The Walden Effect: Farming, simple living, permaculture, and invention.

Summer crush

crushing ice with hammer for ice cream
Anna is becoming an expert at crushing ice for homemade ice cream.


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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.



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While using an electric or hand-cranked ice cream maker will get you to your sweet reward a little easier, it's not a necessity.

Here's how to make do without one:

Combine the ingredients for your ice cream mixture following the recipe. Chill the mixture over an ice bath. Meanwhile, freeze an empty freezer-safe shallow bowl or pan. Stainless steel works well for this. Place the cold mixture into the cold pan. Chill for about 20 minutes and check your ice cream. As the edges start to freeze, stir the mixture rapidly with a whisk or spatula to break up the partially frozen ice cream. This will help make it smooth and creamy. You cannot over-beat. Return to the freezer. Stir ice cream vigorously every 30 minutes until it is firmly frozen. This may be repeated 4 to 5 times until mixture is smooth and creamy. If ice cream becomes too hard, place it into the refrigerator until it becomes soft enough to beat and continue the process. Ripen the ice cream by storing it in a covered freezer container until ready to serve.

Comment by Darry Sun Jun 19 16:06:04 2016
What is the chain hanging from Anna's nose!!!!!
Comment by sheila Sun Jun 19 21:31:44 2016
A rocket surgeon is the smartest you can be.
Comment by Chris Sun Jun 19 21:43:48 2016

I second Darry's comment, I read about this on David Lebovitz's blog and haven't went back to the old method of having to have ice and salt. It always seemed like such a waste of ice and salt. I also hardly ever use eggs and it turns out great.

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2007/07/making-ice-crea-1/

Comment by Nita Mon Jun 20 10:35:22 2016

Darry and Nita --- It looks like I'm going to have to make another round of ice cream to try out the new method. What a hardship! :-)

Sheila --- That's the chain holding up the counter above our convertible bathtub. Nope, I didn't get a huge, scary piercing. :-)

Chris --- I'm amazed you could tell what was on the shirt from that oblique view. You win the prize!

Comment by anna Mon Jun 20 12:52:27 2016





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