SUMMERTIME IS HOMEMADE ICE CREAM TIME

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You can whip up some down-home(and yummy!) entertainment right in your own back yard!

Summer-with its sweltering temperatures and long, lazy evenings-is the perfect time for an old-fashioned ice cream party. And, since you'd probably prefer to avoid all the "stiffeners" and preservatives that are routinely dumped into the store-bought frozen confection, you ought to consider dusting off your old handturned freezer (or buying yourself a new one) and cranking out a natural, delicious treat for the whole family to enjoy.

Home-churned ice cream isn't nearly as hard to make as folks who've never tried it might expect . . . in fact, it's downright easyand fun-to get a picnic-full of people involved in cranking and freezing the mixture. Later, when the creamy dessert is finished, you'll experience the satisfaction of sidestepping the technological age and making a completely natural product with nothing more than healthful ingredients and good of muscle power . . . and you'll savor an unforgettable taste treat as the chilly delight slides down your throat!

CHOOSING A FREEZER

The first step in fixing home-churned ice cream is to buy a good, dependable freezer (if you don't have one on hand) from among the few models that are still commercially available. So-to help you make your choiceMOTHER took a look at two representative brands, one made by White Mountain and the other by Richmond Cedar Works.

Both of these machines have tubs made of wood, which is a better material than plastic for this purpose . . . since timber is a superior insulator and will better contain the cold-produced by the melting iceinside the freezer.

We ordered our ice cream makers from the Cumberland General Store (Dept. TMEN, Route 3, Box 479, Crossville, Tennessee 38555), but you can probably also find the same models at retail outletssuch as Sears, Roebuck and Co.--for a few dollars less than the mail order price.

If you're in the market for the "old mas ter" of ice cream freezers, you should certainly consider the classic White Mountain ... it's a real beauty! Manufactured by White Mountain Freezer, Inc. of Winchendon, Massachusetts, the four-quart model (which we examined) has a thick wooden bucket and a solid cast-metal gear frame and crank.