Pleasant surprises!

I was in a GREAT mood this afternoon because I FINALLY finished all my work for my current 2 master's classes. As of now, I'm officially done with taking two classes while teaching. I now have 2 classes left in the summer, 1 in fall and 1 in spring. The end is in sight! Either way. I was in a good mood and Darla and I had just enjoyed our traditional Sunday afternoon hike. When we left, Ben, his brother Joe and Darla's husband Steve were all working on Joe's car. When we returned, they were still working on the car.

Steve's first question to us was, "Do you have a recipe for homemade ice cream that doesn't use eggs?" This led to a long discussion about what the purpose of the eggs is and if it determines how fast it freezes. In the end, all Steve was trying to say was, how fast can I make homemade ice cream because I want some NOW. We finally picked a recipe (see below) and Steve set out to buy a double recipe worth of ingredients... He was really excited about ice cream. As he left, he said, "Now what are we going to have for supper?" This was hilarious to me because when my family has homemade ice cream, it IS supper.

After a frantic trip to the grocery store by Steve (again, he wanted ice cream NOW) and a More With Less goulash type supper made by me, I mixed everything up and set it up to run. Surprisingly, (it's been a long time since I made homemade ice cream), it only took 15 minutes to freeze!! Yay!

As we opened the container for the first taste, we all decided that perhaps this will be the summer where we become connoisseurs of ice cream, and make lots of different homemade ice cream flavors. (As opposed to last summer, where we became connoisseurs of different kinds of brats.) It should be a wonderful summer :-)

Mom's Homemade Ice Cream

6 eggs
2 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt
3 3/4 c. cream (can use up to 2 c. half and half)
1 1/2 T. vanilla
5-6 drops almond extract
1/2 gallon milk (or enough to fill freezer)

Beat eggs. Add all remaining ingredients and mix. Add enough milk to fill freezer properly and freeze according to freezer directions. Yield: 5 quarts ice cream.