Cream

John Herbst remembers the early Ringgold Ruritan Strawberry Festivals more than 50 years ago. A charter member of the club, Herbst, 89, and his wife Betty, 90, used to take their children with them to the old schoolhouse to make homemade strawberry ice cream. Right up through last year, Herbst dipped ice cream at the fundraiser. This year, he decided to pass on the scoop. “I finished it. My son does it now,” he said. The elder Herbsts owned and operated Smithsburg's Misty Meadow Farms.

The Unilever ice cream plant in Hagerstown will close its doors for good on July 27, leaving 391 hourly and salaried employees without jobs, a company spokesman said Tuesday. Jeff Graubard said news of the closure was no surprise. “They've known about this beforehand,” he said. Unilever officials told employees in 2009 that the plant at 1100 Frederick St. would close around the end of 2011, but that date was delayed. Then, in September 2011, the company announced plans to close the plant in August 2013.

About five years ago, farmer David Herbst and his family had a big decision to make. With two of his four children - married with kids of their own - wanting to continue the family business of operating Misty Meadow Farm on the outskirts of Smithsburg, they either needed to drastically increase their dairy production or undertake more custom-crop farming to support everyone. “We needed to go to 600 cows if we wanted to support these other families,” Herbst said, saying the idea was met with great resistance by his daughter, who handles most of the milking of their 160 cows.

Sharpsburg Elementary School nominated 14 students for exemplifying all the character traits of a responsible student. These students enjoyed lunch at the Golden Table with counselor Jacklyn Kinzer, eating ice cream sundaes to celebrate their accomplishments.   Legion members hand out oranges Sharpsburg American Legion Post 236 continued the holiday tradition of giving students and staff oranges and candy canes for Christmas. The Legionnaires said they were impressed with the enthusiasm and behavior of the students at Sharpsburg Elementary School.                    Sharpsburg Elementary celebrates Sprit Day Students and staff will wear clothes inside out or backward today for Spirit Day. Today is also Bank Day and the Good News Club will meet after school.

On Aug. 22, Emma K. Doub School for Integrated Arts & Technology celebrated back-to-school night with an ice cream social. The ice cream was donated by Unilever (Good Humor-Breyers) in Hagerstown.

Unilever informed government officials that layoffs at its Hagerstown ice cream plant are expected to begin this fall and the plant will officially close in August 2013, a Washington County economic development official said Monday night. The Good Humor-Breyers Ice Cream plant on Frederick Street employs about 440 people, said Timothy Troxell, executive director of the Hagerstown-Washington County Economic Development Commission. Unilever North American Ice Cream officials did not have a schedule for how many employees would be laid off during the next two years, Troxell said.

White sauces includes classic sauces such as veloute; and  béchamel, both are made by thickening a liquid with a roux.   Veloute;, which translated, means "velvety, soft, and smooth to the palate," is made by flavoring a white stock with aromatics and thickening with a blonde roux.   Béchamel, in Pierre P. Escoffier's day was made by adding cream to a thick velouté sauce.  In modern terms we make béchamel by thickening milk, sometimes with added aromatics for flavor, with a blonde roux.

Jugglers, a giant slide and informational stations covered the grounds of Gateway Crossing Wednesday during the Hagerstown Housing Authority's annual Community Fair. Diane Rudisill, director of resident services for the housing authority, said the fair offers children a chance to play and their parents an opportunity to discover programs that are designed to help them become more self-sufficient. Rudisill said housing authority residents comprise low- to middle-income individuals and families.

Eating ice cream to beat the summer heat is one of America's favorite pastimes.   Homemade ice cream can be a special treat, but it can also become a threat because of salmonellosis. While commercially manufactured ice cream is typically made with pasteurized eggs or egg products, recipes for homemade ice cream often use raw eggs in the base mixture. If your favorite ice cream recipe uses uncooked eggs, it is time to replace or revise it. Those raw eggs may contain salmonella bacteria that can cause foodborne illness.

Ice cream in a bag   1 gallon zipper-style bag (freezer)  1 quart zipper-style bag    4 cups ice  1 cup rock/table salt  1/4 cup sugar  1 cup milk (skim, 1 percent, 2 percent whole)  1 cup half and half  1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract  1. Pour the milk, vanilla extract and sugar into the quart zipper bag. Squeeze as much air out as possible, mix well and seal the bag carefully. 2. Place the quart zipper bag into the gallon bag. Cover with ice and salt.