Ice Cream

I’m not much for desserts or snacks but now and again I get a hankering for ice cream.  

Ice cream (derived from earlier iced cream or cream ice) is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from dairy milk or cream and is flavored with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and any spice, such as cocoa or vanilla. Colorings are usually added, in addition to stabilizers. The mixture is stirred to incorporate air spaces and cooled below the freezing point of water to prevent detectable ice crystals from forming. The result is smooth, semi-solid foam that is solid at very low temperatures (below 2 °C or 35 °F). It becomes more malleable as its temperature increases.

The meaning of the name “ice cream” varies from one country to another. Terms such as “frozen custard,” “frozen yogurt,” “sorbet,” “gelato,” and others are used to distinguish different varieties and styles. In some countries, such as the United States, “ice cream” applies only to a specific variety, and most governments regulate the commercial use of the various terms according to the relative quantities of the main ingredients, notably the amount of cream. Products that do not meet the criteria to be called ice cream are sometimes labeled “frozen dairy dessert” instead. In other countries, such as Italy and Argentina, one word is used for all variants. Analogues made from dairy alternatives, such as goat’s or sheep’s milk, or milk substitutes (e.g., soy, cashew, coconut, almond milk or tofu), are available for those who are lactose intolerant, allergic to dairy protein, or vegan.

Ice cream may be served in dishes, for eating with a spoon, or licked from edible cones. Ice cream may be served with other desserts, such as apple pie, or as an ingredient in ice cream floats, sundaes, milkshakes, ice cream cakes and even baked items, such as Baked Alaska.

I’m not jonesing for the stuff, but to end the day with a bit of sweet is fine.

I grew up with ice cream as a treat. The school offered paper cups with vanilla ice cream eaten with a wooden tongue depressor.  The choices at the grocery were chocolate, vanilla and strawberry unless you got Neapolitan that was just weird. Someone figured out how to make a ‘soft’ ice cream but it was just too much like watching poop and melted too fast. It was strange food just like cotton candy.

On Saturday’s a friend of mine and I would wander down to Cary Street for a day of stopping into shops like Bob’s Hobby Center and spend the day walking. For lunch we’d stop at High’s Ice Cream for a chocolate milkshake and a package of Nab’s cheese crackers. That was a habit that lasted many years.

My family had one of those hand crank ice cream makers but it took too much ice, the ingredients were never right, the cranking took forever and the results tasted like crap.

In the summer at the beach an ice cream cone was a cool treat with the preferred sugar cones instead of those little cake cones that would easily crush spilling the scoop into the sand.

Ice cream was my dad’s favorite treat. He would sit and watch television eating out of the carton. I don’t remember his favorite flavor except when he switched to orange sherbet, probably to cut back on the sugar content.

I too will dine out of the carton but I use an tiny ice teaspoon. After a half dozen spoon full’s, it goes back into the freezer until next time. I never request ice cream when I dine out, except for Bev’s (across from the Byrd Theater) because that has special memories.

Even though it is freezing outside, I wandered the aisle in the frozen food dedicated to the dairy desserts looking for a fairly small size and reasonability priced container to place in my cart for a midnight treat. I have simple taste so all the descriptions of ‘tutti frutti’ or ‘bubble gum’ or ‘cookies and cream’ or ‘honeycomb toffee’ or even ‘rocky road’ just confuses me. I prefer ‘coffee’ or ‘chocolate chip’ but they seem not to be as popular as ‘raspberry ripple’ or ‘spumoni’ or ‘stracciatella’ or even ‘butter brickle’.

Until then, I’ll walk by the glass doors and pass by the calories I don’t need.

Wonder if the ice cream truck will come back next summer?