June is Dairy Month

And I love some dairy!

Farmer Doc and I are serious homemade ice cream makers. We make ice cream for every big event through the summer and fall. And for some not-so-big events. We are “famous” for our blackberry ice cream, but love to experiment with different flavors. Two years ago we perfected our pumpkin pie ice cream. Last year our cookies and cream was a big hit.

But all we have is a 6-quart ice cream maker. Which means that when we make ice cream, we really make ice cream. So we better have lots of friends around to help us eat it! And our standard ice cream recipe uses raw eggs. I usually don’t mind that, but I really shouldn’t eat raw eggs while I’m pregnant. So we needed to look for new ice cream recipes this year.
I was thrilled when Indiana’s Family of Farmers gave me this 1.5 quart counter-top ice cream maker to play with this month! This gave me the reason to go hunting up new recipes (that don’t include raw eggs), and a way to experiment with new flavors without making a 6-quart commitment!

(Can I just say… 1-1.5 quarts of homemade ice cream… ready in less than 20 minutes… right in my own kitchen… that is any pregnant woman’s dream come true!)

In less than one week we tried strawberry with big chunks of fresh strawberries. (This was my favorite!)

We tried mint ice cream with fresh mint leaves and chocolate peppermint candies. (We weren’t patient enough to wait for the bowl to be completely frozen, so this one didn’t freeze quite as nice as the others. But it still tasted great!)

We tried vanilla. And we slathered it in chocolate sauce.

Holy smoke, I am in ice cream heaven! We will definitely be tossing some blackberries in here once this year’s berries are ready!

Who needs to go out for ice cream when this powerhouse is in the kitchen?

I also received a pint-sized ice cream ball. We haven’t played with this one quite yet, but I anticipate that this will be one of Baby Doc’s first toys… You’re never too young to start making ice cream! Fill the outside compartment with ice and salt, fill the inside compartment with the ice cream ingredients and roll it around the floor. How easy is that? Everyone can play! (Husbands included!)

It’s like a hamster ball, but when you’re done playing with it you get to eat the ice cream instead of cleaning out the hamster pee! (This one is way more fun!)

What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Have you tried to make it yourself before?

{Big thanks to Indiana’s Family of Farmers who provided me with some fun dairy tools. All thoughts, opinions, and photographs are my own.}