By Staff
The hot weather is just getting cranked up and everyone's thoughts turn to ways to keep cool. One way to keep cool is to consume cool drinks and treats that will help keep your body temperature in check.
Last week I took a break from frozen treat recipes to give you some blueberry recipes. I hope you still have a desire to make something cool.
With the upcoming July 4 holiday, nothing is better than a freezer full of ice cream made on the back porch with lots of family and friends.
The price of milk may scare some folks out of making ice cream, but when you consider that milk is about $4 gallon, you'll still come out better by making your own ice cream. Besides that, you can control the flavors, sugar and fat in your homemade ice cream better than anything you could buy at the store.
For those of you who know me personally, you'll know how much I love coffee. My husband seems to think I'm crazy with this idea, but coffee and ice cream sounds like a heavenly treat.
I've found a recipe that combines those two wonderful items into a cool treat that will be pleasing to the palate of just about anyone, even the children.
Coffee Ice Cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups whipping cream
In a saucepan, stir sugar, cornstarch, coffee and butter until blended. Stir in milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Cool completely. Stir in condensed milk. In a mixing bowl, beat cream until stiff peaks form; fold into milk mixture. Pour into a 9-in. square pan. Cover and freeze for 6 hours or until firm.
If that doesn't sound like a treat you're interested in trying for yourself, this next recipe may be a pretty good one.
If you like chocolate, this recipe is an easy way to prepare a soft ice cream at home that would make any fast-food restaurant jealous.
Smooth Chocolate Ice Cream
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 gallon chocolate milk (the non-dairy kind works pretty good)
12 oz. Cool-whip
1 tbsp. vanilla
Mix all ingredients together. Unless you have a really big ice cream freezer, you'll need to make this in two batches. Fill the ice cream freezer bucket two-thirds full and freeze. Transfer leftovers to plastic containers and keep in the freezer for up to two weeks.
For those of you who like the good, old-fashioned vanilla ice cream, I've found a very good recipe. It doesn't require a lot of work unless you have the old-fashioned crank ice cream maker.
Vanilla Ice Cream
2 quarts half-and-half cream
1/2 pint heavy cream
1 1/2 cups white sugar
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
Combine half-and-half, cream, sugar, vanilla and salt in freezer container of ice cream maker. Freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.
For another version of vanilla ice cream, here's one that calls for sweetened-condensed milk.
Classic Vanilla Ice Cream
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 cups (1 pint) half-and-half
2 cups (1 pint) whipping cream, unwhipped
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)
In large bowl, combine all ingredients; mix well. Pour into ice cream freezer container. Freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Freeze leftovers.
Of course, if you like flavored ice cream, you can certainly add just about anything you like to the vanilla ice cream. Fresh peaches, strawberries, blueberries or even toasted pecans make great additions to the recipe. Put in as much as you like and turn on the motor or start cranking.
Next week, I plan to share some barbecue dinner recipes. I hope to include items for the meal that you might not normally think of with a barbecue dinner.
If you have any recipes you'd like to share, I'm always happy to hear from you.
If I use your recipe or idea in this space, I promise to give you credit. You can send your information by email to lisa.tindell@brewtonstandard.com or drop by the office at 407 St. Nicholas Ave. or give me a call at 867-4876.
Until next week, happy cooking!