Throughout my life there have been two particular kitchen appliances with which I have had a strong, almost emotional fondness for, and no, I am not talking about either the refrigerator, (or the ice-box,as some people still stubbornly call it) or that stupid hot sandwich maker,which I think got used about twenty times,and then was retired to the back of a lower cupboard, and shall languish there until we finally pitch it,or give it away in a yard sale.The appliances to which I shall always have a fond attachment to, are the old fashioned ice cream maker, and my GE electric frying pan.
I can still remember the excitement of everyone gathering around the kitchen, or outdoors at the picnic table, assembling the ice and the salt for the outside of the cream basket, and then the cream and vanilla and sugar and other flavoring for the actual ice cream itself. We usually used strawberries,half-mashed, for the other flavor. Then, once it was all assembled,the cranking would begin. I was very little, so I don't recall if there was any cooking going on of the slurry( the ice cream mixture) but I do remember that all the men, my father included,sitting around, sweating, red-faced and red-necked, turning that crank, which in turn turned the container,and the longer they cranked it, the more the ice cream would freeze. Now, some of the more adventurous women, such as my mother and my grandmother would start the cranking, but it always got to a point that the only ones who could turn that crank were the most muscular, and strongest of us all, and that is when the men would take over. Inevitably, the ice cream making would come down to a laughing, joking, hard working contest between the last men standing, when everyone else was begging off, with sore muscles and aching backs,but somehow, it was always my Dad, and Dick Jones, best friends, who would try to see who could last the longest, but the contest would be called, when the women noticed there was more salty ice water than ice on the outside of that wooden churn,and they would open the top of that container, and there was the most beautiful pink strawberry ice cream, just waiting to be scooped out. And Oh! The smell of that confection, the sweet strawberries and cream aroma that wafted out at us was enough to make anyone's mouth water! Lest you think this was just a quick turn or two of the handle, I shall disabuse you of that notion right now. The cranking went on for hours, while we roasted wienies, and ate them with baked beans and drank lemonade and iced tea to keep away the hunger pangs and relieve the dryness in our mouths, waiting for that ice cold dessert being slowly, painfully created before our very eyes. All of us kids would put on our swim suits,and run though the sprinkler,and end up playing tag, and they would still be cranking. We'd break out the potato salad, and ham salad sandwiches, and they would still be cranking....we'd hack up the icy cold watermelon,and devour it, leaving nothing but a puddle of pink juice,and rind and a smattering of seeds, and they would still be cranking! But finally,about the time they were starting to call us to the bonfire to toast marshmallows, we would have a choice,because they would also be calling, "U scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream!" And, as far as I was concerned, there was no contest. After waiting for it all day, nothing tasted better than homemade ice cream! And it is still the best today, even though the new machines are practically effortless, homemade is still hands down, the very best.
The other appliance, as I said, was my GE electric frying pan. After working all day,it was a total joy to come home,and throw something into the frying pan. It was so versatile, I could start out with a pound of ground beef, brown it, throw in a hamburger helper,and some veggies, put the lid on it, go bathe, change clothes, add water to the fry pan, stir it up, run my son's bath, and set out his jammies,and by the time he came out all fresh and clean, dinner would be ready, and with little physical work! Of course, it didn't have to be ground beef, sometimes I would start with a can of pork and beans, and throw in some hot dogs, or chili,and hot dogs,add a salad, poof, dinner! Then with the evening meal over with, I would pull the element out of it, save whatever leftovers there were, and set it down in the sink to soak(without immersion ) while we read bedtime stories, and once Yon son was tucked in, swish with a brush,and rinse, and set it on the countertop for the next day, and it's off to bed we would go! I so loved that frying pan! It took no time to heat up, and didn't turn the kitchen into an inferno in hot weather, and there was almost nothing we couldn't cook in it. It was called a frypan, but it didn't just fry. It roasted, it poached,it simmered, it stewed,it boiled, it BAKED! I could not only fry a chicken, I could make barbecued chicken,boiled chicken, or shake and bake. And, you could mix up a cake, butter the bottom and sides, pour the batter in, set the controls, put the high domed lid on the pan, and walk away...and later on, you would have a cake! That pan was such a treasure, it would do almost anything but set the table,and pour the milk. I sure wish I had another one. It was an instrument that gave me more time to be with my little boy, than if I had to cook each dish for a meal in a different pan. The only thing wrong with it? That I only had one!
Oh,by the way..you say you still call your refrigerator an icebox? Good...What day does your ice man come?
OUI?
Posted by: MikeOne/NSWMoke | June 09, 2006 at 05:27 AM
Posted by: Kilter | June 09, 2006 at 08:49 PM