Dessert first… 2016 will mark 10 years since I wrote the first column. That would be over 260 columns published, almost 800 recipes tasted and memories galore put into print. You and I have shared births, deaths, vacations, mission trips, graduations, weddings, parties and pets.
I just heard the term “chick and bunny” journalism. I guess that would apply to me as I have written both about my chickens and my rabbits but I think the term is in reference to “cute and fluffy” writing. I am proud of this reference…if I can bring comfort and joy and food into your life by sharing my memorable moments then I treasure that connection that we share.
I have made so many friends through the writing of this column and the publication of the first book Sandyisms I feel truly blessed. Please enjoy A Second Helping of Sandyisms when it is published in 2016.
Love and Joy to you this Holiday Season. I Enjoy Dessert First
First column ever published Annandale Advocate 2006
I am really a dessert first kind of person. Some may see this as a character flaw while I see myself as someone who likes to enjoy the great gifts of life on an empty stomach.
I grew up in the great north woods of Minnesota, one mile from the shore of Lake Superior. We were a small family of four, just my parents, my brother and me. My Mom and Dad were in their early 20s when we were born so maybe that’s why we enjoyed special treats as kids because my parents were still “kids” themselves. We didn’t have indoor plumbing or running water until I entered kindergarten. We did have electricity though so we could at least see the path to the outhouse.
I grew up with homemade ice cream, made in the winter. I don’t ever remember having it in the summer, probably because we would have had to buy or make the ice. In the winter ice was plenty and free. Either we pulled icicles from the house or chopped it from a nearby lake and carried it home in a gunny sack. We’d pack all around the ice cream freezer in layers of ice and rock salt. My brother and I would sneak big pieces of rock salt and suck on them like candy while we waited for the ice cream to freeze. We usually made ice cream when we had neighbors or friends visiting, which was often. The best part was the paddle from the middle of the mixer. Mom would lay it on a plate and my brother and I would go at it with spoons until it looked clean enough to skip the dishwater.
Store bought ice cream was a nightly ritual in our house. Mom would bring it home in the 5 quart “Texas Gallon” pails and we ate at bedtime, if we were good. If we got to fighting we would be sent to bed without ice cream. Dad would still have his treat though, scraping the metal spoon to the glass bowl extra loud so we could hear what we were missing, vowing the next night we wouldn’t argue. Sometimes it worked.
Toppings were the added bonus. Usually it was nothing fancy, just Hershey’s syrup from a can, or better yet Nestles Quick stirred in like a malt. As a grownup I have tried and made many homemade toppings. These are three of my favorites!
I doubt whether the world holds for anyone a more soul-stirring surprise than the first adventure with ice cream.
Heywood Broun
Taste of Home columnist Sandy (Anderson) Holthaus lives on a farm in South Haven, MN with her husband, Michael, and their children Zoe, Jack and Ben. Her heart remains on the North Shore where she grew up with her parents, Art and LaVonne Anderson of Schroeder. She enjoys writing about her childhood and mixes memories with delicious helpings of home-style recipes.
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