Belinda, funny you should ask. My girls got me one of those little Cuisinart ice cream freezers for Christmas. My first batch of anything was a couple of cups of frozen strawberries, a quart of my homemade yogurt and enough Equal to sweeten it to taste. I put everything into the food processor to chop up the frozen berries, then into the freezer, it was very, very yummy and my Dad, who is diabetic, loved it. I liked it better with sweet cherries and some grated dark chocolate, same "recipe" but different fruit. It does freeze very hard, because of the ingredients, but I just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds like Bejay does, and it scoops right out nicely. I also made my very favorite ice cream, it's just amazing for those coffee lovers among us, like me. It's another recipe I got from the Cooking Forum. Espresso-Brownie Chunk Ice Cream ================================ Fatlester - Gardenweb 1/2 pound brownies cut in 1/4 inch chunks 1 cup whole Espresso, French or vienna roast coffee beans 2 1/4 cups half and half cream 3/4 cup sugar 3 egg yolks 1 cup whipping cream . Wrap and firmly freeze the brownie chunks. Put the coffee beans on a jell-roll pan and over them with a dish towel. Using a veal pounder or the bottom of a heavy sauce pan, press to crush the beans thoroughly. (Do not substitute ground coffee) Transfer the crushed coffee beans to a medium saucepan. Add the half and half and heat it to simmering. Cover and simmer 10 minutes , then set the pan aside, off heat, for 15 minutes longer. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve into another saucepan, pressing to remove all liquid from the coffee beans; discard the solids. Stir the sugar into the strained coffee liquid and heat it to simmering. Put the egg yolks in a heatproof bowl and slowly whisk in the coffee liquid (or put the egg yolks in a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process, pouring in the coffee liquid). Cool the mixture slightly by stirring in the whipping cream. Set the bowl over ice or refrigerate until the custard is thoroughly chilled. (Can cover and refrigerate overnight). Transfer the custard to the cnaister of an ice-cream machine. Follow manufacturer's directions and churn until the ice cream is half frozen. Add frozen brownie pieces and continue churning until frozen. Serve immediately, or transfer ice cream to an airtight freezer container, seal and kep frozen until serving time. (Can freeze for several hours). Annie

I've made and like this one, although I do find that ice cream right out of the freezer is still more "soft serve" in texture. It's better if allowed to "ripen" in the freezer for a day or so. Espresso-Brownie Chunk Ice Cream ================================ Fatlester - Gardenweb 1/2 pound brownies cut in 1/4 inch chunks 1 cup whole Espresso, French or vienna roast coffee beans 2 1/4 cups half and half cream 3/4 cup sugar 3 egg yolks 1 cup whipping cream . Wrap and firmly freeze the brownie chunk. Put the coffee beans on a jell-roll pan and over them with a dish towel. Using a veal pounder or the bottom of a heavy sauce pan, press to crush the beans thoroughly. (Do not substitute ground coffee) Transfer the crushed coffee beans to a medium saucepan. Add the half and half cream and heat it to simmering. Cover and simmer 10 minutes , then set the pan aside, off heat, for 15 minutes longer. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve into another saucepan, pressing to remove all liquid from the coffee beans; discard the solids. Stir the sugar into the strained coffee liquid and heat it to simmering. Put the egg yolks in a heatproof bowl and slowly whisk in the coffee liquid (or put the egg yolks in a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process, pouring in the coffee liquid). Cool the mixture slightly by stirring in the whipping cream. Set the bowl over ice or refrigerate until the custard is thoroughly chilled. (Can cover and refrigerate overnight). Transfer the custard to the canister of an ice-cream machine. Follow manufacturere's directions and churn until the ice cream is half frozen. Add frozen brownie pieces and continue churning until frozen. Serve immediately, or transfer ice cream to an airtight freezer container, seal and keep frozen until serving time. (Can freeze for several hours). This is one of Ann T's recipes, I love it but as Ashley pointed out "it's not chocolate". LOL Home Cookin 4.9 Chapter: Thibeaults Table Brown Sugar Pecan Ice Cream ============================ http://www.essetti.com/applncs/frznrecipes.htm#brsugar 1 cup milk 1 scant packed cup brown sugar 4 egg yolks 3 cups heavy cream 1 cup pecan pieces . Heat the cream. milk and sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is hot. place the egg yolks in a bowl and whisk briefly. Still whisking, slowly pour in about 1 cup of the hot liquid. When the mixture is blended, slowly pour it into the liquid in the saucepan, whisking constantly. Cook over heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon, about 8 minutes. Be sure not let the mixture boil at any time or will curdle. strain into a clean bowl and cool thoroughly. Stir in the nuts. Pour the mixture into the bowl of the machine and freeze. Makes 5 cups. Servings: 4 Now, I gotta get out my ice cream machine. My favorite treat right now is my homemade yogurt mixed with some frozen fruit, sweetener if you want. Frozen yogurt. It freezes as hard as a rock, though! Annie

What a great gift Rachellen. I'm pretty boring when it comes to ice cream. I almost always order "plain" chocolate. But I have made Both the Espresso-Brownie Chunk and the Brown Sugar Pecan and both were a big hit. Here is what you do to get swirls of caramel or chocolate in your ice cream. When the ice cream is ready, place some of it in a container, drizzle in the chocolate sauce, and swirl it just a bit. Use the tip of a knife. Don't mix. Add more ice cream and swirl again. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Espresso-Brownie Chunk Ice Cream ================================ Fatlester - Gardenweb 1/2 pound brownies cut in 1/4 inch chunks 1 cup whole Espresso, French or vienna roast coffee beans 2 1/4 cups half and half cream 3/4 cup sugar 3 egg yolks 1 cup whipping cream . Wrap and firmly freeze the brownie chunks Put the coffee beans on a jell-roll pan and over them with a dish towel. Using a veal pounder or the bottom of a heavy sauce pan, press to crush the beans thoroughly. (Do not substitute ground coffee) Transfer the crushed coffee beans to a medium saucepan. Add the half and half cream and heat it to simmering. Cover and simmer 10 minutes , then set the pan aside, off heat, for 15 minutes longer. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve into another saucepan, pressing to remove all liquid from the coffee beans; discard the solids. Stir the sugar into the strained coffee liquid and heat it to simmering. Put the egg yolks in a heatproof bowl and slowly whisk in the coffee liquid (or put the egg yolks in a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process, pouring in the coffee liquid). Cool the mixture slightly by stirring in the whipping cream. Set the bowl over ice or refrigerate until the custard is thoroughly chilled. (Can cover and refrigerate overnight). Transfer the custard to the canister of an ice-cream machine. Follow manufacturer's directions and churn until the ice cream is half frozen. Add frozen brownie pieces and continue churning until frozen. Serve immediately, or transfer ice cream to an airtight freezer container, seal and keep frozen until serving time. (Can freeze for several hours). Home Cookin Chapter: Thibeaults Table - Icecream Brown Sugar Pecan Ice Cream ============================ http://www.essetti.com/applncs/frznrecipes.htm#brsugar 1 cup milk 1 scant packed cup brown sugar 4 egg yolks 3 cups heavy cream 1 cup pecan pieces . Heat the cream. milk and sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is hot. place the egg yolks in a bowl and whisk briefly. Still whisking, slowly pour in about 1 cup of the hot liquid. When the mixture is blended, slowly pour it into the liquid in the saucepan, whisking constantly. Cook over heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon, about 8 minutes. Be sure not let the mixture boil at any time or will curdle. strain into a clean bowl and cool thoroughly. Stir in the nuts. Pour the mixture into the bowl of the machine and freeze. Makes 5 cups.

We don't have Bluebell here either,although we do have 3 walmarts in our town,but they sell dryers(edy's).Ralphs has a brand now called Deluxe and the one i like the best is called Caramel Surprise or something like that .It has big chunks of chocolate and when you bite into that it's filled with caramel.They have lots of different flavors,and the price is good,most of the time they're 2/4.00,and like most it's not a full half gallon.The first time i got it i got the 2 for only 2.00 for both as i had a 1.00 coupon,which they doubled.Think i still have another coupon as well. Haagen Daaz has lemon?? I'll have to check that out.One of my favorite flavors,but hard to find. Kathi