Old Fashioned Homemade Ice Cream

We like to make homemade ice cream every  once in a while. We've used an electric ice cream mixer, which works quite well, but it never really seems like an authentic process. I remember making ice cream with my Dad, as a kid, cranking the handle while he kept adding salt and ice to the bucket.  I've spent a couple of years perusing amazon and other internet sites, trying to find the best hand crank ice cream maker, without spending an arm and a leg. One thing became clear. They don't make them like they used to. I read many, many unhappy customer reviews of  today's hand crank mixers - mainly having to do with gears falling apart in the crank mechanism. 

So, in the end, I finally decided to go with a vintage 1950's Sears Coldspot ice cream maker I found on etsy.  It shows its age, but it's heavy and sturdy. The ice cream canister and dasher are spotless.

The ingredients for our vanilla ice cream were pretty basic, but very rich.

It doesn't look like much in the canister, but remember, it expands as it freezes. We add the salt and ice to the bucket and insert the dasher.

Then we begin cranking...

and cranking...

and cranking.

After about 30 minutes we had ice cream.

We scooped it into a container and put it in the freezer to harden up a littler more.

After dinner, we had a treat.

Store bought ice cream cannot compare.

Educational, fun, AND delicious.

More Winter Wonderland

Like I said, we're just trying to enjoy the winter despite the single digit temps. 

In the morning, before Peter and Jeanne's party, Wayne and I went for a snowshoe.

 On another day, Heather and I went up to "the fort." 

 We saw deer tracks.

 We decided that sometime soon we're going to make some sandwiches and hot cocoa and snowshoe up for a winter picnic in the fort.

 Today, the coldest day of all, Cole and I went out for a snowshoe stroll. It was beautiful, but bitter. Later, Wes, Wayne, and Heather shoveled off the pond for some bumpy skating. No pictures of that.

He had trouble with his snowshoes and kept falling down. Or maybe he just couldn't see.

 Beaver pond - Cole and I visited today, and later learned that Joanie also visited this spot not too long after us.

And  lastly, the news that after a long life of hard work, the truck is living out it's retirement at an auto parts place.  Bye-bye old chevy. Enjoy your retirement.

Sweets and Treats

One of Wayne"s favorite Christmas gifts is this (unofficial) Harry Potter Cookbook. He's got a lot of recipes he wants to try, including Chicken and Ham Pie, but his first recipe was Peppermint Humbugs. You cook all the ingredients, mainly sugar, to a certain temperature, let it cool a bit, and then you are supposed to pull and twist the warm sugar into ropes and snip off into 1 inch pieces.  Wayne's candy hardened up too quickly to do any pulling and twisting, but he did manage to cut it into small squares. They tasted very good and I love the color.

The other day, Wayne and Cole went over to Dante and Fintan's house to join a group of friends playing Dungeons and Dragons. Apparently, it's making a comeback!  Heather and I spent that afternoon outside, enjoying the snow before the bad weather came on.  We armed her snow fort with a stock pile of snowballs, so she can be ready to battle her brothers at a moments notice.  Then we decided to make a snowman treat for the chickens. We built this small snowman near the chicken coup and decked it out with stale crackers and cereal. The hat is a leftover pancake from Christmas morning breakfast. I don't know how healthy that is for chickens, but I do know they'll eat just about everything. We also sprinkled some leftover corn and beans on the ground to lead them over to the snow man. (Actually, it seems more like a snow lady)

They liked the corn and beans, but eyed the snow lady suspiciously. They didn't go over while Heather and I were watching, but maybe later they worked up some nerve. 

Christmas Music at P&J"s

A little Christmas music for your enjoyment.

Spike Walks in the Woods

I've been feeling a little cabin feverish after the ice storm and snowfalls we've had over vacation. I decided to go for a little snowshoe excursion to get some fresh air and exercise. Wayne and Heather were over at Joanie's house making a special holiday treat and Cole does not believe in doing any physical exercise before lunch, so Spike and I were on our own. Thought I'd share some pictures of our winter wonderland with you.

Last summer's wind and thunder storms destroyed this old maple.

In the woods Spike saw a rabbit run across our path.

Here are its tracks.

 Beaver pond.

 Many, many trees are still bowed under the weight of ice and snow.

 

 By the time we got over to Joanie's area of the woods, the sun shone a little.

 We stopped and said hello to Joanie, and the kids making their treat. Then headed back the way we came. I tried to capture the way the sun glittered on the branches.

 Sometimes it's hard to appreciate this time of year, so I'm glad I had a chance to get out and see how pretty life is right now.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

We hope everyone now has power and that you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Now That the Power is Back On...

Here is another video of the school concert that I didn't publish the other day. You might recognize someone playing the guitar. Cole is in the group singing. (It seems I have the dubious distinction of being the only member of the family who does not play an instrument.)

We are happy to have power back! Although the power company has announced that as it gets colder and things freeze up, there could be additional outages. We're hoping for the best. 

While the power was out, we finally put up our tree. Of course we couldn't test the lights before we put them on. There always seems to be a strand that doesn't work each year, but we just went on blind faith and strung them up. When the power came on the tree lit up and every single light was working. It's a Christmas miracle!

We passed time by making paper snowflakes and reading aloud from The Hobbit.

I also wrapped almost all of our gifts, so we are well on our way to Christmas.

Now for a few photos or our ice encased world yesterday:

This entire side of the house was covered with a sheet of ice with a million tiny icicles.

As the kids played outside, all around, deep in the woods and nearby along the drive, we could hear trees and branches snapping, popping, crashing and shattering to the ground. It was very eerie.

Earmuffs from Aunt Julie to keep Heather's ears warm. Thank you!

Glad to see all the emails of everyone gathering safely with their family and loved ones. 

Have a wonderful Christmas.