Play ball
This plastic ball by Industrial Revolution is a portable ice cream maker designed for campsite or backyard. It comes in two sizes, pint or quart. After mixing up cream, sugar, flavoring and add-ins, you pour this into an enclosed container at one end of the ball, with ice and rock salt going into the container at the opposite end. Shake, roll or pass it around for about 30 minutes.
What we thought: A ball to play with that makes ice cream, frozen yogurt or sorbet? How cool is that? The ice cream was some of the best we’ve had. But the quart-size ball was really heavy when it was filled up. We were happy there were some weight lifters in our group who took over the shaking. Also, once the freezing process got going and it was time to scrape the sides, the ball was difficult to open.
How much: The pint version is about $30 and the quart about $40 at www.llbean.com, at REI stores or www.rei.com. (Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times)