Mi Mi’s Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

This recipe is for a 1 gallon freezer can.

Custard

5 Eggs

3 Egg yolks

1 Large 13 oz. Can of Evaporated Milk

1 Can Water

1 TBS Flour

1 Cup Sugar

Combine custard ingredients and cook, stirring until mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. You may want to use a double boiler for this. Strain and cool in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Next, in freezer can combine the custard mixture with the following:

1 16 oz. Carton of Whipping Cream

1-2 TBS Vanilla Extract

1 13 oz. Can Sweetened Condensed Milk

Enough Whole or 2 % milk to fill to line

Place lid on freezer can and hold can in place while filling the freezer alternately with ice and rock salt. Put crank on and begin cranking or plug in to outlet. Operate freezer according to directions for your machine. Add more salt and ice as needed. The freezer may stop from time to time when ice gets in the way. So, readjust ice by turning off the machine and picking ice with wooden spoon and turn it back on. When ice cream maker stops completely, remove the can and enjoy the ice cream or place in deep freeze until it has reached desired firmness.

My mom makes the best homemade vanilla ice cream. My first memory of making ice cream was on the ranch where I grew up outside a small East Texas town named Rusk, in an even smaller community named Atoy. Making homemade ice cream was an all-day event and everyone had a job. First of all, my dad believed that the best ice cream was made from a fresh block of ice that you bought, brought home and chipped up yourself. So, while my mom got all the ingredients together to cook the custard. My brother, sister and I would ride with dad 20 minutes to Rusk in his1963 green Chevy pickup to get the block of ice from the ice house, where we could watch the ice slide out of the freezer down a conveyor belt. We would wrap the block in a blanket and set it on the back of the truck. Then we would dare each other to sit on the covered block and count to ten. Boy, that was cold! When we got home, dad would painstakingly chip up the ice with a pick, and mom would pour the now cooled custard in the can, carefully filling the rest of the can with that rich custard mixture and whole milk. In went the ice and the salt, on went the top of the freezer. Then, it was our turn. My brother, sister and I would sit on the wooden steps of our carport and crank the ice cream by hand. Sometimes, we had watermelon or blackberries on the side. Sometimes, we had company and other times we had the ice cream to ourselves. Even when the ice houses closed down in Rusk, we still drove to the neighboring town of New Summerfield to buy ice.

My father has been gone now for many years; I live in a big city now and have kids of my own. However, my mom is here this week visiting and guess what? Yep, we are making ice cream using her recipe. It still tastes great! Although we used ice from our refrigerator, it brought back memories of truck rides into town, laughing with my brother and sister, and how a family working together can reap sweet rewards and even sweeter memories.