When I was growing up we spent every Friday night (it seemed like, anyway) with Jack and Gertrude Holmes and their family. One Friday Mom and Gertrude would clean our house and we'd have supper and make homemade ice cream and the big folks would play pinochle. The next week it was cleaning the other house and supper and ice cream and pinochle.
We kids all loved summer nights when the darkness was warm and lit up by fireflies. We would run around playing hide and seek while my Dad and Jack sat on the front step and used the flat side of an axe to smash big chunks of ice in a gunny sack. They broke the ice into small pieces perfect for packing around the round metal cylinder holding the creamy mixture that would become the yummy ice cream. They would turn the handle until the ice cream froze and then sometimes we got to lick the inside paddle while the ice cream was dished up for everyone to share. There were always big pieces of chocolate cake to go with the ice cream.
We always petitioned the adults to make chocolate ice cream, but they wouldn't. Leroy and I, being the oldest of the youngest four children, figured out that mixing chocolate cake in vanilla ice cream made a nice substitute for chocolate ice cream. It was working very well until the younger two kids started to imitate us and made some messes. We were banned from mixing cake and ice cream after that. Until we came up with the argument that sometimes the cake just fell into the ice cream and we were certainly willing to eat the result rather than throw it away. Again, that worked well until the younger two kids started to imitate us. <sigh>
We kids all loved summer nights when the darkness was warm and lit up by fireflies. We would run around playing hide and seek while my Dad and Jack sat on the front step and used the flat side of an axe to smash big chunks of ice in a gunny sack. They broke the ice into small pieces perfect for packing around the round metal cylinder holding the creamy mixture that would become the yummy ice cream. They would turn the handle until the ice cream froze and then sometimes we got to lick the inside paddle while the ice cream was dished up for everyone to share. There were always big pieces of chocolate cake to go with the ice cream.
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| Hollis Miller breaking ice with his axe |
- Mary Bryan
daughter of Hollis and Joy Miller
Brownstone Front Cake
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup lard
2 eggs
1 tsp soda
1 cup sour cream
2 heaping tbsp cocoa
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
Cream 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/2 cup lard.
Add 2 eggs (unbeaten) to the creamed mixture and beat well.
In a separate bowl mix 1 tsp soda 1 cup sour cream .
Mix 2 heaping tablespoons cocoa with a 1/2 cup boiling water.
Add cocoa mixture to batter; then stir in 2 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt.
Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and beat well.
Pour batter into an 8" x 11" pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. You can also divide the batter evenly between 2 or 3 round layer pans.
Once the cake is cool to the touch frost with cooked fudge frosting.
*Note from Joy Miller: I have never been able to make this cake successfully using an electric mixer.
Brownstone Front Cake
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| Recipe by Margaret Ridlen (Mama) in Joy Miller's handwriting |
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup lard
2 eggs
1 tsp soda
1 cup sour cream
2 heaping tbsp cocoa
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
Cream 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/2 cup lard.
Add 2 eggs (unbeaten) to the creamed mixture and beat well.
In a separate bowl mix 1 tsp soda 1 cup sour cream .
Mix 2 heaping tablespoons cocoa with a 1/2 cup boiling water.
Add cocoa mixture to batter; then stir in 2 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt.
Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and beat well.
Pour batter into an 8" x 11" pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. You can also divide the batter evenly between 2 or 3 round layer pans.
Once the cake is cool to the touch frost with cooked fudge frosting.
*Note from Joy Miller: I have never been able to make this cake successfully using an electric mixer.
I remember homemade ice cream making when we visited Grandma and Grandpa and were playing pinochle. Mary, I would love to have the .jpg for this picture!
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