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Archive for June, 2008

THE TURKEY HILL SUMMER INTERNS HAVE ARRIVED!

Friday, June 6th, 2008

The signs are all around us: flowers are in bloom, crickets are in song, and the Turkey Hill Giant Cows are on the move. All are signs that it’s time for the summer interns to join the Turkey Hill marketing team in bringing the tastes of Turkey Hill to events near you, our loyal customers.

This year the marketing interns (that’s a photo of them below) will chronicle their journeys all over the Turkey Hill area in a series of guest blog entries right here on the Ice Cream Journal.

The group consists of Alyssa, a senior at Bloomsburg University who loves Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream and is majoring in Business Management; Olivia a sophomore at Penn State Altoona who thinks that Mint Chocolate Chip is “to die for;” and Rene (pronounced reh-nee), a junior marketing major at York College who had his favorite ice cream flavor, Mint Chocolate Chip, stolen by Olivia, so he included the fact that he likes his with “jimmies” (sprinkles for those of you not from eastern PA) and a drizzling of hot fudge.

So look forward to blog posts from Alyssa, Olivia, and Rene, as they report on their adventures following the Giant Cow, sampling ice cream, and learning all about marketing at Turkey Hill Dairy. They look forward to hearing back from you and hopefully meeting you at a Turkey Hill sampling event this summer!

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ASK ERNIE: BEN FRANKLIN AND TOMATO ICE CREAM

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

The following question was submitted by Stan L. from Philadelphia.

A tour guide in Philly told my daughter that Ben Franklin’s favorite flavor of ice cream was tomato. When she shared this with her 2nd grade class, the teacher challenged it. Is there proof of this anywhere?

Thanks for your question, Stan. Personally I’ve never heard that one, but it doesn’t mean it’s not true.

We do know that Mr. Franklin was a big fan of ice cream (along with Thomas Jefferson and George Washington) and that he was a regular at French ice cream shops in New York City and anywhere else that sold it. In the 1770’s, he got his first taste of ice cream in Paris and was so pleased with the experience that he wrote in a letter “I am making an effort to acquire the formula so we may sample this lovely fare upon my return to Philadelphia.” This tale led to Franklin being credited with introducing ice cream to the colonial states, but no one’s really 100 percent sure about that.

It was also rumored that during the blistering hot summer of the 1786 Constitutional Convention, Franklin created an ice cream recipe and invited Congressional delegates back to his home “for a special treat that was universally popular and helped steer them toward the democracy we know today.” Unfortunately that tale has since been disproved, but it sounds nice!

As for his love of tomato ice cream, an Internet search reveals no clues to this mystery. We’re not even sure if tomato ice cream existed in Ben’s day, but we do know that tomato ice cream exists today (here’s a recipe). Either way, I’m willing to bet Ben would have liked it.

Tags: ben franklin, benjamin franklin, ice cream, philadelphia, turkey hill
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JUNE POLL: HOW OFTEN DO YOU EAT ICE CREAM?

Monday, June 2nd, 2008

In May we asked you how many of containers of ice cream you have in your freezer RIGHT NOW. 46 percent of you admitted to stocking three or more containers and 14 percent said they have FIVE OR MORE containers packed into their freezer. Way to go ice cream lovers! (Though 12 percent of you revealed that you had NO ice cream in your freezer…what’s up with that?)

This month’s poll question is simple: How often do you eat ice cream? Every day? Once or twice a week? Only on birthdays with a piece of cake? Feel free to register your opinion by voting in our poll on the right – you know we always like to hear from our readers!

Speaking of readers, we’re happy to report that last month was the BEST MONTH EVER in terms of visitors to the Ice Cream Journal during a month in which didn’t have a promotion. The chart below represents monthly visitor totals on the Ice Cream Journal over the past year. You can see spikes in traffic in July 2007, December 2007 and March-April 2008, but those are due to promotions like National Ice Cream Month, The 12 Days of Ice Cream, and The Ultimate Flavor Tournament.

We didn’t have any promotions in May (just the usual insightful and mouthwatering musings about ice cream), yet our visitor totals still topped 57,000! Thanks to everyone for helping us set new standards when it comes to building the Ice Cream Journal’s community of ice cream lovers. Feel free to celebrate with a comment and a bowl of your favorite flavor – at the same time, if you wish!