Picnic in the Rain?

Picnic in the Rain?

Possibly! You see, the Captain and I are hosting a Picnic in the Park…..

It is early morning on a Tuesday and it’s raining!

I keep wanting to burst into song….“the sun will come out tomorrow….bet your bottom dollar its tomorrow”!

But we need the sun for today, not tomorrow!

It’s not just a little drizzle, but really raining and the Captain and I are making home made ice cream!

And I made my Thin Cocoa sheet Cake with fudge-y icing, that I have been making for more years than I care to say…(recipe file under cakes, if you would like the recipe)

Back to the ice cream….We are sort of making home made ice cream.

We are definitely churning ice cream, but I am cheating and using my electric ice cream maker instead of the hand crank White Mountain.

Call me old fashioned…. but to me it is not really home made ice cream unless one has cranked the handle til the dasher inside the canister can move no more.

Which also means, one has to have someone sit on the top of gunny sacks and towels to help steady the freezer while strong armed men take turns cranking the ice cream.

Today, that ain’t happenin’….so we have the handy-dandy-in-case-of emergency-electric freezer that someone’s grandma uses.  

Oops, I guess that would be me. 😉 (I have always had the electric one for a back up to the real home made ice cream)

Our group of friends are meeting at this park…. along the Caloosahatchee River,….no, not the Swanee River…. but it will work! We will meet at one of two shelter houses…. or perhaps the gazebo for a picnic for two.

Originally, I thought of having picnic baskets auctioned off as in the “good ole days” but with today’s dietary restrictions, we decided that perhaps that was not a good idea.

We do have barbershop quartet music (via CD) and I suggested period dress if desired. The Captain has a striped red and white vest with red garter arm bands, red bow tie, a straw hat and a cane….so don’t be surprised if he breaks out in song with “Sweet Adeline”, or “Down by the old Mill Stream”.

It should be fun if it stops raining…..or even it it doesn’t.  

I am choosing a picnic basket….as you can see, I really like picnics!

Ice cream maker is slowing down….it is electric you know. ;(  

And it is still raining……in sunny Florida!

Have a great and blessed Tuesday my dear readers.

Home Made Ice Cream

2015-09-29 08:16:01

There is nothing like hand cranking home made vanilla (Or any flavor for that matter) ice cream. This recipe has been in my family for years and has always been a favorite. It is a very simple recipe as most farm recipes are. However, as a warning....this has raw egg in the recipe and many people prefer to "cook" their custard first, cooling to room temperature and then putting in their freezer to crank. However, I just follow what my mother, grandmother and her great grandmother always did. And it is delish.

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Ingredients

1. 6-8 eggs (if hens laid large eggs, use 6)
2. 2 1/2 cups of sugar
3. 1 quart of heavy cream or if you need to... use half and half
4. 3 tablespoons of pure vanilla
5. 1 teaspoon of pure lemon extract
6. enough fresh milk to fill a gallon and half canister.

Instructions

1. Mix the beaten eggs and sugar together
2. Add the cream or half and half
3. Add the vanilla and lemon extract
4. Pour mixture into ice cream canister and situate the dasher in the center
5. Add enough fresh milk to fill to the line at the top of the canister.
6. Top with the lid and place in the ice cream freezer bucket.
7. Alternate rock salt (ice cream salt) and crushed ice until you reach the top of the freezer
8. Start cranking and hand crank until you can no longer move the dasher
9. Pack the freezer with gunny sacks or towels and set under a shade tree to ripen.
10. Wait at least an hour before serving.
11. *Dasher can either be left in or pulled out before ripening/hardening.

Notes

1. It was always hard for us kids to wait for the ripening process, which is why our family chose that time to have our picnic first.
2. Also, I find that it helps the custard to "come together", if it is mixed up and put in the fridge for several hours (or overnight) before cranking.
3. *Some people prefer to pull the dasher out before ripening, which always gives the kids a taste of what is to come as they "lick" the dasher free of excess ice cream...but I feel like it is less of a mess if one waits until the ice cream has "hardened/ripened)
4. You can use an electric mixer, but I don't believe the ice cream gets as hard or tastes as good. But it is your choice.

Me and My Captain https://meandmycaptain.com/