National Ice Cream Month

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream! Butternut Crunch and Rocky Road, Napoleon and Caramel Swirl, there are hundreds of flavors of Ice Cream to sample and flavor, and the hot months of the year are perfect for indulging in this fantastic dairy delight.

Since childhood this treat has defined most of our lives, with the sound of the Ice Cream man driving down the street marking some of the best moments of our lives as we ran screaming down the sidewalk, money in hand, to catch him before they got away.

How to Celebrate National Ice Cream Month

National Ice Cream Month has only one appropriate celebration, gorge yourself on Ice Cream at every opportunity! Ok, ok, moderation is necessary even during National Ice Cream Month, but there are a bunch of different ways you can enjoy this delicious treat. It goes great with a warm apple pie, and nothing compliments a brownie better than vanilla ice cream. Maybe you prefer a nice scoop of strawberry doused in caramel topping, or that most amazing of all ice cream treats, the Ice Cream Taco!

You can even take the time to make your own ice cream during National Ice Cream Month and enjoy the fruits of your labor on a hot summer evening!

History of National Ice Cream Month

National Ice Cream Month was established by the American Dairy association in conjunction with President Ronald Reagan and Walter Dee Huddleston, a Senator from Kentucky. On the backs of this incredibly official declaration, the Ice Cream companies began publicizing the day, encouraging people to go out and enjoy this cold delight as often as possible during the month of July. Ice Cream was first said to be created in Ancient Greece, before the idea of a refrigerator ever came to pass. The so-called “Ice Cream” was incredibly rudimentary, being a mixture of snow honey and fruit, but it was still the beginnings of a great tradition.

The first true Ice Cream was said to be introduced by Catherine de’ Medici in the 16th century. So impressed was Charles I of England (one hundred years after this introduction) that he paid to keep the formula secret, making ice cream a royal prerogative, utterly unobtainable by the common man. The first recorded recipes didn’t exist until the 18th century.

Truly Ice Cream was a treat meant for the most notable of humans, and now we can all enjoy it any day of the year! National Ice Cream Month encourages us to be particularly indulgent during the month of July!