How to christen an ice cream maker?

This would be a 1 1/2 quart machine; http://www.food52.com/recipes/11377_uncle_fester_on_a_fasta_vespa_espressochocolate_gelato_roman_style if you like gelato.

David Lebovits' Chocolate Sorbet. I couldn't wait to try it after seeing it here. I used Bernard Callebault bittersweet chocolate & cocoa powder & served it for a dinner party. Everyone thought it was to die for.

A baptism perhaps.

We love our ice cream maker and use it almost weekly. We make a salted caramel ice cream from Sur La Table mix. It has quickly become one of our favorite bases. Fresh peach time here lots of peach ice cream. Mango ice cream or whatever is freshest in season. Enjoy.

I made four different ice creams/sorbets last week for the Fourth; the "winner" was a coffee ice cream with rum from Joy of Cooking. I thought it was on the sweet side so next time I will reduce the amount of sugar. If you don't have Joy and would like the recipe send me a message and I will send it to you (out of respect for copyright laws I will not write it out here...)

There's nothing wrong with a classic vanilla ice cream! I have always preferred the coked custard method for ice cream base.

1 cup whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

3/4 cup sugar

5 large egg yolks

1 vanilla bean OR 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1) Split the vanilla bean in half (lengthwise) and add it to a sauce pot along with the milk and cream and bring it to a gentle simmer, then remove the pot from the heat. Remove the vinalla bean and scrape the seeds out with the back of a pairing knife. Add the seeds and pod back into the milk and cream and let it steep for about 30 minutes.

2) Again, remove the vanilla pod, but this time discard it and re-heat the cream to a simmer. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the sugar until well blended and the color lightens.

3) When the cream reaches a simmer, remove from the heat. Very slowly, add half of the hot cream to the yolks about a half a cup at a time while whisking vigorously. Next, pour the yolk/cream mixture back into the sauce pot with the rest of the cream and heat again until the tempurature reaches about 180 F. Use a thermometer. the custard should thicken enough to coat a spoon. Immediately remove from heat and pour through a fine mesh strainer into a new bowl.

4) cool the ice cream base as rapidly as possible using an ice bath or frozen wand (I keep a water bottle frozen in the freezer for this purpose). Chill in the refridgerator until completely cold.

5) freeze in your machine according to your manufacturer's instructions.

David Lebovitz' vanilla ice cream is sooo good! Definitely use the extra egg yolks.

One I love and it's the right time of year for figs, too:

Fig Walnut Ice Cream
Yield: 3 cups

2 pounds fresh figs, cut in eighths
½ cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup walnut pieces

Cook the figs with the sugar until they are a jam-like consistency, set aside to cool. Bring the cream to a boil and steep the walnuts for an hour. Add the cream to the cooled figs and puree until the desired consistency. Chill the ice cream base completely, and then freeze it according to your ice cream maker. Enjoy!