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| Image courtesy of Gesine Kuhlmann, rgbstock.com |
So yesterday the kids and I embarked on an exciting adventure. Our first stop was the grocery store, where we purchased a strange-to-them assortment of items, among them ice, sea salt, and half & half. They were particularly fascinated by the large bag of ice (which shows how often I buy the stuff). "What are you going to do with that, Mom?" they kept asking. "I don't know," I answered, trying my hardest to sound mysterious. (I don't think they bought it.)
The questions continued when we returned to our home:
"What's the ice for?"
"Can we eat it?" (My kids love ice for some reason.)
"Are we making something that goes in the oven?" (Ice in the oven. Really?)
"Is it a treat?"
After the last question, I just smiled and told them to eat their lunch. (I think that was the fastest my I'd-rather-talk-than-eat son has ever finished.)
Once lunch was over, I cleared the table and set out all the items items we'd bought, plus a few others from my pantry, called the kids into the kitchen, told them we were going to make ICE CREAM, and promptly became the coolest mom in the world—at least for the ten minutes it took to make the stuff. ☺
On Monday night, one of my Facebook friends posted the recipe for Ice Cream in a Bag, and I knew I would have to try it with the kids. After doing a little research online, I found that there are a few different versions of the recipe. This is the one I followed:
Ice Cream in a Bag:
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup half & half (or light cream)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup coarse salt or table salt
1 gallon-sized Ziploc bag
1 pint-sized Ziploc bag
Mix the sugar, half & half, and vanilla extract together and pour the mixture into the pint-sized Ziploc bag. Be sure to seal it tightly.
Next take the gallon-sized Ziploc bag and fill it halfway with ice. Pour the salt over the ice, then place the pint-sized bag into the ice-filled bag. Seal. Shake the bag for approximately five minutes, then open the large bag and check to see if the ice cream is hard. If it isn't, seal up the bag and continue shaking. If it is, remove the pint-sized bag and run cold water over it to remove the salt. Open the bag and enjoy!
My kids had a great time with this little project, and both of them loved their homemade treat. (I thought it was pretty good, too!) We'll definitely be making it again.
Wishing you all a fun (and hopefully delicious) Wednesday!
