“I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream!”
July is National Ice Cream Month, and today is National Ice Cream Day. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan recognized that ice cream is a fun and nutritious food that is enjoyed by more than 90 percent of America’s population. He then set July as National Ice Cream Month, and the third Sunday in July as National Ice Cream Day.
President Reagan wasn’t the only American president who had a liking for ice cream. Thomas Jefferson’s handwritten recipe for his favorite vanilla ice cream is on display in the Library of Congress. George Washington spent $700 during the summer of 1790 on ice cream. He and his wife, Martha, always served ice cream to their guests at Mount Vernon. Here are some more facts about ice cream:
• Americans eat an average of 20 quarts of ice cream a year.
• Vanilla is the most popular flavor, while chocolate is a close second.
• The largest ice cream cone created measured 9 feet and 2.63 inches tall and was made in 2012 at an ice cream festival in Italy.
• The ice cream cone was invented in 1904 at the World’s Fair in St. Louis.
• Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream boasts a whopping 46 flavors.
• June is the month that most ice cream is produced.
• In 2013, Americans consume about 1.53 billion gallons of ice cream and frozen ice cream products a year.
• The central region of the United States — the Midwest — produces the most ice cream in the United States — about 726 million gallons a year.
• Nine percent of all milk produced in the United States is used for making ice cream.
• The largest ice cream sundae, weighing in at 24 tons, was created in 1988 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Don’t let National Ice Cream Day go by without doing your patriotic duty and have that scoop of ice cream. If you are feeling really patriotic, make it a double.
Today, I have some homemade ice cream recipes. Hope you will give them a try. Thanks for reading.
MAE MAE’S HOMEMADE ORANGE SHERBERT
2 cans Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
1 liter bottle of orange soda
1 large can pineapple juice
Pour Eagle Brand directly in the ice cream cylinder. Pour in the soda and pineapple juice at the same time until you reach the fill line. Freeze according to ice cream maker directions.
(You can add a flat can of crushed pineapple for something a little different. The first time I tried it, I really liked it. My boys had a fit and made me promise never to mess with the original recipe again.)
EASY CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
2 cans Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
1 gallon chocolate milk
1 (16-ounce) Cool Whip
Mix all ingredients in ice cream cylinder. Freeze according to ice cream maker directions.
BUTTER PECAN ICE CREAM
1 tablespoon butter
2/3 cup chopped pecans
1 (13-ounce) can evaporated milk
1 (3¼-ounce) package instant French vanilla pudding mix
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups whole milk
Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the pecans and cook over low heat for three to five minutes or until browned. Place the pecans on paper towel to cool. Mix the remaining ingredients, and pour into ice cream maker and freeze according to directions. Add the pecans during the final 10 minutes of freezing.
PEACH ICE CREAM
1 cup sugar
1 pound ripe peaches, peeled and slightly masked with a fork
1¼ cups half and half
1¼ cups whipping cream
1¼ cups whole milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon almond extract
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Sprinkle ¼ cup of the sugar over the peaches and set aside. Bring the remaining ¾ cup sugar, half and half, cream, milk and salt to a boil over medium heat. Let cool until becomes room temperature, and add extracts. Pour the mixture into ice cream maker, and freeze according to directions. Add the peaches during the final 10 minutes of freezing.
(This can be made with strawberries for Strawberry Ice Cream.)
• Contact Lee Ann Flemming at lafkitchen@hughes.net.
