Foodie Friday: Ice Cream and Other Summer Favorites

Istiqlal (Independence), 13 Aẓamat (Grandeur), 172 BE - Friday, May 29, 2015 about 4:23 pm Pacific Daylight Time

"I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream"
Word and Music by Howard Johnson, Billy Moll, and Robert King

That song was published in 1927 and I was born in 1946. I remember singing the song when I was a child. My grandparents might have had a record or they could have taught it to me as a child. I don't remember when I learned the song because I have sung it all my life. Every time I think of this song or sing it, I think of summer and my grandparents.

This year summer, in the northern hemisphere, begins on Sunday, June 21 at 12:38 pm Eastern Daylight Time (9:38 am Pacific Daylight Time), when the sun reaches its farthest point north of the equator. This is called summer solstice which is derived from the Latin words sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still). It is time for ice cream and watermelon (not necessarily at the same time).

While I am not opposed to putting ice cream on watermelon, I prefer ice cream on pie or in a cone. My favorite pies are rhubarb and cherry. I like them warmed with a scoop of vanilla or French vanilla ice cream on top. I like a cup of hot coffee with my pie ala mode. I also like coffee with my watermelon, but I have been known to drink soda while eating watermelon. Sometime I eat the watermelon without any type of beverage because a beverage with watermelon is unnecessary.

On a Cold and Windy Saturday in December

Jalál (Glory), 15 Qawl (Speech), 170 BE - Saturday, December 7, 2013 about 2:20 pm Pacific Standard Time

On this cold and windy Saturday in December,
the ice cream truck just drove by my house.

I heard the music playing
as he approached
with all his sweet cold treats that
in summer I would buy,
but today
it is too cold for an ice cream cone.

I think I'm getting old because today it's too cold for ice cream. The other day, I stopped at Marie Calender's to purchase a rhubarb pie. After I purchased the pie, I went to the grocery store to get a few necessities. I did not purchase any ice cream (which I normally eat on rhubarb pie) because it's winter and the ice cream with the pie would chill me.

When I was younger it didn't matter how cold it was outside if I wanted ice cream. I can remember eating ice cream on a snowy Christmas Eve because it was my birthday and I liked ice cream with my birthday cake. However, at 66 going on 67 I have stopped eating ice cream in the winter time. Now, when I eat pie or cake in the winter, I put milk on it and warm it in the microwave.

Pork Chops and Potato Salad for Lunch in Las Vegas

Jalál (Glory), 19 Núr (Light), 169 BE – Saturday, June 23, 2012 1:00 PM Pacific Time

I bought pork chops and mustard potato salad when I went to the grocery store on Friday. I fixed two pork chops for lunch, one for Mom and one for me. I also gave each of us a helping of potato salad. We ate between 11:30 and noon. I am still full, but Mom is hungry again. I have to figure out what to fix her.

The problem is Mom’s short-term memory loss. Mom forgets she ate and therefore she gets hungry. When Mom gets hungry, I have to find her something to nibble on otherwise she sits and cries. It does no matter how often I explain to her that she just ate, since she does not remember eating she does not think she ate and this explains why she now weight 140 lbs.

I have to find her something to eat that is not fattening. I have ice cream in the freezer we were going to snake on this afternoon, but that is fattening. All though, perhaps if I give Mom a little ice cream she it will satisfy her for an hour or two (I hope). I have to figure out what Mom can eat that is not fattening. At this point, Mom’s weight is close to ideal for her height

Planning my weekend menu

Istiqlál (Independence), 2 ‘Azamat (Grandeur), 169 BE – Friday, May 18, 2012 about 5:50 PM Pacific Time

Monday through Friday Mom goes to the adult daycare center and receives two meals plus snacks. On Saturday and Sunday, she remains home; therefore, I have to plan her meals and snacks. This weekend we will have waffles and eggs for breakfast with coffee and juice. On the waffles, we will have hazel nut spread, jelly, or peanut butter. Mom usually has peanut butter on her waffles, but this Saturday I will put the hazel nut spread on her waffles and see how she likes it.

For lunch on Saturday, we will have leftovers. I fixed a large pot of spaghetti on Thursday, so we have a lot leftover. There are green beans and sweet potatoes in the refrigerator that I will fix. If we don’t finish those for lunch then we will have them for supper on Saturday.

I think that for snacks I will serve canned fruit or ice cream. I have waffle cones; I know Mom would like to have an ice cream cone. It is warm now and so the ice cream will be a cool treat. I am looking forward to the ice cream myself.

Mom is not able to fix her own meals any more. The thing I miss most on weekends is my mother’s cooking. Mom was a good cook and she fixed wonderful dishes for us to eat on the weekends and the days we were both at home. I guess things like this are to be expected when caring for an Alzheimer’s sufferer.

I have ice cream in the freezer

Jalál (Glory), 12 ‘Alá (Loftiness), 166 BE - Saturday, March 13, 2010 about 5:19 PM Pacific Time

I have ice cream in the freezer and it's too cold to eat it today. The wind is blowing causing a wind chill factor, which makes it too cold to eat ice cream. It's amazing how a one perspective change with age. When I was a child, it never got too cold to eat ice cream.

When I was a child it could be snowing outside and I would say yes to ice cream. Now if I eat ice cream in winter, I wrap myself up in blankets while I eat ice cream. The day I bought the packages of chocolate and chocolate chip ice cream, it was warm and getting warmer. Today with the wind and the clouds it's chilly again and too cold to eat ice cream. I'm looking forward to warmer days.

I need more cereal bowls

Istijlál (Majesty), 8 Jalál (Glory), 166 BE – Thursday, April 16, 2009 about 6:47 PM Pacific Time

I have three cereal bowls left from three different sets of dishes. I have a cupboard full of dinner plates, some with chips out of them, but still usable. I have saucers and medium sized plate, but only three cereal bowls. Now with only two people in the house you wouldn't think there would be a problem. However, there is a problem and that is I can't put the cereal bowls in the dishwasher because we don't run that until its full.

I've watched the local freecycle group, but haven't found any cereal bowls that aren't attached to sets of plates. I don't want an entire set of dinner plates, I just want more cereal bowls. I like to use cereal bowls for other thing then just cereal. I cut my apples into small pieces so that I can eat the apple. I put the pieces in a cereal bowl and then decide I want a bowl of cereal, but I don't have another bowl because my mother likes to do the same thing with her fruit.

Three cereal bowls aren't enough for two people. Two people need at least four cereal bowls. Eight cereal bowls is even better because we might want something else on the side such as ice cream or Jell-O. Of course, I could always put my ice cream on my cereal, I've never tried ice cream on cereal so it might be good. At least, with ice cream I wouldn't have to add sugar to the cereal the way I do with milk.

I think I'll go to one of the dollar stores next week and see if I can get some more cereal bowls. Since I have three bowls, I only need to get five more to make a set of eight. Eight cereal bowls would go nicely with my mismatched set of coffee cups.

I found a tin of cookies in the cupboard

Fidál (Grace), 4 Mulk (Dominion), 165 BE – Tuesday, February 10, 2009 about 8:51 AM Pacific Time

I found a tin of cookies in the cupboard when I was straightening out the canned food items. I remember bringing the cookies home around Christmas 2008. It's unusually for cookies to remain in the house for that long because we usually eat them up right away. However, I know what happened.

I put them in the cupboard with the canned goods and then put canned goods in front of them. I hid the cookies behind the cans of veggies. That's why I was straightening out the canned goods, so I could see what we had to use immediately. I'm glad I found the cookies because now we can have cookies and coffee for breakfast or cookies and ice cream for desert today.

Normally, one of us, either Mom or I, straightens the canned goods every couple of months or so. For some reason this year, I waited until February to do that job. I don't know why because straightening out the canned goods is the easiest housecleaning chore there is. All I have to do is take the cans out and put them in order starting with veggies and sauces then going to fruits. Maybe that's why I left it until February because it's the easiest job to do.

Rhubarb Pie and Ice Cream

Jamál (Beauty), 14 Sultán (Sovereignty), 165 BE – Sunday, January February 1, 2009 about 9:37 AM Pacific Time

Mom and I had rhubarb pie and ice cream for breakfast today. We went to Marie Callender's on Friday and bought a whole pie. Yesterday I went to Food 4 Less and bought some vanilla ice cream.

I have to admit that my grandmother might not approve of this morning's breakfast. When I was growing up, pie and ice cream were dinner desert items rather then a breakfast. However, I'm 62 and I don't eat the traditional breakfast anymore. Breakfast is usually whatever I have leftover in the fridge.

My grandmother made good rhubarb pie and she taught me how to make it. I don't make pies any more. It's much easier for me to go to Marie Callender's and buy a pie then make one at home. True I don't always get rhubarb pie, which is one my favorite pies. My other favorite pies are chocolate and banana (in that order).

It's nice to be able to go to a restaurant buy a whole pie and bring it home. I like to get Marie Calender pies because the taste like the pies my grandmother made when I was a child. I remember my grandmother's pies fondly, especially her rhubarb pies.

Grandma made rhubarb pie from the rhubarb she grew in her own garden. I always looked forward to harvest time in Oklahoma because I knew that Grandma would be making rhubarb pie. Now that I’m an adult I can have a slice of rhubarb pie anytime I want. All I have to do is go to the nearest Marie Callender’s Restaurant.

I Remember Standing in the Doorway of my Grandparent’s house

Jalál (Glory), 4 Sharaf (Honor), 165 BE – Saturday, January 3, 2009 about 10:11 AM Pacific Time

I remember standing in the doorway of my Grandparent's house, in Blackwell, Oklahoma, and watching the snow fall. It wasn't the first snow I had ever witnessed because at the time I must have been six or seven years old. It wasn't the first snow of that year either, because my Grandma Newland was going to make snow ice cream and Grandma didn't make that until after the second or third snowfall of the year.

I remember I was standing in kitchen door and I heard a cabinet door opening. I turned to see what was going on and Grandma was taking a stone mixing bowl out of the cupboard. Next, she opened the drawer with the mixing spoons and removed a large wooden spoon. After that, she got the vanilla flavoring down and took measuring spoons out of another drawer.

My Grandpa then took the stone mixing bowl and went outside. He went around the house to the front yard. There he filled the mixing bow with snow and brought it back into the house. Grandma took the bowl from him, measured a teaspoon of vanilla, put it into the bowl and mixed the flavoring into the snow. Grandma then took cereal bowls out of the cupboard and filled them with the snow ice cream. This was my favorite winter treat.