Here are a few more of THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS ® syndicated features which have appeared in 100+ newspapers over the past four and a half years.’
Homemade Wild Strawberry Ice Cream
Almost exactly a year ago, the MOTHER staff spent a long June evening hand-cranking and enjoying freezer after freezer of good, old-fashioned, homemade, wild strawberry ice cream. With volunteer berries coming on again the way they are, it’s nearly time to do the whole thing all over! Here, courtesy of The White Mountain Freezer Company, is the recipe we found so delicious the last time around:
Ingredients:
1 cup of milk
3 eggs}
2 cups of sugar (natural food purists may want to try substituting approximately 1 cup of honey)
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of flour or cornstarch
2 cups of heavy cream
2 cups of crushed berries
Instructions:
Scald the milk and stir it thoroughly and slowly into the well-beaten eggs, 1 cup of sugar, the salt, and flour. Cook the solution in a double boiler while you stir it constantly until it thickens. Remove from fire and, when the mixture is cold, fold in the stiffly whipped cream. Start freezing this ambrosia according to the instructions that came with your ice cream maker. Crush the berries, sweeten them with the remaining sugar, and — once the chilling dessert has started to thicken — thoroughly stir in the fruit. Freeze hard and enjoy, enjoy!
How to Make a Mexican Balero
This toy has been a favorite of Mexican children for centuries and is quite easy to build.
Use a 3-by-2-by-2-inch pine block for the main section of the toy and drill a 1-inch hole, 2 inches deep on one end and a 1/2-inch hole, 1/2 inch deep on the other. Cut or plane the four 3-inch edges of the block to form an octagon … this step is not necessary for the toy to function but it makes the whole thing more eye-pleasing.
Now glue the 5-by-1/4-inch dowel rod handle to the base of the balero and install a small screw eye as shown. Cut a 1-inch piece of 3/4-inch dowel for the plug and fasten a tiny screw eye to one end.
Now attach one end of a 20-inch piece of string to the screw eye on the balero and the other end of the cord to the screw eye on the plug … that’s it!
The object of the game is to catch the plug in the large hole on top of the balero using a swinging motion with your hand and arm. Give it a try … it’s harder than you think.