A Summertime Treat

For as long as I can remember, homemade ice cream has been the most anticipated and look forward to summer time treat for my family! Store bought ice cream just doesn't even begin to compare, and neither does it disappear as quickly, which of course means that it's delicious! Growing up, I can remember sitting and watching Daddy supervise the freezer as it turned and how he carefully made sure all the salty ice water came out of the drain hole in the cedar bucket. Those childhood memories are the ones that I treasure...

Momma and Daddy received their first ice cream freezer as a wedding gift just over twenty-seven years ago, and it's been a family 'tradition' ever since then! The summer holidays, Memorial Day- the 4th of July- Labor Day, are days when we stir up some ice cream and then sit out on the porch, or in the driveway, and watch it get turned into that refreshing summer time delicacy!

Helping Daddy...
This past Monday, Memorial Day, was no exception. Daddy had the day off and we made plans to grill some meat for our evening meal. Of course, making ice cream had to be on the agenda as it just doesn't seem like a holiday if we don't have it! Mint chocolate chip was on the agenda as it was a 'hot' humid day that begged for the refreshing kick that mint can give

How many Castlebury's does it take to supervise...

Around 4:30 I headed out to the front porch to begin the 'ice cream freezing period'-once you have all of your ingredients mixed together, you put it in the freezer canister which sits inside the cedar bucket, put ice and salt around the canister, plug it in and watch it spin around and around and... :o)

Almost done...
After about an hour of us watching it go 'round and 'round, adding over ten pounds of ice in addition to salt, and un-sticking the canister when the ice kept it from moving, we were finally able to add the chocolate chips/shavings.

Time to add the chocolate...
If we were to add the chocolate at the very beginning, it all would have sunk to the bottom and no amount of stirring would have brought them to the top. Of course, with mint chocolate chip ice cream the half of the taste is in the chocolate that is distributed all throughout it!
Several minutes after adding the chocolate, we called the ice cream done... now we had to contain ourselves until it was time to actually dip it up!! Well, some of us did anyways! :o)

An eager observer...
I found it so amusing to see how the noise that the freezer made seemed to draw people! First it was the dogs... then Daddy came sauntering around the house... Sawyer got up from his nap and came knocking on the front door to be let out (he can't open the door yet!)... then Momma showed up... next, Collin drove down the driveway and stopped to watch... and finally, Sayre came pedaling around the other side of the house! This is definately a family affair; even if we all filter in and out during the time spent with the freezer!
Ohhhh do we ever love homemade ice cream!!!