The final daiquiri is made with these ingredients:

• Chairman's Reserve Rum
• Pierre Ferand Dry Curacao
• Simple syrup from candied kumquats
• Squeeze from Meyer lemon

Ice Cream #3

Continuing with recipes Jeni's, I made the rhubarb frozen yogurt. This process requires draining an entire yogurt quart overnight (in the fridge) to remove the water (It is a tremendous amount of water that drains from low-fat yogurt.).

The recipe basically has you make a frozen yogurt base and a rhubarb compote. And you combine the two together before churning. The rhubarb wasn't great as a compote. We won't be making this again.

Ice Cream #2

Last year, we met Jeni Britton Bauer at The Brooklyn Kitchen. Besides tasting her ice cream again (I've been to Columbus a few times and had it there), she spent a lot of time chatting with the kids. Anyhow, I have a fondness for her from that experience.

So ice cream #2 is her roasted strawberry with buttermilk ice cream. It's my first time making this recipe so I followed it very closely. Next time, I'll roast more strawberries. The flavor isn't intense enough for me. As with all her ice creams, they have a delightful taffy quality, but a slightly chalky aftertaste (from the cornstarch).

Ice Cream #1

Last weekend marked the beginning of ice cream season in our home. We make a lot of ice cream during the warmer months: usually one quart per week.

I'll chronicle the ice creams and how they came out.

All ice creams are made with:

1. Cuisinart standard ice cream maker (11 years old)
2. Thermapen (5 years old)
3. Normal, pots, measuring cups, etc.

Ice Cream #1 - MINT CHIP
We've made David Lebowitz's recipe countless times. It's pretty perfect. Two pieces of advice I'd give:

• Use peppermint, not spearmint
• Use 60 - 70% cocao chocolate, nothing darker than that.

Otherwise, follow the recipe exactly.

NEGRONI: the definitive post

For three months, I subjected my wife, visitors, even my in-laws and parents to tasting permutations of the Negroni. I tried 18 variations based on different inputs and differing ratios. Other publications beat me to this, but none have been as thorough.

After all the trial and error, here are the three important facts you need to know.

1. The negroni is bitter. I think pleasantly bitter, but bitter. There's no way around that. Unless you like an occasional bitter beverage, don't order a Negroni.
2. Spend money on vermouth, not on gin.
3. Stir a lot. It dilutes the drink a bit and makes sure you have an evenly mixed drink. I noticed the inputs' viscosity (and density presumably) are very different, so stirring is essential.

A negroni is gin, vermouth, and Campari. I liked adding an orange twist but it's not necessary. Classically, this drink is made in equal parts. That makes the drink really easy to prepare. And to me, it makes a poor drink. Why? To me, it's too much gin. Some bartenders go more extreme. Jim Meehan, of PDT fame, uses 8 parts gin to 3 parts vermouth and 3 parts Campari. To me, it's too boozy.

My recipe goes in the opposing direction and it is delightful (and bitter).

• 2 parts gin
• 2 parts Campari
• 3 parts vermouth

I had strong preferences in gin and vermouth.

• Vermouth -Regrettably, I used Dolin for many of my tests. It's terrible. Never buy Dolin. At a few bars, I asked to try a few straight. I preferred Cocchi di Torino. It's smooth, woodsy, and perfumed with herbs.
  
• Gin - I tried Hendricks, Beefeater, Brooklyn Gin, Breuckelen Gin, and Greenalls. Aside from excluding Hendricks (weird vegetal taste with the other ingredients), the others were relatively similar. I had to really concentrate to find differences. If you have gin on hand, use it to start making negronis. If you are going to purchase gin, I'd buy Greenalls. It's very satisfying and affordable.

Technique? There isn't much technique to it. I filled a pint glass with ice, added the ingredients and stirred. I stirred 20 times in each direction. That sounds like a lot, but it's not. After stirring, strain over fresh ice and enjoy with some orange peel.

Hopefully this helps you start making negronis.