Guar Gum

Huge platters of sushi followed by Cointreau cake and ice cream. Truly we live like kings.

We stopped in the supermarket on our way home to pick up the ice cream, and found an incredible, out-of-control sale: three Breyer's ice cream cartons for the price of one!

Well, that was too good to pass up. But I was puzzled by the profusion of vanilla flavors (and voracious shoppers hadn't left us many other options). Since Breyer's makes a big fuss about being all-natural, you'd think they'd be hard-pressed to ring the changes of vanilla. And yet here they had managed four distinct kinds: regular, light, French, and extra-creamy.

I knew "light" meant more air and less milkfat; the better half explained that "French" meant egg yolks. That left the mysterious "extra-creamy".

Extra cream?

No! Extra guar gum!

Guar gum is also ideal for making homemade mucus:

"Mucous keeps slugs, worms, people, fish, and other organisms slippery-happy!"

"(be careful not to add any solid borax, or else your slime will be chunky)"