Grandma's Hands

Used to make this treat and the recipe must be over 60 years old because my older sister remembers this ice cream. I had to send her the recipe, too.

Disclaimer:  Please keep in mind that this recipe was extracted from a 4' 9" small wonder-woman who never wrote recipes. I had her make the ice cream so I could get an idea of ingredient measurements. Her cupped palms were the only useful measuring spoons, if you get my drift.

OK, for those of you who asked for it, here it is. 

Ingredients:
Egg yolks  - 3 large or 4 medium.  (Fresh as possible, purchased locally is best.)

1 14 oz. can of Sweetened Condensed Milk (not evaporated milk)

2 Tablespoons of cold tap water.

3 teaspoons of Pure Vanilla Extract

1 Cup of crushed cookies of choice (Oreo's or Lorna Doones* were her cookies of choice)

2 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream.  Whipped to soft peaks. (Do not use artificial whipped toppings)

To make:
1. In a large glass bowl, beat the egg yolks, water, and vanilla with a wire whisk.
2. Whisk in the condensed milk and blend thoroughly until yolk color is no longer visible. Refrigerate immediately. (In NOLA she put it in the freezer because of the heat)
3. In another bowl beat the heavy cream with a hand mixer at high speed until soft peaks are present.
4. Remove the bowl of egg mixture from the refrigerator and fold the whipped cream into the egg mixture.
5 Fold in the crushed cookies until well incorporated, and turn into a freezer safe container, (She used deep aluminum ice trays covered with foil. Durable plastic freezer-ware wasn't available at the time.) and freeze immediately.
6. Freeze 2 to 4 hours before serving.

* When using Lorna Doones, she added 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon to the egg mixture in step 1.

Enjoy! Or, not.  Let me know how it turns out for you or is you have questions. Keep in mind this was a very rare treat when I was a kid, so the experience was savored luxury.

Note: Bill Withers' wonderful song titled "Grandma's Hands" always reminded me of my grandmother.  It still brings tears to my eyes.

And so it goes.
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