Aggie Ice Cream

Had a craving for ice cream a few weeks ago and the brother of a friend of mine reminded me of Aggie Ice Cream. For those of you who don't know about Aggie Ice cream, it is made at Utah State University by the students in the food science program.

USU used to be called Utah State Agricultural College, and basically that is what is was for many years. Then as it started to grow, it became Utah State university, and now today is a really great university. When I was going there, it still carried the stigma of being a 'cow college', and the joke that everyone outside of Logan used to tell you was, "I heard that the faculty at the cow college got replaced with automatic milking machines last week!"

In spite of becoming a full fledged University, Agriculture was still a big part of the campus. The University maintained a very large dairy herd that was maintained and studied by the students majoring in Dairy Science. Of course the cows had to be milked, and the milk then provided the students from the Food Science department the opportunities to use the milk to make all kinds of dairy products...ice cream being one of the more popular items. When I was a student back in the 1960's one of the buildings on the 'quad' had and ice cream stand just inside the front door. Perhaps my mind it just playing tricks, but I seem to recall that the ice cream cones they sold only cost a nickel a scoop, or perhaps it was a dime. At any rate it was a bargain and there was almost always a line to buy the delicious ice cream. The students making the ice cream wanted to make the best ice cream they could so it was very rich in cream and flavor. Occasionally they would experiment with different flavors to see how they might go. Anyone remember the 'mince meat pie' flavored ice cream? More popular was the 'pumpkin pie' ice cream! Oh how I remember rushing into the building between classes and holding my breath that the line wouldn't be too long so I would have time to get a scoop and eat it before the next class started.

With time, the old store on the quad went away, but they still sell the delicious ice cream at another store over on 7th North (I think that is were it is). Much more room and they have freezer cases available so you can buy the ice cream by the half gallon if you want. Of course they still have the big tubs of ice cream behind the counter where they scoop the ice cream out and put in a cone for you to enjoy. They also sell other dairy products produced at the University, and perhaps if my memory is correct they will also make sandwiches for you to purchase.

I was excited the year I found out that the ice cream was sold in the half gallons. I was on vacation in Logan and my mind immediately started to wonder if I might be able to take a few gallons home with me. I immediately went and bought a large ice chest, and the day before leaving Logan, I took the ice chest up to the store in carefully fitted in as many half gallons as I could squeeze in. After paying for them, I took them back to my Mom and Dad's home and transferred them to their big freezer in the garage for the night. When I got ready to leave the next morning I repacked the ice chest with the ice cream and then on the way out of Logan I stopped at one of the grocery stores and purchased some dry ice to put on top of the ice cream so it would stay nice and frozen. When I had family with me, that usually entailed a stop for the night in Southern Utah so that meant replenishing the dry ice the next morning before the final leg to Southern California.

Oh what a pleasure it was to have sooooo much delicious Aggie Ice Cream in my home freezer! For a few weeks I could indulge in the rich, creamy flavors every night that I would carefully select!

Haven't been back to Logan for a few years and the craving for Aggie Ice Cream is growing stronger and stronger. Probably will be in Logan next year for a high school reunion.....and of course, several trips to the Aggie Ice Cream store! Hmmmmmm.....wonder how many ice chests I can fit in the car?

Feeding my Hummers

I'm doing another story about one of my favorite topics, Hummingbirds. Some of you reading this blog might have already read about this story of when I fed the Hummers at my job at South Coast botanic Gardens on the Palos Verdes Peninsula through emails that I have sent out. As many of you already know, I used to teach children's gardening and nature study classes at the Gardens, and I maintained Hummingbird feeders around the childrens area, both for the teaching opportunities and just for the pleasure of watching the antics of the Hummers as they fed on the sugar water in the feeders. We had so many Hummingbirds using the feeders that they needed to be filled two times a day, so my first job in the mornings was to clean and fill the feeders, and then usually just before going home for the night, I would have to fill them again. Many days when I had classes going, I would have kids who wanted to help with the cleaning and filling of the feeders.

We had a large outdoor sink area that served a variety of uses. Vegetables harvested from the gardens were cleaned there before they went home with the children. Also this is where all the gardening tools were cleaned before being put away after using them. There were several sinks so it allowed more than one person at a time to use them. This was also where we made up the sugar water solution to put in the feeders. Each feeder was cleaned out with a brush before it was re-filled with the food.

When I would arrive at the Gardens in the mornings, usually the feeders would be mostly empty, and the Hummers would be hungry. I would gather up the feeders and take them to the sink area and proceed to get them ready to be filled. As the Hummers were familiar with my routine, they would tend to congregate near the sink area while I was working. There was one particular male Hummingbird that was a little more impatient than the others and he would perch himself on the sink faucet handle to wait for the first feeder to be filled. Once the first one was filled, he would hover right in front of me waiting for me to attach the bottom part to the feeder, turn it over and then right there, he would drink and drink from the feeder like it was going to be his last meal! When he was satisfied, off he would go...perhaps to hunt out his favorite flowers so he could get more food! Then as I would carry the feeders back to the locations where they would hang, I would be followed by several Hummers darting around me excitedly in anticipation of them being hung up so they too could drink their fill!

I was told, but haven't confirmed this from anyone else, but did you know that during the winter months, when the nights are so long, that Hummingbirds need to find food and eat within the first 20 minutes of waking up or they will starve to death! Talk about a precarious situation to be in! Makes me feel good about always keeping my feeders full for them.

That's all for this time. Hope you enjoy my posts.

Ron, the Plant Man