SmartShopIt Blog

Why is July one of my most favorite months of the year?  You may think I’m crazy as we suffer through the heat and humidity of summer.  Many of us are melting from the glare of the sun and dying to find some relief.  Well I am able to ignore all that, simply because it’s National Ice Cream Month with National Ice Cream Day being celebrated this year on July 19th.  My mantra this year has been… we want ice cream… we want ice cream!  (Inspired by the perfect ice cream Hoops and Yo-Yo card that my kids gave me for my birthday.)

People who know me understand that it doesn’t take much for me to find a reason to hunt out some of that delicious, creamy, smooth and rich frozen goodness.  While I’m partial to American style ice cream, I’ll take a good gelato, Italian water ice (or ‘wooder ice’ as I hear it called in Philadelphia), frozen yogurt or sorbet as well.  We kicked off this year’s celebration with a bang by attending the Ice Cream Festival at Penn’s Landing on July 4th.  At this charity event to support children’s leukemia, we were able to sample all kinds of frozen treats.  While there were the old standbys like Ben & Jerry’s, Haagan Dazs and Starbucks, our favorites were from the local water ice companies in the greater Philly area.

While the history of ice cream is hard to trace, maybe I love this dessert because some follow its roots back to a traditional Chinese dessert called Ais Kachang (literally translated “red bean ice”).  This dish consists of shaved ice (now I’m craving some of Hawaii’s finest) traditionally mixed with red beans.  Today you can find it also served with other items such as flavored syrups, berries and/or condensed milk.  Others say that ice cream’s roots go back 3,000 years to Mesopotamia where the ancient ruins of the first ice houses can be found.  Now-a-days, with freezers everywhere, enjoying this tasty treat is as easy as pie!  Ala mode of course!

My love of this dish goes back to my college years, where I worked the ice cream fountain at a Swensen’s ice cream parlor.  Yes, one of my first jobs was as a Soda Jerk!  It was so much fun working the ice cream counter making hot fudge sundaes, banana splits and milkshakes. The best feature of Swensen’s was that we made the ice cream right on the premises. I had to clean many kids nose smudges off the large glass window where you could watch the expert ice cream makers mixing up some great flavors. On weekend nights, the place would be packed with the smiling faces of people who wanted to enjoy some frozen treats.

Ever since then, I’ve searched out ice cream treats throughout the world. Some of the more interesting ones were the Stracciatella Gelato in Naples, Italy, the teaberry ice cream at Gibby’s in Levitown, PA and the Salty Caramel ice cream at Bi-Rite in San Francisco. The best ice cream I ever had was in Albuquerque, NM, at a restaurant called Mother Theresa’s. They served a Blueberry Pinion ice cream that was to die for! I was fortunate to experience it twice one summer but when I went back some years later, found the restaurant was no longer there. I will need to try to recreate it in my ice cream maker one of these days.

And while it seems that great ice cream fountains are going the way of the dinosaur, I hear establishments like Goodnoes in Newtown, PA and Farrell’s are poised to make a come back! Oh, those fun days at Farrell’s pigging out in the Trough while two runners carried (well really ran) the huge Zoo Sundae to its table while sirens blared and lights flashed! Maybe there is an ice cream God after all!

Since Sundaes are traditional to Sundays, in 1984 former President Reagan not only named July as National Ice Cream month but also proclaimed National Ice Cream Day to be celebrated every third Sunday in July. In celebration, Carrows and Coco’srestaurants’ (CA, AZ,  NV & CO) e-club members can get a coupon for a free Peanuts character cone this weekend!  And if you’re on Facebook.com, go to the Starbuck’s ice cream page and they are giving away free pints of ice cream (800 coupons per hour) through July 19th.

And even though ice cream packages have shrunk (as I mentioned in my April Fool’s article), you can always pick up a container at your local grocery store.

SmartShopit Price Guide – Breyers – Various Flavors (1.75 Quarts)

Smart Buy Range  – $2.50 – $3.08 ea.

Average Price – $4.42 ea

High Price – $4.99 ea

SmartShopit Price Guide – Ben & Jerry’s – Various Flavors (1 Pint)

Smart Buy Range  – $3.00 – $3.25 ea.

Average Price – $3.60 ea

High Price – $4.20 ea

There is also a $1.00 coupon for Breyers and Haagan Dazs in the SmartShopIt.com coupon section.

However you decide to celebrate, a scoop of this frozen delicacy can always bring a smile to your face and help us survive the heat of summer.  And as the saying goes after any meal in my household… “There’s always room for ice cream!”

(Visit our main site and become a free member at SmartShopIt.com to save time and money grocery shopping. Create shopping lists, see product price and nutrition information. Get free coupons and compare products. Also accessible via your mobile web device at http://m.SmartShopIt.com)

Filed under: Dairy