My Dad's Homemade Ice Cream

For as long as I can remember, my Dad has been making homemade ice cream with homemade hot fudge topping. It's one of those things that will always come to mind when I think about my childhood. Though the ingredients that go into making homemade ice cream aren't complicated-if you've ever tried it yourself, you know that when it comes to making ice cream-a lot can go wrong. So even if you've tried your hand at making ice cream before and maybe it didn't go so well-too soupy (seems to be one of the most common fails), doesn't set at all, or frozen solid-then I hope you will try again with this amazing recipe because it's been tried and true for years!!
This ice cream is rich and vanilla-y, and soft without being soupy. While my Dad was getting all the ice cream stuff out, my husband kept prodding, "have you tried making banana ice cream? chocolate?" The answer is no. My Dad is a vanilla loyalist through and through. And why fix it if it's not broke?

Patterson Family's Vanilla Ice Cream

 (Makes 1 gallon, we easily converted it into 1 1/2 gallon)
4 eggs, well beaten
2 cups sugar
1 quart cream
2 Tbsp. Vanilla 
salt
Ice Cream salt
Enough Milk to fill up Ice cream freezer barrell
(this means, after you pour in the cream/egg/sugar mixture into the freezer part of the ice cream maker, fill to the indicated line with milk. )

 The Recipe-in my grandmother's handwriting.

 1. Beat eggs in a mixer or in a large bowl with a hand-mixer. Just until they get frothy. Add the cream, sugar, and vanilla-and keep mixing!

2. My dad says the secret is adding a little salt to the ice cream. He just adds it in straight from the salt shaker-so how much you add is up to you. How much salt you put in your ice cream is what will make your own homemade ice cream just a little special.

He had me taste it to see if it needed more salt. Now keep in mind-if you also taste your ice cream at this point, it might taste really rich. But the last step is to add milk to it-which will dilute the ice cream, meaning the finished product won't be quite as rich as it tastes at this point.
(I told him to add a little more salt)

 3. Pour the mixture into the ice cream freezer.

 4. Pour in enough milk to fill up the freezer. (There should  be a 'maximum' line inside. Next, you want to follow the instructions on your ice cream machine. My dad uses an electric mixer.

 Adding some salt...

 Adding more ice...

My Dad gets a little nostalgic when is is making his ice cream...he likes to tell a story about when him and his siblings were kids and had a batch of ice cream in the works...consequently, they also had a pet raccoon. The raccoon watched the ice cream making process with great interest. As soon as they take the lid off of the ice cream freezer to check the progress-faster than the speed of light comes the raccoon, who plunges both fists into the cream and starts shoving it into his mouth as fast as he can...
...kinda sounds like a toddler to me!!

 


 Stay tuned for the hot fudge recipe that I was in charge of making!!