This summer, I wanted to create my own ice cream, but without buying any high-tech kitchen appliances. In other words, my ice cream would be made sans ice cream machine.

The machines are useful because they churn the mixture while it hardens. They create a smoother dessert with fewer of the ice crystals typical of most homemade ice creams.

But it can be done without one! After a shopping trip to buy all the essentials, I spent one night making three varieties of ice cream in three distinct ways: One mixture was frozen undisturbed in the freezer; one was removed from the freezer every 45 minutes and churned by hand; and the third method involved science and a bag of ice with salt.

My first attempt - channeling my childhood memories - was strawberry. This recipe was the most time-consuming, because you both whip the cream and turn the egg whites and syrup into a meringue. Normally, if you owned a mixer, this step would be a breeze. But, the apartment I am subletting for the summer is without this vital tool. Instead, I used a food processor, an option which requires both faith and time. With a mixer, the meringue should take about 10 minutes but with the food processor, about 30.

The mix was placed in the freezer and left untouched overnight, more than enough time to become solid. But this resulted in a rock-hard and icy finished product. This was mostly remedied by letting the ice cream soften on the countertop (about 10 minutes) before spooning into bowls.

I learned afterward that adding two tablespoons of vodka to the strawberry ice cream (or any homemade variety) will keep it soft, because alcohol does not freeze. You can experiment with types of alcohol, but vodka will have the least impact on taste of finished product.

The next ice cream I made was lavender-honey. The grocery I went to did not carry lavender, but an employee in the produce department offered to pick me some from a plant growing outside the store.

After washing the lavender, I removed the flowers from the plant and placed them in a separate bowl. As mentioned in the recipe, you can use either fresh or dried lavender in the ice cream. The recipe recommends straining out the pieces of lavender, but I left them in to add texture to the ice cream.

After freezing the ice cream mixture for 45 minutes, I removed it from the freezer and stirred it vigorously. This step is repeated until the ice cream is thoroughly frozen, roughly four hours. This method simulated an ice cream machine and facilitates the breakdown of ice crystals. (Although it does make one lust for an electric machine!)

Of the three varieties I made, the Lavender-Honey was the most similar in consistency to store-bought ice cream.

My next recipe, blueberry ice cream, produced a rich, fresh berry flavor. The freezing method combines science with interactive fun; I remember making ice cream in this method with my high school chemistry class.

The freezing method involves pouring the chilled ice cream mixture into sealable sandwich bags (I recommend double-bagging) and placing the half-full sandwich bag into a gallon bag filled with the ice and salt.

Salt lowers the freezing point of ice. Because the salt and ice mixture is colder than ice alone, it requires more heat from the surrounding area/objects for the ice to melt.

This process enables the ice cream to freeze inside the plastic bag. And, because you move the ice cream mixture around while it is freezing, there are fewer ice crystals in the finished product.

Yes, these methods require more time than ice cream frozen in a machine, but there is the money saved and then there's all the fun you can have waiting around for the ice cream to freeze.

Of course, if you already own an ice cream machine, you can cheat and make the accompanying recipes and then freeze them fast in your machine. But would you really want to miss out on all that waiting time?

Blueberry Ice Cream

Makes 1 quart