Even if you’re not a football fan, you probably know that the Super Bowl is just 10 days away (Sunday, February 7). The reason the game is so well known, even among non-sports fans, is because the even is watched by nearly 100 million Americans, many of whom are watching just for the entertaining commercials (no, Turkey Hill isn’t buying an ad).

To help bring a little sweetness to your Super Bowl party, we’ll be featuring five ice cream-related recipes here on the Ice Cream Journal next week, including some “honorable mention” recipes from last year’s Ultimate Holiday Recipe Contest. Stay tuned!

A big thanks to everyone who took a shot at answering our true and false trivia questions from last week.  As promised, we chose three people at random from those who got all 10 questions correct to win some free Turkey Hill ice cream. Congrats Sheila, Carol and Anna! Below are the answers to the quiz. We promise next month’s edition will be shorter!

1. The most popular and best selling flavor of ice cream in the nation is chocolate.

ANSWER: False. The most popular flavor in the nation is… anyone? That’s right, vanilla!

2. The Turkey Hill Giant Cow lives up to its name by standing 19 feet tall and weighing in at over 5,000 pounds!

ANSWER: False. She’s big, but she’s not that big. In reality, she stands 13 feet tall and weighs 3,500 pounds.

3. Despite the economic recession, national sales of ice cream actually increased in 2009, rising 1.5 percent as Americans found comfort in their favorite dessert.

ANSWER: True. Other comfort foods, like potato chips, also experience sales increases during a recession. No word on whether the macaroni and cheese folks are doing the same. (We also accepted false for this question because some of you thought we were being tricky with the 1.5 percent statistic when you found a source that said ice cream sales were up 2 percent.)

4. Even though they sound alike, sorbet is different from sherbet because sorbet contains no dairy products while sherbet can contain one to two percent milkfat.

ANSWER: True. And remember, it’s pronounced “sher-bit”, not “sher-bert”!

5. National Ice Cream Month in July was created by former president Jimmy Carter in 1976 as part of America’s bicentennial celebration.

ANSWER: False. America owes its month long devotion to ice cream to President Ronald Reagan, who established the celebration in 1984.

6. French vanilla ice cream contains egg yolks, which traditional vanilla ice cream does not.

ANSWER: True. The eggs give the French vanilla its sometimes yellow color and a little extra creaminess.

7. Immigrants at Ellis Island were served ice cream as part of the welcoming to America.

ANSWER: True. We’re not sure what the flavor was. Hopefully not Rocky Road!

8. Pat Bertoletti, a culinary student from Chicago, holds the world record for ice cream consumption by eating 1.75 GALLONS of ice cream in just 8 minutes during a contest in 2006.

ANSWER: True. The resulting brain freeze lasted two years and 237 days.

9. You can purchase all sorts of sports-themed stuff in Turkey Hill’s online store, including golf balls, baseballs, footballs and hockey pucks.

ANSWER: False. There are no hockey pucks in the Turkey Hill store… yet.

10. The first ice cream parlor in America opened in Philadelphia in 1776.

ANSWER: False. The honor of hosting the first ice cream parlor in America goes to New York City (in 1776).

We’re back with some more brain-busters in this month’s edition of Ice Cream Trivia. This time we’re firing 10 true or false questions at you and asking you to separate fact from fiction. Instead of e-mailing your answers to us at icecreamexperts@gmail.com, feel free to leave your answers with a comment. We’re pretty sure no one will copy your answers, since you can’t be sure if the person you’re copying from is right or wrong!

Those of you who get all 10 questions correct will be entered to win some free Turkey Hill ice cream.

1. The most popular and best selling flavor of ice cream in the nation is chocolate.

2. The Turkey Hill Giant Cow lives up to its name by standing 19 feet tall and weighing in at over 5,000 pounds!

3. Despite the economic recession, national sales of ice cream actually increased in 2009, rising 1.5 percent as Americans found comfort in their favorite dessert.

4. Even though they sound alike, sorbet is different from sherbet because sorbet contains no dairy products while sherbet can contain one to two percent milkfat.

5. National Ice Cream Month in July was created by former president Jimmy Carter in 1976 as part of America’s bicentennial celebration.

6. French vanilla ice cream contains egg yolks, which traditional vanilla ice cream does not.

7. Immigrants at Ellis Island were served ice cream as part of the welcoming to America.

8. Pat Bertoletti, a culinary student from Chicago, holds the world record for ice cream consumption by eating 1.75 GALLONS of ice cream in just 8 minutes during a contest in 2006.

9. You can purchase all sorts of sports-themed stuff in Turkey Hill’s online store, including golf balls, baseballs, footballs and hockey pucks.

10. The first ice cream parlor in America opened in Philadelphia in 1776.

The following was posted a long time ago here on the Ice Cream Journal, but we’re bringing it back for one more look. Enjoy!

Jessica E. from Browns Summit, NC asks:

After the ice cream is cut in half with the big knife, does the dissected ice cream then get thrown out, or does someone get to eat it?

What a great question! I assume you are referring to the daily cutting of ice cream that is done to check the quality of the ice cream made the day before.

As each new flavor is made, someone marks the first and last “saleable” package made. Saleable would mean that they felt all the ice cream and ingredients were filling the package in proper amounts. The marked containers then travel through the blast freezer and are set aside by the palletizing crew the next day. This is the product that is tested during the “ice cream cutting” process.

It begins by evaluating the outside of the package, removing the cover, and using the double spoon method to taste the product. The package is then cut in half using a very large and sharp knife. It is then evaluated visually to make sure all the inclusions (fudge, pecans, cherries, cookies, cookie dough, etc.) are dispersed evenly. By now the ice cream is almost nearly destroyed, and is disposed of by placing it into a bin labeled “Food Grade Waste.”

But there is a happy end to this story, because the leftover ice cream isn’t just thrown away. The ice cream, along with other remnant ice cream produced that day, is accumulated, diluted with water, and tested for butterfat and total food solids. It is then sent to a nearby farm where it is blended with dry feed and fed to the ever-hungry pigs. Pretty lucky pigs!

Thanks for your question!

Ernie

Okay, before you wrinkle your nose and emit an “ewww!” audible to everyone within 20 feet, give this treat a chance to explain itself. It’s a spaghetti and cheese flavored ice cream from a shop in Merida, Venezuela called Heladeria Coromoto. The shop is known for its unusual ice cream flavors, including its claim to having the most flavors of any ice cream shop in the world (nearly 900 and counting, though the shop only offers about 100 flavors on any given day). And one of those flavors is spaghetti and cheese, a tempting combination that begs the question: Would you eat it?

When we saw this month’s featured product, we knew we had to give it away here on the Ice Cream Journal. It’s a reproduction of a rustic looking tin sign that reads “Dairy Made Ice Cream: You’re sure it’s pure.” That’s it pictured on the right. The sign measures 12 inches by 14 inches and we’ve increased the value (at least we think we have) by having each sign autographed by our Einstein of Ice Cream, Ernie Pinckney, and Turkey Hill President Quintin Frey.

We’ll give away not one, not two, but THREE of these signed signs to three commenters chosen at random from all the comments left here on the Ice Cream Journal this month. Good luck!

On Wednesday we talked about our newest frozen yogurt flavor, PomBlueberry Chocolate Truffle. Today, we thought we’d give everyone a sneek peek at the Limited Edition ice cream flavors for the entire 2010 year. Some of them are returning Limited Edition flavors from previous years (based on sales and your positive feedback) and others are brand new.

Keep in mind, the monthly Limited Edition calendar is very flexible. The timing of when each flavor will be in your local grocery store depends mainly on when your store’s grocery/freezer manager orders it and decides to stock it. In other words, even though the April Limited Edition flavor is Fried Ice Cream, you might not see it in your freezer aisle until late April while others might not see it until May. Either way, keep your eyes open for these frozen treats!

JANUARY – Gertrude Hawk Box of Chocolates (Milk chocolate ice cream with dark chocolate raspberry cups, chocolate almonds and white chocolate chunks swirled with chocolate chips.)

FEBRUARY – Coconut Cream Pie (Creamy coconut ice cream swirled with coconut cream pie pieces.)

MARCH – Vanilla Swiss Almond (Vanilla flavored ice cream with choco almonds.)

APRIL – Fried Ice Cream (Cinnamon ice cream swirled with cinnamon sopapilla and sweet tostada pieces.)

MAY – Souther Lemon Pie (Tangy lemon ice cream swirled with whipped marshmallow and shortbread pieces.)

JUNE – Double Dunker (Mocha ice cream swirled with chewy cookie dough and crunchy chocolate cookie swirl.)

JUNE-SEPTEMBER – Peaches ‘n Cream (Peach ice cream with sweet peach slices.)

JULY – Chunky Peanut Butter (NEW!) (Vanilla ice cream with chunky peanut butter swirl and peanut crumbles.)

AUGUST – YORK Peppermint Pattie (NEW!) (White mint ice cream with mini YORK Peppermint Patties and chocolate mint swirl.)

SEPTEMBER – Baked Apple Dumpling (Cinnamon ice cream with caramel apple swirl and apple dumpling pieces.)

OCTOBER – German Chocolate Cake (Chocolate ice cream swirled with coconut caramel and pieces of fudge cake.)

NOVEMBER – Ginger Snap (Spiced ice cream swirled with ginger snap cookies.)

OCTOBER-DECEMBER – Egg Nog (Rich egg nog ice cream with rum flavoring and spicy nutmeg.)

A couple announcements to be made today. First, we’d like to let everyone know that our January through June Limited Edition Frozen Yogurt flavor is PomBlueberry Chocolate Truffle with Omega-3. Though the name pretty much says it all, this new flavor consists of pomegranate blueberry low fat frozen yogurt with lots of dark chocolate fudge truffles mixed in. Plus, it’s fortified with hearth-healthy Omega-3’s. This new flavor is in stores already, so feel free to try it out!

As you’ll see from the image on the right, our entire frozen yogurt line has a new look to it. The most notable addition is the color band on the front of the container that contains information about the different health benefits of the product. In the case of our new PomBlueberry Chocolate Truffle with Omega-3, you can check out its color band below.

Second, we’d like to congratulate each of our 12 Days of Ice Cream winners. The people below were chosen at random to receive the daily prizes we gave out during our holiday celebration in December. We still haven’t heard back from our Day 9 winner, Arvella. If you’re reading this Arvella, send us your address!! Congrats to all the winners and thanks to everyone for making this 12 Days of Ice Cream celebration the best one yet!

DAY 1 – Theresa S. of Bayonne, N.J.
DAY 2 – Craig K. of Hagerstown, Md.
DAY 3 – Vicki S. of Eastpointe, Mich.
DAY 4 – Angela H. of Avon, Conn.
DAY 5 – Harriet of Niskayuna, N.Y.
DAY 6 – Sharon W. of Newton, Mass.
DAY 7 – Debbie S. of Connellys Springs, N.C.
DAY 8 – Evan T. of Marlborough, Mass.
DAY 9 – Arvella
DAY 10 – Carolyn K. of Owings Mills, Md.
DAY 11 – Bert P. of Mechanicsburg, Pa.
DAY 12 – Emilia N. of Allentown, N.J.

Happy New Year everyone! We hope everyone’s 2010 is off to a good start. By the way, is the new year pronounced “two thousand ten” or “twenty ten”? We were debating that here at the offices. Anyhow, the following list of New Year’s ice cream resolutions was printed here on the Ice Cream Journal last year, but we thought these resolutions were so good that they deserved a second look.

Let us know if you plan to add any of these resolutions to your list!

1. Expand your ice cream horizons. Try one new flavor of ice cream per month.

2. Make homemade ice cream and invent your own signature flavor.

3. Explore ways to use ice cream in drink and dessert recipes.

4. Visit your local scoop shop more often.

5. Eat ice cream for breakfast (not often, but try it…you might like it!)

6. Use a special ice cream bowl and ice cream spoon.

7. Learn more about the history of ice cream and its production process.

8. Visit an ice cream factory.

9. Offer to buy a stranger an ice cream cone on a hot summer day (no guarantees with this one…he or she might just look at you funny and walk briskly in the opposite direction.)

10. Visit the Turkey Hill sampling tent at an event near you in 2010!