Thursday, January 29, 2015

Ice Cream Memories

On our way home from Vasquez Rocks on Saturday we stopped for a couple scoops of ice cream.  A rare dose of comfort food on a beautiful day.

For me, the "comfort" of comfort food comes from the warm fuzzies of good memories.  The strong combination of smell and taste brings back chuckles and smiles, sometimes even tears. There are the traditional-meal-memories like Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas cookies.  Sometimes it's a common food enjoyed at a special place like a kraut dog from a cart at Venice Beach (or Home Depot) that reminds of us fun times from our past.

 
 

Although neither of my parents were "cooks", they both had their signature homemade dishes. 

When I was a little girl I brought friends home to prove that Mom really did "hang up" her noodles in the kitchen!  She made these wonderful thick noodles from scratch that she hung over clothesline strung between the cabinets. The process took an entire day. Added to long simmering chicken or a ham hock, those noodles were the stuff of legend.  I've never attempted the recipe, and I have still not tasted a noodle that compares - even from San Francisco's Chinatown, and those are pretty amazing.

Dad's macaroni salad was always served in the large yellow Pyrex bowl (the red one for ambrosia and the blue for tuna salad - always).  He was a machinist by trade and the importance of details came with him to the kitchen.  He always said, and I repeat every time I make it, that the secret to the salad was cutting the ingredients in perfect, small squares.  Pre-chopped black olives were allowed, but everything else was (is) cut with a knife, and added in the proper order.  Made with Tilamook cheddar and pimentos, making it and eating it both remind me so much of my dad.

Most people have a favorite flavor of ice cream.  With or without toppings, there is one flavor that is the absolute best for each of us.  For most of us these flavors are found among the traditional "31".  Others have found their match in the fancier combinations created by Ben and Jerry or Dryers, or the newer favorites by Blue Bunny and Tilamook.


Dad's was Baskin Robbins' Chocolate Chip. No other brand. Just Baskin Robbins. If not available he would default to plain vanilla or forgo the ice cream altogether. No fancy-schancy flavors for him.  He had standards.

Mom loved butter pecan and was less picky about brand name.  When Pralines and Cream came along she decided that having two favorites was just fine.  She was always wilder than Dad.

My favorite(s)?  It's almost embarrassing to share, siting a clear lack of imagination and independence on my part.  Baskin Robbins Chocolate Chip, and Pralines and Cream.  Seriously.  My choice on Saturday? - a scoop of each.  Dad would be so proud.  Mom would be slightly disappointed.

Being in the ice cream shop, with the pint containers lined up in the tall freezer toward the back, always sparks a great Dad memory.  A delightful ice cream memory.

Brian (oldest son)'s dad and I were living in Ontario, CA, about a four hour drive from my dad in Quartzsite (he had a S&B there). One summer evening Dad called to say he was about an hour away and was picking up ice cream before stopping at our house for the night.  Cool.  Naturally he got chocolate chip, I got the pralines this time, and the third was german chocolate cake.  I don't remember what I had for dinner last night.......but I know it wasn't ice cream :-)

So dad comes, we enjoy the ice cream and some television, we go to bed.  Next morning he heads back home after breakfast.  A nice quick visit.  Nice of him to bring ice cream.  Two days later I realize I missed his birthday.  It was two days before.  Oh crap!

When I call to apologize and give him hell at the same time he is cracking up - big belly laughs.  I'm in my 20's at the time and horrible at remembering birthdays.  He thinks it is the funniest thing in the world that he brought us ice cream for his birthday and we didn't even know it!  I vow I will never forget his birthday again.

Fast forward 12 months.  Summer evening.  Dad calls.  He's on his way to Long Beach, wants to stop on his way and go to Vince's for spaghetti.  It's a favorite for all three of us, yes let's absolutely do it!  On the way back to the house he stops at Baskin Robbins.  He buys us ice cream.  He decides to spend the night and we all enjoy our dessert on the patio.

Bet I don't have to tell you what day it was.  This time it was a few days longer before I made the connection.  I waited a week to call him.  No matter, he just thought it was even funnier! 

The next several years he was on the road in his motorhome over his birthday, and most of those years I did call him on the actual day.  We always laughed about those two years.  He always laughed harder than I did!

With reminders from my phone and my calendar and my Facebook page I remember birthdays every year.  And when I go to Baskin Robbins I remember Dad's "birthday surprise" every time.  


 
 

16 comments:

  1. We all have our favorites. What about Blue Bell or Tillamook? They rate pretty high in our book.

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    1. I mentioned Tilamook in the post but I'm not sure I've seen Blue Bell in Socal - definitely something to look for! Like local breweries, I'm thinking local ice cream shops will be high on the list of stopping spots for us :-)

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  2. Really great stories Jodie. Your parents sound like fun people. Don't you wonder what stories our kids will remember about us? My mom made homemade noodles too. None have ever been as good other than mine, made with her recipe and always hung to dry over the back of the Farmhouse kitchen table oak cane bottomed chairs. Ice cream is my #1 food group - I am an "exotic" flavor lover. Peanut butter cup was my choice until I ran into Brewster's Jamaica Me Crazy. It's been in several blog posts. I have a link to their website so I can check wherever I am to see if there is one close and call them to ask if they will make JMC for me. And ice cream is SO not on my vegan diet. HA!

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    1. Not sure how we're going to figure out me eating some of your homemade noodles - but that is going to happen!! I love that you call the shop for your flavor - at least you aren't planning your routes around their locations......yet :-) Bill is a big fan of peanut butter cup, so we'll have to make a point of finding some JMC when we get out there. We'll tell them Sherry sent us :-))))

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    2. Well JMC actually has a lot of coconut in it which is the BIG reason I like it, also has almonds and fudge. My second choice is peanut butter and they have many of those. Here's the link to their flavors just for fun.
      http://www.brusters.com/flavors_icecream.asp

      I just got an email message from a Bruster's in Tampa telling me they'd made a batch of JMC. Too funny - wish they weren't 80 miles away.

      I haven't' done the noodles since we went full time. No where to hang them. LOL.

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  3. What is it with Dad's and ice cream parlors? We rarely went to them, but for a while our Dad would take us out to a small local place and every time us kids would get bubble gumball. Then we'd pluck them out and count them to see who got the most! Nowadays if I have ice cream it's hard to beat BR31 for Jamoca Almond Fudge, in a bowl, with extra chocolate syrup of course!

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    1. Love the bubble gumball "game" - siblings are so competitive!

      Extra of course!!

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  4. Our favorite Togo's sandwich shop is also a BK-31. On occasion we will get a scoop after we've finished our lunch. I have too many favorites and will usually get something that sounds appealing that particular day. Ron's favorite is peanut butter cup. Go figure-he really doesn't like peanut butter by itself or even a PB & J sandwich, but he'll eat a bowl of peanut butter cup ice cream without hesitation.
    When we were visiting Alex last month, we bought some Blue Bell ice cream. Delicious stuff! Too bad they don't sell it here.

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  5. I have yet to find the perfect ice cream. I keep looking and looking....

    :). Jim

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    1. It's very important, so you need to keep at it - for as long, and as often as it takes :-))))

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  6. What 'sweet' family stories, Jodee! My favorite ice cream is coffee—my grandfather introduced me to it when I was a wee one and I thought it was the most amazing thing I'd ever tasted! Strangely enough, I didn't start drinking coffee until last year. :-) Trying out local ice cream shops is part of the fun of our travels—we just discovered a fabulous ice creamery in Santa Cruz and I had Candy Cap Mushroom, made from wild mushrooms. It tasted just like maple syrup and made amazing ice cream!

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    1. At Coldstone Creamery I always get Coffee Lovers. It is a beyond-decadent combination (you'd likely love it)! From mushrooms??? Fascinating - and something I would have to try :-)

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  7. Isn't it wonderful that we have these memories. I sure hope our children have those same positive memories. I would love to have tasted your mother's noodles. It is hard to find a good really thick homemade noodle. Baskin Robbins is my favorite, also. I use to get one of their ice cream cakes for my birthday. A layer of German Chocolate Cake and one of Fudge Brownie frosted with vanilla ice cream:) I do remember the yellow and red bowls!! My dad loved macaroni salad but only with Hellman's Mayonnaise!!

    I loved this walk down memory lane with you:)

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    1. Glad you found some fun memories too Pam! I love ice cream cake as well - yours sounds perfect. Oh yes, Hellman's is called Best Foods in the West and that is all my dad would allow in the house :-)

      I do hope our kids have fun and silly memories as well. I look forward to hearing them tell their kids "the" stories :-)

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  8. Nice trip down memory lane,Jodee!..
    For us the best ice cream is in a small town in British Columbia, okanagan falls..and there is an ice cream shop called Tickleberrys!!..delicious !!..they even have canine cones for your pooch!..so with the stop if you ever venture into the great white north !

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    1. Sounds delightful! We actually might head into BC this summer so thanks for the great tip!

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