. . . You've had homemade ice cream!!! I've definitely been on an ice cream kick since getting my ice cream maker a couple of months ago. Now that the weather is heating up our apartment, it has been a great way to cool down. Included with the ice cream maker we bought we got a 'recipe book'. I've always been sort of skeptical of the quality of the recipes in there, but since Brittany from the ward suggested the maker and the recipes included, I thought I'd give them a try. I really enjoy how simple the recipes are, and how few ingredients you really need. My favorite recipes in the book are the Strawberry ice cream and Peach Frozen Yogurt. I've done my own variations on the recipes, either for convenience or taste, and they have turned out great. Strawberry Ice Cream

• 1 pint fresh ripe strawberries, stemmed and sliced
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 1 1/2 cup whole milk*
• 1 1/2 cup heavy cream*

In a small bowl combine strawberries, lemon juice and 1/3 cup of sugar. Stir gently and allow strawberries to macerate in juices for 20 minutes (in the freezer). In a medium bowl, whisk milk and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add cream plus the strawberry mixture. Turn on your ice cream maker and pour into freezer and mix until thick. *The original recipe calls for 1 c milk and 2 c heavy cream, but it's still super creamy if you use less cream. Also the original recipe called for 1 tsp pure vanilla extract, but I think it ruins the citrusy/creamy flavor. Apricot Pineapple Frozen Yogurt*

• 6-8 apricots, pitted
• 1/2 cup pineapple juices from canned pineapple
• 2 cups plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup sugar

Slice apricots in half and place in blender with pineapple juice. Blend until smooth. Add yogurt and sugar and blend until smooth and the sugar is dissolved. Turn ice cream maker on, pour mixture in, and freeze until thick (25-30 minutes). *This was originally peach frozen yogurt, but since there were no canned peaches in my house or at Trader Joe's, I used fresh apricots, and reserved the juices from canned pineapple. Also, the recipe calls for Fat Free Vanilla yogurt, and 1/3 c sugar. Since Vanilla yogurt is really sweet, I used plain instead and added a little extra sugar. Also, I used regular yogurt because fat free is just gross; not creamy at all.

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A note for those of you that may be interested in getting an ice cream maker, I read an article from Cook's Illustrated that tested many different types of ice cream makers and the Cuisinart was the best kind for the price.