When making ice cream it's always good to keep in mind that the "batter" (if that's what they call it) has to chill. So, for example, if you start your ice cream at 8:30 pm and the ice cream involves hot sticky caramel that needs to refrigerate to "cool," don't expect to be eating until after 11. And if after 11 your roommate drags you out for a night on the town, don't expect ice cream until 2:56 am.

Tonight I was inspired to make the Barefoot Contessa's Caramel Chocolate Pecan ice cream (a variation on the Turtle). I happened upon the recipe by accident: I was going to make her chicken chili, then I decided it would be wasted since my parents are coming in tomorrow for graduation and we're eating every meal out. But then I saw the ice cream and said: I gotta make it.

This recipe is easy and delicious. I halved it because Barefoot's recipes tend to yield 8000 times the amount you actually need. (Her Turkey Meatloaf requires like 15 lbs of turkey meat).

Anyway, begin by boiling sugar and water. (I won't give amounts for copyright fears...are these unfounded? Anyone here go to law school?)

She says wait until there's a mahogany color which should happen in three to five minutes. Five minutes went by. Then six. Then seven. I began to grow afeared. But, luckily, the color quickly changed. I snapped a photo:

Now you add 3 cups of cream. I like this recipe because there's no milk. All cream. That's my kind of ice cream.

BC says: "Careful when you add the cream, it's going to bubble up!" And that it did. And then it forms a congealed mass, which BC also warns about. She says: "Don't worry, it will melt. Put it back on the heat" (oh ya, you take it off the heat when you add the cream) "and stir til the caramel dissolves."

[Remember when I made that burnt caramel ice cream? I threw away the congealed mass instead of dissolving it. That's probably why it didn't turn out so great.]

So I dissolved my congealed mass, poured it into a bowl, and refrigerated. Went out on the town.

When we got back, hours later, I chopped up artisinal milk chocolate from Whole Foods (which tastes amazing, by the way).

Then I chopped up pecans that I had toasted earlier. (I like toasting pecans in my free time as well as butterfly painting and long walks on the beach).

Now we add the cool caramel cream mix to the mixer:

Let it go for 30 minutes while you check your e-mail and download wholesome pornography.

After 30 minutes, I'll admit it was still soupy but that's because it required post-mixing freezing:

Now we add our pecans and chocolate:

Serve up two soupy bowls to late night ice cream fans:

Pack the rest away:

Friends, this ice cream was delicious. In the game of "worth making" or "not worth making" this definitely ranks in the former category. It's wonderfully sweet, rich, and choc full of textural goodness. Lauren complained that it was "too rich" but that's because she abhors capitalism. Trust me, this is good stuff. And now, I'm afraid, I must slumber.