Ice Cream, Ice Cream, We All Scream for Ice Cream

Homemade ice cream.

My friend, Libby, recently commented on homemade ice cream, and that prompted me to think back on when and how I have had ice cream in my life.  I can’t remember the first time I had ice cream, but I remember when our neighbors, BJ and her parents, moved next door. In the summer they would often go visit Aunt Reba, the sister-in-law of Margaret Hamrick, and her family who made homemade ice cream.  Martha and I usually were invited to go along. Eventually my family began making homemade ice cream. 

The mixture (milk, eggs, sugar, flavoring, sometimes fruit) would be prepared, perhaps just vanilla, but often chocolate, strawberry, or during peach season peach ice cream.  The mixture would be put into the metal canister of the ice cream maker, the dash would be placed in the mixture, the top was put on and the handle for turning was added. Ice and rock salt would be packed around the outside of the canister.  Salt made the ice melt faster causing the mixture inside to freeze.  The crank had to be turned constantly, and sometimes a child would sit on top of the ice maker to stabilize it when someone was turning the crank.  At first, the crank turns easily, but as the ice cream hardens, it becomes very difficult to turn.  That tells you the ice cream is ready. Kids would often fight over who got to lick the dash as it was taken out of the ice cream.  There is nothing better than ice cream made this way.  I need to see if I can find our old ice cream maker. 

Ice cream maker. 

At school, at least beginning in the sixth grade when we were over in the high school building, we could buy ice cream from the school store which was just across from Mr. Padgett’s office.  Someone would collect our money and we could order a fudgcicle, a chocolate-covered Popsicle, an ice cream sandwich, or an orangecicle. Maybe some other things.  My favorite was chocolate covered Popsicle. I think most were 5 or 10 cents.  Looking back I think I always had ice cream money, but I bet there were some kids who never had the money for ice cream and there we sat eating ours while they watched.  That seems cruel now.

                                                                        

As an adult, I still have enjoyed more than my share of frozen desserts.  Breyer’s Ice Cream and Klondike Bars are among my favorite commercial desserts.  But when I had my first Maple Walnut Ice Cream at COWS down on the waterfront in Halifax, Nova Scotia I was sure I had found the “Golden Fleece” of ice cream.  Maple walnut has become my very favorite flavor, and it is difficult to find down here in the south.  But lo and behold several years ago Local Fresh opened up over on Glenwood, and now it is my all-time favorite ice cream shop.  Occasionally they make maple walnut, but not as often as I would enjoy.  But they will make me a special order of the maple walnut if I purchase a gallon.

                

I’ve had gelato in Italy and crème glacée in France.  I like ice cream in the old fashioned kind of cone, but I also like milk-shakes, ice cream floats (particularly made with Cheerwine), banana splits, and chocolate nut sundaes.  And there are those many flavors of Cook Out milkshakes.                  

                                                               

I also like frozen custard.  When I was still teaching one of my students told me he was working at Goodberry’s in Raleigh.  I had never heard of Goodberry’s, but I discovered it was actually more or less on the route I took going home from work each day.  After that, I would stop every Friday and have an ice cream treat.  My favorite there is a Carolina Concrete, vanilla with wet walnuts and caramel sauce. 

                                                               

Alas about a year ago, I became dairy intolerant so that put a kibosh on my eating ice cream that I love, but there are now many plant-based frozen concoctions that are equally tasty.  Of course, sherbet has no dairy so I can eat that, and there is “ice cream” made from cashew milk and almond milk.  Even my Local Fresh has almond milk ice cream.   My recent discovery is Revolution Cardamom Spice plant-based delight. Boy it is delicious. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

But every now and then I have to sneak away to Local Fresh and have a serving of real ice cream.  So good!!!!

                                                                  

If Life Gives You Snow, Make Snow Cream

Chocolate snow cream. *

The Weather Forecasters were predicting a rather substantial snow fall last night, so I set out a large bowl on our patio table out back to catch some snow for making snow cream.  When I was a kid my Mama made snow cream for us every time there was snowfall.  As I recall she would mix a beaten egg, milk, sugar and vanilla in with the snow.  Nowadays it isn't safe to eat raw eggs so I omitted that in my recipe.  Actually I didn't have a recipe, I just mixed the snow with chocolate milk, a bit of heavy cream and sugar to taste.  Dan had requested chocolate snow cream, and we happened to have chocolate milk on hand.

Bowl full of fresh snow.

The bowl was full of snow when I got up this morning, and I thought I would put it in the freezer until I was ready to make the snow cream.  BIG MISTAKE!!!  After about an hour I began to wonder if the snow would freeze solid, so I went out to check it and sure enough the top was a layer of frozen snow, so I brought it in.  I could dig down into the bowl where the snow was still not frozen though and that is where I made the snow cream.

Top frozen.  Dug down into middle where the snow was not frozen.

I just gradually added chocolate milk, a bit of sugar, and some heavy cream into the middle of the bowl and stirred until it was incorporated with the snow.

Mixing ingredients into snow.

Ready to eat.  

It was more like a chocolate slushie.  Dan and I each had a small bowl, and it was okay.  It had to be eaten immediately because it melted quickly.

But one member of our family found it absolutely delicious.

Maggie eating a bit of the slushie.  There wasn't much chocolate milk left. (I know dogs should not eat chocolate.)

Here's a recipe I found on line, but as I said, I think you can just add the milk, and sugar to taste and to consistency.  Next time I won't put the snow in the freezer.

Ingredients:

• 1 gallon snow
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups milk

Directions

1.

When it starts to snow, place a large, clean bowl outside to collect the flakes. When full, stir in sugar and vanilla to taste, then stir in just enough milk for the desired consistency. Serve at once.

* Dan is an environmental biologist, and he said it won't hurt you to eat snow cream occasionally.  This is for those of you who are worried about pollutants in the air.  Dan is very cautious about things like that, so I thought if he said it was okay it would not be harmful.  

Will the End of Summer Mean the End of the Ice Cream Truck?

Lots of different goodies on the ice cream truck.

Almost every Sunday afternoon, the ice cream truck makes its way around the neighborhood and down our street. Now that summer is over I wonder if the ice cream truck will continue to make its rounds.

Dover/Davis Street ice cream truck.

When I was a kid living out in the country every now and then Tony's ice cream truck would come down the road ringing its bell. We would run out with our nickel (maybe dime) in hand to get ice cream.  Our neighborhood truck plays a calliope version of The Entertainer to announce its arrival, and a nickel or dime won't buy a popsicle these days.  Nonetheless, it's fun to hear the truck in the neighborhood, and it's fun to partake of its goodies.

Recently I just had to join the neighborhood kids and get a chocolate covered popsicle.  It reminds me of my childhood days back in Cleveland County.

Neighbors eating ice cream.

Chocolate covered popsicle.  My favorite.

Ice cream brings out the "kid" in me.

I hope the ice cream truck doesn't stop now that summer is over.

"Accidental" Lingonberry Ice Cream

Lingonberry ice cream. (Photo by Wendy MacDonald.)

Last week in Marble Mountain I used some of the lingonberries (also known as partridge berries or fox berries ) that we froze last year and made a dessert to take to the potluck at Wendy's. I googled and found a recipe for lingonberry squares that used lingonberry jam.



First I made the jam which is very easy.  I used 2 cups of frozen berries and 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1/4 cup water.  I simmered this for about 20 minutes.  Lingonberry jam has a long shelf life, because in addition to the sugar acting as a preservative lingonberries contain benzoic acid which is a preservative too.  The jam will last for several months in the fridge.

Lingonberries ready to make jam.

Lingonberry jam.

The jam is used as a filling for lingonberry squares.

For the lingonberry squares use 2 cups each of flour, brown sugar, rolled oats and 1 cup of butter.  Mix well and press half of the mixture in a 9 x 13 inches pan.  Spread the jam over this, and top with the remaining half pressed over the jam.  Bake in a 350 degree oven until golden brown on top.  Cool and cut into squares.

When I had everything mixed for the crust, it looked as if there was not enough to spread in a 9 x 13 pan, so I thought that was a mistake in the recipe.  I used a 9 x 9 pan instead.  After it was in the oven, I realized that the reason the amount seemed too small for a 9 x 13 pan was that I had FORGOTTEN TO ADD THE FLOUR.

Spread jam over bottom crust.

Add remaining half of mixture on top of jam.

Press crumbles to make a top crust. 

The squares came out looking more like candy or cookies.  Not to waste it, I tried crumbling it over vanilla ice cream.  That was so good, I decided to take a whole carton of vanilla ice cream, add the crumbled mixture and make lingonberry ice cream.  I worked quickly using a hand mixer to blend in the crumbles and a bit of lingonberry syrup so that the ice cream did not melt.  I placed the mixture back into the carton and refroze it, and it turned out beautifully.

Lingonberry ice cream (Photo by Wendy MacDonald.)

I served it at the potluck dinner, and when asked about my recipe, I confessed that it was an "accidental" recipe.  However, I will probably make this again (leaving out the flour) and use it to make lingonberry ice cream.  

 

I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream

Fresh Local Ice Cream on Glenwood Avenue.

Now that the weather is warming and it's almost summer, my attention turns to ice cream.  Oh who am I kidding, I love ice cream all season long.  There's no better place in Raleigh, NC to get ice cream than the Fresh Local Ice Cream Shop over on Glenwood Avenue.

Many different flavors.

They use local fresh dairy products.

This must be one of Raleigh's best kept secrets.  The Shop is in a little building that was formerly a bank in the Oak Park Shopping Center, and it is easily missed when cruising down Glenwood.  If you know where Taverna Agora, the Greek restaurant, is, Fresh Local is next door to the east.

Maple-walnut ice cream.

To my knowledge, this is the only place in Raleigh, that one can find maple-walnut ice cream.  I discovered this flavor many years ago in Nova Scotia.  There the flavor is readily available in cartons in Sobey's, but my favorite is down in Halifax at Cow's Ice Cream.  But in Raleigh, Fresh Local Ice Cream is my favorite place for any kind of ice cream, but especially maple-walnut.

They make ice cream cakes for special occasions.

They have fresh lemonade and strawberry lemonade too.

My friend, Marcia, and I have made a pact to limit the amount of sweets we eat in June---trying to lose a bit of weight---and ice cream is considered "a sweet".  Once a week, however, we have agreed that when we get together we will allow ourselves a trip over to Fresh Local Ice Cream, where I will surely have a maple-walnut ice cream milkshake.

Maple-walnut milkshake.

If you haven't discovered this little shop over on Glenwood, and if you like ice cream, you should hurry on over to Fresh Local Ice Cream.   You won't be disappointed.

 

National Chocolate Milkshake Day

National Chocolate Milkshake Day

On Facebook yesterday, I received a post from NC State University Ice Cream saying that it was National Chocolate Milk Shake Day, so why not come on over to the Creamery on Campus.  The only time we've enjoyed the ice cream made by the students in the Food Science Department over at State has been at the State Fair where there are always long lines to get a taste of their ice cream.  I knew they had opened an ice cream store on campus but hadn't been over, so yesterday was my chance.

The Creamery in the D. H. Hill Library at NC State University.

After dinner I suggested to Dan that we drive over to campus, about two miles from us, and have a chocolate milk shake at the Creamery.  Walking through campus, I noticed how much it had changed since I was a grad student there (1969-1972). 

The Brick Yard.

The Creamery is in the west wing of the D. H. Hill Library, so we had to make our way through the Library and over to the store.  There is a window outside from which one can order, but we wanted to meander through campus.

The Library.

Inside the D. H. Hill Library.

Place your order here.

As we enjoyed our milk shake, at a table next to us a group of students with their computers were studying organic chemistry.  I thought how different it was in the late 60s---no computer for studying chemistry and no Creamery on campus. 

Students studying organic chemistry.

Ah well.  The milk shake was good.

A really good chocolate milkshake.

Making Black Currant (Cassis) Ice Cream

Black Currant Ice Cream (Homemade.)

We have several black currant bushes here at the house in Marble Mountain, and this year there's a pretty good crop.  In the past I have made black currant jam, but I decided to try something different this year.  I looked up recipes for using black currants and found this recipe for black currant ice cream.  I picked about a quart the other day, and here's the results.  I might add picking them is labor intensive.  They are small and don't fall off easily.

Ingredients:

1 lb. (450g) fresh  or frozen blackcurrants, defrosted if frozen
6 oz. (175g) sugar
10 fl oz, (275 ml) whipping cream

This recipe is adapted from Delia's Recipes.

Black currants on bush are small and hard to pick.

One quart of fresh black  currants.

Place about one third of a pound (5 oz/150 g) at a time, into the sieve set over a mixing bowl, and mash like mad with a wooden spoon until you have extracted all the pulp and only the stalks, pips and skins are left in the sieve.

Mash through sieve to extract pulp.

Now place the sugar and 5 fl oz (150 ml) water in a saucepan over a medium heat, stir until all the sugar crystals have dissolved, then let it come to the boil, and boil for 3 minutes exactly. Then remove from the heat and stir the syrup into the fruit pulp.

Boil sugar and water for just 3 minutes.

The pulp with syrup added.

Whip the cream until it just begins to thicken. Be careful not to overwhip: it mustn't be thick, just floppy. Fold the cream into the fruit mixture until thoroughly blended. 

Add whipped cream to pulp mixture.

Mixed thoroughly and ready to freeze.

Pour it into the polythene box, and freeze in a freezer or in the ice-making compartment of a fridge turned to its coldest setting.

As soon as the mixture begins to set (after about 3 hours) turn it out into a bowl and beat thoroughly.

Place in freezer-proof box. (I used an empty ice cream carton.)

Then return it to the freezer (in the box) until set – about another 3 hours. Remove to the main part of the fridge about an hour before serving.

This is very good, and the sauce is good over pancakes or over vanilla ice cream.

Black Currant Ice Cream with Black Currant Sauce.