It's "Berry, Berry" Good

 

Did you think I was never coming back? I'm still here, but I've spent more time away from the computer lately. Life is better when I turn off the news alerts and limit social media. I keep up, but I'm learning to step away after a quick check.

Then we have more time to do things like picking strawberries at a neighbor's farm. We've been a couple of times already. The granddaughters happened to be here when the berries were first ready and they were some of the very first pickers of the season.

It's hard to beat simply eating fresh berries when they are really sweet and juicy. Unless you make strawberry ice cream. There are many good recipes, but this is delicious and is surely one of the easiest of them all. And it's ridiculously quick.

For those who ask, I have this Cuisinart ice cream maker. There are other models that cost less. There are other brands. They all work pretty much the same, I bought this one to replace an older, simpler Cuisinart model that we thought no longer worked. We had used it for years with no problems. 

Then last summer it wouldn't freeze the ice cream. It turned out the ice cream maker was fine. It was my 20-year-old freezer that wasn't working properly. The freezer temperature was not as low it should have been. (Freezers should be 0 degrees.) So the container part of the ice cream maker was not getting cold enough to make ice cream. 

So now we have a new freezer. And I have two ice cream makers. Strawberry ice cream AND vanilla ice cream at the same time is not a bad idea. Not a bad idea at all.

The recipe makes enough to enjoy, but not enough to get into too much trouble over-indulging! I took this to book club last night. I brought home an empty container. 

STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM (no eggs) 

      for 1-1/2 qt ice cream maker

1 (14-oz) sweetened condensed milk, such as Eagle Brand

1 (12-oz) can evaporated milk

1-1/4 cups fresh milk

about 1 cup cut up strawberries 

2 tablespoons sugar

a good squeeze fresh lemon juice (about 1 tablespoon)

pinch of salt

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Sprinkle sugar over cut up berries. Stir and add in lemon juice and salt. Let stand while mixing milks. Mash slightly. 

Using a whisk, blend the 3 milks together thoroughly and chill for 30 minutes. (I like to chill the canned milks first.)

Mix strawberries and milk mixture. Pour into ice cream maker and freeze according to appliance directions. Freeze until done, about 20-25 minutes. 

The ice cream will be soft. Transfer to a container with a lid and store in freezer if you want harder "scoop-able" ice cream

★ To make VANILLA ICE CREAM, use this same recipe but leave out the strawberries—including the sugar and lemon juice— and double the vanilla.

While it might change the texture a little, you can use low-fat or fat-free milk for any or all of the milks called for. Just remember, lower fat content means it won't be as creamy.