Ice Cream Social Skills

To celebrate a friend’s birthday, Rick reinvents a tradition from his Oklahoma childhood: the ice cream social, where everyone brought a batch of homemade ice cream, right in the hand-churned freezer in which it was made. Inspired by the infinitely varied frozen treats and sweets of Mexico, Rick prepares three fresh takes of his own. First, there’s a Mexican Chocolate Chile Ice Cream, with a one-two punch of creamy-coolness and spicy heat. Then he makes Watermelon-Raspberry Raspado, Mexico’s version of shaved ice, with the refreshing addition of fresh mint from his herb garden, served over a splashy tropical fruit salsa. And just for fun, he throws in a third concoction, Ate con Queso Ice Cream, a tribute to the flavors of fruit and cheese that’s as easy as stirring Mexican quince paste into store-bought vanilla ice cream. He even makes his own homemade Ice Cream Cones.