What’s the scoop? National Ice Cream Day is Sunday, July 19!
Did you know that the entire month of July is designated National Ice Cream Month? Don’t tell your children, or they may think ice cream deserves to be its own meal every day! National Ice Cream Day originated in 1984, when then-President Ronald Reagan declared that the third Sunday of July would be National Ice Cream Day.
Celebrate your own way by hosting an ice cream bar! Surprise your kids with a dessert bar filled with all their favorite and wildest toppings. Create a contest with who can come up with the most creative ice cream concoction or most artistic presentation. You can even dip your own cones or waffle bowls in melted chocolate and roll them in sprinkles. This is sure to be one food course your kids would gladly help with – just watch those little fingers from stealing toppings! All you need to host your ice cream bar are a few supplies. Keep it as simple or make it as elaborate as you’d like.
Ice Cream Bar Supplies:
- Ice Cream: Pick your favorite ice cream flavors or ice cream alternative (So Delicious Vanilla Bean Coconutmilk is a great one)
- Serving Spoons or Scoops
- Cups or Dessert Bowls
- Spoons
- Waffle Bowls, Cake Cones, Sugar Cones, Waffle Cones
- Bowls or Containers for Toppings
- Napkins
- Toppings!!
Topping Suggestions:
- Mini chocolate chips
- Cereal
- Granola
- Fruit (bananas, strawberries, blueberries)
- Marshmallows
- Sprinkles
- Toasted coconut
- Oreos
- Candy (M&M’s, Reese’s, Gummi Bears)
- Nuts (pecans, peanuts)
- Chocolate, strawberry, or caramel syrup
If you’re looking for some fun facts to share in between licking your ice cream cone, here are some interesting tidbits about ice cream:
- Vanilla is the most popular ice cream flavor, followed by chocolate and strawberry (can we say Neapolitan?)
- Sunday is the most profitable day for ice cream sellers
- The United States produces the most ice cream in the world
- The waffle cone reportedly makes its debut at the World’s Fair in 1904 in St. Louis, MO
- There is an ice cream bean (also known as Inga edulis) that while being a legume, tastes like vanilla ice cream
- “Brain freeze” occurs when ice cream touches the roof of your mouth
- “I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream” is from a song written in 1927 that became a Dixieland jazz standard
Tips:
- If you need a lot of ice cream scooped quickly, scoop ice cream ahead of time and freeze on sheet pans
- Keep your ice cream scooper in a bowl of hot water, this helps make scooping ice cream a lot easier
- To avoid ‘bottom of the cone drips’, drop a marshmallow into the bottom of the cone to stop leaks
- Label toppings if there is any concern of food allergies
