You Scream, I Scream...

After going to two cookouts this summer where homemade ice cream was served,

I was convinced to try to make it for myself.

We were given an ice cream maker for a wedding present {nearly two years ago}

but had never had the courage to even open the box.

In fact, after the move we realized we haven't opened the majority of our wedding gifts.

It has been like Christmas opening them all!

After two attempts, 

I found that homemade ice cream was not so hard to make.

We made mint chocolate chip.

Ingredients included:

Whole Milk

Half & Half

Whipping Cream

Sugar

Salt

Peppermint Extract

Green Food Coloring

Chocolate Chip

Andes Mint Chips

After mixing the ingredients according to the recipe's instructions,

we poured the mixture into the ice cream maker.

We left it to churn for 25 minutes

but after 20 minutes our little ice cream maker

stopped churning. 

Apparently, the motor became overheated.

Disappointed but not discouraged,

we let the motor rest and put the canister with the ice cream ingredients in the freezer.

We waited about 20 minutes before giving it another go.

We let the maker churn for about 30 minutes.

Despite our excitement that the motor did not overheat again,

we had to come to the realization that this batch was not going to thicken.

We referred to it as "ice cream soup" and decided to walk away.

I wasn't quite ready to give up,

so I put the "soup" in a bowl and stored it in the refrigerator,

then cleaned the canister and put it in the freezer.

{We read that some recipes need to pre-cool before churning.}

The next morning I woke up eager to try again.

I put the much colder ice cream mixture

in the very cold ice cream maker

and within 25 minutes

I had made beautiful, thick mint chocolate chip ice cream!!

Now I can't wait to try other recipes!

Do you have any suggestions or recommendations?