Iowa Ice Cream Road Trip at Sweet Treats in Jewell, Iowa

We wrapped up our 7th Annual Iowa Ice Cream Road Trip by stopping at Sweet Treats in Jewell, Iowa.  This seasonal ice cream stand serves homemade ice cream every night during the summer and is popular at area events in their ice cream truck, as well as a long time vendor at the Des Moines Farmers Market.

Family Fun at the Franklin County Fair

***The 2022 Franklin County Fair is July 12-17.  Some activities may differ from the 2018 Fair.***

Today marks the official start to one of our family's favorite times of the year, our local Franklin County Fair in Hampton, Iowa.  Yesterday was entry day and last night we were in the parade, so to say that excitement and enthusiasm for the fair is high would be an understatement.

The kids and I all exhibited in the Open Show, our oldest Mr. K has some Clover Kid exhibits and Mr. K and Miss A are showing bottle lambs and feeder pigs this year.  Besides all of our projects at the fair, the kids are also excited for the fun family activities happening daily around the fair.

Celebrate with Homemade Ice Cream

I love how food can make us think of special memories and traditions, and in our family, one food that is tied to pretty much every celebration is Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream.  I thought this would be perfect to share today as part of one of my blogger friends, Ally's, virtual baby shower.  Ally blogs at Ally's Sweet and Savory Eats where she shares lots of simple and delicious recipes.  She is expecting her third child in mid-May, and Yudith at Blissfully Delicious and Steph at Been There, Baked That thought it'd be great if some fellow Iowa Food Bloggers put together some recipes for a virtual baby shower for Ally.

Besides Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream being a classic celebration food for my family, I also think it is a must have for every pregnant woman and a perfect treat at a baby shower.  (Plus I know Ally has been craving sweets during this pregnancy!)

Before I share my recipe, I need to clue you into my top two tips to make perfect Homemade Ice Cream:

1. You have to use a good quality vanilla.  I feel like you can never go wrong with Watkins Vanilla.
2. You need to use a classic, 4 qt. or 6 qt., electric ice cream maker like this one.  In my opinion, the older, the better.  I actually use a hand me down ice cream maker from my in-laws that they got at the beginning of their marriage.

Alright, done with the tips, now to dive into a delicious bowl of Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream (that is after about 30-40 minutes of letting your ice cream maker turn!)

4 eggs
2 1/2 cups sugar
pinch of salt
2 Tbsp vanilla
1 quart half & half
1/2 gallon whole milk

Whisk eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla and half & half together.  Pour into canister.  Then pour whole milk up to fill line.  Put canister into ice cream bucket with ice and ice cream salt around canister and let run 30-40 minutes until thick and smooth.  Enjoy at your next celebration!

Congratulations early to Ally and be sure to check out the rest of the virtual baby shower recipes by checking out both Yudith and Steph's host pages.  Michelle at Simplify, Live, Love, Kierstan at Life in Iowa, Jenny at In The Kitchen with Jenny and Jenni at Jenni Eats are also all participating in today's virtual baby shower.

When you think about planning a baby shower, what foods would you include?  Remember to Comment for  Cause!