Homemade Ice Cream - A Great Way to Celebrate!

Making homemade ice cream is a great family tradition. Here is a recipe we share with guests when they visit Sauder Village. Why not make some special memories this holiday weekend by making your own homemade ice cream . . . yum!

Homemade Ice Cream
Recipe for 1 ½ gallon freezer

1 gallon whole milk (approx.)
3 c. sugar
¾ c. flour
½ t. salt
8 eggs, beaten
3 T. pure vanilla extract
1 quart heavy whipping cream

Scald 1 ½ quarts (6 cups) of the milk in a large pan. Set aside. Mix sugar, salt, and flour in another bowl. Slowly add 2 cups cold milk to dry ingredients while stirring constantly. Return scalded milk to burner. Slowly add flour/sugar mixture, and then beaten eggs while stirring constantly. Cook until thick. Cool. When ready to put in ice cream freezer add vanilla and cream. Pour into metal freezer tub and add milk to fill line (about ¾ full). Put lid on freezer tub.

To Freeze: Place ice cream mix in metal container into wooden freezer. Put in a layer of ice and then sprinkle with ½ cup coarse ice cream salt. Repeat layering ice and salt until you have 3 or 4 layers. When you reach the top of the tub, place some ice on top of the lid. Pour water over ice until water runs out of the drain below. Start cranking immediately. You may need to add more ice and salt as you crank. (The more salt you add, the faster it will freeze). Keep cranking until you can barely crank. Open metal container and remove paddle. Replace lid and cover with ice and a clean towel or rug to keep ice cream frozen until ready to serve.

Historic Gardens Tell the Story of Life’s Priorities

It’s a long journey from the produce in the gardens of the 1800s to the picture perfect produce in today’s super markets. The gardens of ‘days-gone-by’ were filled with unique varieties of flowers and vegetables . . . Oxheart Carrots, Bloody Butcher Corn, Lazy Wife Beans and other varieties with interesting names! At Sauder Village guests can walk through gardens and visit historic homes to experience life in Ohio from 1803-1910.

Heirloom vegetables, open-pollinated varieties that are often high-quality, easy to grow and have stood the test of time, have become popular all over again! These varieties are worth growing for their delicious flavors alone, but at historic sites around the country these heirloom vegetables are also recognized as ‘living artifacts’ - offering a glimpse of life in earlier times.

“We have been cultivating our heirloom gardening program since 1998,” shared Susan Burkhart, Grounds Supervisor. “From 1803 through 1910 – guests can visit our gardens to see how plant types, gardening practices and garden styles changed through the years.”

The earliest gardens are found at Natives and Newcomers. In this 1803 garden, guests will find mounds known as “The Three Sisters” – a plant trio of corn, pole beans and squash. Other varieties growing in this area include True Lemon Cucumbers, White Egg Turnips and Striped Cushaw Squash.

As guests travel along the Historic Timeline they will find many gardens in the Pioneer Settlement area. The garden near the Witmer-Roth home includes Amish Knuttle beans, Deacon Dan Beets and Oxheart Carrots. Near the Eicher Cabin guests will find Lazy Wife Beans, Deer Tongue Lettuce and Bloody Butcher Corn in the garden. At the Stuckey Homestead the garden features Wren Egg beans, Delicata Squash and Prince Albert Peas.

With sunflowers and hollyhocks growing in the 1910 Homestead garden, it is apparent that life is getting easier for the residents of northwest Ohio. There is more time and energy to add color to the lives of those who chose to make rural America their home. There, in raised beds common to their European ancestors, guests can wander through a garden filled with Tall Telephone Peas, Christmas Lima Beans and White Wonder Cucumbers.

“These gardens help tell our story,” shared Andi Erbskorn, curator of education. “As guests wander through the gardens and see the produce being prepared in the homes – they are able to experience the lives of our ancestors.”

By visiting the Historic Village many times throughout the season, guests are able to fully appreciate the beauty of the heirloom varieties growing throughout the village. To learn more about heirloom vegetables and how to include them in your own garden visit www.seedsavers.com or www.halcyon.com/tmend/heirloom.htm

Thanks to our Volunteers!

For many of our volunteers, time spent at Sauder Village means much more than just giving train rides or selling souvenirs in the Gift Shop. Volunteering at Sauder Village often provides an opportunity to meet people from around the world, spend time with special co-workers, and help keep Erie Sauder’s dream alive.

This week we are celebrating “Volunteer Appreciation Week” – an opportunity for us to recognize and celebrate the many volunteers who share their time and talents at Sauder Village. In 2009 our volunteers gave 14, 512 hours of their time and our young Junior Historians volunteered 2,500 hours – amazing! Our top volunteers for 2009 were Mark Breininger with 340.75 hours in the Cooper Shop and Vivian Taylor with 336.75 volunteer hours in the Gift Shop. A special thanks to these top volunteers and to the many other special people who help make Sauder Village a recognized destination in northwest Ohio.

While the jobs may vary, the volunteer profile remains the same . . .friendly, outgoing individuals, who enjoy working with people! There are opportunities to provide administrative support, help with collections or educational programming, work in the historic gardens or help in the Gift Shop. Volunteers also work as historic interpreters, help with historic trades, and help in the Quilt Shop.

“People interested in volunteering this season should call or stop by the Sauder Village Welcome Center for an application,” said Sharon Fellers, volunteer coordinator. “We’ll do our best to work with you and your interests to find the best volunteer opportunity for you!

It takes the support of many people to continue the legacy Erie Sauder started so many years ago. “Volunteers play an integral role at our non-profit organization and we are thankful that so many people throughout the tri-state area share their time and talents with us every year,” shared Kent Nafziger, Director of Development.

We offer our volunteers flexible scheduling, complimentary meals when they volunteer, opportunities to attend special programs and workshops, and discounts on admission and purchases. Other volunteer benefits include the opportunity to meet many interesting people from around the world, make new friends, explore interests and discover new ones, and help enrich the community. Give us a call for more information on how you can get involved as a volunteer!

Thanks again to all of our volunteers! We truly appreciate all that you give to Sauder Village.

Treasures of the Museum

Let’s take a quick look at a new addition to Sauder Village! If you’ve been to our Museum Building, you know it is truly a “treasure chest of Americana” . . . featuring rows of farm equipment, tools, washing machines and more! Our founder, Erie Sauder, was interested in preserving these artifacts to share with future generations. And today, our curator of collections is working to preserve these treasures while also helping to share their story!

To help create some visual interest in the Museum Building and better tell the story of these artifacts, our curator of collections, Tracie Evans, has created some special new exhibits. Some of the first exhibits you’ll see are “Children at Play in 1900” and “Time for Fun” – sharing the story of how children and families enjoyed their leisure time. Other displays include “A Winter Harvest,” “Expressions of Grief,” and “Incubators, Brooders & Chicks, oh my!” We hope you’ll take time this season to wander through the Museum Building to enjoy the thousands of items on display and the unique new exhibits that help tell stories of life in the past!

Welcome!

While we are recognized for celebrating and sharing stories from the past, at Sauder Village we also realize the importance of looking to the future and embracing technology. We’ve been sharing information and videos on our website, Twitter and Facebook and today we’re excited to be entering the world of blogging. Welcome to our Sauder Village blog!

We have many stories to tell and we plan to post weekly blog updates to provide you with a unique insight into the Sauder Village experience. We will have blog posts about our historic gardens, artifacts, barnyard animals, historic farming, special events and a behind-the-scenes look at the Village. We’ll introduce you to people from the past, share stories about our craftsmen and let you meet some of our costumed guides. We may even have special deals and contests for those following our blog! Stay tuned . . . there are lots of possibilities.

Thanks for taking a look at our blog. We hope you enjoy this short video and will stop back often to learn more about Sauder Village.