Coconut Milk Ice Cream

The ice cream I made last night is tasty stuff! My old favorite flavor of milkshake from Sonic was coconut cream pie shake. This is very similar, but without any sugar! The recipe is simple, and if you have a good ice cream maker, it is a snap to make. I had a few problems getting mine in the maker, and getting the lid on, but the dogs loved cleaning up what I spilled. My son Pearson came to the rescue when I just didn't seem to have enough hands. Now, I will remember to assemble everything before I dump in the cream mixture. Lesson learned.

Because of my little mishap, and the time I lost switching bowls, mine may not have set up as well as it would have. We ate some soft serve style and froze the rest. After it has been in the freezer overnight, it is far too frozen to be scoopable. I let it sit on the counter a while, then we had more luck. I did still have to shave it a bit. That is fine though---the taste is worth it. Way better than that stuff they can't even call ice cream. Just what is "frozen dessert" anyway? I hate to think what is really in there. Don't you love it when they call it a cone of soft serve? Soft serve what? I remember one summer when my boys were little, we got them a treat from the ice cream truck. Pearson got a confection that looked like a Ninja Turtle. After a couple of bites, it fell off the stick. Green residue from that treat stayed in our grass and on the driveway for months. Eeeuuww! We never did that again.

I digress--now back to my real ice cream. I read online that if you add a spoon of vodka, the freezing chemistry is changed, and you won't get the ice crystals common in home made ice cream. I may try that some time, but we don't drink around here, and I wasn't about to send my sweet hubby to the store for that!

Coconut Milk Ice Cream

14.5 ounce can coconut milk
1 pint half and half
3/4 to 1 cup sweetener of choice (or equivalent)
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of xanthan gum

Mix all the ingredients together. Pour into an ice cream freezer and follow directions for that model.

We planned on eating Father's Day dinner out tonight, but John has a migraine. We opted to stay home. Of course, that menu spot was empty, so I threw together a casserole using leftovers from last night's Hobo dinners. I added a can of Spam-like loaf from Aldi, some extra cauliflower and American cheese slices. They melt so nicely and make their own sauce. SO simple for comfort food. Hope he feels better for the big day tomorrow. Andrew is having company over and I need to pick up a bit. Living with a house of men does have it's neatness problems!