Easy Blueberry Ice-Cream

Summertime is the time for all things cold. Popsicles, Icecream, Cold sweet tea, Lemonade, and in the south…air conditioners. It gets so hot and humid in the south that having anything cold takes precedence over pretty much anything. Rather it is swimming and bbq or in the house with the air conditioners blazing with ice cream and lemonade. In the dog days of summer ( that last month or two of summer) where is it too hot to run the A/C and you are setting the fans on the porch too high and sitting it out because running the A/C is detrimental to the power bill…yikes!

Here is one of our dog days of summer summertime treats to help us beat the heat and to help cool us down.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups cream (cold)
6 oz fresh blueberries
1 cup of sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup of milk (cold)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:

*Before starting this be sure to freeze your ice cream base at least 24 hours in advance. You want the base to be as frozen as possible.

1. In a saucepan or blender, blend the berries and lemon juice until smooth. Add to a saucepan and add the sugar and salt. Bring to a boil and while stirring cook for 10 minutes.
2. Remove and strain through a stainer. You do not have to do this step if you want pieces of blueberries in your ice cream.
3. Let the mixture cool to room temperature. About 1 hour.
4. remove the cream and milk from the fridge and add to the blueberry mixture. Stir or whisk until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 2 to 3 hours or overnight.
5. When ready to make attach the ice cream base to the ice cream stand. Turn the machine on and let it start to rotate. Pour in the ice cream mixture and let the ice cream mix until doubled and thick. This should take about 20 minutes.
6. You are ready to serve.

• After my ice cream is made in the ice cream maker, I like to put it in a container and chill it for 1 to 2 hours. This just helps it to set up more.
• If your ice cream becomes too hard from the freezer just let it sit out for about 10 minutes or so to help thaw it out enough to scoop it out.
• Serve this in a bowl with your favorite toppings or in an ice cream cone.
• If you are not a blueberry person you can switch out the berries to what you like. Strawberries, peaches, raspberries, mixed berries, mango.. they are all so good. This is such a wonderful and easy base to add or switch up the flavors you prefer.
• You can also use an old-fashioned ice cream maker that uses ice and rock salt OR you can make this in a big bowl in the freezer. Just follow the instructions and instead of using an ice cream maker just freeze it for 30 minutes and then stir. Keep doing this until you get the desired consistency that you like. Keep it covered.