Strawberry Cheese Cake Vanilla Bean Ice Cream This will be our last month to have plenty of fresh, sweet strawberries at the market every week. I included them on my granola every morning, as snack food in the afternoon and in ice cream in the evening. Here is a recipe for a whole gallong of homemade vanilla bean ice cream with strawberries and cheese cake. Make the whole gallon and freeze it for use throughout the summer. Ingredients:     * 10 cups heavy cream     * 5 cups whole milk (if you haven't tried our local dairy's milk, this is the perfect recipe to try some)     * Pinch salt     * 3 cups sugar     * 3 vanilla beans     * 24 large farm egg yolks     * 10 large fresh strawberries, halved     * 1/2 frozen strawberry cheesecake, cut in large chunks     * 1 1/2 cups strawberry preserves, no sugar added Preparation: Combine the cream, milk, salt, and 2 cups of the sugar in a large pot. Split the vanilla beans down the middle lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a paring knife; add them to the pot and toss in the pods for added flavor. Place the cream mixture over medium heat, and bring up to a simmer; stirring with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar. Ideally, the temperature should reach 175 degrees F (just below scalding) for a smooth-textured ice cream; this should take about 15 minutes. Shut off the heat, cover the pot, and allow the cream mixture to steep for 15 minutes to further infuse the vanilla flavor. In the meantime, combine the egg yolks in a large mixing bowl and blend them lightly with a wire whisk. Gradually add the remaining 1 cup of sugar and continue to whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved and the eggs are thick and pale yellow; about 6 minutes. Using a large ladle or measuring cup, temper the eggs by gradually whisking in about 4 cups of the hot cream mixture. Return this back to the rest of the cream in the saucepan and turn the heat to medium- low. Stir constantly until the custard thickens and leaves a path on the back of a spoon when you run your finger across it, about 10 to 12 minutes (do not let boil.) Pour the vanilla custard through a fine strainer into another pot and chill completely in a sink full of ice, stirring here and there; this should take about 1 hour. Ideally, let the ice cream base "age" overnight in the refrigerator before churning in an ice cream maker to improve the flavor and texture of the final product – but it is still good if you decide to process it right away. Divide the ice cream into quarts. Mix the strawberry preserves into the vanilla custard just before you start churning in the ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. Add the pieces of strawberry cheesecake and fresh strawberries after churning while the ice cream is in the "soft-serve" stage. Continue to churn for an additional 5 minutes or until combined but still chunky. When done, the ice cream will be the consistency of "soft serve." To harden the ice cream fully, freeze in plastic covered containers.