Aaron and I have been married for 5 months... actually 5 months today! We thought that the time for the receiving of gifts had come and was now long gone. Well I don't know what it was about this past week but we got 5 more cards in the mail with some nice surprises inside and an actual wedding gift! A friend of ours gave us an ice cream maker... but that's not all. She felt guilty for getting the present to us so late that she also gave us her favorite recipe and all of the ingredients to make it. (Thanks Lanee!)
This was only half of all the ingredients!
This was the perfect gift for us because I am pretty sure our freezer consists of 75% ice cream and the other 25% is just chicken and meatballs. We love ice cream! With the ingredients ready to go, of course, we had to try our hand. So with fond memories of delicious hand-churned goodness in mind, we started.
Round 1
The only thing we didn't have was ice. So while Aaron headed to the store to pick up 20 lbs of ice, I started mixing the ingredients. The first few minutes started out great, but when I went to get a measuring cup from the drawer I cut my finger on our ultra-sharp vegetable peeler, which shocked me and caused me to spill the vanilla all over the floor. Oh no!
Still in shock from this oh so tragic experience, I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my finger. After a few minutes I realized that I didn't want to get my nice towel all bloody(too late). I threw it on the counter and went on a hunt for some band-aids. Aaron returned to find a mess in the kitchen, a bloody towel, and his wife no where to be found. It's fair to say that he was a little concerned. Aaron soon found me scavenging the bathroom cupboards for band-aids. I then had to explain the ridiculous situation. Well we bandaged me up, several times actually... no matter how much pressure I put on that finger it bled through 5 band-aids in a matter of 30 minutes.
We got back on track smashing and blending and mixing and salivating as we dreamed of smooth, rich, delicious strawberry and banana ice cream.
Everything was ready to go except... where were we going to make this ice cream? We had ice that would melt so we needed a space that could get wet and contain water. We figured we had two options... 1. outside but it was getting kind of dark or 2. we could use the bathtub! So we opted for the bathtub! I wonder about us sometimes :)
The instructions said that we needed to let the ice cream mix for about 25-40 minutes and that it would stop when it was complete. Well about an hour later it was still mixing away. We decided that we would take a peek inside to see what was going on. To our surprise it was still as liquid as ever and was in no way the consistency of fluffy mashed potatoes as the instruction manual had described. It had made little progress in an hour even though it was surrounded by ice and we had followed the directions exactly. I think the problem was that the ice we were using was too big and kept causing the can to stop turning so we had to keep stopping and adjusting the can. We were bummed and exhausted, so we stuck it in the freezer anyway and waited for the outcome.
I know that you cannot tell by this picture but after hours of freezer time, it was hard around the edges and still sloppy in the middle. Discouraged, but determined, we decided to put it in the fridge to re-liquify so we could try again.
Round 2
Not sure how this would turn out... we bought more ice and headed once again to mixing place (tub).
Although unsure of the outcome, we were optimistic that it would work. And... it did! After 30 minutes of mixing and icing (with smaller ice cubes this time) we had a much better consistency so we threw it in the freezer once more. The next day, and several days since, we have enjoyed this delicious summer treat! Yum! Mission accomplished.
This was only half of all the ingredients!
This was the perfect gift for us because I am pretty sure our freezer consists of 75% ice cream and the other 25% is just chicken and meatballs. We love ice cream! With the ingredients ready to go, of course, we had to try our hand. So with fond memories of delicious hand-churned goodness in mind, we started.
Round 1
The only thing we didn't have was ice. So while Aaron headed to the store to pick up 20 lbs of ice, I started mixing the ingredients. The first few minutes started out great, but when I went to get a measuring cup from the drawer I cut my finger on our ultra-sharp vegetable peeler, which shocked me and caused me to spill the vanilla all over the floor. Oh no!
Still in shock from this oh so tragic experience, I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my finger. After a few minutes I realized that I didn't want to get my nice towel all bloody(too late). I threw it on the counter and went on a hunt for some band-aids. Aaron returned to find a mess in the kitchen, a bloody towel, and his wife no where to be found. It's fair to say that he was a little concerned. Aaron soon found me scavenging the bathroom cupboards for band-aids. I then had to explain the ridiculous situation. Well we bandaged me up, several times actually... no matter how much pressure I put on that finger it bled through 5 band-aids in a matter of 30 minutes.
We got back on track smashing and blending and mixing and salivating as we dreamed of smooth, rich, delicious strawberry and banana ice cream.
Everything was ready to go except... where were we going to make this ice cream? We had ice that would melt so we needed a space that could get wet and contain water. We figured we had two options... 1. outside but it was getting kind of dark or 2. we could use the bathtub! So we opted for the bathtub! I wonder about us sometimes :)
The instructions said that we needed to let the ice cream mix for about 25-40 minutes and that it would stop when it was complete. Well about an hour later it was still mixing away. We decided that we would take a peek inside to see what was going on. To our surprise it was still as liquid as ever and was in no way the consistency of fluffy mashed potatoes as the instruction manual had described. It had made little progress in an hour even though it was surrounded by ice and we had followed the directions exactly. I think the problem was that the ice we were using was too big and kept causing the can to stop turning so we had to keep stopping and adjusting the can. We were bummed and exhausted, so we stuck it in the freezer anyway and waited for the outcome.
I know that you cannot tell by this picture but after hours of freezer time, it was hard around the edges and still sloppy in the middle. Discouraged, but determined, we decided to put it in the fridge to re-liquify so we could try again.
Round 2
Not sure how this would turn out... we bought more ice and headed once again to mixing place (tub).
Although unsure of the outcome, we were optimistic that it would work. And... it did! After 30 minutes of mixing and icing (with smaller ice cubes this time) we had a much better consistency so we threw it in the freezer once more. The next day, and several days since, we have enjoyed this delicious summer treat! Yum! Mission accomplished.
Who knew that twice-frozen ice cream would taste so good?
Here's Lanee's recipe if you want to give it a try:
The Best Fresh Fruit Ice Cream Maker Ice Cream Ever!!
4 eggs, well beaten (use only clean grade A uncracked eggs)
6 cups Half & half cream
2 14 oz. cans Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk (not evaporated milk)
1+ Tablespoon pure vanilla
4-6 cups mashed fresh fruit (strawberries, bananas, raspberries, nectarines, blueberries, peaches, etc. I usually do 4 c. strawberries, 2 c. bananas)
1/4 cup raspberry or strawberry syrup
Few drops food coloring
In ice cream freezer container, combine all ingredients and mix well. Freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Return leftovers to freezer.
The more fruit the better this ice cream is! This recipe makes about 4 quarts ice cream.
4 comments:
Your ice cream looks amazing - way to go!
You guys might be on to something with twice frozen ice cream! Looks yummy.
Why hello Angela (and Aaron), I am so glad you found my blog! I love that you are married, and still eating Ice Cream! I hope that as soon as I feel the need to stop watching what I eat, that Ice Cream will be #1 on my do eat list. I want to see you so bad, and I am sad I missed you when you came to Utah (seeing as I live in Pleasant Grove- just a few miles from your family!). I am sure we will be heading to Indiana soon, so I will make a point of stopping in Colorado!
Angie! It looks like you two are loving being married. Remember last year at Powell? Our little conversation on the rafts. Oh how times have changed :)
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