Plain Vanilla

Did you know 98% of all households purchase ice cream?

Did you know children ages 2–12 and adults aged 45 and over consume the most?

At our family cookouts purchasing ice cream is like washing clothes on New Year's Day. You just don't do it! 

Homemade ice cream is a staple at our summer cookouts. My mom makes strawberry, peach, or cookies-n-cream, but there's just something so intoxicating about Granny's Vanilla Ice Cream that makes it the most popular among ice cream flavors at our cookouts.  Get ready, this recipe is long and tedious!

Ganny starts by combining the following ingredients in a large stock pot:

4 – 4 ½ cups of sugar*

5 TBSP. cornstarch

French Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix

1/8 tsp. salt 

 Once the dry ingredients are mixed, Granny adds:

1 gallon whole milk

5 large eggs (well beaten)

Granny says beat those eggs until they turn a "lemony" color and are foamy.  She likes to use her manual hand mixer.  I, on the other hand, make a mess each time I TRY to use that thing, so I'll stick with an electric hand mixer!

Once the eggs & milk have been added to the mixture whisk it all up. Place the pot in a large pot of water (making it a double boiler).

Don't stop stirring.  Don't want the sweet mixture to stick to the bottom of the pot. Granny said the liquid looked too sweet. ... I still haven't figured out what that looks like.

Once the mixture is introduced to heat...

Stir, stir, stir and then stir some more.

When the water in the bottom pot has boiled for about 10 minutes (look for the signs to know it's cooked for the right amount of time). 

Make sure to wear appropriate foot wear while boiling.  Granny & I did not so we were constantly dodging the water as it bubbled out.

Here are the signs Granny looks for to let her know the ice cream has cooked long enough: as the mixture cooks it will become thicker and will coat the spoon.

   Remove the pot(s) from heat.

Now it's time to add all the flavors that make this ice cream so yummy (and intoxicating)!

Add:

1 tsp. lemon flavor

12 oz. evaporated milk

2 TBSP.  vanilla extract (or flavoring)

½ tsp. rum extract

Dash of yellow food color

See, it's intoxicating!

Add:

3 TBSP. rum

3 TBSP. whiskey

Now it's time to call in "The Taster" to make sure everything is just right. Granny's mantra is "you learn by trial and error."

The Taster is not sold in stores.

PawPaw tasted and had Granny make some adjustments to compensate for her "too sweet" mixture (she could tell by looking at it).  FYI, the adjustments are noted above.
*The sugar should be adjusted according to taste.  All 4 ½ cups of sugar may be too sweet so start with less and add more as needed.

The mixture gets a chance to cool down and rest (just like the fried chicken).  Granny likes to let it rest overnight so all the flavors can mix and mingle.

The morning of our cookout, PawPaw transfers the cream to the ice cream freezer and the freezing begins.
In the meantime the family fills up on a plethora of protein and carbs...

 After recovering from the above, it's time to indulge in Granny's Intoxicating Vanilla Ice Cream!

It's true. Children between 2 & 12 consume the most of Granny's ice cream.
 I know it's a long and tedious process, but look at those satisfied faces!