My sisters and I decided to add a sweet surprise to my mom’s birthday celebration earlier this summer. Many of our family gatherings included homemade ice cream. It was my grandpa’s recipe, but I don’t remember him making it. To me, it’s my dad’s ice cream. And I’m not sure why he got the credit, because he basically ran the ice cream maker. My mom made sure we had all the ingredients and probably measured everything for him. Well, maybe not. Most ingredients didn’t get measured in her kitchen—or in mine.
I’d made ice cream before, but it had been years, and I’d never tried the family recipe. But I needed to test it at least once before the party. I had a chance leading up to a smaller family gathering. And it worked. My girls approved, and their opinions mattered, because they’d tasted the ice cream many times.
It wasn’t difficult to make. It was soothing. It connected me to my past while carrying a tradition into the future. And all the while, my dad kept me company. You see, my mom gave me a cookbook several years ago. She put together some favorite recipes, including handwritten versions, and strategically placed photos to go alongside some of the recipes. One of those recipes is the ice cream; it has a photo of my dad when he was making ice cream one year.
I enjoyed making the ice cream more than eating the ice cream. It was the best part of the process. I encourage you to grasp something from your past and carry it into the future. You and those around you might find it a sweet treat.
Pure Purpose 
I have fond memories of the old fashioned hand cranked ice cream my mother always made (using my grandmother’s recipe). Always a big part of family gatherings when I was growing up. Some of my favorite pictures in her albums are of my dad and Mom’s brothers laughing as they took turns turning the handle. I would often get to sit on top of the burlap feed sacks that my dad would put on top of the salted ice while he cranked.
My mom’s favorite memory from when she was a child was of her oldest brother singing “Old Shep” as he cranked while she sat on the feed sacks…a sweet memory indeed.
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Yes! My grandpa used the hand crank kind, and I think mom and dad used it until the electric ones released. It used to take so long, but they didn’t think of it that way. It was a time to connect and invest in the process. We don’t think that way as much now. We look for the most convenient ways. It’s a balance, for sure, but convenience both helps and has a cost.
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