Memories of Homemade Ice Cream

ice cream maker

No three words can bring back good memories of home like HOMEMADE ICE CREAM. I remember as a child making homemade ice cream almost every weekend. We made ice cream in a crank freezer. Mom would make up the ice cream in a big bowl, pour the liquid into the metal canister, place it into the cedar bucket, and turn the lock to hold the canister in place. Next we would use an “ice pick” to break up the block of ice we got from the ice house. We then took the pieces of ice, placed it into the cedar bucket, and poured rock salt all over the ice. This salt made the ice melt. The melting ice is actually what makes the ice cream freeze. There were 7 children in my family. We all took turns turning the crank. We would turn until our arms and hands got tired. Then we would pass it off to another kid. We knew when it was almost ready because it would get harder to turn the crank. When we could barely turn the crank we stopped turning, placed a towel on top of freezer, and let it rest for 20 minutes. As a child I always wondered who was resting, the ice cream or the crank turners. After the rest period was up we all lined up and mom would dip the ice cream into our bowls. We all sat around outside on the ground eating our delicious ice cream, laughing, and talking. Good times and good memories.

In 1976 my best friend and I were married. For a wedding gift we were given a crank ice cream freezer. I truly believe it was my favorite gift. I still remember who gave it to us. After we had our 2 sons in the 1980’s, that freezer got used quite often. At a very early age I would put the boys up on the kitchen counter. I would go through the same steps as my mom of mixing up the ice cream. I would pour the liquid into the canister, take the ice out of the freezer, put it into the bucket around the canister, and pour rock salt on the ice. Then I set the ice cream freezer in the sink. We would all start turning the crank. With the help of little tiny guys it did take a while, but we would finally reach that final step of letting it rest. After the resting period I would dip the ice cream into our bowls. We would sit outside in lawn chairs, laugh, talk, and watch 2 little boys play. Oh what wonderful times and memories.

In this the 21st Century. It would be hard to locate a hand crank ice cream freezer. Most of them have rusted and rotted just like ours did. Today we all use electric freezers that we plug into an electric outlet and wait. What fun is that? Children no longer get to turn the crank and race to see who does the most turning. The taste, fun, and memory making is still there.

Flavors of choice have changed its not just vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry anymore. We have pineapple, rocky road, peanut butter, and butter pecan just to name a few.

Make ice cream with your children this weekend. Let the electric freezer do the work. You can still sit out under a tree and talk. Ask the kids to tell you about their week at school, what do they want to be when they grow up, what color is their favorite, or maybe tell a story of when you were a child. Most of all make a memory.

If you need help with a recipe for homemade ice cream check out the link below. Hope you enjoy.
http://www.ice-cream-recipes.com/popular_recipes.htm

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