Aren’t sprinkles great? They don’t add much extra flavor to ice cream, but somehow they just make it better. That’s my opinion at least. Of course, some of you may refer to sprinkles as “jimmies.” The jimmies vs. sprinkles debate is a topic we wrote about a while back here on the Ice Cream Journal. Are they sprinkles? Are they jimmies? Are they really necessary? Who knows. I do know I’m a fan of them. Are there any other sprinkle fans out there?
I was talking to someone the other day about ice cream (of course), and they explained that they have very specific ice cream eating habits. It turns out, they eat a bowl of ice cream three times each week, and always while they’re watching the same three television shows.
During the summer, they’d always have a bowl of ice cream on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday night while they watched the reality TV show, Big Brother. Now that Big Brother has concluded, they’ve switched their ice cream schedule to coincide with The Biggest Loser on Tuesday nights, The Office on Thursday nights and Desperate Housewives on Sundays.
At first I thought the strict schedule was kind of odd, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me. I mean, why shouldn’t you combine something you love (ice cream) with something else you love? Does anyone else have any quirky ice cream eating habits, either related to television or not?
P.S. – The fake news story in our last “Wild and Wacky Ice Cream News” entry was #2 (the one about the study which found that people eat more ice cream while standing than they do when sitting or lying down).
We found this recipe on a blog called Worth the Whisk and wanted to share it with you because it’s just so darn neat. That’s right, we said “darn neat.” That’s how much we like this idea. It’s called the flower pot ice cream sundae and even though it’s probably a better recipe for a spring party, you can impress your friends with it all year round. It’s also simple to make!
FLOWER POT ICE CREAM SUNDAE
INGREDIENTS
1 small 3-inch clay flower pot
1 plastic straw
1 cup favorite ice cream
1 slice of chocolate cake, or 2 brownies or about 4 chocolate sandwich cookies with the middle frosting removed (or eaten)
DIRECTIONS
1. Wash out flower pot (it’s probably better to start with an unused pot, which you should still wash). Using a hunk of frozen frosting or one sandwich cookie half, seal the drain hole at the pot bottom. Sealing the hole is important, or else ice cream will melt and drip out while you’re eating it. For some people, that might not be a bad thing!
2. Crush up cake, brownies or chocolate cookies, reserve about 1/4 cup for the top “dirt.” Press the remaining in the bottom of the pot. Place in the freezer to set.
3. In a medium bowl, soften the ice cream. Add any optional ingredients you’d like (chocolate chips, nuts, candy pieces) and blend with a spoon until smooth. Spread the ice cream layer into the pot, filling about half an inch from the top of the pot. Insert the plastic straw in the middle of the ice cream, cut off top to leave about 1-inch. Place back in freezer to set (about 15 minutes).
4. Once the ice cream is firm, spread the top layer of “dirt” in the pot, piling it up to the edges, with a nice little mound in the middle. Refreeze. When ready to serve, insert a fresh flower into the straw and add a few leaves.
And there you have it! You can probably do some other fun things with this, like burying a gummy worm in the mix as a nice little surprise for each guest or have his head peeking out the top of the dirt. Maybe some toffee pieces as “rocks.” You could even make this sundae with a larger flower pot for a party. If anyone tries this, let us know how it turned out!
Tomorrow is officially the first day of fall. Which means time is up on all those things you wanted to do this summer, but never got around to. Hopefully you got lots of other things checked off your summer fun list. If not, you’ve got one day left!
But the fall isn’t such a bad season. In fact, there are lots of things look forward to. Like cooler weather, the leaves changing colors, sweaters, soup, back-to-school (whether you’re a parent or a kid will determine how much you look forward to this one), pumpkins on doorsteps and, of course, football.
Those are just a few things the fall season brings our way each year. Anyone else have any other suggestions?
It’s time for another… WILD AND WACKY ICE CREAM NEWS! Just like last time, all of these stories are true, except for one (which we totally made up). Try to guess which is the phony by leaving a comment!
1. FILE THIS ONE UNDER “EWWWWWW!” — A Frederick, MD woman in need of a quick summer treat did what many of us do while on-the-go, she made a pit stop at a drive-thru for some soft serve ice cream. After getting home, and after already eating most of her treat, the woman was horrified to find blood on her cone! The culprit was a restaurant employee who had cut his hand and was not wearing gloves. The restaurant manager ordered the employee to the hospital for tests (all was okay) and offered to pay for the woman’s medical expenses too.
2. HAVE A SEAT! (OR NOT) – Researchers at the Queen’s University Belfast in Ireland have discovered that there might be a deeper reason for our frosty cravings, and it has nothing to do with those delicious swirls of peanut butter. In studies of more than 100 ice cream indulgers, the researchers found that people who ate ice cream while standing up consumed a whopping 25 percent more ice cream on average than people who snacked while seated and 37 percent more than people who ate while lying down.
3. A THRILLER OF A MILKSHAKE — Michael Jackson’s sister, LaToya, found a way to pay homage to the late King of Pop by honoring his memory with a milkshake. LaToya concocted the treat while visiting a popular West Hollywood ice cream shop. The unnamed shake will be available through October 31, and contains strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, skittles, mixed nuts, caramel, whipped cream and a Cadbury flake. All proceeds will be donated to the AIDS Project Los Angeles.
4. GIMME A DOUBLE SCOOP AND ALL YER MONEY! — The notorious “Ice Cream Bandit” of Morristown, NJ has been caught! The man who held up five ice cream parlors throughout New York and New Jersey this summer — including three in one week — was nabbed by authorities and faces a lengthy prison sentence if convicted. When police searched the bandit’s apartment, they learned that the outlaw did his homework when they discovered a notebook with a list of all the local ice cream shops. Ice cream shops he won’t be visiting for a long, long time, we hope.
Ice cream lovers everywhere lost one of their own on Friday when 115-year-old Gertrude Baines passed away in Los Angeles. Gertrude was the world’s oldest living person and credited her longevity to a diet of fried chicken, crispy bacon and ice cream.
With Gertrude’s passing, 114-year-old Mary Josephine Ray of New Hampshire becomes the oldest living person in the United States (a woman in Japan who’s a few months older than Mary now holds the global title). Among Mary’s short list of life’s indulgences is, you guessed it, ice cream. It’s good to know that whether you’re 15 or 115, everyone’s favorite dessert can still be a regular treat!
Food and beverage researcher, Mintel, has uncovered a bit of a gender gap when it comes to male and female ice cream preferences. According to a 2008 study by the group, 70 percent of men prefer plain ice cream, like chocolate or vanilla, while 74 percent of women would rather grab a scoop of ice cream with chocolate or candy bits in it.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that men and women don’t like each other’s preferences. The same study showed that 66 percent of women would opt for a plain scoop after they’ve had their fix of fancier flavors, and 63 percent of men would do the same with the women’s preferred flavor.
All of this leaves us wondering: What do you think about this study? Does it ring true for you or your spouse’s personal ice cream preferences?
We’ve said it before: As ice cream lovers, we don’t eat enough ice cream cones at home. Sure, we’ll grab a cone at the local ice cream shop or at the county fair, but why don’t we have a double scoop now and then in comfort of our own living room?
This month’s prize is designed to inspire each of us to do just that. They’re not real ice cream cones, but they’re the next best thing. It’s a set of eight colorful ceramic ice cream cones you can use for serving ice cream at your next party (that’s them pictured above). The set even comes with an equally colorful set of matching spoons.
We’ll choose one comment at random from all the comments on the Ice Cream Journal this month to receive this prize. And, as always, we’ll throw in some Turkey Hill ice cream to help fill those cones!
We’d also like to take this time to shine a spotlight on a new member of the ice cream blogging family. His name is Russell, and he’s the author of a blog called Ice Cream Geek. On Ice Cream Geek, Russell covers all sorts of ice cream-related topics, but mainly focuses on how to make ice cream at home. Welcome to the family, Russell!
The following was originally posted here on the Ice Cream Journal in 2008, but it was so outrageous, we thought it deserved a second look.
The vision of gleaming, golden indulgence you see above is the world’s most expensive ice cream dish: the $1,000 Golden Opulence Sundae from the New York City restaurant, Serendipity 3. It was created in 2006 to celebrate the eatery’s 50th anniversary (the golden anniversary, of course). Here’s the official description, just in case you’re thinking about ordering one:
“Five scoops of the richest Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream infused with Madagascar vanilla and covered in 23K edible gold leaf, the sundae is drizzled with the world’s most expensive chocolate, Amedei Porceleana, and covered with chunks of rare Chuao chocolate. The masterpiece is suffused with exotic candied fruits from Paris, gold dragets, truffles and Marzipan Cherries. It is topped with a tiny glass bowl of Grand Passion Caviar. It’s sweetened and infused with fresh passion fruit, orange and Armagnac. The sundae is served in a baccarat Harcourt crystal goblet with an 18K gold spoon to partake in the indulgence and topped with a gilded sugar flower by Ron Ben-Israel.”
Believe it or not, Serendipity 3 actually sells about one Golden Opulence Sundae per month, although they do require 48 hours’ notice if you plan to partake. The good news is, you get to keep the goblet…but you have to give back the spoon.
Yesterday, Ernie flashed his verbal skills by teaching us all the correct pronunciation of “sherbet” (sher-bit). In the comments to the entry, Lois asked about the correct way to say Turkey Hill’s home, Lancaster County. Deb V. cleared up the conundrum, and Ernie offers his input below.
There are a lot of words in the English language that are commonly mispronounced and I won’t get into all of them here, mainly because I’m guilty of mispronouncing some of them myself. But one word I feel it’s my duty to clarify is the correct pronunciation of “Lancaster” (as in Turkey Hill’s home, Lancaster County).
Almost everyone outside PA pronounces it “Lan-cast-er”, which is fine because they don’t know any better. Sort of like how some people who aren’t from Kentucky might pronounce Louisville as “Loo-ee-ville” when it’s really pronounced “Loo-uh-vul” (but you have to say it really fast for it come out right).
The same is true of Lancaster, which is pronunced “LANK-ister” or “LANK-us-ter” (there are various phonetic spellings). You can listen to the proper pronunciation by clicking on the little play button on this website. Now let’s put everything we’ve learned together in a sentence:
“People in Louisville enjoy Turkey Hill sherbet made in Lancaster County.”
Got a question about your favorite flavor or a suggestion for a new one?
Click here to tell us!
Loading ...
If you’ve got a technical question about the ice cream making process or some other inquiry about the nuances of America’s favorite treat, chances are Ernie has the answer. He might not be able to answer all questions, but he’ll try his best and some may be featured on the Ice Cream Journal.
Click here to contact Ernie
