We All Scream for Ice Cream!
September 18, 2020
Most of us remember the childhood chant – ice cream, ice cream, we all scream for ice cream! Those familiar words also bring to mind the memorable sound of the bell and songs that the ice cream man projected as he drove throughout the neighborhood. The frequent requests from mom to come in for lunch or to do our chores would be ignored and passed off as lack of hearing but the far away chime of the bell would get us up and running asking for money so we could catch him in time.
On occasion, if we did our chores, mom would tell us to grab a few dollars from the top drawer in the kitchen but warn us not to eat too much or we would spoil our dinner. Most days or so, it seemed, we were told that we should eat the ice cream we already had in our freezer. Somehow when you’re a kid, you’d rather have a waxy chocolate flavored treat with freezer burn from the ice cream truck than eat the store bought leftovers.
Since then, my tastes have definitely matured. A few years ago I purchased an ice cream maker on sale at one of those warehouse stores thinking that it might be fun to replicate those rich, creamy premium ice creams that became popular a number of years ago. At one point, I probably had 15 pints of homemade ice cream stocked in the freezer. Cookies and cream, banana chocolate chunk, French vanilla, chocolate brownie, cherry vanilla, blueberry. The list goes on and varies depending on mood, time of year (leftover Halloween candy mix-ins) or fresh fruit in season.
A couple of weeks ago, after my baking frenzy, I had some extra milk to use before expiration and I took my ice cream machine out from hiding. Looking for ideas to try something new, I searched the library catalog and was pleasantly surprised to see the plethora of e-books available on this subject, even books on keto, paleo and vegan ice cream. After browsing through, my decision was to wait on something new and to use the chocolate sandwich cookies on hand to make an old time favorite – cookies and cream.
This recipe starts with a French vanilla custard base and is enhanced by whatever you decide to mix-in. You can add your favorite candy, stir in nuts, chocolate chunks or just add chopped cookies; in this case, Oreos. Try it!
