Camelot, Eclipse of the Sun

The upshot of my TIA problem is I still have a somewhat numb face although its better than it was, also fairly high BP readings and the worst thing of the lot, for me, I decided not to go to the theatre with my friend this afternoon (yes I do realise there could have been worse results). We were going to see Camelot. My friend has managed to find someone else to take my ticket. I didn't want her having to hunt for a hospital in a rural area if anything happened; the theatre is 2 hours drive away from here. I did so want to see this show. The Drayton Festival group do these shows so very well and I have heard great reports of Camelot from everyone who has been. I am thinking of trying to get more tickets (not sure when the show ends - Oh No, Friday) and dragging Matt along, but probably not a good idea this soon, although I don't mind making Matt hunt for a hospital LOL. There was a solar eclipse yesterday all across Asia - I am staggered to believe there are still peoples who believe it is an ill omen or there is something different. It was apparently the longest eclipse this century and it won't happen again until the next century although there will be a shorter eclipse across North America in 2017. If you want to see a video clip about it go to this site where you can also read the article. When we lived in North Carolina, we had friends from Wisconsin who used to rave about custard ice cream. Then a store opened which sold it together with a lot of other forbidden and sinful desserts LOL. 7 Layer Chocolate Cake for one. Anyway, I loved the custard ice cream and was very sorry last time we were in NC to discover that the store had closed. However, yesterday I got an email from Recipezaar which included custard ice cream. I remember my mother making ice cream this way, freezing and stirring, freezing and stirring. Custard Ice Cream This is a beautiful recipe for ice cream...taken from The River Cottage Family Cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Simple to make & perfect with Recipe#232629, Recipe#232579, apple pie, brownies etc..... NB: "This is a classic method for making ice cream. Avoid serving homemade ice cream to babies, toddlers and pregnant women, as they are at a higher risk for salmonella poisoning from undercooked eggs 284 ml single cream 1 vanilla pod 4 free-range egg yolks 125 g caster sugar 284 ml double cream 1 Pour the single cream into a medium saucepan. Slit the vanilla pod lengthways with a sharp knife and place it in the pan. Set the heat to medium and heat the cream until it just starts to steam a little. Switch off the hob and let the saucepan sit there. The heat will draw the vanilla flavour into the cream. 2 Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar for a minute, until they turn thick and a little paler. 3 Pour the saucepan of hot cream into the sugary egg mixture and whisk again until smooth. Pour it all back into the saucepan. 4 With the heat set very low, stir the creamy mixture constantly with a wooden spoon so it doesn't stick to the base of the pan but heats slowly and evenly. To see if the custard has heated enough, check from time to time with this classic test: take the spoon out of the custard and look at the back of it. The film of custard on the spoon should look noticeably creamier. Draw your finger across the back of the spoon and, if the line stays clear and distinct, your custard has thickened enough. 5 Turn off the heat and carry the saucepan over to the work surface. Carry on stirring for a few more seconds so the cooking process is halted and the custard starts to cool down. Strain the custard through a sieve into a jug. 6 As soon as the custard has cooled to room temperature, put the jug in the fridge for half an hour, then stir in the double cream. Either pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn it until it freezes or pour it into a plastic food container. 7 Freeze it for about an hour or until the sides start to get solid. When this happens, mash up the mixture with a fork, mixing the frozen sides into the liquid centre. Put it back in the freezer straight away for another hour. Repeat this twice more at hourly intervals and then let the ice cream set. Servings: 6 Have a great day.