Methotrexate, Day 1.5 + bonus ice cream recipe!
Starting to get a little joint pain now, but still better than before the meds. I'm hopeful that once I've built up to a therapeutic level, there will be more good days than bad. Stomach is a little extra annoyed after beer without dinner last night - I'll make sure to eat more today, as I have a cocktail party to attend and would like to have at least one cocktail. :)
Experimented with making homemade chocolate ice cream last night for the first time. I started with two base recipes, a big complicated one from Joy of Baking that recommends doing the custard the day before and chilling overnight, and one from Epicurean that was much simpler. I decided to try the simple one first, though I plan to try the complicated one next.
Extra-Rich Chocolate Ice Cream
1 cup light cream
2 1/2 oz Semisweet or unsweetened chocolate
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler with the light cream. Stir continuously until smooth and consistent.
In a separate heat resistant bowl, beat egg yolks with the sugar until they are thick and creamy. Next, add the chocolate mixture to the egg yolks and stir well. Return the mix to the double boiler and gently whisk the mixture until it begins to thicken. Then take it off the heat and let it cool. Lightly whip the heavy cream and fold it into the chocolate mixture.
Pour it into your freezer and churn.
I added 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon after the chocolate was melted and before adding the eggs and sugar, and added 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract to the cooled chocolate/egg/sugar mixture before folding in the whipped cream. I probably did a stiff whip on the cream rather than a light whip. Left it in the ice cream maker until it sounded stiff, decanted into a large container (so that there was about a 2" thick slab of ice cream at the bottom) and chilled for a bit before serving. I used Nestle Bittersweet Chocolate Chips for the chocolate.
In a word, YUM! Not quite as chocolately as I wanted, but delicious and creamy. The cinnamon definitely added a nice spiciness, very reminescent of Mexican hot chocolate. Next time, darker chocolate, more of it, and perhaps tweaking the spice a bit. Maybe a little cayenne or chipotle, or perhaps some sea salt?
Note: there may not be any more methotrexate updates until Monday at the next dosing.
Experimented with making homemade chocolate ice cream last night for the first time. I started with two base recipes, a big complicated one from Joy of Baking that recommends doing the custard the day before and chilling overnight, and one from Epicurean that was much simpler. I decided to try the simple one first, though I plan to try the complicated one next.
Extra-Rich Chocolate Ice Cream
1 cup light cream
2 1/2 oz Semisweet or unsweetened chocolate
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler with the light cream. Stir continuously until smooth and consistent.
In a separate heat resistant bowl, beat egg yolks with the sugar until they are thick and creamy. Next, add the chocolate mixture to the egg yolks and stir well. Return the mix to the double boiler and gently whisk the mixture until it begins to thicken. Then take it off the heat and let it cool. Lightly whip the heavy cream and fold it into the chocolate mixture.
Pour it into your freezer and churn.
I added 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon after the chocolate was melted and before adding the eggs and sugar, and added 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract to the cooled chocolate/egg/sugar mixture before folding in the whipped cream. I probably did a stiff whip on the cream rather than a light whip. Left it in the ice cream maker until it sounded stiff, decanted into a large container (so that there was about a 2" thick slab of ice cream at the bottom) and chilled for a bit before serving. I used Nestle Bittersweet Chocolate Chips for the chocolate.
In a word, YUM! Not quite as chocolately as I wanted, but delicious and creamy. The cinnamon definitely added a nice spiciness, very reminescent of Mexican hot chocolate. Next time, darker chocolate, more of it, and perhaps tweaking the spice a bit. Maybe a little cayenne or chipotle, or perhaps some sea salt?
Note: there may not be any more methotrexate updates until Monday at the next dosing.