Until 1800, ice cream in America remained a rare and exotic dessert enjoyed mostly by the elite. Around 1800, insulated ice houses were invented, changing the game for how ice cream was produced, delivered and enjoyed. Today, we are lucky enough to find it in grocery stores, restaurants and ice cream shops all over the world.
Ice cream is fascinating in that it seemingly finds its way into so many of our most important celebrations, special occasions, and traditions. The music of the ice cream truck driving through the neighborhood brings back childhood memories of running down the road with my friends and a few dollar bills to order up our favorite treats, which later became running with my own kids down the street for their first ice cream truck experience. As an adult, those comforting nights on the couch with a pint of ice cream and a movie feel like a treat in itself, and then, of course, there are the sports teams that take post-game trips to their favorite ice cream shop to celebrate, the birthday parties in which the parents operate as full-time ice cream scoopers to accompany the cake, and lastly, the decadent dessert courses found in restaurants featuring ice cream alongside pie, sandwiched in between cookies or stacked high on a mound of warm lava cake that later become desserts we tell our friends about. Whether it be childhood or adulthood, it seems like ice cream is just one of those foods that become tied into our memories in so many different ways.
I was lucky enough to spend an afternoon visiting some of my favorite local ice cream shops and I wanted to share them with you!
When it comes to ice cream, I can't say that I have a favorite, but I will say that there is nothing better than a trip to the ice cream shop with my family and a simple twist cone on a hot summer day.