Ice Cream in a Baggie

Instructions

• In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir together the sugar, vanilla and cream. Pour this mixture into a sandwich-size zip-top plastic bag and zip closed. Make sure it's securely closed.

• Now fill a large (approximately 4 L) zip-top plastic bag three-quarters full with ice cubes. Sprinkle in the salt, then nestle the smaller (cream-filled) bag into the ice. Zip it closed. Give it to your child and send her outside (it may leak) to shake and roll the bag for about 10 minutes. Make sure the inner bag stays in contact with the ice mixture as much as possible.

• After 10 minutes, examine the inner bag (you don't have to take it out, just feel it through the outer bag )to see if the cream mixture has frozen. If not, shake, rattle and roll for another 5 minutes or so. Why does this work? I'm not really sure. It has something to do with salt raising the freezing point of water - or was it lowering? (I think I was absent from school the day we learned about this.)

• When the cream has frozen to a mushy ice-creamy consistency, remove the inner bag from the melted ice, wash it off in cold water to get rid of the salt and eat straight from the bag.

• Now, isn't that just incredible?