We want to send a big thank you to Alison’s dad, Rich, who wrote a guest blog for us!  Rich made homemade peach ice cream with a recipe he has been using since he was a little kid helping his grandfather make this amazing ice cream.  This blog will bring us into our theme for August, Family Ties.  What is your favorite recipe that has been passed down from generation to generation?

When I was growing up in Phoenix fifty years ago, our summer Sunday afternoons at my grandparents always included homemade ice cream.  The process began with a trip to the ice house in my grandfather’s old Ford pick-up (“Poppy’s Jalopy”) where we’d put 50 cents in the ice machine and out would come a huge block of ice.  Back on their porch, we’d chip away at the ice and add it, along with rock salt to the ice cream freezer, and then my grandmother would bring out the ice cream mixture, usually strawberry but occasionally peach, a recipe she had developed without eggs, since she was allergic to them.

The freezer was an old hand-cranked model, and my grandfather would let us kids take turn cranking, until before long, as the ice cream began to freeze, it became too difficult for us and then he would take over, and crank for what seemed like forever, until at last even he couldn’t turn it anymore, and then we knew it was ready.  The lid would come off, the paddle removed, and then we’d do our best to scrape it off before the ice cream began to melt.  Then it was covered up and kept cold until after supper, when we could finally indulge to our heart’s content.

These days homemade ice cream begins with a trip to the Farmer’s Market, to look for the perfect fruit.  The ice comes from my freezer, from three milk cartons I’ve filled with water, frozen, and then crushed with a hammer.  And the freezer is now an electric one.  But I still use the same recipe, without eggs, so it involves no cooking or making a custard, and the result is the same – a deliciously satisfying summer afternoon treat!

1 ½ pints of ripe berries or 4 or 5 ripe yellow peaches

1 8 oz. can of Sweetened Condensed Milk

3 pints Half & Half

2/3 cup sugar.

Blend ingredients together, and place in vessel of ice cream freezer.  Add lots of rock salt to the ice and turn until frozen.  Enjoy!

For an extra special treat, top it with our magic shell recipe.  This would be especially delicious with any type of berry ice cream!

– Rich Smith