I have a confession… when I met Lisa at Camp Blogaway, I was jealous.  She blogs at One Cook, Two Kitchens.  Two kitchens!?  Who wouldn’t want that?  Oh, and in my next life I want to come back as one of her nieces…. mandatory ice cream making?  Count me in!

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There is a genetic predisposition in my family to crave ice cream as soon as the weather gets warm.   I can’t think of anyone who is related to me who doesn’t like taking a stroll with an ice cream treat on a hot summer day.

So, being a foodie who loves to get back to the basics of cooking and baking from scratch, it only stands to reason that I would put my own spin on it, and want to make my own ice cream concoctions.

A few years ago, I purchased the Kitchen Aid Ice Cream Attachment, took it up to our lake house, and I’ve never looked back.

While we don’t have children, we love them just the same, and nothing delights me more than to bring them into the kitchen with me.  This is just part of a typical visit to our lake house.

And every child in my life, nieces, nephews, neighbouring kids, all know about my love for ice cream, and they understand that making ice cream is part of the ritual of coming to stay with us at the lake.

I believe that kids benefit from understanding their food and where it comes from.  Bless my mother, who did not allow us to eat anything with preservatives long before the word ‘preservatives’ was in the media.  Back in the ‘70s, she was reading labels, and if there was an ingredient that she didn’t recognize, it didn’t make it into our house.

As a kid, who only tasted Twinkies, Liptons Chicken Noodle Soup and Cocoa Puffs at sleepovers hosted at other kids’ houses, I thought my mother was a bit crazy, but now in my late 40s, I am grateful, and am in awe of this woman who is nearing 70 years of age, and who can easily pass for my sister.

At the lake house, we have wild blueberries and raspberries that grow in abundance during the summer months, so when kids come to visit, it’s a great opportunity to get them away from their iPhones, and back to nature with a bucket so that they can gather berries for ice cream.

 

Younger kids in particular usually jump at the chance to pick raspberries, and it’s a great way to keep them occupied.

Explaining to them where ice cream comes from – real ice cream, that is – is a great activity in itself.  It is also a great way to begin the process of teaching them about eating locally.

I also keep an herb garden for making herb-based ice creams for the grown-ups (such as basil sorbet, and lemon-thyme ice cream), but for the kids, they enjoy picking the mint, and then it also becomes an opportunity to teach kids about cool ways to think about food combinations.  They even like to help with plating dessert when they have had a hand in making it.

 

Here’s a fabulous, quick recipe for raspberry ice cream that is rich and creamy, but does not require a cooking step.  While this is not a low-fat dessert, what I love about it is that the ingredients are fresh, and local, particularly if you are fortunate enough to have a nearby world-class dairy, as we do (ours is Kawartha Dairies, also known for their fabulous line of ice creams).

 

It is interesting to see how interested kids become in wholesome ice cream like this one when they have had a direct hand in sourcing the main ingredient, raspberries.

{lisa}

 

 

 

 

• Source the ingredients (if you’re lucky they can help pick berries and herbs)
• Measure out ingredients
• Let the kids help you garnish each ice cream dish.  (We use mint that they collect from my herb garden, and a few of the reserved raspberries).

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Lisa’s blog One Cook, Two Kitchens is all about her culinary adventures from her two kitchens:  one a condo in downtown Toronto, and the other, her year-round lake house where she loves to entertain.