In the early 80s, when we lived in Massachusetts, I bought an ice cream maker called a Lickety Split. It was all plastic, except for the two bowls, which were maybe aluminum or stainless steel. It costs around $25 and it could make two different pints of ice cream simultaneously. A few years later, Ben and Jerry’s and Haagen Dazs entered the freezer aisles, and eventually my Lickety Split entered the basement shelves of my appliance cemetery.

But the covers of food magazines this year brought back my love of homemade ice cream. I may have mentioned this to my friend, Lisa. In early June, just a few days after my birthday, there was a notice to pick up a package at the post office. I dragged it home and inside was a Cuisinart Frozen Yogurt-Sorbet and Ice Cream Maker, the very one my magazines said was the best. And it was smack dab during that short, three-week strawberry season.

This appliance is a fantastic machine. If you keep its bowl, which encases water, in the freezer, you are almost 25 minutes from heavenly frozen desserts. You can eat it immediately, but I pack it in quart plastic packages and will keep it more than a week. This is one of the easiest recipes; I have made it three times (2 quarts at a time). Next will be fresh peaches or blueberry gelato. Later in the fall and winter, perhaps chocolate ice cream with Heath bars. Should you buy this particular ice cream, it costs around $100 or even less. E-mail me when you are ready to begin if you have any questions. And let me know how many others you come up with yourself.

Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream

From Cuisinart’s small brochure that came with the ice cream maker

Yield: about 14 ½ cup servings

3 cups fresh ripe strawberries, stemmed and sliced

4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 ½ cups sugar, divided

1 ½ cups whole milk

2 ¾ cups heavy cream

1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla ice cream

In a small bowl, combine strawberries with lemon juice and ½ cup sugar. Stir gently and allow berries to macerate in the juices for 2 hours. Strain berries, reserving juices. Mash or puree half the berries.

In a medium mixing bowl, use a hand mixer on low speed to combine milk and remaining granulated sugar until sugar is dissolved, about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream, reserved berry juice, mashed berries and vanilla. Turn machine on; pour mixture into freezer bowl and let mix until thickened, about 20 to 25 minutes. Five minutes before mixing is complete, add rserved sliced strawberries and let mix in completely. The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture. For a firmer consistency, transfer ice cream to an airtight container and placed in freezer for about 2 hours or longer. Remove from the freezer about 15 minutes before serving.

Lee White lives in Groton. She can be reached at leeawhite@aol.com.

ON THE SIDE

I am constantly pleased at the restaurants and on our shoreline and I also love the farmstands available for us who love to cook with fresh ingredients from late May (lettuces, peas and radishes), June strawberries, early sweet corn from the middle of our state and, of course, everything else at our disposal until late September.

But sometimes, when things aren’t available locally, I might buy a cantaloupe in February. I also, carefully, eat tomatoes from Mexica during the winter. So, twice, to try Mystic’s Engine Room’s hamburger, rare, I also asked for a slice of tomato and lettuce for my burger. Both times waitstaff said they didn’t have tomatoes, that they were neither local nor seasonal, that their restaurant is farm to table. We are lucky to have had many farm to table restaurants. But, please, not even a slice of tomato for a burger, or, good gracious, a BLT? Please allow my gentle rant.