Grandma Ercyl's Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

E and I got an ice cream maker as a wedding gift from Chrissy. Things have been a little hectic, so we used it for the first time on Super Bowl Sunday!

My grandma Ercyl makes fabulous vanilla ice cream, so we used her recipe. Making ice cream requires prep work.

Prep work:

• The night before you are going to make ice cream, put the "bowl" of the ice cream maker into the back of your freezer. It needs to freeze.
  
• You should make the ice cream mix the night before and refrigerate it overnight so it is cold enough.
  

We used a 1 1/2 quart size ice cream maker; our recipe is based on that.

1st set of ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of cream
• 1 1/2 cups of whole milk
  

1) Beat the eggs until they are blended (but don't overdo it).
2) Add cream and milk and mix well (but not too long).
3) Set these aside.

2nd set of ingredients:

• 1 cup of whole milk
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/4 tsp. of salt

1) Cook milk, sugar, and salt until they are between 165 and 180 degrees Fahrenheit (we also got a cooking thermometer as a wedding present. Yay!). It should not be boiling. You need to stir it the whole time. Once it gets between 165 and 180 degrees, cool it a little (but do not let it get below 165 degrees).

2) Pour a small amount of this hot mixture into the egg mixture that you set aside. Do this slowly (you don't want to cook the eggs). Keep stirring.

3) Keep adding the hot mixture into the egg mixture until it is well blended (this heats up the eggs so that they are safe to eat).

** If you accidentally cook some of the eggs, strain them out.**

4) Cool this in the refrigerator until it is really cold (at least 4 to 6 hours; it is better to just do it the night before).

5) Once it is cool and you are about to make the ice cream, add 1 TBSP. of vanilla (some people add more). Don't forget this part :)

6) Now follow the instructions on your ice cream maker.