Bourbon Ice Cream

Have you ever sat there at the Thanksgiving table with a slice of pecan pie and thought, "This could use some bourbon." But pouring a shot of bourbon over your pie will likely overwhelm the pecans. You need that great bourbon flavor without being too strong. Ice cream is the answer.

Bourbon Ice Cream

1	qt	Half and Half
3/4	c	egg yolks (about 10 egg yolks)
3/4	c	granulated sugar
3/4	c	brown sugar
1/2	c	Maker's Mark Bourbon

Place the sugars and eggs in a stand mixer and whip for the whole time that it takes to scald the cream. The eggs will get very light and fluffy. While the eggs are whipping, place the cream in a sauce pan over medium-low heat and scald (wait for small bubbles to form around the sides, but don't simmer or boil).

When the cream is ready, turn the mixer down to low. Very slowly drizzle 1 cup of the hot cream into the eggs. If you do this very slowly, the eggs won't scramble. Add another cup of cream to the eggs. At this point the eggs should be very warm. You can safely add the rest of the cream and the bourbon. Make sure it is all thoroughly mixed.

Cover the mixture and place in the refrigerator. Chill to at least 40F. Follow your ice cream maker's instructions for freezing.

This recipe is based on this recipe from chef David Blaine's blog. I mostly adjusted proportions for my ice cream maker.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream

I don't know anyone who doesn't like ice cream. Even in the winter when it's cold outside, people eat ice cream. There is lots of good commercial ice cream out there - Breyer's, Haagen-Dazs, Ben & Jerry's, Cold Stone. They're all good and have some wacky flavors (Cold Stone's Cake Batter, for instance) that I would never make at home, because they are a little too niche. Don't get me wrong, I really like Cold Stone's Cake Batter, but mostly with other stuff mixed in. But the basics and some not so basic flavors can be found in my freezer year round.

I've tried lots of recipes from lots of sources. Books, magazines and websites. There are lots of good ones. They fall into two categories - custard-style (with eggs) and Philadelphia-style (without eggs). I like the custard-style, because it won't turn icy when you churn it. You do have to be careful that you don't scramble the eggs, but with a bit of practice you'll get the hang of it. And you can always put the base through a strainer if you have a little trouble tempering the eggs.

I found an ice cream base that I really like on a chef's blog called From the Back Kitchen. This is a bourbon ice cream recipe that I started tweaking when I wanted bourbon ice cream for Thanksgiving. So most of the credit goes to chef David Blane.

And the last thing you need is an ice cream maker. I have a Cuisinart ICE-20 1.5qt ice cream maker that is great. I bought a second bowl, so I can make two batches at a time. But I have recently seen a combo pack at William Sonoma that has an extra freezer bowl included for free. Check it out if you're in the market.

Each recipe will go in a separate post so they can be linked to separately.

The TPC at Sawgrass - Stadium Course

I couldn't sleep last night. I only got about 4 hours. I was so nervous. I kept tossing and turning. I barely touched breakfast. I was nauseous. This course is beyond my skill. I'm going to hold up my foursome and the rest of the day.

We arrived at the course at 7:30 for our 8:06 tee time. When we checked in, the guy didn't ask us to pay for the caddy. The website clearly stated that the Stadium course required a caddy per cart. The gift certificate clearly stated that only the greens fees and cart were covered. It said nothing about the caddy. Maybe we'd lucked out. I asked if we were playing alone or had we been teamed with another twosome and was told that there was another group. Bummer. I was hoping to get away with just Pam and I. Oh well.

Like yesterday, everyone was very nice. We left our clubs over night, so we didn't have to lug them to/from the car. The bag boy loaded them up on the cart and sent us to the practice range for a little warm up. After 15 minutes of warm up, we headed off to see the starter. We were way early. The first to arrive. There was another group ahead of us teeing off at 7:57. They showed up shortly after us pluds a twosome going off after us at 8:15. Our other twosome still wasn't there. The 7:57 group went off and the twosome from 8:15 was very anxious to join Pam and I, because they had to drive back to Key West after their round. It was not to be. The rest of their group showed up just as we were about to team up, so Pam and I were sent to the 1st tee promptly at 8:05 for an 8:06 start without a caddy. Things were looking up, but we were warned that the starter may send the rest of our group to join us later if they showed up.

This is the TPC Stadium course. The course was specifically designed so spectators could easily watch the game. When this course was being designed, they spent a lot of time studying the spectator experience. One of the biggest selling souvenirs was periscopes. People were stacked 10 or 15 deep and anyone more than 2 rows back couldn't see anything without them. So this course was designed with berms at the tee boxes and the greens, so all the spectators had a great view.

We pulled up to the tee box at 8:06 and the other group was still taking their second shots, so we sat back and enjoyed the view and the cool morning. We followed them very closely for the first 6 holes. When we got to 6, they still hadn't teed off. They were getting drinks from the snack cart. Guess they weren't worried about pace of play. They asked if we wanted to play through. We said, "Hell yeah!". That put us at the front of the line. As long as we don't really mess up bad, we could play at our own pace and not worry about pushing or being pushed. Sweet!

When we were looking for our balls out in the fairway of 6, we spoke briefly to the other group's caddy, who was out there to spot their shots. We asked him why we didn't get a caddy. It turns out that everyone has to have a caddy, unless you are using a certificate. With the certificate, you have to specifically ask for a caddy when you make the reservation. We later confirmed with the hotel pro shop that they did not request a caddy for us.

The day shaped up to be one of my best rounds ever. Pam and I played quickly and well. I usually feel the pressure to keep pace, which just makes for a miserable round. But since we were just a twosome and the group behind were slow, we had the entire course to ourselves. We saw almost no one except the beverage cart all day. The PGA Pros don't even get this kind of treatment.

Number 17 is the signature hole. It is an island green with just a small strip leading out to the hole. A picture is below. We were so far ahead that we had lots of time to take pictures and enjoy the view it. It was great. And Pam even parred it. I bogied with a 4 :(

As we pulled away from 17 and started looking for the best view of 18, one of the marshals pulled up. He asked if we were just looking around. We told him no, we were the 8:06 tee time and passed the 7:57 back at 6. He told us that was good, because they were holding up the whole course. We chatted for a few more minutes then he drove off.

17 may be the signature hole, but 18 is my favorite. From the berm behind the championship tees, you get the most spectacular view including the brand new club house. Pics below. I can't imagine playing here on tour (for lots of reasons), because the championship tees are very claustrophobic. You are surrounded on three sides. And they are close. As we were chipping onto the green, a 6-person cart pulled up to watch. My first audience! I chipped on with and left myself a 5 foot putt. Pam left herself on the fringe about 15 feet away. Using her putter she got to within 2 feet. And finished in one more stroke. She got quite a nice golf clap. A stood up to the challenge and sank the putt. And the crowd went wild! At least in my head. Really, I just got a golf clap.

Turned out the group were prospective members of the club out for a tour of the course and grounds. The guide was an LSU graduate, so we talked about the UK win over LSU the night before. Quite a finish with 4 overtimes. After a short chat, we headed back to the clubhouse.

When we got to the 19th and added it all up, I shot 115 for the day. Not my best, but I'll take it.

The TPC at Sawgrass - Dye's Valley Course

About 12 months ago, Pam and I bought a golf vacation package at the Sawgrass Marriott including a round of golf for two on the Stadium course at the TPC Sawgrass. That's quite the mouth full. Every year the Albuquerque chapter of the EWGA has a breast cancer fund raiser, which includes a silent auction. We won the trip as part of the auction. I had no idea what I was getting into.

The Stadium course at the TPC Sawgrass is the where the PGA tour holds its flagship event. Yes, this is one of the courses you see Tiger Woods playing. But I don't want to jump ahead. We don't play the Stadium until tomorrow. Today we played the Valley course which was designed by Pete Dye.

I was really freaked out about playing both these courses. I am simply not a good enough golfer. But my money is green and that's all that really matters. We'll see how it goes tomorrow, but today on the Valley wasn't so bad. I shot 120, which is typical of me on a course like this. Although the style of the courses are completely different, I would say it's about as difficult as the Paa Ko Ridge course.

The rough was thick and swallowed up balls. I spent a lot of time looking for balls that were 3 feet away. You have to stay in the fairway or have someone help you spot your shots. The sand is very fluffy as Pam likes to say. It will also swallow the ball.

We played with a very nice couple Dave and Cheryl, who are members of the Valley course. They play the course a couple times a month, so they were a big help figuring out how to play the course. With their help, we managed to play in about 4:20 which is really good for me. My rounds usually take about 4:45.

So we played ok, which gives me hope for tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.

New 2007 F150

I've had this truck for about 6 weeks now, but haven't had time to take pictures and write something. So I'm sitting here in Florida watching football and thought I should write something. It just a basic extended-cab 4x4 5.4L V8 XLT with the towing package and skid plates. It's pretty well equipped with power windows and locks. The windows on the little half doors are power also. Here's a couple of pics.




The dealer always wants to sell you add ons. I took the extended warranty ($1795) and the spray in bedliner ($395). Here's a shot of the bedliner.


They had a couple of other options that intrigued me, but I couldn't justify them. One package was a 3-year no mileage limit dings, glass and tires coverage. It was $399 with no deductible. My insurance covers glass damage and the dings coverage doesn't include any reapirs requiring bondo or paint. And tire blow outs (normal wear not covered) are too low risk to be considered.

The other package I thought would be interesting is the 3 year Oil, Lube, Filter (OLF) package. It covers OLF every 5,000 miles. I average about 20,000 miles. So thats only 12 OLFs and it was $599. Nearly $50 per OLF and Albuquerque is a harsh environment, which means Ford recommends OLF changes every 3,000 miles. But the package is only every 5,000. Seems to hard, so I passed.

I burned through my first tank of gas -- 15.9 MPG. Not too bad for the first tank. I drove a good mix of highway and city miles. Mostly driving back and forth to work. If this keeps up or even increases a little as the engine matures I'll be happy. I drive a 2006 4.0L V6 XLT at the moment and it gets around 20 MPG on the same drive. On long road trips, the Explorer gets near 21 MPG. It's a pretty solid vehicle, even though it's more car than truck these days.

The perfect fog-free shower mirror?

For years, I have been searching for the perfect fog-free mirror. They all turned out to be the same general design. A plastic mirror with some kind of treatment that is supposed to repell steam. In fact, I think they are all made by the same company and distributed under different names by different resellers. They work for about 6 months and then they're useless. And they cost a fortune -- $40. Click here for an example. It does have a clock and silly LED light.

But that all ended when I went to the Container Store in Denver. They have a mirror that is based on simple physics. It has a funnel at the top that you use to fill the space behind the mirror with hot water. The water heats the mirror and there is no condensation. Brilliant! And it only cost $10. Brilliant!

A Great DirecTV Hidef Upgrade

I have read lots and lots of articles about how bad things go when the DirecTV installer comes to upgrade their service to hidef with the new hidef DVR. I had a great install experience today.

Steve with ImpactDirect arrived at about 8:30am. I have a flat roof with a small platform that is built up for installation a satellite dish. That is where the existing Phase III is installed. He told me that the platform was not big enough for the Slimline + monopoles. He and I surveyed the roof and determined that the dish could be mounted on one of the parapet walls near the platform. The previous installer didn't install grounding blocks even though the ground wire was there and I never got around to doing it. So I pointed it out and Steve said he would take care of it.

I came down off the roof and Steve got to work. A little bit later he came down and said the provided lag bolts weren't long enough and he had to go get some. I told him that while he was gone I would be happy to hookup the HR20. We went to his truck and discovered that he had grabbed an R15 lowdef DVR off the rack. Uh-oh, now I'm worried. He called somebody and they met him at the hardware store with the HR20. He was back in 30 minutes. Sweet!

He went back up to mount and aim the dish while I did the hookup. He came down, installed the new WB68 multiswitch, turned on the HR20 and activated it. He checked the signal strength, checked that all the channels worked and he was done.

There was one anomally though with the HR20. I could only record from sat tuner. I'm worried again. I rebooted and it was fine. Hmm, I'll have to keep an eye on that. While I was playing with it, a message popped up that there was new software. I approved the download. It took <30 minutes to download, install and reboot a couple times. Sweet!

I'm now at version 018A of the software. With the previous version (015C), it kept kicking over to 480i over HDMI. This is not what I paid for. I want my hidef! 018A seems to have fixed this problem. Sweet!