Ice Cream - the old fashioned way (only better!)

It's time for me to put on my consumer advisor hat and wax on poetically about another one of my favorite gadgets...the ice cream maker! Previous blogs have made it clear that I am a fan of ice cream in just about any form or fashion and often find myself enjoying a scoop or two for any occasion that I can drum up. A friend of mine gave me my very own Cuisinart ice cream maker as a birthday gift earlier this year, and it is one of those gifts that I appreciate more and more each time I use it.

It should be noted that when David and I got married, someone gave us an ice cream maker. We never actually used it, but rather moved it 4 different times until finally David just gave it away during a purging of the storeroom one day, probably 10 years ago. We never used the thing (although I spoke regularly of cracking it out!) because it took something like 4 hours to churn and you needed some rock salt or something to make it work. I always relished the idea of making ice cream the old fashioned way, but never really had the energy or time to commit to it.

Imagine David's reaction when I brought home the new ice cream maker. There was much rolling of the eyes and a sarcastic comment or two of how much he is looking forward to ALL of the home made ice cream that is sure to be coming his way. Skeptic. Not to be outdone, I opened the box, read all of the instructions and put both of the chambers in the freezer to set up overnight. We went to sleep that night with David still not believing that home made ice cream was in his near future.

20+ years of technology has worked wonders for the old fashioned ice cream business. A whopping 5 minute investment to mix and pour in the ingredients and 20 minutes churning (all automatic, I just plugged it in) and voila!! We had some outstanding vanilla ice cream. I served it up with some butter wafer cookies, fresh blackberries and a little bit of whipped cream (that was a Holly addition, and I think an excellent finishing touch) Even the big cynic was impressed with the outcome AND it was so good that we made it again the next night!

Now that we are regular home made ice cream eaters David can finally agree that we are indeed making ice cream the old fashioned way - only better!