Who doesn’t love Party Cake ice cream? Cappuccino the Yorkie sure does! Thanks to Patrizia P. from Ossining, NY for sending us this priceless pic.

NOTE: Because some dogs and other pets are prone to lactose intolerance, care should be taken when feeding your pet ice cream. Like most “people food” treats, moderation is the key. Talk to your veterinarian if you have questions about your pet’s ability to eat ice cream.

Our poll for July is also up-and-running (on the right). We know it’s not the most fun question we’ve ever asked, but your honest feedback will be valuable to us. The question is about a “widget,” which is a piece of software you can download from our website (it’s very simple to install). It would create a tool on your computer desktop that would display information like new recipes, new flavors or other Turkey Hill news.

We haven’t figured out the specific details of what the widget would do, but we’d like to know if you’d be willing to use it and what you’d like the widget to communicate to you. We can design it to deliver just about any type of information. Let us know your thoughts with a comment!

In other news, we’ve got some fun things planned throughout July here on the Ice Cream Journal. Feel free to visit us daily or enter your email address on the upper right to have new blog entries sent directly to your in-box. Thanks, and let the countdown to National Ice Cream Month begin!

No, you’re not dreaming. That’s exactly what will happen during the upcoming Super Scooper All-You-Can-Eat Ice Cream Festival at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia on July 4, 5, and 6.

According to the website, the festival will be held from noon to 6 pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with extended evening hours on Saturday from 7 pm to 10 pm (that’s 21 hours of ice cream eating!). Over 20 different ice cream and water ice companies will be on hand to give away their treats, including Turkey Hill.

Admission is only five dollars and all proceeds benefit the Joshua Kahan Fund to fight pediatric leukemia and the Children’s Hospital Oncology Division. To recap: all-you-can-eat ice cream, five dollars, fighting pediatric leukemia. If you ever needed an excuse to visit Philadelphia – and what better weekend to do it than Independence Day? – this is it!

If you can’t make it to the Ice Cream Festival, don’t worry, Turkey Hill will also be sampling at the following events over the holiday weekend:

Tuesday, July 1 (York, PA) – York Revolution sampling

Thursday, July 3 (Columbus, OH) – Red, White and Boom music festival

Thursday & Friday, July 3-4 (Pittsburgh, PA) – Pittsburgh Regatta

Friday, July 4 (Frederick, MD) – An Independance Day Celebration

Friday, July 4 (Fredericksburg, VA) – Heritage Festival

Sunday, July 6th (Philadelphia, PA) – Philadelphia Phillies sampling

July is only five days away. It’s our favorite month of the year because July is National Ice Cream Month. That’s right, a whole month dedicated to celebrating the greatest culinary invention EVER. It’s so great, that when sliced bread was invented, everyone called it “the best thing since ice cream.”

Last year we celebrated National Ice Cream Month by doing some cool things here on the Ice Cream Journal and 2008 is no exception. This year we’ll spend July getting back in touch with our roots. That means you’ll see lots of entries about the history of Turkey Hill Dairy, but also about the history of ice cream and some glimpses of life here in Lancaster County.

As for the prizes…well, that’s the best part. Each Wednesday in July we’ll write about something in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Those weekly entries will include an authentic Lancaster County prize, which we’ll give away to one comment chosen at random from that entire week.

At the end of the month we’ll give away our grand prize: a package that includes a year’s supply of Turkey Hill ice cream, a one-night stay at a local Lancaster County bed & breakfast AND a personally guided tour of Turkey Hill Dairy by everyone’s favorite ice cream expert, Ernie!

We’re pretty sure it’s the biggest prize we’ve ever given away here on the Ice Cream Journal and we can’t wait for July to begin!

We know it’s a little late, but trust us when we say, this flavor is worth the wait. According to the schedule in the back of the Turkey Hill calendar, Junior Mints was listed as the May Limited Edition flavor but it’s finally hitting stores in late June and should be available through July.

Turkey Hill’s Junior Mints Ice Cream is creamy mint-flavored ice cream swirled with rich fudge and loaded with Junior Mint Minis. The most interesting thing about the flavor is how the mint, which is already cool and refreshing in its candy form, combines with the coldness of the ice cream to become even more refreshing. With a warm July ahead of us, maybe it’s a good thing this flavor was delayed.

On a previous post about our limited edition flavors we noticed some of you were having difficulty finding a particular limited edition flavor. We know how much you look forward to trying some of these new flavors, because we can’t wait to either. Here’s a little insight into how Limited Edition flavors make their way into your store that may help you understand why you can’t find them right away. Each Limited Edition flavor is made near the beginning of the month, however stores won’t be able to get the new flavor in stock until the previous month’s supply is sold out. So if you are going to the store and can only find last month’s flavor, don’t give up hope, it will be coming soon!

Today marks the official start of summer…also known as “ice cream eatin’ season.” Yes, we know ice cream doesn’t need a season and that it tastes good all year round, but you have to admit, there’s something about the summer months that makes ice cream taste just a little bit better.

Feel free to celebrate the approach of warmer weather with a big bowl of your favorite flavor out on the porch. Better yet, pay a visit to your local ice cream shop and have a double dip cone with sprinkles. You deserve two scoops and you definitely deserve sprinkles!

This summer, the Turkey Hill interns are traveling the country, bringing Turkey Hill iced tea and iced cream to people everywhere. The following report is from Alyssa, who recently attended a car show in Ohio.

On Saturday, June 14, I attended the annual Cruise-On-In & Dance Party in Massillon, OH to bring samples of Raspberry Duetto to the masses. The streets were lined with cars of all shapes and sizes, ranging in age from classics to my favorite, a new Chrysler 300 with Lamborghini doors.

An unexpected car wash from morning storms sent drivers hustling around with squeegees and chamois to prevent the rain from ruining the luster of their vehicles, but the early rain didn’t deter the nearly 100,000 car enthusiasts in the greater Massillon area from coming out to enjoy the day’s event.

Once the afternoon sun made its presence known, everyone was thankful Turkey Hill had brought Raspberry Duetto – a great way to refresh and cool off on a hot day!! Here is a special tip that I learned while trying to stay cool throughout the day: Duetto tastes even better when you allow it to soften a little! I’d be interested in hearing ways that you like to enjoy your Duetto or ice cream.

Make sure you check out our event calendar and hopefully I’ll get to see you on one of my road trips. Olivia and Rene will be out at Kennywood amusement park next week (June 24-26) for Mom’s Rule and they’ll have a report when they get back. If you’re close, stop by and say hi and get some Turkey Hill Duetto while you’re there. Well that’s all for now, keep checking for more intern updates here at the Ice Cream Journal!

- Alyssa

MIKE M. ASKS:  “Where does butter pecan get its wonderful creamy butter flavor from?”

Thanks for your question, Mike! It’s nice to hear from a fellow Butter Pecan lover. Since our Butter Pecan is actually a butter pecan flavored ice cream, the creamy buttery taste comes from the natural flavors. The butter-roasted pecans also add a buttery taste and a dash of salt is used to enhance the flavor.

Hope this helps. I’m off to help myself to some ice cream. I’m sure you can guess which flavor!

Ernie

P.S. – We sent an e-mail out about this today, but in case you missed it, Turkey Hill just finished shooting our new TV commericials for our iced tea! I know this is an ice cream blog, but I couldn’t resist letting you all know about the new commercials because we’re all so proud of them. Check them out on our website (click here) and let us know what you think with a comment! Enjoy!

The Cuisipro Ice Cream Scoop & Stack is an interesting concept. According to the website, “the scoop & stack creates cylindrical blocks of ice cream that can be decorated or stacked for a colorful and creative presentation.” Who knows, it could be fun! As always, at the end of the month one comment at random will be chosen and the author will receive this nifty little invention as a gift. And yes, we’ll throw in a few coupons for free ice cream.

By the way, congrats to Joe R. of Marydel, MD. He was the winner of last month’s prize, the Andy Warhol Ice Cream Cones.

Remember drive-in movies? There used to be thousands of drive-in theaters across America, but now there are only a few hundred scattered throughout the land. It’s a shame because they’re so much fun. For many of us, they’re a reminder of simpler times, when we were younger and much more carefree.

That’s part of the reason why Turkey Hill Dairy has sponsored a giant portable drive-in movie screen which will travel around central Pennsylvania, bringing the drive-in movie experience to thousands of people this summer. The inflatable screen will be called the “Turkey Hill Screen” and stands 40 feet high! That’s a picture of it on the right. Those two little things standing at the bottom are people!

Below is a listing of locations and dates when the Turkey Hill Screen will be up-and-running (beginning at dusk every Friday and Saturday through August). Best of all, admission is FREE, but they are accepting donations. If you’re in the area, we hope you can make it. 

Shank Park, Bull Frog Valley Road, Hershey: June 6, 7; July 11, 12; Aug. 8, 9.

Hershey Conewago Campground, 1590 Hershey Road, Elizabethtown: June 13, 14, 27, 28; July 25, 26; Aug. 15, 16.

Friendship Community Church, 3380 Fox Run Road, Dover: June 20, 21; Aug. 29, 30.

Meadows Park, Hanshue Road, Hershey: July 18, 19.

Ephrata Community Church, 70 Clay Road, Ephrata: Aug. 22, 23.

More information about the Turkey Hill Screen and schedule can be found on the USA Theaters website. The movie on June 6 and 7 was the animated treat, Madagascar. We’re not sure which other movies might be showing throughout the summer, but we’ll keep you posted!

June is National Dairy Month. It’s sort of like a warm up for National Ice Cream Month (July), but it includes other milk-based goodies like cheese and yogurt. Did you know that milk is the official beverage of Pennsylvania? It’s true. Dairy is also the largest part of Pennsylvania’s agricultural industry (over $1.5 billion annually).

To help celebrate National Dairy Month, several key figures from the state dairy industry gathered on the steps of capitol in Harrisburg last week. Among the items on the agenda was the creation of a giant ice cream sundae made with 90 gallons of Turkey Hill vanilla ice cream. The super-sized dessert was topped with 10 gallons of chocolate fudge, 10 gallons of strawberries, 30 pounds of chopped pecans and a ball of cherries. 

Below is a picture of the treat (photo taken by the Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association). On the left is Pennsylvania Dairy Princess, Lyndsey Royek and on the right is Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Dennis C. Wolff.