Did you know that the Chinese invented ice cream?

Well, if you attended our homeschool you would know that, along with gunpowder and silk, we can also thank the Chinese for one our favorite summer time treats.

You would be learning about the dangers of the Silk Road, and Marco Polo’s journeys. You would learn about life in the Forbidden City.

And best of all, for school ,you would get to make ginger ice cream, and snack on it while sitting on the deck in the sunshine!

This ice cream ball was purchased from LL Bean, but can also be bought at REI or on Amazon. It is  so much fun. You add the ingredients,  then keep the ball moving for 20 minutes, while your ice cream freezes.  We have had it for a few years, and even  take it with us on our church campout.

And, because I know you’ll want it, here’s the recipe for basic ice cream:

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream:

Mix

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups half and half (or for less rich ice cream, milk)

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Mix until sugar is dissolved, freeze according to ice cream makers instructions.

To this batch, we added a few sprinkles of ground ginger, which gave it a yummy, slighty exotic flavor.