Summer is finally here, and we can
finally throw away our schoolbooks, at least some of us. Summer is full of
excitement but that is not the only thing. Summer is also very hot and muggy
for some of us from South Alabama. We tend to stay cool because of all the
frozen snacks like ice cream, popsicles and sometimes-nice refreshing lemonade.
For centuries, iced
desserts were a luxury. Roman Emperor Nero is said to have sent his slaves into
the mountains to fetch snow to mix with nectar, fruit pulp, and honey, although
this widely told tale might be a myth.
The origins of ice
cream date back to China's T'ang period, probably as a dish for the country's
rulers. King T'ang of Shang kept 94 "ice men" on hand to lug ice to
the palace to make a dish made of koumiss (heated, fermented milk), flour, and
camphor.
With ice cream today there are
endless ways to make ice cream other than the traditional flavors like
strawberry, chocolate and vanilla. With the ice cream there is the aspect of
making milk shakes. Milk shakes are the most thirst quenching aspect of ice
cream. If you want more substance, you would want a ice cream sandwich. An ice
cream sandwich is ice cream stuck in between two cookies of some kind. You can
make ice cream yourself with these easy steps:
1. Stir
sugar, cream, and milk into a saucepan over low heat until sugar has dissolved.
Heat just until mix is hot and a small ring of foam appears around the edge.
2. Transfer
cream mixture to a pourable container such as a large measuring cup. Stir in
vanilla extract and chill mix thoroughly, at least 2 hours. (Overnight is
best.)
3. Pour
cold ice cream mix into an ice cream maker, turn on the machine, and churn
according to manufacturer's directions, 20 to 25 minutes.
4. When
ice cream is softly frozen, serve immediately or place a piece of plastic wrap
directly on the ice cream and place in freezer to ripen, 2 to 3 hours.
There are plenty of ways to stay cool this
summer just make sure you have it close by to cool you down. Whether it is ice
cream or not stay cool for snack time.
