Recipe: Victorian Brown Bread Ice Cream

This is an unusual but delicious way for Victorian women (like pioneers) to use up that stale bread that didn't quite get eaten! Ingredients:

• 3/4 C brown breadcrumbs
• 2 C cream
• 2 large eggs (separated)
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium hot oven, bake/brown the breadcrumbs in a roasting tin for approx 10 to 15 mins, turning often. Mix 1 Cup of the cream along with the sugar and egg yolks and heat to 185°, stirring CONSTANTLY. The mixture should thicken up so it sticks to and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Let cool. When the mixture is cold, stir in the breadcrumbs, vanilla and rest of the cream and then transfer the complete mixture into an ice cream maker. Freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. However, just as it's starting to freeze whisk the egg whites until fluffy (stiff peaks) and fold into the ice cream mixture, then finish freezing. Yum!

The Ice Slough

Among the more interesting and unusual events that happened to pioneers while coming across the plains was the journey through/to the Ice Slough in Wyoming. It currently lies about 30 miles west of Casper. At the Ice Slough, pioneers could dig down through the turf to find a huge sleet of ice, even in the height of summer! They would break off chunks of ice and drink ice water--unusual even back east--make lemonade, make ice cream, and just enjoy the simple pleasure of being cool on the arid prairie in the summer. Can you imagine the delight that pioneers experienced? Long weeks of host, dusty trail walking (most pioneers walked, even if they had a wagon)--and suddenly ICE. What a treat! This was on the main trail for most pioneers headed West to Oregon, California, Utah, and other regions, so by the end of the summer, the Ice Slough showed much sign of digging, with turf piled up next to jagged holes. Nevertheless, there seemed to be plenty of ice to go around for the pioneers, even the later ones. ICE-SLOUGH ACTIVITIES Try these activities with your family or group! Icy Fingers Divide your family or group into TWO teams of equivalent size. You'll need a large block of ice for each team. At the start, a team member from each team should hold the block of ice as long as possible until they can't stand it any longer. They then pass the ice block to the next player. The first team to go through all players LOSES. Marble Toes Fill a tub or large bucket with ice water. There should be plenty of ice floating around in it! Toss a few dozen marbles in the ice water. Each player then reaches in with his or her toes to retrieve as many marbles as he or she can in an allotted time. The one with the most marbles wins!

Just getting started!

The AWHC is just starting to experiment with this medium of communication. We hope that in time it will be a valuable source of information for our patrons. Keep checking back! The Executive Director