Susan Writes

In honor of National Ice Cream month, my Facebook friends shared their favorite flavors. Chocolate Chip Mint.  Butter Pecan.  Vanilla.  Rocky Road. Fig.  Pralines and Cream.  Coconut.  Butternut.  Chocolate.  Peach.  Cookies and cream. Banana.  Spumoni.  Bubble gum. Peanut Butter Chocolate.

            Some were specific.  Baskin Robbins Nutty Coconut.  Stellar Coffee at Cream City Ice Cream.  Blue Bell Salted Caramel at Cole’s Store. Dark Chocolate at Lazy Cow.  Fudge at Mackinac Island.  Brown Butter Bourbon Truffle by Kroger’s Private Selection.  Mayfield Chocolate.

            Several friends chose homemade: anything homemade, vanilla, strawberry, and peach.  I agree homemade is delicious. Is homemade ice cream really better than that bought in a carton or is the experience of making it and scooping it from a tall cold metal cylinder is what makes it so good?    

            Not one friend named my favorite flavor:  Burgundy Cherry that is sometimes available at Cream City and Baskins Robbins. 

            What ice cream flavors are the most popular in the United States?  According to an article published by Newsweek magazine on May 25, 2021, chocolate is the first choice – followed closely by vanilla.  Plain chocolate and plain vanilla.  That’s really not surprising.  Flavored toppings and nuts and candy and almost anything can be added to chocolate or vanilla to create unique tastes. 

            Toppings brings to mind sundaes and banana splits.  When I was young, Mom, Dad, and I often went to the Dairy Queen on Sunday nights and I always ordered a sundae.  Dad teased that I could only eat sundaes on Sundays, and he had me fooled for a long time.  I hate the slimy texture of bananas, but add ice cream, chocolate syrup, and toasted pecans, and even a banana tastes good.

            Do you eat ice cream in cone or a cup?  Kids choose cones and adults usually choose cups. My friend, Mary Jo, reminded me of the days of past when drug stores sold ice cream.  She remembers buying an ice cream cone for a nickel at the drug store on the square in Livingston, TN. For a dime, she could get a double dip cone.  An ice cream cone for a nickel or dime – those were the days.

             Recently, I took one of my Grands to get ice cream and ordered a two-scoop cone, just like hers – two flavors I’d never eaten.  As we sat and talked and licked ice cream, I declared that ice cream tastes better in a cone.  “Why do you think that’s the only way I eat it?” my Grand asked.

            And why eat only a few flavors?  It’s time to try some suggested by friends and some unusual flavors.  I’d eat Pickled Mango that’s available at an ice cream shop in Ohio, Lobster flavor in Maine, and Creole Tomato in New Orleans. 

            Anyone tried Cheetos ice cream? Vanilla ice cream rolled and dipped in crunched Cheetos, aka Cheeto dust, is sold at a New York City ice cream shop. We could try this at home.  

            It’s July.  Everyone celebrate and eat ice cream!

Filed under: Food | Tagged: ice cream |