SLICE 2013 - 2 of 31 Being Together Then and Now

Homemade ice cream making came to our house once a year right before the seasons started to change.  Before the forsythia bushes would bloom, before the daffodils would start to sprout, and before the snow would melt completely the ice would break up on the lake and start to melt.  If you make a lot of ice cream you need a lot of ice!  Ice from the lake was free and we would spend a weekend making ice cream.  If the lake didn't freeze we could get ice from the firehouse in town because they had a large ice machine  and we had family members who were volunteer firemen.  

It was always a big production gathering supplies and ingredients.  We would make homemade coffee ice cream with fresh brewed coffee.  We would make homemade strawberry ice cream with fresh strawberries.  We would make homemade cherry ice cream with maraschino cherries and a vanilla base.  We would make homemade mint chocolate ice cream with shaved pieces of chocolate.  My mom would make the recipes and have it ready for my dad.  Who took it to the basement and worked some magic.  He kept the right balance of ice and salt to keep the cylinder container spinning and getting colder.  He would check the mixture and wait patiently for the right consistency.  The best part was when he called my sister and I to scrape off the long plastic blade for a taste of the yummiest ice cream they would then pack in freezer boxes to last for months.  I didn't grow up with ice cream in the freezer weekly or even that often.  So this yearly tradition was a family event we truly enjoyed making and eating together.  It was fun.  We were together.  I wonder if the lake is covered with ice today or if it has started to melt.

I had the itch to make some ice cream today with the girls.  We discovered a few years ago homemade vanilla ice cream with crushed thin mint Girl Scout cookies was a great combination.  Thanks to progress and my new ice cream machine the process is super quick and we were enjoying it with our movie tonight, together.  A different kind of together filled with content, happiness, and ice cream.  Some things in life shouldn't change.