CELEBRATIONS: National Ice Cream Month

“I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!”

Remember saying that as a child? Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry, Butter Pecan and Neapolitan (my personal favorite – I felt so adventurous and grown-up whenever my grandmother served this) were pretty much the standard choices then. Now, the flavors of our childhood have made way for a whole new batch of creative and unique combinations. Walk in to an ice cream shop or even your grocery store and you will have a plethora of choices with ingredients and flavors that taste surprisingly good together.

When President Ronald Regan declared July as National Ice Cream Month in 1984, who would have guessed that 28 years later there would be such variety in our cones and cups? Order the jalapeno caramelized bacon, try the lemongrass, lavender and honey or the Jack Daniels brown sugar cream. In the midst of our hot, humid summer, a scoop (or two) will hit the spot and cool you off. And who knows, you may discover a new favorite flavor!

If you are in any of these southern locations, be sure to try these highly recommended flavors:

Jake’s Ice Cream – Atlanta, GA

Mexican Hot Chocolate

Honey Vanilla

Amy’s Ice Cream – Austin, TX

Bourbon Custard

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Creole Creamery – New Orleans, LA

Sweet Potato Sassafras Praline

Creole Cream Cheese w/ Wild Blueberry – Pecan Cornbread

Ultimate Ice Cream – Asheville, NC

Sweet Cream with Blueberry Swirl

Goat Cheese and Bing Cherry

Bonus – a favorite recipe from The Southern C:

Perfectly Peachy Summer Ice Cream

• 4 cups peeled, diced fresh peaches
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
• 1 (3.75-ounce) package vanilla instant pudding mix
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla flavoring
• 4 cups half & half

Preparation

Combine the peaches and sugar, and let stand 1 hour. Place in food processor until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides. Stir together evaporated milk, pudding mix and vanilla flavoring in a large bowl; stir in peach puree, condensed milk then the half-and-half. Pour mixture into freezer container of a 4-quart hand-turned or electric freezer and prepare according to directions for the ice cream maker. Spoon into an airtight container and freeze until firm.