Blodgett - Pierce Family --- Family Stories
Katie's Memories of Homemade Ice Cream
The small building by the road in front of Bear Lake House was a concession
stand where my Grandpa Pierce sold his homemade ice cream, soda, candy, etc.
The ice house was in back of the house behind the small building where he
pasteurized milk and also made the ice cream. My sister and I used to go in
the icehouse, scrape sawdust off the blocks of ice, and lick it to get cool.
We also sat on the ice for the same reason. I recently looked at some old
ledgers which listed the stuff he ordered for the ice cream stand.
He harvested the ice from the lake and they had an ice box in the pantry
in the house. He wrote to Cornell University for suggested recipes for the
ice cream. I can remember seeing the opened and drained cans of sweetened
condensed milk sitting in a wide pan in hot water on the stove so they could
get every drop of it out of the cans.
He had a system of wide belts in the place where he made the ice cream. The
noise of the motor and belts was loud and scary but fascinating to watch.
He had an ice chopper, a wicked-looking affair with long "claws" that went
around to chop the ice. The same belts also turned the dasher in the big ice
cream freezer. The dasher was about a yard long, maybe a little less, and
Grandpa would take it out of the freezer and put it in a big dish pan so we
could take spoons and get the ice cream off to eat. What a treat! He always
made vanilla. I suppose that when we weren't there, he scraped off the ice
cream and let it harden with the rest.
Another funny thing that I've noticed is that the hill where the house stood
seemed much bigger than it does now! There was a swing on the top tree by
the driveway and the tables for the reunions were put under those trees. I
also have pictures of Bear Lake House. I have tried to remember and draw the
floor plan of the house but guess I haven't got far with it. I sure wish I'd
asked my folks and Howard more about everything. Well, I guess I'd better
get busy. I will try to send you what I remember as I think of it. Your Mom,
Jim and Luther should be able to help too. It's been fun to remember all this.
Katie Putnam 2002