It appears that if I do the proper math with it being July, we have lived over half of the 2021 year. Sometimes it seems like we have been months into summer with the HOT over 90 degree weather and other times there is a big wonder as to how fast has the time gone by since the start of the year. I kind of judge the weather by how many days I can run around outside without shoes. It can be done in less than perfect warm weather but you have to move fast.

Along with air conditioning, I find that another necessary item to live a reasonable life is to have a good supply of ice cubes. Daughter Nissa and Husband Larry probably could do fine without that option, but I say a tiny prayer of thanks each time I go to my automatic ice cube dispenser in the Kitchen Aid. Back in the days when I had to fill my own ice cube trays, I had a good collection of sizes and shapes to be made. They ranged from tiny bears to big hearts. I do have several large plastic balls that can be filled with water and frozen. I also went through the stage of freezing “ice glasses” so you could put room temperature liquor in them and let them chill down rather quick. It had to be quick because they did melt in a short time if you were outdoors in the hot weather. The fun part was that you could just throw them away in the lawn and had no need to wash glasses. I should take an adventure trip to my back storage room and see if I can dig up some and put them to freeze for old time memories. (It is about 12’ by 20’ and FULL so it might take awhile).

Sometimes I wish I had a commercial ice machine like they have at restaurants and hotels. The Siberian husky might also like it as they do show pictures of huskies hanging out in the cube bins. Maybe the husky fur would not be a plus so the husky would have to have his own machine and invite a few friends over for a party of their own.

There is a science of ice cube shapes for effective cooling, etc. for the drinks offered at bars and restaurants. They also seem to be crystal clear unlike our home frozen somewhat cloudy ones. The ice carvers also know how to make clear ice and the Internet does offer some ways we can try it at home. You may ask why clear ice is better than cloudy normal ice. According to the pros it is part of the look that makes the object more attractive to the consumer. That is why food art and food styling plays a huge part in magazine pictures. They used to say just boil the water once or twice and then freeze and all will be clear but that statement has also gotten more complicated.

When water is frozen in our regular freezing trays it freezes from all directions and the impurities get pushed around and freeze to a cloudy look. Most of the “new” freezing methods to get clear ice involve “directional” freezing with freezing from the top down being the ideal way. Okay, maybe your life will not be affected one little bit if your ice is cloudy but if you want to explore, read on. The top dog method is to purchase a $45.00 4 square ice cube freezing container that permits the impurities to go to the bottom and out of the actual cube into the space below. There’s a cheaper way, but it takes time and is bit of a mess. Use a 5 quart cooler alone or with ice cube trays that fit in the cooler. Ice cube trays should be made of silicon for this part of the process and you can go as far as making holes in the bottom of the silicon so that the impurities go beyond the cheesecloth sling and leave you with beautiful crystal clear cubes. You may need to take a break and check out the Internet and what Camper English (said to be a real person) got going with the directional freezing thing. You might be a bit confused now before going to the Internet to see what I am talking about, so maybe something with your ordinary ice cubes in your drink will work for now. Cheers! A toast to you for reading all the way to the end.