Classic All-American Summer Treat

With the unofficial start of summer coming soon (hello Memorial Day!) I wanted to share with you a classic all-American summer treat! To me, there isn’t a more classic American summer treat than a bowl or cone of cold, smooth, creamy, delicious ice cream! It’s something enjoyed the entire year but especially during the hot summer months.

This week, I am joining a group of talented bloggers to bring you all kinds of red, white, and blue inspiration for the season and holidays ahead! Links to their blogs can be found at the end of this post. If you found me through the blog hop…Welcome! I hope you will cozy up and stay a while!

For this patriotic blog hop, I am sharing with you a recipe for homemade vanilla ice cream. When I was deciding on what I would share for this blog post, I kept coming back to ice cream. I have so many memories that revolve around summer and specifically ice cream, that a bowl of the sweet stuff takes me right back to my childhood and that magical time…summer vacation.

I grew up in a second floor apartment with my parents and younger sister. My parents did not have much money growing up. They either could not afford or were too cheap to install air conditioner units in our apartment (I have never asked which it was!). So, once summer came, our house was hot! Like hot enough where you couldn’t sit down on a chair because you would either stick to the wood or stick to the fabric. In the late afternoon, to escape the oppressiveness of the heat, my parents would take us on bike rides in developing neighborhoods around where we lived. I remember pedaling my bike as fast as I could go to feel the rushing air against my hot skin. We would then head home for a bowl of ice cream to refresh ourselves and cool us off for the night before bed. One of the best parts of where I grew up though, was the family that lived next door and my childhood best friend, Alissa. Alissa and I were the same age and when my family moved into our apartment, we instantly became best friends. There are many memories I have of growing up with Alissa (including our yearly Halloween party, our make believe adoption agency, the hours of house I would make her play which I can’t believe she continued to be friends with me, these are just a few!), but some of my favorite memories were our trips with her family to get ice cream. We had the best time. We would laugh uncontrollably (at what I do not remember!), gorge on ice cream, and just have the time of our lives (oh how I miss those carefree summer days!!!).

Now, anyone can run to the grocery store to grab a gallon of ice cream or head to the local ice cream shop for an ice cream cone (we do this all the time!), but there is something nostalgic about making your own. Why not try it this summer! Last week’s blog post “Cozy Updates to Transition Your Home From Spring to Summer” also included a section on summer treats, you can check out that post here. There really is no better tasting ice cream than homemade, and it is extremely easy to make. I made classic vanilla ice cream, well because what is more classic and American than vanilla ice cream?! Also, this vanilla ice cream recipe can easily be customized for whatever flavor ice cream your family enjoys. More on that in a second! We do have a one-quart electric ice cream maker which makes this process very easy. If you do not have an ice cream maker consider investing in one (they are relatively inexpensive). Here is one very similar to the one we have, this one is a two-quart so makes a larger batch of ice cream, this one is super cute and only makes a pint for more of a single serving.

To go along with our classic vanilla ice cream, I baked a batch of sugar cookies cut out in the shapes of stars, frosted with a tub of Betty Crocker classic white frosting (the tub of frosting is key to these sugar cookies), and decorated with red, white, and blue sugar & star sprinkles. I baked a couple of batches of these and froze them so that we can have star cookies for the 4th of July holiday, so fun right?! You can find my sugar cookie recipe here.

This summer, I hope you try making your own homemade ice cream! You will make new memories along with some new traditions, all while reflecting back on summer memories and traditions from years gone by.

Find my recipe below for creamy, delicious, homemade vanilla ice cream.

There’s more red, white, and blue inspiration for you! Check out the blog posts from these talented bloggers that are joining me this week:

• Red, White, & Blue Summer Inspiration from Fabiana of Ciao! Newport Beach
• Flag Day Fruit Pizza from Stacey of Green Valley Gable
• Sprinkle in American Color Entryway from Jessica of Itty Bitty Farmhouse
• Red, White, & Blue Vintage Americana Quilt Finds from Brittany of White & Wood Grain
• USA Made Patriotic Décor from Stephanie of Returning Grace

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