Pages

Sunday 8 April 2007

Asparagus Ice Cream


No, really. Garlic ice cream is said to be more common, but asparagus, now that's really different!

Carolyn Smith-Kizer, better half to the famous Homer, is a woman of many talents, not least her passionate advocacy of 18th century French cuisine. Interviewed just last week for the Culinate blog, Carolyn reveals, among other things, the delights of asparagus ice cream (seen here swimming in strawberry sauce.) A dollop of this and it really would have been "a night to be much rememembered."

I have to confess that, being more the cookies & cream type, neither garlic nor asparagus confections have passed my lips, but for those adventurous souls with an interest in kitchen affairs from a COG-friendly perspective, Carolyn's revelations will doubtless prove inspirational. And get this, all you Laodicean lay-abouts, Carolyn's commitment to authenticity means she cooks over an open fire!

What about the French predilection for lard and blood sausage? Carolyn finds better things to tempt the palate with, and why not? No mention of those juicy little escargot though, perhaps served with butter and some of that garlic left over from the ice cream?

Carolyn's own food blog is found at 18thccuisine.blogspot.com.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

yuk, i like asparagus, but not in ice cream.

Anonymous said...

All well and good, but again illustrating the Kingdom of God is meat and drink.

And let's be grateful for that.

Anonymous said...

Things are slow on the AW Blog.

Could it be there is peace because the Churches of God and Orthodoxy are at one of those rare junctures where they are both observing a holiday at the same time?

It is a holy time for both Christian communities.

Enjoy the day...
Enjoy the peace...

And appreciate the freedom to worship and argue as you please :)

Anonymous said...

"how come no one notices three hours of darkness which can't be an eclipse because they don't last three hours and can't happen during a full moon passover season"

On the contrary, the pagan writers Thallas and Phlegon noticed the darkness, and tried to explain it away as a solar eclipse. However, as the Christian historian Africanus points out, and you also, solar eclipses are impossible during a full moon. This is what Africanus says:

"On the whole world there pressed a most fearful darkness; and the rocks were rent by an earthquake, and many places in Judaea and other districts were thrown down. This darkness Thallus, in the third book of his History, calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun. For the Hebrews celebrate the Passover on the 14th day according to the moon, and the passion of our Savior falls on the day before the Passover; but an eclipse of the sun takes place only when the moon comes under the sun. And it cannot happen at any other time but in the interval between the first day of the new moon and the last of the old, that is, at their junction: how then should an eclipse be supposed to happen when the moon is almost diametrically opposite the sun? Let that opinion pass however; let it carry the majority with it; and let this portent of the world be deemed an eclipse of the sun, like others a portent only to the eye. Phlegon records that, in the time of Tiberius Caesar, at full moon, there was a full eclipse of the sun from the sixth hour to the ninth -- manifestly that one of which we speak. But what has an eclipse in common with an earthquake, the rending rocks, and the resurrection of the dead, and so great a perturbation throughout the universe? Surely no such event as this is recorded for a long period. But it was a darkness induced by God, because the Lord happened then to suffer."

Carolyn said...

Thanks, Gavin, for the kudo.

And to "anonymous," if you didn't know it was asparagus, you would think it tasted like pistachio.

Bonsoir,
Carolyn

Anonymous said...

The last time I looked, Africanus was an early Christian leader/apologist about whom little is known. That makes him a nearly anonymous writer who is known to be biased in the Christian direction. Should we now trust him as an accurate historian? Why not just quote the Pope?

Anonymous said...

On further research, I see that Africanus did his writing circa 230 AD. So he's talking about an event that happened two hundred years in the past, in an era when historical records were not what they are today. Quoting Africanus as proof of what happened the day Christ died is like quoting a modern-day Mormon leader about what happened the day the Angel Moroni visited.

Gavin said...

These were superstitious times, and the Romans were big on omens. Even chicken entrails were taken seriously back then. A dubious vision in the sky was enough to send Constantine into conniptions and catapault him into to emperor's robes. So imagine the results if the events in the Gospels that occured at Jesus' death literally happened. According to one account dead people walked through the streets of Jerusalem... no way THAT would have gone unnoticed in secular records.

The Gospels aren't interested in telling objective history any more than Homer (the Greek guy) was in telling the tale of Troy. Readers back then (a pretty elite group as literacy was low) knew that. As for the hoi polloi, nobody much cared.

Anonymous said...

Dennis said...

It's Easter! How about why the resurrection accounts don't match...
***********
Not only don't they match, the Sanhedrin remembered that Jesus said he would be resurrected and his own disciples didn't.
Alzheimer's, I guess.

Anonymous said...

Omygosh! How did religion enter into a discussion about ice cream??? I know, considering who we are and where we came from, religion is going to enter any topic of discussion here sooner or later.

But, aparagus ice cream? I'm surprised that Dave Pack hasn't banned all the teenagers in his church from eating it! Wouldn't that stuff cause gas?

BB

FYI Again said...

Bob, I'm sure if Dave Pack could find out what flavor of ice cream was HWA's favorite, he would ban all others in favor of God's One True Ice Cream. He would then write a 300 page book and give a 5 part sermon on the subject.

My favorite is Butter Pecan. Gavin can keep the asparagus. And Dave Pack can eat cake.

Anonymous said...

Thallus / Africanus

At the risk of further beating a dead horse, let me just say that the writings of anonymous Christian apologists such as Thallus, Africanus, the writers of the four gospels, etc. carry absolutely no weight of evidence.

I'm no historian, but I believe I've read that official records of the births and deaths of important persons, earthquakes, floods, eclipses, etc. were kept by the Romans. Also by other ancient peoples including the Chinese, Greeks and Egyptians. If these records showed the 3-hour period of darkness, that would carry some weight.

I believe Dennis' orginal statement stands. There is no credible historical evidence of the 3-hour period of darkness. (Nor of much else in the New Testament, but that's a broad subject.)

Anonymous said...

Gavin,oh what joy to see such dietary delectations put on your I-menu.

My own personal favourite,believe it or not,is boysenberry Ripley ice cream well mixed with plump Nordic sardines.

Yum!!

jorgheinz

kscribe said...

That pic Gavin reminds me of Passover Services where I was exposed to toe nail fungas! PUKE.......

Anonymous said...

Another delectable ice-cream treat is made from soy bean.

It has a somewhat expressive character, and can be said to alter the fabric of our society in its own idiosyncratic way.

An oblique reference to the properties of soy bean ice cream,can, I believe,be found in an enlightened reading of Acts 2:2.

jorgheinz

Anonymous said...

k-scribe said the asparagus ice cream reminded him of toe nail fungus(in this case it could be called "toe-jam").

He should have taken a long-handled toothbrush along impregnated with antiseptic.

A Nonny Mouse

Anonymous said...

A Nonny Mouse posted something that reminds me of some of the stranger WCG home remedies for ailments. That would make for an interesting discussion thread all its own Gavin...Hint Hint.

Here are a couple to start:

- Use Cold Cream instead of Anti-perspirant / deoderant

- Rub your scalp with apple cider vinegar to cure dandruff. (I know someone who followed up on this...What a stink! You couldn't get close enough to see if the dandruff cleared up).

Anonymous said...

Hmmmm....
Asparagus ice cream....sounds interesting.

My favorite is chocolate chip mint.
But, I do occasionally let my vanilla ice cream get soft, and then mix in some cayenne powder. Yum!

I've never named it, but am now considering naming it "Africanus", after those intensely hot little African Bird Peppers that I love.

~Mel

Questeruk said...

When in China a while back, a popular local flavour was green pea. (I kid you not).

Unsurprisingly it tasted like - Frozen green peas!

Anonymous said...

A few years back, a co-worker (at work, not a church co-worker) went home to Malaysia for vacation, and brought back a favorite dessert from Malaysia - kidney bean ice cream popsicles. I had no choice but to take one and try it. It was not great, not terrible, but I didn't ask for a second one.