I don't care what the calendar says, it's midsummer-hot out there ... the kind of weather that makes you want to open the freezer, stick your face inside and just listen to the electric meter spin.

Of course, there's no better way on Earth to break the heat than with a big, cold bowl of ice cream. Whether you buy it at the grocery store or follow a recipe like the one in this column and make your own, that first mouthful of creamy goodness will make you stop sweating, bring a smile to your face and make all right with the world.

But before dessert, let's learn a little about the history of the treat. Oh, and at the end of this column, you're going to get a chance to help an ice cream maker pick a new flavor!

Ice cream has a long and illustrious history, with related confections dating as far back as Roman emperor Nero. It started to take on its modern form in the 16th century, when the Italians learned that ice and salt together would make a freezing mixture. In 1782, it was served in the New World at a Philadelphia party given by the French envoy in honor of the new republic.

Ice cream began its move from delicacy to popular dessert in 1846, with the invention of the first hand-cranked ice cream freezer. The design did not change very much between that one and the one you cranked for what seemed like hours when you were a kid. If you were lucky, you had one of the ones with the motorized crank, but I didn't even see one of those until I was an adult.

The ice cream cone's origins are clouded in mystery and controversy. The most popular version of the story is set at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. An ice cream maker, the story goes, ran out of cups in which to serve his ice cream and enlisted a nearby waffle maker to roll up some of his creations into cones to hold the confection.

The 1904 World's Fair, by the way, brought a number of popular foods to the world's attention. Besides ice cream cones, hot dogs, iced tea, Dr Pepper, peanut butter and cotton candy were made known to the general public.

It wasn't long before ice cream parlors sprouted up in every city and town large enough to sell a few gallons.

The ice cream sundae is another concoction with origins clouded in mystery, but my favorite version of the tale comes from around the turn of the century. In the Midwest, laws were passed prohibiting the selling of soda water on a Sunday. The town of Evanston, Ill., was one of the first towns to pass such a law around 1890. As an alternative on Sundays, local soda fountains started selling ice cream sodas minus the soda, which left ice cream and syrup.

But enough of all that history. I can hear your sweet tooths screaming out there.

You can, of course, slide over to the grocery store and buy some ice cream. There are many fine flavors and brands, from super premiums like Ben & Jerry's down to the store brands, but why not make some at home?

Ice cream makers have come a long way. You can, of course, still get the old ice-and-salt machines. However, the new breed of machines have containers that you keep in the freezer and plug into the machine when you're ready to make your ice cream. With the motorized stirring and the chill container, you can have a batch of homemade goodies ready in less than half an hour.

The richest ice creams are custard-based, and to make one of them you'll have to become comfortable with a cooking process called tempering.

Occasionally, you'll have occasion to add eggs to a hot mixture. Now, if you dump cold or room-temperature eggs straight into a hot mixture, you'll get poached or scrambled eggs floating in soup. The trick is to get the eggs up to temperature before adding them. Take a small amount of the hot mixture and add it to the eggs, whisking constantly. After the mixture and eggs are completely combined, slowly add the eggs to the hot pot, again whisking constantly. Fair warning: you may not get it right the first time. That's part of what cooking is about, learning new techniques and how NOT to do them. It'll be that much more gratifying when you dip a spoon into that first bowl of your own homemade batch.

Ice cream purists will call this "frozen custard," and they'd be right. However, it's also just about the greatest base for any sort of flavoring you'd like to add. I like to add a drizzle of honey after the freezer has been running about 15 minutes.

Ingredients

4 large eggs, at room temperature
4 c. whole milk
1 ¼ c. sugar
1/3 c. cornstarch
¼ tsp. salt
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
2 tbsp. pure vanilla extract

Prepare an ice bath in washtub or kitchen sink.

In a heavy saucepan, bring milk just to the boiling point. While milk is heating, beat together eggs, sugar, cornstarch and salt until thoroughly blended.

Temper egg mixture with a small amount, no more than ½ c., of hot milk, whisking constantly.

Slowly add egg mixture to milk, again whisking constantly. Cook, stirring constantly, for 6 to 8 minutes until mixture coats a spoon. Slowly stir in condensed milk and vanilla.

Put pan into ice bath, being careful not to let any water get into the pan. After the custard base is thoroughly chilled, freeze in ice cream freezer following manufacturer's instructions.

Experiment with flavorings! The only real limit is your imagination.

Vote!

Mayfield Ice Cream, a regional favorite in the Southeast that of late has surpassed my beloved Texas Blue Bell in many categories, has a summer promotion in progress that the whole world can join in on.

The Mayfield Vote campaign gives you, the ice cream consumer, a chance to have a hand in picking one of four flavors to join Mayfield's regular lineup. Far from your ordinary pick 'em setup, though, Mayfield has constructed a whole campaign framework around the four flavors, with each one having a "campaign platform," and even mock press releases from the campaign trail.

Looking for something for the kids to do? There's a complete "Kid Campaign" section, with a contest offering some groovy ice cream prizes for the kids who design the best flavor campaigns.

So, let's meet the flavors, eh? Click on each flavor to read its campaign bio.

Blueberry Cream Pie

Extreme Moose Tracks

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough

Triple Brownie

My personal favorite was the Blueberry Cream Pie. I've had a lot of "pie" ice creams over the years, but this was the first one to have chunks of pie crust that actually tasted like good, homemade pie crust. The Peanut Butter Cookie Dough came in a very close second, especially because the base ice cream is cookie dough flavored, not the usual vanilla.

But you can decide for yourselves! Even if you're not fortunate enough to be in the Mayfield distribution area, read the campaign profiles with the kids and make your pick together!

Got a question? Comment? Topic you'd like to see covered? Drop me a line, anytime!