Cold Summer Desserts

Icebox Desserts go back to the early years of American cooks. They were often called icebox desserts as that was when your refrigeration was a block of ice that the iceman brought covered in sawdust and placed in your icebox. The iceboxes came in many sizes and were plain or very fancy for the wealthier homes.

We had a refrigerator for as long as I can remember however, one of our elderly neighbors still had a icebox in the forties when I was a kid and there must have been others in our small town as we still had a iceman. What fun on a hot summer day when he would come down our gravel street as he would usually chip off some ice for us to suck on after we rinsed off the sawdust. What a treat when it was so hot and dusty, and it was not something we got every day. Those blocks of ice lasted for awhile. Sue reminded me of riding on the back of the wagon and getting the seat of our pants wet. Great Fun! Sure glad for my nice refrigerator and freezer and that I do not have the fuss of emptying out the water and trying to keep things cold.

Still, Mothers as always coped with the things they had to. Much hardier than we are today.

Enjoy the recipes for cool things to eat. If you make them early in the morning or the evening before you won’t heat the house up and they will sure taste good for a snack or dessert after that evening meal.