Hot Summer Days? Let's Make Ice Cream!

Last week on Labor Day we had extra milk and decided to make ice cream. It had been105 degrees the day before. It made ice cream sound like a great treat.

The recipe I use is a variation of the one my mom used when we were kids. I no longer buy the evaporated or sweetened condensed milk, but it is a good recipe, nevertheless.

I start off with cream. We had bought some extra cream a while back and didn’t need it at the time so we froze it. It was time to use it up so we thawed it out to make two batches of ice cream. You can tell this is an old recipe because it calls for raw eggs. Back when I was a kid, we never gave a second thought to adding raw eggs to ice cream or cake icing. I know many people now days don’t, but I still do and I use my own fresh eggs.

I start out with 1 quart of cream, add 4 eggs, 1 1/2 cups of sugar (I use less than the original recipe calls for), 1/2 tsp. salt and 2 tbsp. vanilla. Mix these ingredients together with a whisk to blend the egg and cream in well.

Pour into the ice cream freezer vat. Then fill with milk to the fill line. Stir.

This hot pink ice cream freezer has an interesting history. It was a final impulse purchase before we moved to a remote village at the mouth of the Yukon River in Alaska. The closest store to our village was a 30 minute flight in a small plane. That was when I decided it might be a good idea to learn how to make ice cream. 

We try not to buy ice and our refrigerator doesn’t have an ice maker, so we save up ice for projects like this, or when we blanch produce from the garden. It is a good lesson in planning ahead, which I am still trying to master.

We put the ice cream freezer in the bathtub for several reasons. One, it gives the water a place to drain. Two, we don’t have to go outside in the heat to check on it. And, three, it isn’t near as loud when it is in the other room down the hall.

It took me a while to understand the real purpose of adding salt to the ice is to make it colder or freeze faster. I still don’t really understand how it works, I just know it does. So I add layers of ice, then coat it with salt, then ice, then salt. The only rock salt I could find in the store came in small boxes or bags and, in my opinion, cost too much.

So one time when we were at the feed store Frank recommended we try a bag of stock salt – the kind you give to cows. I was very skeptical, but it works great and is a fraction of the cost. I keep it in this little canister.

Here is an ad for Power Werx. This is a company Frank has bought some of his radios and connectors from. With one of our orders they sent us a T-shirt.

After I get the freezer started, I cover it with an old towel leaving the vents for the motor uncovered. It doesn’t take long at first before it needs more ice and salt. I usually have to add more ice about three times. 

Once the motor starts to labor a lot or stops all together, it is ready. This is the fun part. When you empty the freezer, you get to lick the spoon. Even if it is a very big spoon!

We thought the peach butter we made would be a great topping for the ice cream, and it was.

This ice cream was made as part of a busy day’s work. It was a welcome treat during a much needed break. Isn’t there a saying about sweet rewards? This was one.

Until next time – Fern

Visit Thoughts From Frank and Fern at http://thoughtsfromfrankandfern.blogspot.com/