Home Made Ice Cream

Perfect for this summer heat!  In June while visiting our daughter we were introduced to home made peach ice cream made in a Cuisinart ice cream maker.  It was delicious – much fresher than anything in the stores.  We purchased one for ourselves.

I’m now on my fourth ice cream batch.  A batch is rather small – four servings, by most people’s standards, I would say actually two servings.  I’ve made strawberry twice and vanilla twice.  With my first batch I also made blackberry cobbler since blackberries were ripe for picking on our farm.

We wanted ice cream without eggs – lacto-vegetarian. This has been my base for vanilla.  You can add fruit, chocolate, etc. to make different flavors

Vanilla Ice Cream  

2 1/4 cups milk

1 cup heavy whipping cream

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

I have been trying to use all organic ingredients.  I have lately found the most sensational milk – as close to raw as you can get – Kalona Super Natural - http://www.kalonasupernatural.com/our-process/  It is hard to go back to even regular organic milk after tasting this milk.  Put all ingredients except for vanilla into pot on medium heat, stirring until it just gets hot enough that you can see steam rising on the sides of the pot.  Stir in the vanilla, pour into spouted container that you can cover and put in refrigerator over night.  The Cuisinart container stays in the freezer between uses and should be in the freezer for twenty-four hours between uses.  This is key to good ice cream – coldness during the churning process.  Follow directions with Cuisinart.  There are probably other ice cream makers out there, but this is the only one I’ve tried.  I remember my grandfather using the old hand-cranked one, then my mom using the electric version.

Easy Blackberry Cobbler

1/2 c. butter                                                        

1 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

2/3 c. milk

1 (16 oz.) pkg. frozen blackberries, thawed or fresh (I really don’t measure here.  I like lots of blackberries.)

Melt butter in a 2 quart casserole. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and milk in a small mixing bowl, mix well. Pour mixture over melted butter, do not stir. Spoon blackberries over batter; do not stir. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Last of the Blackberries

Yesterday’s post was about cherries.  Today, it’s about blackberries.  This weekend we used the last of our frozen blackberries, blackberries that were picked from our farm.  We have an abundance of wild blackberries.  Blackberry picking is hard work.  Plus, the trick is getting to them at just the right time.  There is that moment of perfect ripeness. The birds and deer also claim rights to them, and they are up and about much earlier than we are.

EASY BLACKBERRY COBBLER

Ingredients (All organic)

1/2 c. butter

1 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

2/3 c. milk

16 oz. of fresh or frozen blackberries, thawed

Melt butter in a 2 quart casserole. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and milk in a small mixing bowl, mix well. Pour mixture over melted butter, do not stir. Spoon blackberries over batter; do not stir. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

This is topped with Breyer’s Vanilla Bean ice cream.

I’m thankful that we were able to share the last of our blackberries with good friends.

Inspired by blackberries, below is an excerpt of something I’m writing about Sally.  There are other pieces of writing about Sally on this blog filed under the category Sally to get a better picture of who Sally was.

“The pains grew closer.  Susan’s breathing took on a different aspect, something instinctual, the breath that would breathe a new life into existence. There was no time to move her back to the camp.  She was grateful for that.  This child would be born under a blue sky, in pristine air.  Susan saw this as a good sign for her child.  At her first scream the women quit picking the blackberries and gathered around.  The youngest made haste to the nearest cabin, less than a half mile back for water and a blanket.  By the time she returned with the supplies there was only the cord to cut, and the cleaning.  The tall grass had absorbed most of the birthing process.  The baby girl, laying on her mother’s shrunken belly looking as ripe as the basket of blackberries to the side, a shiny new ebony life covered in red blood which glistened in the July sun.  Susan named her Sally.  Sally strongly, with little effort, but with a determination to accept her new role, breathed in her surroundings.”