If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times. “Back in Oklahoma, we used to make ice cream from scratch. We’d take turns cranking the handle on the barrel ice cream maker, and then gobble it up.”
I’ve heard Greg tell the story so many times, that I thought I’d put an end to it – or at least give him an opportunity to tell a different story. So, for Father’s Day, we bought him an ice cream maker. I stuck to the old-fashioned wooden bucket kind – not with a hand crank – no, I wanted electricity.
The kids were excited and couldn’t wait for Daddy to open his present . . . so excited that they made him open it at 9 a.m. After I thought a bit about it, the early opening of the present would allow us the time to figure out what kind of ice cream we were going to make that afternoon. Of course, the ice cream maker was a hit. Almost immediately, Greg got to reading the directions, cleaning it and readying it for its inaugural run.
Unfortunately, the stainless steel bowl insert was dented, and there was a split in the wooden body of the ice cream maker. My let’s-hang-out-with-Dad Father’s Day now turned into a ‘pack the kids in the car and let’s return this’ adventure. After all, we wanted to make ice cream!
At the store, Greg decided that he would buck the ol’ Oklahoma tradition and go for the electric Cuisinart Pure Indulgence Frozen Yogurt/Ice Cream Maker. He worried about durability of the barrel type, and probably realized that he’d much rather have the Cuisinart do the work.
That evening, we had ice cream – but not in the Cuisinart. The container needed to be in the freezer for several hours before we could use it, so we walked down to Baskin-Robbins for a few cones. But I still longed for my homemade ice cream . . .
The following morning, we headed to the airport, our annual summer trip to visit Grandma and Granpa. Here, the kids are in ice cream heaven. Addie wants chocolate, but Keely wants vanilla, and Nicole wants strawberry, and Grayson likes mint chocolate chip. That’s just the way Granpa likes it . . . he loves to eat ice cream, and the kids give him the excuse (without the guilt) to buy several gallons of ice cream to make the kids happy.
While Grandpa enjoys ice cream with the kids, I was paging through the latest issue of Bon Appetit, and came across a recipe for semifreddo. I may be able to satisfy my need to make ice cream, even if we don’t have an ice cream maker on hand.
Adapting the recipe a bit, I substituted blueberry flavor for pistachio, and Mom and I set out to create our first-ever strawberry, blueberry, vanilla semifreddo. Granpa was a bit skeptical about the process, especially as he saw us straining the berries for use. “Why do that? The kids will eat it any way that you make it,” he piped in, as he lifted an eyebrow (no doubt, thinking he could run off to the drugstore and get a carton of ice cream in a matter of minutes.)
The active time didn’t take too long, I just needed to wait for each layer to become firm before filling with the next layer. I left it to freeze overnight and headed to bed.
In the morning, I was anxious to see how it turned out. Except for a few wrinkles on the surface from the plastic wrap (which could be smoothed out with a knife), it looked delicious. After lunch we finally cut into it, and the fresh flavors were so powerful and delicious. It was a hit! sAnd, as for the Semifreddo Skeptic (aka Richard), know deep down that he is anxiously awaiting my next semifreddo attempt.
Now I have my own ice cream story to tell.
Try our delicious Strawberry, Blueberry, and Vanilla Semifreddo.
