I'm Screaminggg!!!

Did you know that July is National Ice Cream Month??? Thanks Ronald Reagan.  What's weird is, I think our family eats more ice cream in the winter months than we do in the summer ones.  What's up with that?!??

Did you know about 9% of all milk produced by U.S. Dairy Farmers is used to produce ice cream??  On average, American's eat about 6 gallons of ice cream per year.  That's per person - and that's a lot of milk and a lot of cows.

This week we are going to honor the dairy farmers across the nation by eating ice cream like crazy.  Let's get everybody screaming for ice cream!  Homemade, store bought, gelato, sorbet, frozen yogurt, it's ALL delicious - so scarf it up!

For this week's Free Recipe Friday, we made the old standby, Homemade Vanilla- a flavor that you'd think would be the easiest one in the world.  But many years ago, when we FINALLY purchased an ice cream maker, we had no clue which vanilla recipe to make.  We tried many...then one day my little sister gave me this one that she had inherited and I think it is the best I've ever had.  It's so very creamy - just like soft serve ice cream!  We made it the other day for my birthday.  It was delicious.  We barely got a snapshot before it was all gone.

Since this is my birthday week, we're throwing in an AMAZING extra for you too - Hot Fudge Sauce.  You just gotta have some ooey, gooey chocolate on that vanilla ice cream!  It's soooo EASSSYYY!  You. Have. To. Try.

So, go get that old ice cream freezer out of the attic...wipe the cobwebs off...drag out the rock salt and get busy!  (You can also use one of those fancy new ice cream makers that require no ice, no salt...they are AWESOME!)

WHAT YOU NEED FOR THE ICE CREAM:

an Ice Cream Maker of some sort
5 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
(I used 2 cans)
4 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 Tablespoon good quality vanilla
(I used a Mexican vanilla)

If using a traditional Ice Cream maker,
you'll need about half of a box of rock salt
and one bag of ice, maybe more.

WHAT TO DO:

In a medium/large bowl, mix eggs
with a hand mixer until pale yellow and foamy.
Add sugar and sweetened condensed milk.
Mix for several minutes.
Add milk, cream and vanilla. Mix well.
Refrigerate for making ice cream later
or pour directly into your ice cream freezer
and proceed per
manufacturers instructions.

*You do not cook the eggs in this recipe.
If you have personal or dietary objections to using eggs,
you can make your ice cream without them
or use Egg Beaters.
Yes, I have read the stats
and yes, there are all kinds of tricks
about adding a bit of lemon juice
to the eggs to kill any salmonella, etc, etc,
but we continue to eat this along with
other recipes with a 'cooked' base
as well as recipes with no eggs at all.
Please do what you feel comfortable with.

Now for the bonus Hot Fudge Sauce recipe, mmmm!

Note that this is not like Hershey's Syrup -

it is a thick Hot Fudge Sundae type sauce.

WHAT YOU NEED:

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup evaporated milk or cream
1 1/2 Tablespoons butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
(kosher or table)
1 teaspoon good vanilla

WHAT TO DO:
Combine all ingredients EXCEPT vanilla
in a small saucepan on medium/high heat. 
Bring to a boil, stirring often.
Continue to boil for
a couple of minutes.
(If it boils much after 3 minutes,
it will get too thick and fudgy.)
Remove from heat and stir in
your vanilla.  Let it cool a bit
and you can use immediately.
If making ahead, keep in a sealed container
and store in the refrigerator. 
To soften and make pourable again,
before using, zap it in the microwave
or set the container in a bowl of hot water
until it reaches a good consistency.
Now you're ready to pour it over your
yummy ice cream OR eat it with a spoon!

ENJOY!