Heart of Cooking

Winter weather doesn’t stop this Tennessee family from churning up a homemade favorite.

•This family knows that homemade ice cream transcends any season.

SOME SAY ICE CREAM MAKING IS MEANT FOR SUMMER, but for the Bolden family, it’s focused much more on family than the weather. “Homemade ice cream is what we make when we’re all together,” says Field Editor Andrea Bolden. “Grandma’s ice cream was always part of our childhood, and we still make it for most of our gatherings.

“We grew up on a farm, and homemade ice cream was a cheap treat since we had eggs from chickens, milk from the cows and berries from the garden. We made it all summer together, but one year, my cousin from Arizona missed our family reunion and the traditional ice cream treat. He was back for Christmas and it was just 30 degrees out, but he insisted we sit on the porch and make Grandma’s ice cream, just like when we were kids. We turned the crank over and over, shivering in our hats and mittens. We were all tickled, but Grandma worried the neighbors would think we were crazy. We still treasure that memory.”

Today, Andrea’s sister Debbie is usually in charge of the ice cream making, and recently whipped up a batch during her daughter’s birthday party. “The kids were fascinated—they’d seen ice cream only come from a container,” says Andrea. “They fought over taking turns turning the crank and adding ingredients just like we did.”

But this recipe is more than just basic ice cream. “It’s all-purpose,” Andrea says. “We tweak it to make boiled custard or banana cream pie filling, and it’s the base for so many flavors of ice cream—you can add anything to it. A recipe this special will be part of our family traditions for a long time.”