> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hi, I'm sure this topic has been addressed in one form or another on
> the net. I've done some searching and found many threads about ice
> cream.
>
> The question I pose is pretty specific (in my mind) though. Does
> anyone else remember the vanilla ice cream that little old ladies made
> at church functions / social events? I can envision a certain taste, a
> certain texture that I still long for to this day. It's been at least
> 15 years since I had such an ice cream.

Yes - as I remember, having been to many and worked at them, they would

1) buy a commercial container and scoop it out of that
- about 50 years back, they got it that cardboard can from the local
creamery - where milk came in in cream cans. And Mr B made his ice cream
out of the top cream. (his kid and I were in the same grade, his daughter
babysat me, so I hung around the creamery a bit)

2) use a packaged mix made with beaters - don't remember the name, it might
have even been a pudding - they beat it up and froze it - and maybe stirred
it a couple times - but it was pretty much air.

3) the ladies were too busy with daily chores and kids to hand-crank ice
cream for everybody - besides, making ice cream was man's and kid's work, as
I recall. It was a treat for special occasions, not a daily meal item.
In our extended family (13 aunts/uncles on one side, 11 on the other, not
counting inlaws families of almost the same size), and in all the gatherings
where ice cream was made, no lady ever turned the ice cream crank.
Hot day, nice clothes that were hard to clean and come by and little
anti-perspirant - no female would be caught dead in a social gathering doing
work like that.

as they used to say " horses sweat, men perspire, and women glow."

Note that ice cream back then had the "milk's taste", a taste which varied
with season depending on what the cow ate. Since cows in the summer were on
pasture, ice cream back then had the summer grass flavor.

fwiw........

>
> In an attempt to recreate my childhood memory, I bought a "bachelor"
> ice cream maker, VillaWare brand, but it's just not the same. Maybe
> the maker has nothing to do with it.
>
> I'm using a simple vanilla recipe from a Ben and Jerry's recipe book.
> Heavy whipping cream, milk, vanilla, sugar, eggs. Very
> straightforward, but it comes nowhere near the taste I'm looking for.
>
> If there are any old church ladies who know how to help me, I
> appreciate it! If I need to buy an old hand cranking machine and take
> an hour to prepare the mixture, I'm willing to do it.
>
> Kevin
>