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By Cameron Small
Hometown Weekly Intern
On a hot summer night, Meat Loaf might offer his throat to the wolf with the red roses—but on a hot summer day, kids and teens could make their own ice cream. Last Thursday, July 7, the Dover Town Library held a “Make Your Own Ice Cream” event in the Community Room.
At a folding table, the ingredients stood, waiting to become a delicious frozen treat. Besides the ice-cream ingredients, the library supplied rainbow sprinkles and M&Ms as toppings. It was B.Y.O.C—Bring Your Own Cone. A gallon tub of Brewer’s vanilla ice cream was also available in the event that the homemade ice cream turned out less than ideally.
People, surprised by how easy it seemed to make, commented on ice cream’s shocking simplicity—mix half and half, sugar, and vanilla in a snack size plastic bag and put it in a gallon size bag filled with ice and rock salt to expedite the exothermic process. Shake for about five minutes. Serve in an eating vessel (at the library, a Dixie cup. At home, perhaps a bowl). Top with desired toppings. Enjoy.
Young Adult Librarian Lauren Berghman came up with the idea because she was looking for a way to bring more crafts to the Dover library. Combining this goal with the heat of the summer, it became apparent that ice cream could be the solution. “And it’s like a little science experiment,” Berghman added.
Despite it being July in Dover, when people go on vacation or go down (to) the Cape, about twenty-five people came through to make their own ice cream. Berghman hopes to host the event again later this summer, or make it an annual event next year.
If you asked any of the kids who made their own ice cream at the Dover Library Dairy how it came out, you wouldn’t get a verbal response—just a thumbs up, as their mouths would be too busy savoring their ice cream: shaken, not churned.
