Papa Frank's Milk Shake - A Great Way to Beat the Heat

Summers in Texas……

Texas is HUGE. If you have never lived here, you have no idea the massiveness of our state. Texas is so big that our landscape ranges from desert, to plains, to hill country, to swampy pine forests. I was born in west Texas (desert) and, throughout my childhood, my family slowly moved to the east (swampy pine forest). The one thing that is the same about all these areas is that it is going to be hot in the summer. Not just high 80’s and low 90’s, either. If we only have a handful of days that go over 100℉, then we are having a mild summer.

Everybody’s family has some family recipe for ice cream, lemonade, ice tea, etc., to help beat that oppressive heat. My family had “Papa Frank’s Milk Shake.” I remember my Mom making these in the summer, before she left for work, and leaving them in the fridge so my brother and I would have them in the afternoons to cool off. After a day of roaming the neighborhood (because you could still do that in the 80’s), they were a welcome treat.

It is the very first recipe that I remember learning….

This is the first recipe that I remember being able to do all by myself. It has been passed down my family tree from my great-great grandfather, James Franklin Fuller. I hope you can turn it into a tradition for your family, as well.

Papa Frank’s Milk Shake

Ingredients:

• Empty pint-sized mason jar with a lid

• Ice

• 1 Tbsp. sugar

• 1 tsp. vanilla

• Enough milk to fill the jar with ice in it. (you can use 2%, but whole milk will make it richer…. a little cream added in will make it heavenly)

1. Start with adding as much ice as you can to the jar

2. Add the sugar and vanilla

3. Fill jar with milk and/or cream.

4. Screw on the lid and shake it for 10-15 seconds.

Kids love these things! It is a great way for them to get to be independent AND get to play with their food.

*instead of vanilla, try other flavored syrups