I Scream, You Scream...

As thrifty parents of three, living on a teacher's salary, my parents were always careful about how they spent their money. So treats were few, far between, and more special for it being that way.

A favorite treat outing all the family loved was going to Ferndale's, the ice cream shop. We would hover over the display case, noses pressed against the glass, trying to decide between the rich, tantalizing flavors and whether to have the regular cone or a sugar cone. After the crucial decisions were reached we were handed our single scoop cones and walked out of the store, happily licking. Once, as my father was unlocking the car, I gave such a happy lick that my scoop rolled right off the cone and landed, plop, on the sidewalk. Too bad that cameras weren't there to capture the dramatic performance that I gave; I would have been a shoo-in for an Oscar. As it was, I was awarded an extra scoop, the clerk saying it was her fault for not properly smooshing the ice cream down into the cone.

The morals of the story? First, if you're grieving, don't hold it in. Second, be nice to children because they don't forget. And third, ice cream is worth crying about.

So, you can see how it is with ice cream and me. We have history. So it wasn't just a passing glance that I gave to David Lebovitz's post about Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream. Now the name alone is quite a mouthful, but it was the pictures that drew me back again and again. My daughter would walk by me drooling over the pictures and say, "You're looking at that again? When are you going to make it?" Well, with arm-twisting like that, how could I refuse?

I had never made salter butter caramels before and was a bit intimidated, especially the part about not stopping even to wipe your nose. I was really pleased with how well the caramel part turned out but I was unsure about the ice cream part of it. I think I didn't cook the custard long enough. How thick is thickened? The ice cream never really hardened. I was unsure if this was because of the Donvier ice cream freezer that I used or a cooking error on my part. Even after being stored in the freezer it had the consistency of soft-serve ice cream. But that's OK by me. What counts is the taste and the taste is amazing! It is smooth, thick, rich and utterly delicious! No need to add any extra topping or sauces - the flavor shines all by itself.

I'm not going to bother putting the recipe here because you can get it from David Lebovitz's post, plus then you can drool over his other excellent recipes, be educated by his erudite posts about everything from salt to horse milk, and laugh out loud at least once a page.