MacGyver's Ice Cream Parlor
Thursday evening
"I wish we had some ice cream," Cindy re marked, eating the last of her macaroni and carefully licking the cheese off her fork.
"Let's make some," MacGyver proposed instantly.
"Aw, you're foolin'; you can't make ice cream!"
MacGyver chuckled. "What; ya think it grows in cartons?"
"Really? You really know how to make ice cream, Mr Mac?"
"Sure. Ya have plenty of ice and salt, so we should be all set."
Cassie wrinkled her nose. "I don't think salt ice cream sounds very good, Mr Mac."
MacGyver chuckled. "Neither do I. Don't worry; it doesn't go in the ice cream."
"Then why do you need it?"
"Wait and see," MacGyver promised. "We need to cook up the custard first; your ma got a double boiler?"
Cindy wrinkled her nose. "A what?"
MacGyver shook his head. "Never mind; I'll just use two pots." Filling one pot half full of water, he set it on the stove and put the other pot inside it, then turned on the heat.
"Derrick, can ya bring me three or four eggs?"
"Sure." Derrick carried the eggs to MacGyver, who carefully cracked them on the edge of the pot and neatly separated out the yolks, handing the whites in their shells to Cindy to carefully toss.
"Why can't you just use one pot?" she demanded.
"Water boils at two hundred twelve degrees," Mac Gyver explained, "so the top pot won't get any hotter than that. That's important with eggs; ya gotta cook 'em gently or they'll curdle an' you'll have scrambled eggs."
"I like scrambled eggs!" Dylan declared.
MacGyver grinned and reached to ruffle the boy's hair. "Yeah, so do I, but not in my ice cream."
The kids giggled and crowded around to watch.
"Hey, back up a little there, Cassie," MacGyver warned. "Don't let your pigtails go near the flames."
"Does hair burn?" Dylan demanded as Cindy pulled Cassie back with an arm around her shoulders.
"You bet it does." He stirred the yolks as they cooked, watching as they thickened to the perfect con sistency and then turning off the flame. "Now milk," he told them. "It won't be as rich as if we had cream, but that's all right."
"I'll get it!" Dylan cried. He ran to the fridge and wrestled the milk down, struggling to carry the nearly full gallon.
"Here, Dyl'," Derrick offered, lending a support ing hand before the jug could drop and spill over the floor.
MacGyver took it from them with a smile of thanks, pouring a thin stream into the egg yolks as he stirred it in.
"Vanilla good?" he asked, opening the cabinet where he had learned spices and flavorings were kept.
"Yeah, that's our favorite!"
"I like strawberry," Cassie pouted.
"Aw, strawberry's too pink!" Dylan scoffed.
"That's because they add coloring," MacGyver said wryly. "Cassie, how about we make vanilla and put strawberry topping on?"
"Okay!" Cassie agreed, brightening instantly.
"Cindy, bring me the sugar," MacGyver told her, adding a splash of vanilla and mixing it in. He put in two scoops of sugar, then tasted it and grimaced slightly. "Whew, that's sweet! But cold numbs taste buds, so when it's frozen it should be just about right. Let's put this in the fridge, and while it cools I'll rig up an ice cream freezer."
"But we have a freezer, Mr Mac," Dylan pointed out. "Why don't you put it in there?"
"'Cause it'll get rock hard," MacGyver explained. "You have to keep stirring ice cream all the time it's freezing to mix in air and break up ice crystals."
"Crystals! Like in that rock I found?"
"Probably pretty similar; that'll be a geode."
"Wanna see it, Mr Mac?" Dylan asked ea gerly.
"Later, Dyl'," Derrick interjected. "How's he s'posta make a freezer if you've got him looking at rocks?"
Dylan's face fell, and MacGyver smiled at him. "You can show me later, and I'll tell you all about ge odes," he promised. "Now, I need a large coffee can with a lid and a bigger pail it will fit into with an inch or two to spare all around, and someone can find me the egg beater."
Dylan and Cassie ran to rummage through the drawer of miscellaneous utensils, Cassie emerging tri umphant. "I got it, Mr Mac!" Spoons clattered to the floor as she pulled it out, and she stared at them in con sternation.
"Well, pick 'em up," MacGyver told her.
"I'll help, Cassie," Dylan offered.
"Mr Mac, the only can I can find still has coffee in it," Cindy announced.
"You know where your mother keeps her Tupper ware; find something to put it in, then wash the can out real good and dry it. Hey, Derrick, that pail looks per fect!"
MacGyver set to work on the eggbeater, improvis ing paddles and fastening them securely to the beaters. When Cindy brought him the coffee can, he cut a slit in the lid to insert the eggbeater and fixed it back together with duct tape.
"Derrick, think ya can bring me the custard without spilling?"
"Sure," Derrick agreed. He retrieved the pot from the fridge, carrying it carefully with both hands.
MacGyver poured the thick liquid into the coffee can in a pale yellow stream, then put the lid on and made doubly sure of the seal with strips of duct tape.
"Now the pail…" he murmured, spreading a layer of ice in the bottom and sprinkling it generously with salt before nestling the can securely on top. As he continued packing layers of ice and salt around it, the kids looked at each other in puzzlement.
"Mr Mac, what's the salt for?" Cindy demanded.
"Yeah, salt isn't cold!" Dylan added.
"Nope, but it lowers the freezing point of water, so the ice starts to melt. Melting takes energy, which is the same as heat, an' that's gotta come from somewhere."
Cindy wrinkled her nose. "Huh?"
MacGyver grinned ruefully, realizing the scientific expla na tion was beyond them. "Let's just say the salt makes the ice get colder."
"And freeze the ice cream!" Cassie exclaimed, clapping her hands as she gave an excited hop.
MacGyver chuckled. "That's right, baby." He fin ished filling the pail and wrapped it in a thick dishtowel. "Okay, you all get a turn churning. It'll get harder as it freezes, so youngest first. And that pail will be cold enough to give ya frostbite, so be sure ya hold the towel. While you're busy with that, I'll get started on some strawberry syrup."
As Cassie took the first turn, * MacGyver found a jar of strawberry jam on the door of the fridge. He scooped what was left of it into a pan and frowned; it wouldn't make enough syrup for all of them, and he couldn't count on Cassie being the only one to want it.
Well, mixed berry was good, too, and he added equal amounts of raspberry jam and grape jelly. He added a little water to thin it, then turned the heat on low to melt it down.
The syrup was cooling on the back of the stove when MacGyver took the final turn churning the freez ing ice cream.
"That feels about right," he decided finally. Lifting out the inner can, he wiped it down well to be sure no salt got into the ice cream. Then he cut through the tape with his knife, and the kids watched with bated breath as he lifted the lid off.
"It's ice cream!" Cassie exclaimed.
"Well, ya don't have to sound so surprised," Mac Gyver teased, pulling her pigtail.
"Can we lick the paddles?" Dylan asked eagerly.
"Nope."
"Aw, why not?"
"'Cause there's only two paddles and four of you, that's why. It'll taste just as good out of a bowl."
He dished the ice cream into five generous portions and spooned berry syrup over each. "C'mon; let's go sit out on the porch."
"This is the best ice cream I ever tasted!" Dylan exclaimed rapturously, apparently not caring that the syrup swirling through the melting ice cream was turning it pink.
"Not bad," MacGyver admitted. * A faint flavor of coffee had persisted in the can, just enough to lend the ice cream a unique depth and richness. But he knew that to the kids, having made it themselves gave it an even rarer flavor.
Next outtake coming next week! (as long as the library doesn't shut down again…)
* Illustration for this scene can be found at
www . deviantart . com [slash] femalechauvinist [slash] art [slash] Making-Ice-Cream-887784852
www . deviantart . com [slash] femalechauvinist [slash] art [slash] Strawberry-Sundaes-887784914
I proofread all my stories at least once before posting, but if you see any mistakes I might have missed, please let me know!
Please note that I have only minimal internet access, and may not have time to respond to all reviews/messages. (But they are much appreciated, even if you're reading this story long after I originally post it!) If you have questions regarding my MacGyver alternate history, check my profile first to see if they're answered there. Thanks for your understanding! Barbie