By July, and the summer is deep and hot and full of the particular generosity that the Lowcountry brings to its warmest season. The generosity is in the tomatoes from Robert's garden, in the okra from the James Island farm stand, in the peaches that are at their peak, in the shrimp that Robert brings from the harbor on Saturday mornings. The summer feeds the kitchen. The kitchen feeds the family. The family feeds the writing. The writing feeds the blog. The blog feeds the readers. The readers feed me back. The cycle is the life.
The Librarian's Table will be published in October — four months away, the second book, the book that pairs food with literature, the book that is the librarian and the cook combined. Catherine sent the cover design: a photograph of the desk with a bowl of soup and a stack of books. The cover is the life. The life is the cover.
Carrie will move to Athens for UGA in August. The master's in education. Two years. The becoming-a-teacher that has been the plan since Fukuoka. The plan is becoming the life.
I made peach ice cream — the annual ritual, the hand-cranked sacrament. Robert and I cranked together this year, the two of us on the piazza, the ice cream freezing while the evening cooled and the cicadas sang and the summer did what summers do: it was generous.
The ice cream we made that evening on the piazza wasn’t complicated — it never is, and that’s the whole point. Whether you’re cranking by hand or shaking it in a bag, the ritual is the same: you’t standing still, you’re making something, and the person beside you is part of what gets made. This Vanilla Ice Cream In A Bag captures that same spirit — simple, generous, and best done with someone you love while the cicadas do their work in the trees.
Vanilla Ice Cream In A Bag
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 20 minutes | Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups ice cubes
- 1/3 cup rock salt (or coarse kosher salt)
- 1 gallon-size zip-top freezer bag
- 1 quart-size zip-top freezer bag
Instructions
- Mix the cream. In the small quart-size zip-top bag, combine the heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. Seal the bag tightly, pressing out as much air as possible.
- Prepare the ice bath. Fill the large gallon-size zip-top bag halfway with ice cubes. Add the rock salt and shake briefly to distribute.
- Nest the bags. Place the sealed cream bag inside the ice-and-salt bag. Seal the outer bag securely.
- Shake. Hold the bag with gloved hands or a folded towel (the bag gets very cold). Shake, squeeze, and knead the bag continuously for 8—10 minutes, until the cream has thickened to a soft-serve consistency.
- Check and serve. Open the outer bag and remove the inner bag. Wipe the outside of the cream bag dry. Snip a corner or spoon directly from the bag into bowls. Serve immediately for soft-serve texture, or transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze 30 minutes for a firmer scoop.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 430 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 38g | Carbs: 20g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 85mg