It seems like there’s a special day for just about every food or beverage. February alone is host to National Chocolate Fondue Day (February 5), National Fettucine Alfredo Day (February 7), National Banana Bread Day (February 23) and National Clam Chowder Day (yesterday).
Today is another tasty holiday – National Pistachio Day. Fans of the nut might know it best as the key ingredient in pistachio ice cream. Like we mentioned in a blog entry last year, pistachio ice cream seems to have disappeared from grocery store shelves in recent years due to the changing tastes of fans, but Turkey Hill still makes Pistachio Ice Cream in bulk 3-gallon containers to be scooped out by ice cream shops that carry our flavors.
If you’re hungry for facts about the tasty green nut, here are a few tidbits, courtesy of PistachioHealth.com:
- Almost 90% of the fat found in pistachios is the healthy mono- and polyunsaturated fats.
- Pistachios are a good source of fiber providing 3 grams per serving, that’s more than many types of whole fruit.
- Pistachios are one of the oldest flowering nut trees, and are one of the only two nuts mentioned in the Bible (Genesis 43:11).
- Humans have eaten pistachio nuts for at least 9,000 years.
- Thanks to their high nutritional value and long storage life, pistachios were an indispensable travel item among early explorers and traders.
- In America, pistachios were once dyed red to disguise shell imperfections and make the nuts stand out in vending machines.
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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.
Pistachio Ice Cream remains one of my favorites (along with Pistachio-Pudding Cake)…. Yum!
Speaking of retro, where is Maple Walnut? It may be an also ran, but it is still one of my non chocolate all time favorites.
PISACHIO ICE CREAM IS GREAT I COULD HAVE A BOWL NOW.
…omg!! i just love pistachio ice cream. one great nut AND
that almond flavoring. yummy!! plus that green color. oh, wow!!
I always wondered why pistachios were dyed red on the shell.
Thanks for the info. Yes, I have them in the house right now. Dr. Oz had someone on who recommended them for digestion. I hope Turkey Hill is producing pistachio ice cream. I know a competitor is, but we are loyal to Turkey Hill and believe it to be the best quality.
Three gallons is too large to fit into my freezer. Its hubby’s second favorite after “Box of Chocolate” which he now has 3 tubs of. With all the “National” days it seems the circus in Washington has too much free time to pass unimportant laws but no time to pass the important ones.
My family has always loved the Pistachio and Pistachio ice cream was my oldest daughter’s favorite ice cream for years. Having them around so much lately, I have become a big fan of the nut now too. Based on this, I think that TH may want to rethink the no Pistachio ice cream in stores. May be make it a limited edition version for say the month of February or even March since Feb 27 is the National Pistachio Day and March is good for everything GREEN!
Hated those pistachios with the dyed red shells the left your fingers red too. I confess I’ve never eaten pistachis ice cream.
I love Pistachios – I wish Turkey Hill put pistachio ice cream in the stores.
I’ve never had pistachio ice cream but would definitely be willing to try it if I knew where to find it in New Jersey!
Love pistachio ice cream. Please Please Please bring it to the stores. WE LOVE PISTCHIO ICE CREAM—-TURKEY HILL, OF COURSE!!!!!!!
I love Pistachio ice cream and all other nut based ice creams (exception: peanuts, but there are not really nuts anyway). Wegman’s is selling it under their own house brand (blended with Vanille), and I have no idea who is actually manufacturing it for them. Are you behind that?
I am from West Germany and was used to Schoeller (Moevenpick brand) ice cream quality when I came to the USA 10 years ago. Since then I have tried all available US brands, and I have not met a comparable quality. But TH is the best available here in the Northeast, together with certain varieties of Breyers.
If you would offer Pistachio in stores, I would certainly buy that for home use! And yes, Maple Walnut is a staple I was used to have, so I would buy that as well. For unknown reasons Americans don’t seem to favour nut based ice creams, because I can’t find too much variety in that field.
Last month you have announced that you’d bring back the Box of Chocolate as a limited flavour. We are living in (rural) Central PA and have checked stores in a radius of 45 miles – nowhere to be found! What a disappointment! I had that a year or two ago and liked that one as well, but I guess that limitation is so limited that only cities get a delivery (or how does the distribution work?)…
I like Pistachios,but not in ice cream.
National Pistachio Day! I love it! It’s my favorite nut flavor in ice cream… You could call it my “flavorite”!
Haven’t had pistachio ice cream in FOREVER… now I’m in the mood!!
I’m green with envy
sorry–not a fan of pistachios…:-)
Pistachios are yummy but a lot of work to eat. I hanve not had pistachio ice cream for years but remember it well. When I go out for ice cream there are too many other favorites to choose from.
well what do you know,
another day to celebrate nuts
I do it often
One of my husband’s favorite green foods!
LIKE PISTACHIO AS LONG AS THERE ARE NOT TO MANY NUTS IN IT. HAVEN’T SEEN IT AROUND IN A LONG TIME. LOVE THE NUTS TOO ESPECIALLY WITHOUT ALL THAT RED DYE.
Pistachio nuts and ice cream are my favorites! They are the perfect healthy, savory and scrumptious thing to eat.
Albgardis – FYI – An employee at Wegmans told me their ice cream is put out by Perrys (at least in the Rochester, NY area).
I love Pistachio nuts. Prefer not to have the red dye on them though.
I never was a fan of pistachios but the ice cream is fine. My favorite day is National Ice Cream Day! Maybe we should have a National Turkey Hill Day. That would be good.
Howard Johnson’s made the best pistachio ice cream. Since they are no longer in operation, would be great if TH made limited edition of pistachio for store distribution. I would definitely stock up while available … just like coconut and pumpkin pie.
Pistacio everyone in my family’s favorite! When my brother-in-law served in Viet Namn I sent him a big bag of pistacio nuts and told him don’t leave a trail of shells from your foxhole. He didn’t! Would Love to try Turkey Hill’s pistacio!
Since pistachios are bigger sellers now in grocery stores, maybe you should bring it back….. along with butter brickle. Basic good flavors without all the extras will sell if only on a special flavor basis.
As many have said I too have not had pistachio ice cream in a long time. I can always buy some Turkey Hill ice cream and add my own pistachios.
I have never actually tried pistachio ice cream, but I sure would
love to sometime! I have been eating pistachio nuts since 1959; back in the days when they were dyed red (which led to red thumbs).
As far as nutty ice cream goes, my favorite is still butter pecan. I would like the pistachio also, anything with nuts in it is fine by me
Please consider distributing pistachio ice cream again. I believe it would be a big seller since there is no competition.
Just finished my container of All Natural CHOCOLATE….delicious!! MIght have been good w pistachios!!
Thank you for the info! I will check out that Bible verse right away! God bless.
I’m ashamed to say I’ve never tasted Pistachio Ice Cream. I love Pistachio’s though. I’m going to try the ice cream ASAP. It sure looks yummy though.
do not know if i would like it, there a first time for everything
I can’t believe so many people have never had pistachio ice cream. Although, Turkey Hill doesn’t carry the 48oz size, every once in awhile, when we have a “yen” for it, we have to go to another major brand that does. Thanks for giving the reason of the red color. We never knew they were dyed, we always thought they grew that way! No wonder, we can’t find the red nuts anymore. We wish Turkey Hill would bring back pistachio to our grocery stores, as no ice cream compares to TH quality flavor!
I would love to try T.H. Pistachio ice cream….too bad it’s not sold in stores!
happy pistachio day to everyone!
I have been beggin TH to make Pistachio ice cream for the supermarkets for years!!! Instead of the common version with
nuts in it, replace the nuts with cherries like they offer in chinese restaurants. This would be especially appropriate for Chinese New Year. Come on guys!!! Let it me the flavor of the month.
Thanks for the interesting info about pistachios.
I love pistachios but not as ice cream
I like the suggestion of many others ~ have Pistachio ice cream as a flavor of the month for Feb. or March. That would be GREAT! Feb. due to “its” day or March due to the green for St. Patrick’s Day! Come on TH ~ What do you say???
wow sounds so good
I love pistachio nuts but I’m not a fan of pistachio ice cream. I had red fingers for many, many times but until today, I didn’t know why they were colored red. Thanks for the info.
I’ve never tried Pistachio Ice Cream before. It sounds interesting.
I love pistachios, but have never tried the ice cream. I will try it the next time I find it.
I love the Moose Tracks , however, I live near a Hannaford
Super Market, and I used to go to Price Chopper…but do not
go there anymore….so I asked the Customer Service People
to please investigate why they don’t carry Turkey Hill
Ice Cream….IT IS THE BEST…ESPECIALLY THE LIGHT!!!
I would love to see Pistacchio Ice Cream make a come back. I do notice that only one other company carries this flavor. I often said that your company should have it on our shelves. There is not one flavor that I have run into that is a thumbs down. All depends on mood to decide what to buy that day. I enjoy many flavors that you put out and I love the monthly flavors that you do. Awesome. Keep up the good work. I had pistacchio at ice cream parlors when I was younger. Keep it in mind. Hope to see it soon…..Thanks!!!
So udderly cute…..
I could eat the whole gallon of pistastio ice cream, especially made by u (Turkey hill)
Pistachio Ice cream is one of my favorites. I love anything pistachio. I make pistachio cake, cookies, biscotti and anything else pistachio I can find. I would love to see it back in the half gallon size, so we can enjoy it again.
Love pistachios but not the price!
I love pistachio!!!!
I love your pistachio ice cream stachio as my family an I call it! We want it all year round an think it should be this years fan favorite!
I think I’d eat almost anything “pistachio”..TH pistachio ice cream leads the pack!
Pistachio is one of my favorites the others are butter pecan vanilla buttered almond
I adore Pistachio —- I have them every night as a snack and TH Pistachio is one of my all time favorite flavors.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE bring back Cheery, Choclate, Royal best flavor I ever had!!!
Moose Tracks are scumpdillicioius or however you want to spell that word.
I am so glad they stopped dying the pistachio nut shells red. The dye would get all my fingers. YUK. Half the fun of eating them is getting them out of their shells.
Good idea someone suggested —- make Pistachio this month for St. Patrick’s Day and please do keep in mind the possibility of making licorice ice cream. Hey, how about making it for Halloween with little oraang marshmallow pumpkins.
Fantastic! I’ve had pistachio ice cream and it’ one of my top 5 flavors. It should be a flavor on the shelf 365 days a year. This is an old time great. I can’t wait.
Would love to have Pistashio Ice Cream added to your choice of flavors.
add it to the list of nutty days
Pistachio ice cream is delicious. Here’s an idea. Make a pistachio ice cream that is red, so those who eat it will get a pink tongue and lips just like eating pistachios marinated in red vegetable dye from back in the day!
Havent,tried it yet,but Pistachios in 1 lb bags were put in my childrens Christmas stockings every year.
Bring back Pistachio!!!!
A watergate icecream would be great as a summer treat. Pistachio and pineapple and marshmellow swirl.Yum.
pistasio is my favorite flavor, last year i asked for it in the regular size containers not just the large ones
Always liked pistasio nuts. We are “nuts” for pistasio ice cream!!! Yeah!!!
Love nuts in ice cream. Pistachio is a must do.
Can’t have enough pistasios in an ice cream. I have always love green pistasio ice cream. My favorite ice cream as a kid.
I love Pistachios and I know that Pistachio Ice Cream would taste great.
Pistachios are perfect nuts and should be mixed with pecans and chololate.
pistachios are my favorite nut, especially in
ice cream. i eat so much of it it actully turned my eyes green.