This year’s Christmas Card was about Joy and included a Christmas Carol Wordsearch with a hidden message.
Songs that kept me driving
In June 2016 I drove 2,197 miles over 9 days in Colorado, Utah and Kansas. These are the songs I heard on the radio that kept me going on those long drives!
Alternatively watch the YouTube playlist
Polymorph Plastic Example Uses
I recently ordered some Polymorph Plastic on eBay from this seller and have been really impressed with how it works. It’s a thermoplastic that comes in tiny pellets and when you place them in hot water they melt and are mouldable by hand – what’s great is that it’s reusable over and over again – simply drop it back in hot water and it melts again and can be reshaped. It can also be coloured using special powder you work into the plastic when it’s in the molten state.
Here’s some examples of what I’ve done with it:
Happy 2013!
The above image was created using the coloured plastic Quality Street Chocolate wrappings and a torch.
I used my Canon DSLR on Bulb mode on a tripod with a new remote control I received for Christmas from my brother.
Strawberry Ice Cream
I love ice cream! This is one of my favourite homemade ice cream recipes. The first time I ever made this was as a member of ERICS (the Emmanuel Real Ice Cream Society) at Cambridge. I don’t have the recipe we used back then so I came up with this recipe which is the one I now use. I’ve made several times before but this time I thought I’d share it with everyone – in full pictorial detail!
Ingredients
You’ll need the following ingredients:
- 500g Fresh Strawberries
- 175g Caster Sugar
- 500ml Whipping Cream
- 4 tablespoons fresh orange juice
N.B. The orange juice should not be made from concentrate.
On this occasion buying the ingredients cost under £6 and I didn’t use everything I bought so taking account of what I did use it actually cost me a lot less:
| Item | Total Cost | Used | Actual cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strawberries | £3.00 | 500g of 800g | £1.88 |
| Whipped Cream | £1.00 | 500ml of 500ml | £1.00 |
| Orange Juice | £1.00 | 71ml of 1L | £0.07 |
| Caster Sugar | £0.97 | 175g of 1Kg | £0.17 |
| Grand total | £3.12 | ||
Instructions
Just follow the simple steps below to make this delicious ice cream!
1. Hull the Strawberries
Using a sharp knife at an angle, core the stems out of the top of the strawberry. If this doesn’t make sense check out this guide.
You should also wash the strawberries at this stage so they are ready to be mashed.
2. Mash the Strawberries
This is the fun part of the process – use a potato masher or your hands and mash it as fine as possible. Avoid blending as you will loose the texture.
3. Add the orange juice
Add 4 tablespoons of fresh orange juice (not from concentrate)
4. Stir in the sugar
Stir in all of the Caster Sugar.
5. Add the whipping cream
Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks – don’t overwhip!
Fold the cream into the strawberries.
6. Freeze
Transfer the mixture to a container and put it in the freezer for 90 minutes – until it is partly frozen
7. After 90 minutes…
The mixture should be partially frozen. Transfer it into a bowl and break it up with a fork.
Then mix until smooth – this helps the consistency and texture (avoiding ice crystals).
Pop it back in the freezer until it is completely frozen.
8. After a further 5 hours…
The mixture should be completely frozen!
Serve and enjoy!
The sauce I’ve made here is a simple Strawberry sauce – boil 4 tablespoons of water + 3 tablespoons of sugar + 50g mashed strawberries for a few minutes, then filter to leave the pure juice.
FTA
Even if I do say so myself!
Flavour: 8/10
Texture: 4/5
Appearance: 4/5
Overall: 16/20