Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

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Back in January, my nephew's school had a Bingo Night, which my entire family attends every year since my sister-in-law (his mom) is in charge of running it. So being a good family, we always go to support her and the school. It's always a great time with tons of fun prizes. Since we are a very competitive family, sometimes emotions run high and mumbles under our breath can be heard from across the table, but it's all fun and games. At least that's what we try to remind ourselves. After all, it is at an elementary school.

My nephew won one of the last prizes of the night, which was two tickets to Luray Caverns in Virginia. He immediately ran over to our table, bypassed me, my dad, my mom, my brother, my other brother and then eventually landed at Chris. "Chris!" he yelled. "Pack your bags--we're going to Luraaaay Caverns!" It was probably the cutest thing he has ever said, since it was filled with pure excitement. Have any of you ever been to Luray Caverns before? Well if not, the look on Chris' face would have said it all. It's great for kids and they would have a fun time together, but it's not the most exciting place. Just leave it at that.

So the other weekend, Chris, my nephew, my niece and myself headed to Luray Caverns for the day. The day trip proved to fun, but very tiring nonetheless. Before we left, I decided to make some homemade vanilla ice cream with the kids since I knew they would love some after our long day. It's something very easy to make and they really enjoyed watching it transform from a liquid to ice cream. My niece is a chocolate fanatic, so I made sure to buy chocolate syrup and chocolate sprinkles for her to load up on top. This ice cream was fantastic and got rave reviews from the kids (and the adults!). My brother even said it tasted similar to Häagen-Dazs. Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 2 cups half-and-half cream
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

In a bowl, combine all ingredients; stir until the sugar is dissolved. Freeze in an ice cream freezer according to manufacturer's directions. Yield: 1-1/2 quarts.

Note: For raspberry or strawberry ice cream, substitute 2 cups fresh or frozen berries for 1 cup of half-and-half. Puree berries in a blender or food processor; stir into the other ingredients before freezing. If adding candy pieces, chocolate chips or cookie pieces, add them to the mixture about 10-15 minutes before the ice cream is done.

Source: Taste of Homes