DENTON, TEXAS - Today’s banner at the top of page 1, designed by our talented graphic designer, Lori Garcia, reminds us that we’ve just celebrated National Ice Cream Day.
Now, we celebrate a lot of holidays; some, like Juneteenth, celebrate leaving a dark time and beginning a happier one. Others remind us of the importance of new beginnings. One demands that we be grateful for all our blessings and another demands inordinate expenditures if our children are to be pacified.
Only one I can think of at the moment is JUST FOR FUN: Ice Cream Day.
What could be more joyful than a melty, drippy ice cream cone eaten outdoors on a sweltering July day? (Well, there’s that melty, dribbly popsicle running down my arm—but, as Mark Cohen says, “I digress.”)
(Do you know that until I was an adult I never had an entire popsicle all my own? My mother had decided that, since the pops were divided into two sections, and we had two kids in our family, all popsicles should be shared. But I digress.)
I’m old enough to remember when refrigerators had only tiny freezer compartments (for ice cubes, remember?) and the only time we had ice cream at home was the rare occasion that my mom scored a little pint cube of Neapolitan (it was ALWAYS Neapolitan) that we could finish in one sitting, since there wasn’t any way to keep it.
What a treat that would be!
I didn’t discover the joy of an ice cream parlor until I was much older. Created early in the last century to provide the treat on warm summer days, ice cream parlors have survived in one form or another since then.
There’s a big difference, though, between an old-fashioned ice cream parlor and a Baskin-Robbins, say: one of style and mood, primarily. One is designed to fill you up and move you along; the other encourages you to linger, and maybe share your sundae with someone even sweeter.
There’s one of those old-fashioned establishments here in Denton, appropriately on the Square across the street from the 19th-century Courthouse. While it’s always busy, Beth Marie’s encourages lingering. And when you go out, you’ll find half the people wandering the Square are thoroughly enjoying Beth Marie ice cream cones. (Delicious home-made ice cream, too.)
And, speaking of home-made: I remember in my extensive childhood reading seeing 19th-century children cranking up the ice-and-salt laden, human-powered ice cream maker for a treat even rarer than the ones we got. What a wonderful idea! But so very old-fashioned.
By the time I was on my own, it was possible to buy electric-powered ice cream makers, but also by then I could find any icy treat I wanted from friendly Ben and Jerry or weirdly named Haagen Dasz.
I also discovered I could actually make good ice cream with nothing more than a hand-held mixer, from whipping cream, sweetened condensed milk, flavoring, and a dash of booze. (Try it: Google “no-churn ice cream” for recipes.)
Writing this, in 100-degree Denton, is giving me a longing for something cool and creamy. So, with apologies…I digress.
