We were invited to participate in the Sunol Pioneer Folk Festival that was held yesterday at the Sunol Regional Wilderness Park in Sunol. Our Great, Great Grandmother Caroline Arnett’s family moved from Missouri to Sunol and she lived there until her marriage to Daniel Teeter in 1870. Unfortunately, Caroline died twelve years later at the age of 33.
Here is a copy of Daniel Teeter and Caroline Arnett’s wedding certificate. I have transcribed what is written on the certificate below. Apparently spelling was not a strength of the person that did the writing.
THIS CERTIFIES THAT The RITE of holy Matrimony WAS CELEBRATED between Daniel M. Teeter of Pleasanton Almeda, Co. Cal and Caroline E Arnett of Sunole off the Same Co. on the 27 day off June at Sanleandro Almeda Co. Cal by Gor. Smith Justis off the pese in the year off our lord 1870
We had a great time at the festival and have been invited back again next year. It appeared the other people at the festival had a great time too. The setting for the festival was just beautiful and the weather was just perfect. There were craft booths where at no charge people got to make stick horses, clothes pin dolls, stamped leather accessories, and they got to plant seeds to take home in a pot. Cousin Wendy and my sister Nancy happily went home with stick horses and clothes pin dolls. There were food booths, again at no charge, where the attendees could make their own lemonade, taste horehound candy, apple fritters and biscuits made in a Dutch oven, and hand cranked ice cream.
Nancy cranking the ice cream maker at the Sunol Pioneer Festival
We manned the hand cranked ice cream booth. The ice cream was a hit. Men, women, and children were excited to take turns cranking the handle of the ice cream maker. Many of the people came back for seconds and some came back for thirds and fourths. Several of the people said the strawberry ice cream was the best strawberry ice cream they had ever had (however, some of the people had just hiked five miles, so anything cool would have tasted great).
A few people from India stopped by and told us about making hand cranked ice cream in India where there is either no electricity or electricty for only three hours a day. The ice cream flavors some of them made was mango, cardamom, or saffron. Other people visiting from India that had not seen or made hand cranked ice cream were very interested in how it was made and where they could buy the makers to take back to India.
Some of the leftover hand cranked strawberry ice cream
We used our grandmother’s recipe that we have posted in our blog before, but this time we made some changes. The recipe below reflects those changes. You can use this recipe with other fruit, such as peach, which is one of my favorites.
Granny’s Pumped Up Strawberry Ice Cream
– Makes 5 quarts
Ice Cream Ingredients
- 6 pints ripe strawberries, cleaned and hulled
- 2 pints heavy whipping cream
- 1 pint half-and-half
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- Needed for the ice cream maker
- Ice
- Rock salt
Directions
Mash the strawberries until smooth. In a large bowl, combine the fruit with the cream, half-and-half, sugar, and vanilla and mix well.
Pour the mixture into the freezer canister and insert the dasher into the canister. Place the lid on the canister and put the canister into the bucket.
Pack the area between the canister and the bucket with ice and rock salt. Add a 3- or 4-inch layer of ice and then pour a layer of salt, at least a few handfuls. Repeat the layering until the ice is about an inch or two below the cannister lid. Don’t go above the lid and take care not to get the salt into the canister.
It will take about 1/2 hour to an hour for the ice cream to thicken in the hand crank maker. The ice cream thickens in about 15 to 20 minutes in an electric maker. With the electric maker, be sure to turn the maker off as soon as the ice cream is thick or the motor can burn out.
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In our family homemade ice cream was a tradition at birthday parties and summer events. Why not make it one of yours?
~merry~