I scream! You scream! We all scream for ice cream!

To kids of all ages, ice cream is pure, sweet joy on a sultry summer day. You can go to the corner store or run to meet the ice cream truck, and you can choose from all sorts of frozen novelties and concoctions, but nothing beats the delicious flavor of homemade ice cream.

Homemade ice cream begins with basic household ingredients. Sugar, cream, milk and flavorings like vanilla, strawberries or cocoa is all you need. At the touch of a button, your homemade ice cream machine will turn these ingredients into something truly marvelous. It can also be used to make sorbet, frozen yogurt, slush and frozen beverages. It's so easy to use, that you and the kids can make homemade ice cream whenever you feel like a sweet treat.

It's incredible to think that a machine that brings such sweet joy can really be so simple:

1. Pour your blended ingredients into the storage container. This is found inside the ice cream maker.

2. The mixture is drawn from the storage container into a freezing chamber edged with refrigerant liners.

3. The ingredients are then fluffed to creamy perfection by agitator blades attached to electric motors.

4. The ice cream sets in the refrigerated chamber and begins to firm up.

5. When it's time to serve, raise the handle on the dispenser unit. Your fresh ice cream will fall out of the machine and right into your bowl.

Years ago, families gathered together to take turns making ice cream. The ingredients were mixed in a prepared metal container that was stored in a mixture of salt and ice. Mother and the children then took turns stirring the ingredients with a wooden paddle, or turning a crank connected to mixing paddles. It was extremely tiring work, but with sweet results. Years later, the metal container would be fit with a motorized paddle agitator. Today, of course, ice cream makers require almost no effort at all, to be able to create the same delicious homemade flavor.

If you love ice cream on a hot, sunny day, just wait until you try your first taste of home made ice cream. There's really nothing quite like it.