We Are Having A Baby! ...Strawberry Ice Cream

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Tomorrow is B Day....or Baby Day.  Yep, tomorrow Lindaraxa will be a grandmother for the third time; but today is the day we pick up the other two to come spend some time at our house while their mother concentrates on doing her thing.  And we do ours...spoil them rotten.

The house looks like camp.  My daughter has organized all kinds of activities to keep them entertained and Nani has planned fun menus, healthy and otherwise, for the next four days.  Did I just say four days?!

In the past I used to spend endless hours making stuff ahead of time that I thought they would enjoy.  Finally I learned my lesson, go with the flow and cook as you go.  My granddaughter, though, loves Nani surprises, as in cakes and cookies, and she has already asked me to bake a cake.  But Nani has a real treat up her sleeve this time...homemade ice cream! and what could be better than making homemade strawberry ice cream.

The recipe I chose comes from Chef John from Food Wishes and is, in my criteria, the one that makes the most sense.  It skips the custard base thus rendering a more intense flavored cream, something I prefer when making fresh strawberry ice cream. It was perfect except, to my taste, I would reduce the vanilla extract to 1/2 tsp instead of one.  I find that premium vanilla extracts tend to be stronger than normal and can overpower instead of enhancing the flavor.  Moreover, I ended up using more strawberries than the recipe called for and my blender did not have the capacity for more than 2 cups of heavy cream. So I skipped the one cup of milk. It was smooth and creamy, just like Chef John's.

I am posting the original recipe with a link to the video which I know you will enjoy.  As to a photo, frankly it is a quarter to nine and I feel like it's four o'clock in the morning.  I don't know how mothers do it and I am incredulous that I did it. But I was in my twenties then and now... let's just say I am a little bit older and boy do I feel the pain.

As of tomorrow there will be three little ones running around and I wonder what it will be like when my daughter and I babysit next time the parents take off.

Unlike the other two grandchildren, we won't know the sex of the baby until he or she is born around one o'clock tomorrow afternoon.  I have to say it makes it more exciting.  My granddaughter, being the eldest child, will receive a call from her dad when he gets to the recovery room and she will then make the announcement to the rest of the family.  I will let you know when I am fully recovered.

Ingredients:

12 ounces trimmed strawberries (one of those baskets should get you close)

3/4 cup white sugar

very tiny pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk

2 cups heavy cream

Photos 1 and 2 Google

Photo # 3 Food Wishes