When it comes to sweet victories, nothing quite compares to ice cream, especially if you’re thousands of miles from home and dodging enemy fire. During the final stretch of World War II, the U.S. Army took dessert diplomacy to a new level with the launch of three massive, concrete-hulled floating freezers designed to deliver joy on a cone. These weren’t your average supply ships. Measuring nearly the length of a football field, these refrigerated barges churned out 500 gallons of ice cream a day, bringing spoonfuls of comfort to troops stationed across the Pacific. Nicknamed BRLs (short for “barge, refrigerated, large”), these floating fortresses of frozen delight also carried loads of meat, fresh produce, eggs, and cheese. But let’s be honest: Everyone came for the ice cream. Whether they were battling the tropics or homesickness, a scoop of chocolate or vanilla was the perfect morale booster for the troops. Too far from a BRL? No worries. American ingenuity didn’t stop at the shoreline. Aviators on high-altitude flights transformed their B-17 bombers into makeshift ice cream makers by stashing cans of the mixture on board. The vibrations and freezing temperatures Ice Cream on Deck! How America Shipped Sweetness to the Front Lines
Extra-Crispy Ranch Chicken Cutlets
Ingredients
• Olive oil • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste • 3/4 cup flour • 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 cup panko
breadcrumbs • 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese • 1 oz ranch seasoning,
store-bought (1 packet) or homemade • Cooking spray
Directions 1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan with olive oil and set aside. 2. Season both sides of chicken breasts with salt and pepper. 3. Set out three shallow bowls. In the first, combine flour and a pinch of salt and pepper. Add the eggs to the second bowl. Mix panko, Parmesan, and ranch seasoning mix in the third bowl. 4. For coating, dip seasoned chicken breasts in flour, coating both sides. Then, dip the chicken in the beaten eggs and, finally, the panko mixture. 5. Place each coated chicken breast in the prepared baking dish. 6. Spray the tops of the chicken with cooking spray. 7. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the chicken reaches 165 F and is golden brown.
worked like a charm, turning turbulent missions into frozen dessert production. These sweet efforts weren’t about
indulgence but about reminding the troops of life back home, of simpler pleasures, and that even in war, a little scoop of normalcy could make all the difference. Ice cream may not have won the war, but it certainly made the battlefield a little more bearable.
Inspired by CookieAndKate.com
ELDERLAWNV.COM 3
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator