Ice Cream

Some of the more vivid memories of my childhood come from family gatherings at my grandparents house when they still lived out on the farm which was ten miles out in the country in the wide open Texas Panhandle.  Grandpa would have a watermelon or two chilling in the shade of a huge elm tree, or possibly in the cow tank.  Generally the women would spend a lot of time with cooking pies and the huge meals it took to feed everyone.

The other thing that stands out in my mind is making homemade ice cream.  The freezer was hand cranked by one of my uncles while I typically got the job of sitting on top of it.  Why, you might wonder, did I have to sit on top?  To keep it from moving around while the handle was being cranked to churn the ice cream!

It was a cold seat on top the churn which was filled with ice and salt in order to make the ice cream mix freeze.  Grandma usually would have several "flour sack" towels folded over it to cover the ice and provide insulation as well as a dry seat for me.  The tub of the ice cream maker would sit inside a larger wash tub to catch the slushy slurry of ice, water and salt which came out of the small hole on the side.

Sometimes we would sit in the shade, but most often we would sit on the back porch while it was being churned.  Whichever uncle was in charge of turning the crank would sit on an overturned bucket.  It was easy to tell when the ice cream was almost ready because it became harder to turn the crank and the churn "wanted to walk" around within the wash tub.  That's the reason I sat there listening to the constant sound of the churn going around and around in the ice.

Those were good memories.  They come to mind because today we are making homemade ice cream for the grand kids.  The crank has been replaced by an electric motor, but hopefully the memories being created will still be good ones.