Original 31 Flavors

One of my passions is food. Whether it's a simple hamburger or a plate of shrimp scampi with linguine, I love to cook and eat. Trying to pick my favorite food would be like trying to pick my favorite book, fairly impossible, but I will always have a weakness for one. Ice cream. Anytime of the year, anytime of the day, I can eat ice cream. I like most flavors except: amaretto, pistachio, birthday cake, cotton candy, and black walnut. It is said that ice cream as we know it today (more or less) arrived on the scene in the 18th century. Soft serve was brought to us in the 20th century thanks to a research team in good old Britain (turns out a young Margaret Thatcher, who has served as Prime Minister of Great Britain, was on that team). And now, tons of flavors and companies exist, bringing the joy of ice cream to us all. Sometimes though, you just have to make some for yourself. Sure, it's easy to run down to the store and pick up a pint of the wonderful treat, but homemade ice cream gives you a sense of accomplishment. So, for your exploring pleasure, I have dug up a recipe that I used in a Chemistry class.

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 to 3/4 cup rock salt
2 cups ice
1-quart Ziploc bag
1-gallon Ziploc bag

1. Add sugar, cream, milk, and vanilla to the quart bag and seal very well. (You may want to tape around the seal as well)
2. Put ice into the gallon bag allow with the salt. (This is why the first bag needs to be sealed well. From experience I can tell you salty ice cream does not taste good)
3. Place the quart bag into the gallon bag and seal the gallon bag well.
4. Shake the bag well for 10-15 minutes or until the ice cream is the consistancy you want (it will be like soft serve). (You will probably want to cover the bag in a towel because it gets pretty cold)
5. Carefully open the gallon bag and remove the smaller bag with your yummy ice cream in it. Wipe off the seal as to not get any salt in your treat.
6. Open and enjoy! (Unless you want harder ice cream, then you can put it in the freezer)

A note on flavors: Although this recipe makes vanilla, you can use a number of things as flavoring. When I made this in my Chemistry class, I also added a powdered grapefruit drink mix. (I know, grapefruit and vanilla? It actually was amazing). I'm sure other drink fruit mixes can be used as well as other flavorings (such as mint). Use your imagination. Explore! Tell me what you come up with.
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