I scream!  You scream!  We all scream for ice cream!
 
Few things can touch the pure, sweet joy that ice cream brings to little kids (and big kids) on a hot summer afternoon.  There are countless ice cream novelties and frozen concoctions available to buy, but nothing beats the flavour of real homemade ice cream.

Ice cream makers take simple ingredients like cream, milk, sugar and flavorings, and magically create delicious ice cream at the touch of a button.  These marvelous machines can also deliver frozen beverages, sorbets, yogurt and fruit juice slush.   If you or your kids are looking for a frozen tasty treat on a hot summer day, your ice cream maker can whip one up.

This machine that brings so much sweet pleasure is actually a very simple concept:

1. Inside the ice cream maker, seated in its belly, are storage containers.  You will pour your blended ingredients into this storage container. 

2. The mixture is then drawn into the freezing chamber that is edged with refrigerant liners.

3. Electric motors attached to agitator blades of the mixer next fluff up the ingredients to make them creamier.

4. As the ice cream begins to firm up, and sets in the refrigerated chamber.

5. To serve, simply raise the handle on the dispenser unit, and the ice cream will fall into your bowl or ice cream cone.

  Years ago, families gathered together to take turns making ice cream. The ingredients were mixed in a prepared metal container that was stored in a mixture of salt and ice. Parents and the children then took turns stirring the ingredients with a wooden paddle, or turning a crank connected to mixing paddles.  It was tiring work, but with sweet results.

Years later, the metal container would be fit with a motorized paddle agitator. Today, of course, ice cream makers require almost no effort at all, to be able to create the same delicious homemade flavour.

If you have kids or grandkids, pick up an ice cream maker to create a sweet treat for any occasion.