Day 87 - Ohio (by Pam)
September 22, 2010
The Events of Monday, September 20, 2010
How pleasant it is to wake up in a house that does not move. We are visiting my cousin Laura and her family in Ohio, and it feels like we are home. We slept in this morning and were treated to a breakfast of waffles. The kids were SO excited. We love waffles but alas, our waffle iron did not meet the “has two functions” requirement and had to be left behind. But these weren’t just any waffles. The choice of toppings was almost overwhelming – blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, chocolate chips, swirled peanut butter/chocolate chips, marshmallows, sprinkles, syrup, yogurt. It was all delicious.
After this filling breakfast it was off to work. Poor Harvey was badly in need of a cleaning, both inside and out. Jim, Ben, Abby, Sam, David and Rebekah comprised the outside crew. Pam, Cousin Laura, Caitlin and Lindsey comprised the inside crew. Harvey was parked in the Wells’ front yard to provide easy access to water and electricity and the cleaning frenzy commenced. I found out that my Cousin Laura surpasses everyone I know in her ability to clean a kitchen and make it sparkle. Every surface of Harvey was scrubbed clean and polished and when we were finished four hours later the RV simply glowed, making it hard to look at in the direct sun.
All this hard work was rewarded with a hearty lunch, haircuts for the boys – Jim, Ben, Sam and David and showers all around. As I helped Laura with the lasagna for dinner, Jim, Ben and Sam were FINALLY able to return to their game of Axis and Allies. Caitlin, Lindsey and Abby got their little kid fix by playing in the backyard with the kids from the neighborhood which included a few cute toddlers. Then Laura and I headed out to Walmart to pick up a few things. When we got home it was time to crank the ice cream. Yesterday, Laura had re-introduced me to the ice cream recipe of my youth that she had gotten from our grandmother. We had stayed up late last night to prepare the custard base and it had spent the day chilling in the fridge. Now she added the final ingredients and the secret ingredient – a few drops of lemon extract.
All the kids were recruited to do the cranking and quickly a system of rotation occurred. When your turn in line came you first held down the old fashion ice cream bucket while the person before you cranked. Then you switched to the crank for your 25 revolutions while the next person in line weighed down the bucket. The process seemed to go on forever. But their efforts were rewarded. Cousin Laura gave everyone a straw and placing the ice cream paddle on a large platter, it was everyone man, woman and child for himself. It was quite the comical site to see nine heads all together and hear the sound of frantic sucking. But it was GOOD! Then the ice cream was packed away while we enjoyed a delicious lasagna dinner.
Given that the 49ers were playing in Monday night football, the game was turned on as dinner was being cleaned up. Soon the ice cream was served. DELICIOUS! Just the taste and consistency I remember from my childhood. It was amazing and now I have the recipe, complete with notes to fill in the procedural gaps. I can’t wait to make this delicious ice cream at home. However, sadly, all good things must come to an end. It was hard for the kids to realize that Monday night football starts a lot later on the East coast. So they were hustled off to bed before the end of the first quarter. The adults followed soon after as all of us were exhausted from our busy day. But what a day of accomplishments – a cleaned Harvey, clean cut boys and delicious ice cream. That almost made up for the 49er fumble on the 10 yard line just before half-time when they were about to take over the lead.
Posted by Pam Taylor.