Making ice cream for the 4th of July has been a tradition with our family since my mother’s father was a kid. Even though both my grandparents are gone now, their kids are keeping the tradition alive.
We had to push the gathering to July 5th this year, but my mother and 3 of her 5 siblings plus spouses, children and grandchildren all gathered for a family cookout that, as always, ended with ice cream. Because one of my mom’s brothers now lives in my grandparents’ house, we are still gathering at the same house we have been going to for well over 40 years.
The ice cream makers (my mom Linda in the center, my dad Ray in front, then two of my uncles Dave and Bill to the right in back, my brother Ray on the left, and Dave’s wife Karen) are still stirring up fun for my children and their cousins.
The Conaway Family basic ice cream recipe is:
Print
The Conaway Family Basic Ice Cream
- Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 T vanilla
- scant tablespoon table salt
- 2.5 qts half and half
Instructions
Mix all ingredients and place in ice cream maker until ready (soft serve consistency) then enjoy, or place in freezer until desired hardness achieved.
Notes
Variations for different flavors:
Chocolate ice cream also has 1 – 2 cans Hershey’s Syrup, depends on how strong you want the chocolate flavor to be.
For the black raspberry we add 12 ounces Smucker’s black raspberry jelly. We used to use black raspberry syrup, but it got harder to find.
The butter pecan has 1.5 quarts half and half instead, plus 1 quart of Southern butter pecan coffee creamer, and 2 cups chopped pecans.
The French vanilla had 1.5 quarts half and half, and 1 quart French vanilla creamer.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Freeze Time: 2 hours
Keywords: basic ice cream, ice cream, ice cream base
Guest blogger Melissa lives in the heart of Ohio with her husband and two children. This is her first piece for Country Life.
