of July post even look like?
"Put the hot dogs on the grill. Then blow something up."
 
and he seems to be an expert in BBQ and other such American foods
 
So, maybe if we get a 4th post, we push your preserves post back two weeks, and run the review then, otherwise we run it on the 4th
 
6:06 PM
I don't know about the preserves
I thought that 1.8. is too late in the year for making preserves
 
@yossarian If you can find a way to cook food using fireworks, that'd be awesome. Please take pictures, and keep all your fingers if possible.
 
Fruit is abundant in july
 
@rumtscho true
Ok. Then if we get a 4th of July post, we run it as a special, and run the review post as well?
 
But yes, if we are lucky enough to get more posts than we need, we can run the preserves later.
@derobert this diminishes our backlog
 
Thought for 4th of July post: get multiple authors to each contribute one dish they make that's appropriate. That way you don't need more than a paragraph per person.
 
6:08 PM
Is it me or is that newest question not clear?
About the xanthan gum.
 
If you did that, I could contribute a recipe for smoked hamburgers.
 
@Mien I don't think it is clear either
@yossarian I don't know. A post whose point is nothing but recieps? I would run that as a holiday special, but not as a regular post.
 
uhm. Isn't 4th of July a holiday special?
 
It happens to be a date for a regular post as well
 
I thought you were looking for a holiday themed post, which would be really hard, since the 4th isn't really a food holiday.
 
6:10 PM
So I would want to have a "real" post on the regular date (which happens to be the 4.7 per coincidence), and, if we want a lightweight holiday special, we can add a recipe-oriented post.
 
Also if you run themed posts, you should run them before the holdiay, i.e. not on the 4th.
 
@yossarian Oh, I'd take summer cookout as a 4th of July themed post
 
It doesn't have to be perfectly holiday-centered
 
@derobert, yeah, but I'm having trouble thinking of an interesting bbq themed post.
 
But it would be nice if it is a regular post covering a food which is popular on that day.
 
6:12 PM
Yeah, we could run a summer cookout post on the Friday before, that'd be great.
 
Or maybe just American food in general.
 
@rumtscho, but that's only relevant if it runs ahead of time.
 
@Sobachatina still no bacon winner :p
 
@yossarian last summer we had great icecream-coloring quesitons
 
@Mien Yep. I'd be happy to just find out that I didn't win so I can move on.
 
6:12 PM
Same here.
 
I'd rather find out that I did win of course.
 
@Mien maybe @Laura has gone and hidden under a rock? Or possibly, is recovering from a bacon-induced coma?
 
5
Q: Tips for patriotic vanilla ice cream

Daniel StandageMy wife will be making home-made vanilla ice cream with our ice cream machine tomorrow. To celebrate the holiday, we wanted to make it red, white, and blue ice cream: essentially a white base with red and blue spots or swirls. We considered dropping in some food coloring, but we don't want to en...

 
Oh, possibly.
 
@derobert I can only imagine the marvelous dreams you would have while in a bacon induced coma.
 
6:13 PM
@Sobachatina Mmmmmm.... bacon.....
 
@derobert i talked to her earlier today
 
@rumtscho OK, I think I've updated the calendar correctly.
 
If we have a good "standard" post for the 4.7., someone of us can quckly try some of the coloring methods I propose and post pictures without much text a few days before the holiday
I can do it too, if it doesn't get too crowded with posts of mine
 
I should make some ice cream. But I think I'll try strawberry, vanilla, and blueberry. In three batches. Guess I'd better plan on getting started soon :-P
 
@derobert i made chocolate ice cream over the weekend
 
6:19 PM
@derobert this is an obvious thing, and everybody knows what it would look like
 
@rumtscho yep, but it'd be tasty.
 
I was thinking of trying out the other things I proposed, because I haven't tried them
 
@rumtscho I think I'd just try mixing colors in after freezing the batch if I wanted to color them
 
Maybe we can make a joint post
 
@rfusca I made vanilla ice cream with the leftovers from my tofu experiments.
 
6:20 PM
you showing pictures of three different batches
 
I bet after pulling it from the machine, maybe 20 min. in the freezer, then split into 3 and color
 
and me trying the syrup layering/swirling method
and we will have pictures of two types of colored ice cream
 
I should get some guar gum to add in. I only have xanthan.
 
@Sobachatina thats um...ya...tofu ice cream?
 
xanthan works in practically the same way as guar, I think
 
6:21 PM
@derobert I would color before freezing solid. It would be hard to mix it thoroughly when it is completely frozen.
 
They are normally used as substitutes.
 
Nah, they work best together...
 
@Sobachatina but the point is that this person wanted to color a single batch in three colors
 
@rfusca Not exclusively this time. Last time I made it with just soy milk this time I was making normal ice cream and threw in the tofu just to dispose of it.
 
@Sobachatina interesting
 
6:22 PM
@rumtscho I understand. I would churn it, divide and color, then freeze solid.
 
If the batch is not completely frozen, you can't freeze it together with the other baatches.
@Sobachatina I thought you mean you would add the color before it is completely churned.
 
@rumtscho I see.
 
@Sobachatina do you plan to make ice cream for 4.7.?
 
@rumtscho I hadn't planned on it.
 
Then you could try for example the white ice cream with colored pieces
like colored marshmallows or nuts
 
6:23 PM
Are you considering a joint post where we all submit a different ice cream story?
 
or the one with drops of coloring
@Sobachatina yes, but it doesn't need much words
 
Sounds like fun.
 
It would be a holiday special which goes up a few days before the holiday
 
Hey, I like making ice cream too!
 
I have a pineapple-buttermilk sherbet recipe that is to die for.
 
6:24 PM
I like this. Just a post full of pictures of tasty ice cream
 
Not colorful but very delicious.
 
@Sobachatina it is supposed to be a red-ice-blue icecream
 
@rumtscho :) We'll see what we can do.
 
@derobert a few sentences per person too, just describing what method was used
 
Yep.
 
6:25 PM
Beet ice cream. :)
 
But one short paragraph should be enough, the pictures should be the focus.
@mien you can make your own version too
 
I shall add this to the calendar. I suppose go-live of Saturday morning would be good?
... that'd be June 30
 
Saturday before the 4.7.?
 
yes
 
Maybe the Friday, there are people who don't read us on weekends
Friday midday would be OK
 
6:25 PM
I may do my pineapple buttermilk sherbet with cherry and blueberry chunks.
 
Ok, then June 29
 
@Sobachatina also good
 
noon UTC as per tradition
 
so @derobert text-freeze June 26th, with the goal with only minor copy-editing and layouting after that?
 
@derobert UTC? so, that's around 8pm for me?
 
6:26 PM
@Mien no, 14:00
 
Oh :p
 
UTC is Greenwich.
 
UTC = GMT, more or less
 
Oh I see
I like that.
 
Yeah. The sooner we start getting pictures / descriptions, the better of course.
 
6:28 PM
So, I would say first drafts (including unprocessed pictures) should be ready on the 22th or thereabouts.
 
Should we include the recipe as well or just a quick description?
 
@Sobachatina Maybe a recipe is better. I don't know
 
@rumtscho I'd say morning of the 25th instead, to give people the weekend to cook.
 
@derobert but then we would need a complete edit cycle done in 24 hours
I can edit in that time, but not everybody can respond to major change requests so quickly
 
@Sobachatina If its a recipe available online, a link would be good. If not, include if interesting
 
6:30 PM
Maybe we should all include recipes and see how long the text gets to be.
 
We could also all start from the same vanilla ice cream recipe?
 
@Mien Hmmm, that'd be interesting.
 
If it is too long, we can shorten each recipe to a ingredients listing on one line, and trust the people to know the technique. Or link to Lebowitz's site for the technique.
@Mien I was planning on that, yes
A standard Lebowitz vanilla, Philadelphia-Style
 
I was just going to use the normal one I use from Cooks Illustrated
 
(French style is too yellow)
We can do a CI recipe too, if you know that it works well
 
6:32 PM
True, French-style is pretty yellow, and the CI is French-style...
 
It is Soba who brought up the ananas sorbet
 
@rumtscho Don't forget the buttermilk. :)
 
I can give you all Lebowitz's recipe. It is 2 parts heavy cream, 1 part milk. I forgot how much sugar. And a pinch of salt.
 
I guess we should use a Phil.-style one, then. To keep the white actually white.
 
Vanilla too, of course.
 
6:33 PM
@rumtscho all sugar, no corn syrup?
 
@derobert We would have to substitute if it had corn syrup - there is no corn syrup here for me and mien
 
@derobert Lebowitz doesn't sound American ;)
 
But I am quite sure that it is all corn syrup
@Mien I am quite sure he is an American-born Jew. But he lives in Paris (or used to, when he wrote the book)
 
Oh, and 'vanilla' => beans or extract?
 
Let me see if NBR has an ice cream recipe and an explanation for the role of corn syrup. If yes, we could invert some sugar syrup here.
 
6:35 PM
My extract failed :p
 
@Mien I would say extract
 
... that seems to be French style
 
I recently found some extract in a supermarket
@derobert the book has French, Philadlphia and Gelato styles
I have the book.
 
Ah, Ok.
 
I want to make a plain vanilla tomorrow, to test the machine
So I will know if it is good
I don't think I have made his Philadelphia ones until now, didn't want to risk them without a machine.
 
6:38 PM
So- I missed the decision. Did you all decide to conform to the same recipe?
 
@Sobachatina I think so
But I think you can submit pictures of two batches, if you want to
One for the comparison, and one to tell the people about your great recipe
 
Well, or at least same base recipe. After all, I'm making strawberry and blueberry, not just vanilla
 
@derobert Yes, that's OK
I'm making vanilla layered with colored syrups
And I may use flavors for the syrups
 
errrm, actual vanilla beans, hmmm, extract is so much easier :-P I may substitute.
 
He has both in the recipe.
 
6:40 PM
Yep
 
But as the post focuses on the coloring and not the fine details of taste, I think it is OK if some of use use beans and others use extract.
 
I will color mine with fury and grief respectively.
 
@Sobachatina Why are you so mad at your poor icecream?
 
@rumtscho I have a very adversarial relationship with ice cream. It is trying to kill me.
Sweet, passionate, ice creamy death.
 
You are fising for stars here, right?
2
 
6:44 PM
@rumtscho Sort of. Not really intentionally. I've kind of gotten into the habit of using over the top phrasing.
I blame @Hobodave.
 
I think I will add a pinch of gum
But not too sure - haven't tried it in a machine yet
Must see what my macthine produces before I start experimenting
Also, it looks like I have to invest in a nice ice cream bowl for plating.
 
Oooh, you want it plated nicely? Tupperware is good enough :-P
 
@derobert it is supposed to be a picture-centered post :)
 
@rumtscho next thing you'll want it to be carefully laid out in the stars and stripes...
 
@derobert If you can pull that off, I want to see it.
I don't plan to do it myself :)
 
6:53 PM
That would be insane.
Well, without using some weird trickery (e.g., how they print designs on to ice cream cakes)
 
Not so much. You would need oiled baking paper.
Stretch it well between some things to hold it for the stripes
then shape it like stars for the stars part. Like tall cookie cutters, but greasy.
 
The stripes might be doable. But the stars?
 
Or use greased cookie cutters if you have enough of them.
and small enough of course
 
There are 50 of 'em. That's going to either a lot of ice cream, or some very intricate work.
 
pour white churned ice cream into the stars, then blue around them.
I didn't say it won't be lots of ice cream
 
6:56 PM
You might be able to pour ice cream into a star, if its at least 2"
 
And at the end, the greasy paper should come out.
Or, if you use cookie cutters, just heat them for removing.
@derobert why?
You may have to pipe it in with a small tip if it is smaller
 
@rumtscho ice cream doesn't pour that well. Hard to pour it into something tiny, it'd just sit on top of it. I guess you could force it in with a straw or similar
 
but it can be done into small shapes. Maybe 1/2 inch.
 
of course, you'd have to use cookie cutters, no way the paper would hold shape
 
@derobert do you think so?
Baking paper can be pretty stiff
 
6:58 PM
Not when you're trying to force ice cream into a star. Hard to see that holding shape.
 
I don't know who has 50 cookie cutters which are all shaped like tiny stars of the same size
 
yeah. Now, maybe, stripes + blue area (without stars) would be doable.
 
But my grandma used to make her own out of tin strips
@derobert or just pipe white "roses" onto the blue area
 
yes, that might work
 
@Sobachatina we both lost :p
 
7:00 PM
Ha!
 
All too much work for home, but I wouldn't put it beyond a dedicated confectionist
 
But way to much work. I'll be happy to just get the three colors
 
@Mien what did you lose?
 
The bacon contest
 
Oh well.
The new contest is salad. The opposite of bacon.
 
7:01 PM
@Sobachatina wait, you can put bacon in salad
 
@Sobachatina why the oposite?
My last salad contained bacon
 
@Mien btw, what turned out to be keeping you out of chat yesterday?
 
Opposites often work well together.
 
But salad (the dish, not the class of plants isn't the opposite of its own ingredients :)
 
Salad- fibrous, nutritious, often laborious to eat, usually bland without a lot of help, kids hate it.
 
7:02 PM
Salad isn't bland.
 
Bacon- fatty, no fiber at all, terrible for your heart, packed with salt and umami, etc.
 
@derobert Yes!
@derobert An addon
 
@rumtscho It can be. E.g., if you just have iceberg lettuce
 
So @derobert what time frame did we put on the icecream post?
@derobert ok, but the texture of it makes up for the blandness, so I can eat it pure with no problem.
 
@rumtscho first draft 22nd, up on the 29th
 
7:04 PM
@derobert OK, 22nd it is.
 
@rumtscho both are on the calendar.
 
@mien @sobachatina did you read that?
 
And I suppose 22nd isn't hard-and-fast, as long as we can get a quick enough turnaround from the authors
 
What? The calendar post?
 
22nd isn't doable for me.
But no problem.
 
7:05 PM
@Mien which date would you prefer?
 
I have my last exam the morning of the 25th
 
@Mien we just need to make sure to have enough to to get everything edited & together by the 29th...
 
@Sobachatina I guess we can give you the link so you can get an abo to our calender, if you need it
 
I might do it the afternoon of the 25th
 
@Mien if it goes up on the 29th, we want to avoid many edits on the day or two before
If you can write it quickly enough after the 25th, we will accept it, of course
 
7:06 PM
@Mien just make sure to give us something that is publication-ready...
It isn't much text per-person, so hopefully it won't be a problem.
 
@derobert I suspect that we would have to edit her pictures a bit - I don't think that @mien is a hobby photographer
But it should be doable in an afternoon
 
In the worst case, you just don't use my pictures :)
I'll just eat the ice cream then.
:D
Where was that link on how to photograph food?
 
@mien if I haven't written an author's guide containing it until then, I will give you the link
Posting it every day is a bit tedious
 
Okay :)
Can't we pin it here?
 
I can add it to the blog... I think.
 
7:11 PM
Beet juice and red cabbage boiled with baking soda.
Doesn't sound so fantastic with ice cream though.
 
@rumtscho do you have the links handy? I can find them if not...
 
@derobert what do you want to add to the blog?
 
@rumtscho I'll start our Author's Guide page
 
@derobert I thought to make it on meta
I've been meaning to work on it for maybe a week, but have some personal things to take care of first
And I wanted to only make it visible after it is ready
 
I think the blog itself can have such things... Not sure how they work, exactly, though.
 
7:14 PM
You could start it as a Google Doc first
and when we have it ready, we can post it wherever we think is best
Seeing that all other things like scope definition and call for questions have been done on Meta, I think meta is a good place for the guide too
 
True, could do that. I'm sort of curious how this page feature works, though. So I'm tempted to publish it, see, then un-publish it
 
Speaking of which, I want to go back to my emails
@derobert Won't this trigger the Community Bulletin?
I wouldn't do such tests if there is danger of publicizing a dead link
 
@rumtscho no, it shouldn't, it's not a post
@rumtscho ok, it shows up in the top bar
@rumtscho to the left of search
 
@derobert have you already removed it?
I didn't see it.
 
@rumtscho yeah, I'll put it back so you can see it
@rumtscho should be there now
 
7:19 PM
@derobert ok, saw it
 
@rumtscho ok, gone now
 
Are you having fun playing?
 
@Mien I hope so - that's what playing is for
 
Fair enough.
Can we make a spreadsheet of everybody's idea about the redwhiteblue icecream?
I'm not sure what I'll do, but I don't want a replication of someone else.
 
I guess. I'll create a google doc of that
 
7:28 PM
You make it sound like that's a lot of work. :p
Should we make it open to all?
 
@mien I am creating it
 
Okay.
 
@derobert I am at it already
 
@rumtscho Ok. I'll go to lunch instead then :-P
 
Enjoy!
 
7:34 PM
@mien and @Sobachatina I invited you to the document
Please insert details on how you plan to color the ice cream
 
Ooh, it's in German!
 
REally?
 
The invitation, yes.
I thought you were going to do something with marshmellows?
or you use them in your syrup?
 
No, I won't do marshmallows at all
It is just one of the variants
But not what I like most
 
I don't mind playing by everyone's rules but I have to say that using the same philadelphia base is kind of boring.
 
7:40 PM
@Sobachatina I think it is good for comparison
 
In my opinion it is the easiest style and the least rewarding.
 
So readers can judge which one looks best.
You can make additional pictures of your good recipe
 
@rumtscho I agree with that.
Hmmm- I may have to do that. I'll think about it.
 
You don't have to make all types of ice cream on the same date :)
 
A french style is so much more tasty and impressive but I don't really know if it will look better.
 
7:42 PM
The NBR has some info on French
It says that French with unbeaten eggs is shockingly yellow
 
I think it would be fun to try and use some relatively neutrally flavored natural food coloring.
@rumtscho Unbeaten? As in lightly broken up and not whipped?
 
So they proceed to whip the egg yolks with half the sugar to a pale foam.
 
@rumtscho I would say more like a creamy yellow but it would still look white compared to red and blue.
 
@Sobachatina yes - I don't whip mine
@Sobachatina I wouldn't do that for ice cream.
 
@rumtscho Oh yes, that's true. I do like it better whipped. I like the lighter texture.
 
7:44 PM
I have tried 100% elderbery juice for red and baking soda-ed elderberry juice for blue
Not for ice cream, for other stuff
 
@Sobachatina Not sure. When I make French-style, its pretty yellow from the yolk.
But I really ought to go get lunch.
 
And even though it stains a lot, you still have to add big amounts of what is essentially water
So, I wouldn't use it for ice cream
You have to add maybe 10% by weight for a good color
I don't want to imagine the crystals building from that
and I suspect that boiled beets will be less concentrated than elderberry juice
 
@rumtscho That is a good point.
I don't know where to buy elderberry juice.
 
We have it at an organic supermarket here
 
I may experiment anyway. Even if it is pale it may still be ok. It doesn't have to dye your mouth blue.
 
7:50 PM
But juicing beets may give you better results than boiling
the taste isn't so great anyway
 
@rumtscho I wouldn't need to boil them. I am curious how well their flavor would be masked by other flavorings.
I hate the flavor of beets but I love their color.
What is blue besides blueberries?
Elderberries. Perhaps I should make an effort to find some.
 
aronia is also quite blue, but way too dry to be worth juicing
elderberries stain red, not blue
but with baking soda, they make blue
all anthocyanines do
 
@Sobachatina your plan is to 'paint' parts of the vanilla ice cream red and blue?
 
@Mien I can't say I have a plan. I'm brainstorming.
 
@Sobachatina I think it would be nice to have different things to try
derobert is already painting whole batches of ice cream
so I liked your idea for using chunks
colored chunks, I mean.
 
7:59 PM
Indeed. That is easier of course.
I understood. :)
Cherries, coconut, and blue m&ms. My wife would love me.
 
So would I.
 
@Mien Well that settles it then. It's not often that food earns me the love of two women.
 
:D
 
 
1 hour later…
9:29 PM
@rumyanche- I assume you meant that the vinegar helps prevent gluten.
 
Hmm, I just read that one drop of tabasco in a glass of ginger ale makes it better.
I'm intrigued.
Did anyone try this already?
 
@Mien I like it in tomato juice but I haven't tried it in ginger ale.
Sounds plausible- salt, pepper, and vinegar.
 
It should make it less syrupy.
Canada Dry is ginger ale, right?
 
Rumyancheto wouldn't like the vinegar though.
Yes.
 
I don't know why you call it 'ale', it confuses me.
 
9:32 PM
We've actually had this discussion.
Ginger Ale and Root Beer were named to compete with alcoholic drinks even though they don't have alcohol when made with soda water and very very little when brewed with yeast.
 
Hmm, strange :)
But thanks for the clarification.
 
@Mien Full disclosure- there was some argument about this fact and this was my position. Some people disagreed with me.
 
What did the others say then?
 
@Mien They were of the opinion that those beverages were originally quite alcoholic.
 
Interesting.
 
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