Posts tagged ‘peaches’

I scream “a(Peach)ment unlocked – Comic Con 2012″

aka San Diego Comic Con 2012 Recap Part 1 in conjunction with National Peach Ice Cream Day

Wednesday July 11 2012 – Preview Night

Comic con began this year with yet another long, long road trip. I swear one of these years I will plan ahead enough to enjoy the shorter flying option to get down to San Diego* rather than embarking on the 8-10 hour sitfest that makes my ass ache from inactivity. The ride was fairly uneventful; I drove down with my mom and we shared the wheel though I admit she did most of the driving the way down.

We arrived in San Diego around 1PM – the hall didn’t open until 6pm so I had time to shower, go for a run to stretch my legs and thank god for having preview night passes because checking in was a breeze. No lines, no fuss…nada. Getting into the hall did require some lining up and this was the first year I was actually financially well off enough to entertain the notion of being part of the massive fray that is the exclusive dash. I got my greedy little paws on the Bilbo Baggins figurine I wanted but that was about it. Next year I shall plan this better…assuming I have income to spend on exclusive and/or there is something I want.

To be completely honest I don’t remember if I was in costume that night. It went by pretty quickly. I saw the floor, got some swag but not a lot. Nope you know what, I wasn’t in costume. I remember because I had on my flowery hat and kept trying to get a hold of the Fringe Fedora (this never happened – sad face) and planned to wear it instead if I got it. Gorram Fox booth. I went there 20 times over the course of the weekend and never got a hold of it. It was the ONE giveaway I desperately wanted. Motherfrakkers!

All in all Wednesday night was spent scoping out the floor, getting a feel for it and finding all the key locations I’d need to be at again over the course of Con. This is why I need preview night most of all personally. I like to get a handle on the layout of the floor, generate a mental and physical memory so that way I am better able to make the several mad dashes (and yes there were several this trip) that would inevitably occur.

My preview night involved scoping out when Mira Grant would be signing, finding Peter S. Beagle’s autograph spot in artist’s alley, finding the GeekScape booth where I would be boothbabing for the first time the following day and finding friends on the floor. The hardest thing about Comic Con is that you really intend to spend more time with people than you manage to do—there’s just so much to see and do and before you know it each day is gone. Even though I was trying to see my friends, preview night really had us all veering off in multiple directions to get swag, toys and do our mental mapping.

The evening ended with my meeting up with several guildies for late night snacks and beer at an Irish pub a few blocks down the way. I have gone longer than usual without seeing my karass and I have to say that while I missed them these last few months, I was unprepared for just how much my heart really ached at the sight of seeing them all again. Blarney Stone Pub was the name and while it did have a decent selection of beers. I noticed a general lackluster quality to the foodstuffs. I mean we’re not expecting haute cuisine here but rock hard mozzarella sticks seems a bit off-game to me. Especially since the place was empty when my first batch of guildies sat down. “Oh well” I said when I heard about this as I arrived later, “It’s Con.” Indeed “It’s Con” was basically my response to anything that went wrong all weekend.

That’s my number one tip to anyone entering into Comic Con and so it seems appropriate for that to be the final part of my SDCC2012 Review Part 1. Comic Con is insane. There are too many people, too many things, too many moving parts for things to not go wrong. Occasionally they go horribly wrong. If you let yourself get upset you will have a miserable time. You have to just shrug your shoulders, wryly laugh and remind yourself “It’s Con” and let it go. A kind of “Who is John Galt” moment only with a far less depressing, the world is ending connotation.

*Unless I’ve moved down to socal by this time.  Fingers crossed.

Since today is National Peach Ice Cream Day and I actually made some recently, the recipe I’m leaving you with has absolutely nothing to do with the above but it is delicious and addictive.  It also taste a little bit like Root Beer to me…which might be that I’m crazy or that apparently peach ice cream tastes like root beer.  I’m not sure.  Either way it will make even the hottest summer day bearable and because it’s such a delightful fruity flavor, likely to get eaten bowl after bowl before you realize what happened.

Honey-Peach Ice Cream

From “Baking from my Home to Yours” by Dorie Greenspan

• 4 large ripe peaches (about 2 pounds), peeled and pitted
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Coarsely chop half the peaches into 1/2-inch chunks and toss them into a small saucepan. Add the honey and bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover the pan and cook, stirring occasionally until the peaches are soft but not mushy, about 10 minutes. Scrape the mixture into a blender or food processor and whir to puree. (Alternatively use a hand blender.) Set the peach puree aside while you make the custard.

Bring the milk and cream to a boil in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan.

Meanwhile in a medium bowl, whisk the yolks and sugar together until very well blended and just slightly thickened. Still whisking, drizzle in about one third of the hot liquid – this will temper, or warm, the eggs so they don’t curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remaining liquid. Pour the custard back into the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring without stopping, until the custard thickens slightly and coats the back of the spoon; if you run your finger down the bowl of the spoon the custard should not run into the track. The custard should reach at least 170 degrees F, but no more than 180 degrees F, on an instant read thermometer. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and pour the custard into a 2-quart glass measuring cup or clean heatproof bowl. Stir in the vanilla and the peach puree.

Refrigerate the custard until chilled before churning it into ice cream.

Scrape the chilled custard into the bowl of an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions. While the ice cream is churning, finely dice the remaining 2 peaches, then, just before the ice cream is thickened and ready, add the peaches and churn to bland. Pack the ice cream into a container and freeze it for at least 2 hours, until it is firm enough to scoop.