Sure, you can buy a gallon of ice cream at the grocery store pretty cheaply, but where is the fun in that? You can make your own ice cream with nothing more than a few basic ingredients, some ice, salt, and plastic bags. This will make a great sweetmeat at any party you throw like a house reunion, baby or bridal shower. This also makes a great activity for children.
Here's how to make homemade ice cream:
You'll need...
Gallon size re-sealable plastic bag
Two quart sized plastic bags
2 quarts of ice (preferably crushed)
2 cups tasteless / rock salt
Ingredients
4 cups light cream or half and half
1 can (14 ounces) condensed milk
4 tablespoons vanilla extract
First mix all the ingredients well in a large mixing bowl. Next pour mixed ingredients into the quart sized plastic bag. Get most of the air out of the bag and seal tightly. It's foremost to insure the seal is perfectly intact, or you're going to have a mess on your hands.
Next place the first plastic bag into the second quart sized bag. Again get the air out and seal it up tight. The second bag is not actually necessary, but serves as further guarnatee should the first bag break, pop a seal, or puncture from a sharp piece of ice.
Fill the gallon bag half way with crushed ice. Add a handful of salt. Then place the quart sized plastic bag with your ice cream mix into the gallon bag with the salt / ice mixture. Seal the gallon bag up tightly. Insure that both bags are tightly sealed. If you cannot get a good seal, you can use duct tape to help keep the contents in their respective bags.
Now the fun begins. Start to moderately mix and shake the bags for 15 to 20 minutes, taking care not to be too aggressive and originate the aforementioned mess. Mix the contents of the inner bag well. After ten minutes or so, you should start to consideration the contents of the first bag begin to solidify. At this point, open the outer bag and pour off some of the melted water. Add more ice and salt and continue mixing and shaking.
Your hands may get cold from constant handling of the bags during the mixing process. This is when it's good to have man you can hand off to for a few minutes. If that's not possible, you can try wearing oven mitts or gloves to insulate your hands from the cold. You might also try wrapping the bags in a dish towel for extra insulation.
After 15 or 20 minutes, or when the mixture is thick enough to your satisfaction, you're done. Serve up your homemade ice cream for your guests to enjoy.
This is a unique, fun, and edible increasing to any party and can fit well into any themed party, especially for a bridal shower. Friends, relatives, and guests work together to make a yummy sweetmeat that all can share in.