Ice Cream Time

It's National Ice Cream month in the United States. Well, that's what I have read. I like but don't really eat a lot of ice cream and wouldn't change my habits just because this is the month we are supposed to most appreciate ice cream. On balance though, I haven't met many people who don't like ice cream. 90% of American families eat ice cream regularly , averaging about 15 liters per person on average during the year.
Statistics show that children ages two through 12, and adults age 45 plus, eat the most ice cream per person. And the most popular flavor in the U.S. is vanilla, followed by chocolate, strawberry, chocolate chip and butter pecan. That's a list of pretty plain flavors. But just about anything can and is be made into ice cream. There is even a tomato ice cream flavor.

Vanilla is my favorite, but I do like some of the more uncommon flavors too, like pumpkin, creole cream cheese, and fig. I used to make fig, coffee and banana ice cream myself because they are not as easily obtained elsewhere. Ice cream machines are inexpensive and work well, giving a very good product. But what I most like is to buy ice cream at a small independent ice cream parlor. They make the best ice cream. Too bad the number of those is far fewer than when I was a kid, when a trip to an ice cream parlor or soda fountain in a drug store meant delicious "homemade" creamy ice cream.

The ice cream we buy today in grocery stores is a far cry from premium ice cream one can get in ice cream parlors. It's gummy (the guar gum and other stabilizers stores bought ice cream out into it to extend shelf life makes that ice cream unappetizingly gummy tasting), which is why I don't care for store bought ice creams nearly as much. As more of the prepackaged ice cream was sold through supermarkets years ago, traditional ice cream parlors and soda fountains started to disappear.

But now, specialty ice cream stores and unique restaurants that feature ice cream dishes have surged in popularity again. It is good. I think a flavorful ice cream cone improves one's quality of life more than he or she realizes. Those ice cream parlors and restaurants are popular with people like me who remember the ice cream shops and soda fountains of days past. And today's younger generations can compare and see that grocery store ice cream is not the real thing. They too are demanding premium ice cream.

The best ice cream parlor in New Orleans is the Creole Creamery. They make an enormous amount of flavors, depending on the season and day. Look at their list of ice cream choices. http://www.creolecreamery.com/flavors/ That 'Buttermilk Drop' ice cream choice, an ice cream version of a New Orleans style buttery, dense doughnut that a New Orleans bakery makes there, is something I miss and will never be able to find here in Portland.

I think I did my job this National ice Cream month by writing about ice cream and perhaps you hungry for an ice cream. Hmmm So what flavor did you get?