Dabbling Inspiration: Homemade Ice Cream

Hi dabblers. Today's inspiration comes from my dad...You may be hard-pressed to find a bigger fan of ice cream than my dad. A few years ago my dad went to Target on a whim and purchased an ice cream maker because he thought it might be fun to make it at home. Well, time passed and he had not made any ice cream...so he brought the machine to me in hopes that I would whip up some ice cream on his behalf.

I thought about posting the recipe I used to make vanilla ice cream, but the recipe and method you use will depend on the ice cream maker you use. So instead, I will say that having a supply of fresh ice cream in my freezer for the past several days has been blissful. I can also say that making the ice cream was easy and super fun.   I wish you could have seen my dad while the ice cream maker was churning, just like a kid in a candy store.

Here is a picture of our ice cream machine in action:

Our machine is motorized, so it churns itself when plugged in. You have to surround the ice cream canister with ice and ice cream salt. The ice cream salt helps the ice cream cool quickly and allows you to cool the ice cream to a lower temperature than you could achieve with just the ice because it lowers the melting point of the ice.

I was able to find ice cream salt in my grocery store, located in the spices/seasonings section.

Pictured above...the result of having a stash of homemade ice cream :) Root beer floats are one of my favorite things. So simple, happy and delicious. They say summer in a glass to me.

This float features Gray's Brewing Company Root Beer. I had been searching for root beer made with real sugar, and discovered that this root beer is not only made with real cane sugar, it is also made near the hometown of my boyfriend's family. They surprised me with a case of it and I was thrilled!

I am currently on a quest for a great Key Lime Ice Cream recipe...because if there is anything my dad loves more than ice cream, it's key lime pie...so I'm going to try to create the ultimate treat for him.

Happy ice cream making dabblers!

-The Delicious Dabbler

ps. If making homemade ice cream is a little too ambitious, I understand (remember, my dad has had this machine for years). Head to your favorite ice cream parlor and buy a pint or two...you may want it when you see my next post :)