Homemade ice cream was a rare treat. A hand-cranked freezer was an appropriate wedding gift, so many families had one in the cellar, attic, or kettlehouse. For those without a freezer or the time to prepare the mix and turn it, there was another alternative. “Mother made snow ice cream. We had an old freezer but we seldom used it,” remembers a woman in her mid-50s. Another recalls, “We always made ice cream in the winter when we had ice! We used a cornstarch pudding, cooked base. Then we’d sit up to the cookstove with our feet propped up on it to stay warm!”