Icecream Journal

We have to admit, out of all of our celebrations here on the Ice Cream Journal — which includes the Ultimate Flavor Tournament in March-April and our National Ice Cream Month celebration in July — the 12 Days of Ice Cream festivities are our favorite. Judging by the number of comments and feedback from readers, we’re guessing it’s your favorite, too!

Thanks to everyone who left a comment during the 12 Days of Ice Cream. If you’re a new commenter, we hope you decide to stick around after the New Year and become a regular commenter, because reading the blog comments is a daily highlight for many of us here at the Dairy (yes, we really do read every single comment).

There were definitely a lot of comments left on the blog during our 12 Days of Ice Cream celebration — 2,552 comments to be exact. From those 2,552 comments, 12 were chosen at random to receive each of our daily prizes. And those lucky winners are…

DAY 1 (ice cream pillow) – Still waiting to hear from the winner!

DAY 2 (ice cream crayons) – Catherine C. of Pine Hill, NJ

DAY 3 (ice cream magnet) – John L. of West Islip, NY

DAY 4 (ice cream greeting cards) – Kay B. of Fallentimber, PA

DAY 5 (ice cream ring) – Lesley H. of Columbia, PA

DAY 6 (ice cream pint cozy) – Kathleen W. of Catskill, NY

DAY 7 (baby ice cream sweater) – David G. of Avon, CT

DAY 8 (ice cream scoop) – Still waiting to hear from the winner!

DAY 9 (ice cream bowl) – Linda R. of Wharton, NJ

DAY 10 (ice cream spoon) – Randy F. of Marlton, NJ

DAY 11 (ice cream sandwich soap) – Val S. of Fairfield, CT

DAY 12 (ice cream lampshade ornaments) – Susan F. of Fuquay Varina, NC

If you’re looking for something to do this New Year’s Eve, we’d like to invite you to stop by the Turkey Hill Experience this Saturday, December 31 from 4-6 p.m.

We’ll be hosting some family-friendly fun which will include live music and outdoor activities like face painting, games, and more. Bo, Cylo, Turkey Hilda and more of Lancaster’s famous cast of strolling characters will be on hand as well as Turkey Hill’s Giant Cow.

Also, anyone who goes through the Experience on New Year’s Eve will get in for a special discount of $7 per person. The festivities will culminate with the first-ever dropping of Columbia’s giant ice cream cone (that’s it on the right) by the Columbia #1 Fire Department.

Visit the Turkey Hill Experience website for directions and more information. We hope to see you there!

Not much gets done between the holidays and New Year’s, does it? Of course, the hard work of ice cream making continues, even if many of us are giving our at-home to-do lists a break.

Included in the hard work here at the Dairy are things like planning next year’s Limited Edition ice cream flavors (already done!), determining which events our Giant Cows will make appearances at, and working with new grocery stores who might want to stock Turkey Hill products in new cities and states.

Speaking of our 2012 Limited Edition ice cream flavors, we’ll be sharing those plans with you in an entry in January. Which leads us to our poll: Which of our 2011 Limited Edition flavors were your favorites? Sound off with your opinion in the poll in the right hand side bar. Because we know how hard it is to pick just one, you can choose up to three different flavors!

As we wrap up our 12 Days of Ice Cream festivities, we’d like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and thank you all for making this the best 12 Days celebration ever! Our final 12 Days of Ice Cream prize are glow-in-the-dark lampshade ornaments created by Etsy seller FFT & B, who describes the ornaments like this:

I really can’t get enough of glow in the dark clay and these ornaments are ten times better than night lights. You attach these to the brim of your lampshade with the lights on, wait a few minutes, turn them off…and Viola! You’ve got yourself your own light show.

We’ll choose one comment at random from all the comments left on this entry to receive this illuminating gift. In the spirit of Christmas, we’ll even throw in a one month supply of Turkey Hill Ice Cream. Good luck!

By a show of hands, who here has ever wished they could take a bath in ice cream? Okay, probably not that many of you, but it would be pretty neat to be able to wash your hands with ice cream, right?

Today’s prize will let you do that (sort of) because it’s soap in the shape of an ice cream sandwich! The soap sandwiches are even scented with chocolate for added realism! Love Lee Soaps, the Etsy seller who makes these cleansing treats, says the soaps “look good enough to eat.” That may be true, but we don’t recommend it.

We’ll choose one comment at random from all the comments left on this entry to receive not one but TWO bars of this squeaky clean gift. Good luck!

On Tuesday, the prize was an ice cream scoop and, on Wednesday, the prize was an ice cream bowl. On both days (and every day during our 12 Days of Ice Cream) we added some free Turkey Hill Ice Cream to the gift. So what’s left to complete our ice cream equation? That’s right, a spoon!

Today’s prize is a personalized upcycled vintage ice cream spoon from Sycamore Hill on Etsy. Sycamore Hill specializes in upcycled silverware, which is the practice of taking something old — like silverware, ice cream containers, or snack bags — and giving them a fresh new life or purpose. In this case, it’s purpose is similar to its original purpose, but an old Turkey Hill ice cream container could be upcycled into a bird feeder, for example.

Sycamore Hill has this to say about this spoon:

This listing is for one custom TABLESPOON, personalized any way you wish. These are a great gift to send off to college or for a unique and personal birthday gift ~ use your imagination, you are not limited to ice cream. All of my spoons are vintage silverplate is absolute pristine condition! I also use excellent quality pieces, rest assured your custom piece will be a work of art! Please let me know the style of the silver pattern you are interested, simple/plain, floral, art deco. I will choose an appropriate patterns based on your preferences.

So, yes, you will be able to choose which type of spoon your name will be placed on. And it doesn’t have to say “(YOUR NAME)’s ice cream“. It can say “Hands off my ice cream!” or “My sweet treat” or maybe even “I love my Turkey Hill!” (just throwin’ that last one out there as an idea).

We’ll choose one comment at random from all the comments left on this entry to win this prize (along with some free Turkey Hill Ice Cream, of course). Leave a comment below and let us know what message you’d have placed on this spoon if you won. for those who are wondering, we’ll choose the winners of all of our 12 Days of Ice Cream prizes on Monday of next week. Good luck!

Now that you’ve scooped your ice cream using yesterday’s prize, the bocote wood ice cream scoop, you’ll need a bowl to serve it in, right? That’s where today’s gift comes in. The “perfect little ice cream bowl” — as it’s called by the artist who created it — features a ruffled edge and a floating blue glaze. The Etsy seller offering the bowl, Wild Card Pottery, offers this description:

Perfect for a generous serving of ice cream when you deserve a treat, warm creamy soup when you are feeling the chill of winter or a comfortingly crunchy bowl of cereal when you need some help getting back to sleep at 2 am. The glaze on this little cutie is a rich earthy brown with powder blue crystals floating on the surface where the glaze is thickest.

We’ll choose one comment at random from all the comments left on this entry to receive this sweet ceramic present, along with some free Turkey Hill ice cream to put inside it. Good luck!

To recap the 12 Days of Ice Cream, so far our daily gifts have been an ice cream pillow, ice cream crayons, an ice cream magnet, ice cream greeting cards, an ice cream ring, a pint cozy, and a baby sweater with an ice cream cone on it. We’ll choose our daily winners at the end of the celebration, so if you’d like to put your name in the running for any of those prizes, feel free to revisit them and leave a comment.

Speaking of leaving a comment, you’ll definitely want to add yourself to the list of potential recipients for today’s 12 Days of Ice Cream gift — a hand-crafted bocote wood ice cream scoop. The Etsy seller who made this beautiful kitchen accessory, whose store is aptly named Craftiness, describes the scoop like this:

Scoop your ice cream with elegance and flair with this attractive and unusual scoop. Features attractive and durable Gold Titanium plating, gunmetal chrome accents, and a convenient thumb rest for easier scooping. Includes an attractive Gold TN plated end cap. With lathe-turned handle of exotic Bocote, this scoop that will last for years to come.

As you can see in the photo above (look closely, and you might be able to see the photographer), bocote is a beautiful wood, which is why it’s prized by woodworkers worldwide. More information about bocote wood can be found here. And if you’re wondering how to say the name of the wood, there are many variations, but the common pronunciation is “ba-KO-tay.”

We”ll choose one comment from all the comments left on this entry to receive this handy hand-me-down. And since an ice cream scoop is no fun without some ice cream, we’ll throw in some free Turkey Hill ice cream, too. Good luck!

We’re half way through our 12 Days of Ice Cream celebration (bummer, right?), but it’s okay because that means we’ve still got six great prizes to give away.

Today’s gift is one of those great prizes. It’s an adorable handmade baby sweater created by Hearthside Handworks. The crafty momma behind the cozy creation is from right here in Lancaster County and is, in fact, the mother of a member of the Turkey Hill marketing team.

The sweater (photo above) is a size 4, 100 percent cotton, and is machine washable. We’ll choose one comment from all the comments left on this entry to win this prize. As always, we’ll throw in some free Turkey Hill ice cream. Good luck!

FACT: Turkey Hill makes a wide variety of ice creams in pint sizes. FACT: Eating ice cream from a pint is fun, but often results in frozen fingers (which isn’t fun).

It’s true, Turkey Hill does make pint-sized ice cream and eating ice cream from a pint does result in a mild but totally worth it case of frostbite. Today’s prize — the ice cream pint cozy — is designed to eliminate the frosty fingers while also insulating your ice cream and keeping it nice and cold. The Etsy seller behind these little ice cream sweaters, A&B Originals, describes them like this:

Our sox are very different from others … they have a bottom. The entire ice cream pint is covered, and the crocheted cover will absorb any moisture from the container as the ice cream is eaten.

We’ll choose one comment from all the comments left on this entry to win this ice cream insulator (your choice of colors — check them out here). As always, we’ll throw in some free Turkey Hill ice cream. Good luck!

UPDATE: If you’re interested in purchasing one of these cozy’s (only $10!), the crafty lady behind A&B Originals had this to say in a comment on this entry: MENTION TURKEY HILL ICE CREAM in your message to seller while checking out and get a 20% discount refunded to you. Thanks again Turkey Hill for featuring my wild and crazy ice cream cozy, I have enjoyed reading all of the comments !!!