By VPJ Staff
The day after Mother’s Day, I was doing due diligence in the gym with the regular crew and overheard a conversation between a couple of guys. They were talking about hand-churned ice cream that had been served for Mom’s day — strawberry, if I remember. That provoked me into deep-thinking mode!
I am living proof that a love of ice cream is deep seated in our DNA. I have ice cream memories from an early age. My dad would quite often end his night with a single scoop of vanilla. When we would visit relatives on both sides of the family, in between duty stations, there was always hand-made ice cream to be found! My mom was not a hand churner, but there was always ice cream in our freezers. When I attended NSU back in the early 70’s, they had a Baskin-Robbins store near the campus. I went through lots of flavors there, but ironically the store did not make it long. Poor location; it was not on the main drag. It certainly did not close from a lack of business on my end!
The best hand-cranked ice cream involves fresh fruit; blueberries, strawberries, peaches are high on my list. Just luscious, ripe fruit, cream/ice, and some labor. It rolls over your tongue and requires you to lick your lips when consumed. How can that be bad? It’s kind of a lost art anymore. When it’s done the old-fashioned right way, it can be spectacular. My sister-in-law, Susan, has a recipe for chocolate ice cream that tastes exactly like Wendy’s Frosty! Uncanny resemblance and oohh so good!
Soft serve certainly has a toe-hold in the ice cream game; rich, creamy and used in Blizzards, Blasts, McFlurries, and cones. You do not need a load of goodies added to the soft serve to really enjoy the luxurious mouth feel when you take that big lick on a plain cone! Don’t get me wrong; I love the add-ons when I am feeling decadent! Now ice cream shops boast of having the highest butterfat content and having more things to mix into your bowl or sundae! Custard shops are popping up nationwide with creamy, dreamy, ultra-rich soft serve. I must admit, it’s good…real good!
You can gussy it up all you want, but there is still nothing like homemade ice cream. Whether you let electricity do the work or employ some manual labor, it just tastes better than store bought.
The biggest seller locally would be Blue Bell out of Brenham, Texas. They have a big distribution center in Alexandria, so we get lots of their new flavors in our Market Basket grocery. Could you bring back some of those older flavors like banana split or tutti-fruitti? I do like the Dr.Pepper and Java Jolt flavors out now. I just have to ask: why one week can you buy two pints for $5 and a half gallon for $8.59, and the next week a pint is $3.59 and a half gallon only $5.99? I do not think the world ice cream market fluctuates that much.
You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream! Enjoy the recipe for that Wendy’s Frosty ice cream…Thanks, Susan!
½ gallon chocolate milk (try Promised Land or your favorite)
2 cans sweetened, condensed milk
1 8oz. carton Cool Whip
Pour into prepared ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. Will take 40-50 minutes to create appropriate texture.
Don’t forget the ice cream salt and the ice! Do it by hand the old fashioned way…it might taste better, and your payoff will be greater from doing all that work!