When we were little we used to make ice cream at grandma's on Sunday afternoon in the summertime. She had the old crank type ice cream maker and we all took turns cranking it. We always made vanilla or orange sherbet.

Now with the self freeze machines it is really easy and quick to make homemade ice cream anytime you want.

Some ice creams are made with custards -- that is, liquid cooked with an egg yolk-sugar mixture. Adding egg yolks enhances the smooth texture of a custard; cooking the egg yolks makes them ultra-safe. But many recipes don't require egg yolks.

A custard is said to "coat the back of a spoon" when you can draw your finger down the middle of the back of a custard-coated spoon and a little silver trail of spoon remains with custard on both sides.
This happens when the custard reaches 175 degrees on a thermometer. Any higher, and the custard will curdle. (If yours curdles, put it through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the minuscule lumps of egg.)