Mint Chip Ice Cream, and Notes on Homemade Ice Cream

This could also be titled "How I Learned the Hard Way that Homemade Ice Cream for a Crowd is Not a Good Idea." 

I was the lucky recipient of an ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid stand mixer in summer 2008, and yet said attachment sat in the unopened box until just a few months ago. Unlike 98% percent of humans, I did not come with the ice-cream-loving chip preinstalled, and left a fine dessert-making machine in a box all that time. I only really want frozen desserts when it's hot outside, and given that I live somewhere that tops out at an infuriating 61 degrees in AUGUST, that's not often. Even growing up in Los Angeles, where the summer weather stretches wide over the calendar, I remember picking the rainbow sherbet just so I could furiously stir it into a gray puddle. But my husband had wanted homemade ice cream, so for his birthday party I decided to do an ice cream sundae bar with homemade ice cream and toppings. Great idea, right?