The Crank 
Growing up our homemade ice cream freezer didn’t have a cord to plug it in, it had a crank on the top! My grandma Bonnie was in charge of the homemade ice cream at any summer social event and it was not an easy process! She started with filling up her empty half gallon paper milk containers up with water and freezing them. These paper milk containers were the same kind the kids drink out of at school but they were half gallon size, back in the day. She started recycling before recycling was cool! Then she would mix up actual ingredients like sugar, vanilla and eggs for the mixture. She got out her wooden homemade ice cream maker and would add the ice cream mix to the canister, fill the rest with milk and place the top on it. Next she would add the canister to the wooden mixer and secure it with the crank that goes on top. She would bust up the ice she had frozen in the paper milk containers with a hammer and place the ice in the freezer, add rock salt and start to hand crank the freezer. It took a good 30-45 minutes sitting on a small stool, cranking that ice cream mixture, before it would get good and frozen! She would break up several containers of ice and keep adding salt. But that thick homemade vanilla ice cream was so good!
Creative Ice Cream Flavor Day
July 1st is National Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day! After a day on the lake, fishing the river or hiking the trails, why not cool off with some homemade ice cream at your cabin! You could bring all kinds of fun toppings and syrups to create your favorite flavor! Bring along ice cream cones, bowls or cookies to add more ways to eat your ice cream!
Make It A Competition
If you have a crowd of people together anytime in the month of July you could have a competition of homemade ice cream to get everyone involved. Every family, or couple, or girls against boys, however you want to break the group up, they are asked to bring their favorite flavor of homemade ice cream! Have lots of bowls ready for taste testing! Have everyone judge and then give out prizes to the most creative, or the best flavor or for the best try! Everyone would have a great time working together and making memories in the kitchen! 
It’s good anywhere and at any time!
Having homemade ice cream would not need a special day, a festive holiday or a specific reason! It’s good anywhere and at any time! Just bring your freezer, your ice and rock salt and stay cool in July!
