We bought a White Mountain Ice Cream Freezer about 5-6 years ago and had only used it a handful of times. This past summer I started experimenting with a few recipes and by summer’s end we had produced a handful we really liked. I think our all time favorite is Mint Chocolate Chip, followed by Vanilla Bean ice cream. Last night we whipped (or I should say churned) up 2 batches of ice cream: Vanilla Bean & Blueberry Vanilla……delicious! Here are the recipe for the Vanilla Bean:

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
6 egg yolks
2 cups milk
4 cups heavy cream
1 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean

In a double broiler combine the egg yolks, milk, cream, and sugar and heat at med/low temp. Cook the mixture on med/low til it coats the back of a wooden spoon (like a thick custard). Cut the vanilla bean at both ends and scrape out the seeds. Add seeds and vanilla bean to mixture and continue to stir til the mixture thickens about 5-10 min. Pour mixture into a pitcher and let it cool in the frig for a few hours. After ice cream mixture has cooled (remove the vanilla bean) pour it into the ice cream canister and churn til you can churn no more (about 20-25 min). Pour ice cream into a freezer container and pop it into the frig for a few hours to harden and enjoy!! Great topped with chocolate syrup or by itself!