Just bought an ice cream maker...

Ben and Jerry's has an ice cream "cook" book out. Lots of great ideas in it.

http://www.amazon.com/Jerrys-Homemade-Cream-Dessert-Book/dp/0894803123

Remember that you can also make sorbet with your ice cream maker. They're a lot cheaper to make than ice cream, and often just as good, IMO.

how would you make vanilla ???? worth a try though

you need sugar, flour, eggs, milk, salt, whipping cream and vanilla extract.
One pint of whipping cream costs more than a gallon of milk and I need a quart.

the ingredients shouldn't cost anywhere close to that much. Try one of the club stores. Everything but the cream becomes almost negligible on a per-serving basis, and the cream will be less than half of what you're expecting.

A little practice and it will be better than any "super premium" brand and much cheaper.

Maybe a little more butter?

I cut up a pineapple into chunks, cook it in a tiny bit of water for a few minutes and then freeze it into a slush. I then add that to the cream mixture. Yum!

And welcome to DU. And the lounge. And could you bring a bag of ice next time? We're always running low.

... or hazelnut - I've made both to good effect.

I loves me some 'stachio.
Hazelnut sounds yummy too.

you will probably eat smaller servings (if you have any self-control, which I don't so I don't make ice cream very often)

you can add any kind of ripe fruit to a basic vanilla recipe, apricots are freaking heavenly and you will rarely be able to purchase that commercially. I think I used to use 3 or 4 cups pureed in the blender for a recipe of vanilla (so you may need to make it in two batches depending on volume. drool

Less air. Smaller servings? No way. Bought two quarts of Strawberries today and I'm gonna use em for that.

Though I don't know how much longer they'll be in season...

But after reading all the instructions and how much it would cost to make 1 gallon of ice cream, I gave it to my son and his kids for Xmas.

Crushed peppermint sticks added is mighty good.