Seasonal & Holidays
‘I’m Vanilla; Nothing To See Here’: Readers Dish On Favorites For National Ice Cream Day
In a survey for National Ice Cream Day, the best answers aren't about flavors but Sunday drives to iconic shops and heart-melting memories.
National Ice Cream Day on Sunday is the ultimate summer holiday. All it requires is ice cream, a loose interpretation of what counts as a meal, and a willingness to admit that things could get messy under the summer sun.
In an informal survey, we asked Patch readers to tell us their favorite ice cream flavor, treasured memories of outings for ice cream, and, in a bit of whimsy, what flavor they would be if they were ice cream.
The clear top five flavor families were vanilla, coffee or mocha, chocolate, mint chocolate chip, and strawberry. Vanilla and coffee-related flavors drew the most mentions, followed by chocolate, mint chocolate chip and strawberry. Butter pecan also had a strong showing.
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Maryland Patch reader Karen’s top choice, coffee ice cream, doesn’t make a lot of sense to her.
“It’s funny, because I’ve never had a cup of coffee in my 60-plus years of life, but I love coffee ice cream — not the homemade type, because that tastes too much like coffee, just your typical coffee or Jamoca flavor,” Karen said.
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For many readers, ice cream memories were less about the flavor than the ritual.
They shared stories of running when they heard the bells of the Good Humor or Mister Softee truck, Sunday drives to a local dairy or iconic ice cream parlor, and other rituals that turned a simple cone or sundae into a memory that has lasted for decades.
Odes To Ice Cream
And they sang the praises of ice cream in verse, including this from South Orange (New Jersey) Patch reader Karen:
"Oh, chocolate ice cream, how you cure many ills! You lift me up when I'm down; you calm me when I'm anxious; you soothe me when I'm stressed, and you are always there for me. And, like a good friend, I always enjoy just being with you.”
Warminster (Pennsylvania) Patch reader Victoria was impassioned in her defense of sometimes misunderstood chocolate mint ice cream.
“It could be green or white with semi-sweet chocolate chipsI can't wait to eat my ice cream as it dripsI can almost taste the refreshing minty flavor lingering on my lips
“This unique flavor, a favorite of mine since I was a childScoop after scoop, it is piled As soon as I receive my ice cream, I smile
“No one can understand this flavorI enjoy the cool crisp mintiness Suddenly, it falls to the floor SPLATI am heartbroken”
Herndon (Virginia) Patch reader Dana was dreamy over Tin Roof Sundae, a classic treat with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge sauce, and salty, red-skinned Spanish peanuts.
“Oh, to spoon into a bowl full of vanilla ice cream with yummy fudge, chocolate syrup, and choco peanuts on a hot day listening to nature brings a warm smile,” Dana said. “With more excitement and thrill when you get a big chunk of the fudge and choco peanuts, you savor every last lick and let the Tin Roof Sundae melt in your mouth.”
Vanilla: ‘Nothing To See Here’
Readers also had some fun describing themselves as an ice cream flavor.
“I’m Neapolitan because America is one big melting pot,” said Quentin, a Smithtown (New York) Patch reader.
“I would be a vanilla confetti version with dots of color … making every day a party!” said Grandma, a Bernardsville-Bedminster Patch reader.
“I’m definitely vanilla,” said Sven, a Livingston (New Jersey) Patch reader. “Nothing to see here.”
“I would be a sophisticated vanilla,” said Oakton (Virginia) Patch reader Rebecca.
And then there was this:
“Rocky Road — the emotions of a menopausal woman,” said Tampa (Florida) Patch reader Linda.
‘I’m 9 Years Old Again’
“I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream” was a classic advertising jingle in 1927 for the “I-Scream Bar,” now known as Eskimo Pie. Alpharetta-Milton (Georgia) Patch reader Lynnei recalled her own noisy enthusiasm and “chasing the ice cream truck screaming ‘Wait!’”
Janet, a Nashua (New Hampshire) Patch reader, grew up in New York City and recalls the ice cream truck coming to her block in the Bronx.
“I would call up to my mother for money,” Janet recalled, “and she would drop coins from our second-floor window to the porch below.”
“I so vividly recall being at the public pool next to my elementary school, hearing the ice cream truck, and sprinting out of the water completely soaking wet,” said New Hampshire Patch reader Shawna. “I remember running back to my towel with grass stuck to my feet, just eager to dive into my sweet treat.
“I feel like I’m 9 years old again when I recall those days,” she added.
Coincidentally, strawberry is the flavor of choice for both New Hampshire readers.
“While some might say it’s even creamier than most, strawberry ice cream is, above all, sweet and refreshing on a sweltering summer day,” Shawna said.
Ice Cream Sundays
Several readers’ favorite memories centered on Sunday afternoon drives with a single purpose, a stop at an ice cream shop, many times with iconic names that have endured decades or even more than a century.
Morristown (New Jersey) Patch reader Annemarie recalled Sunday afternoon drives around New England in the fall where she discovered a new favorite ice cream.
“I was huddled in the far back of our hatchback, lying down, reading a Nancy Drew mystery. The book blocked the sun peeking in and out from the trees whizzing by,” she said, setting the scene.
“We stopped at a place called The Ice Cream Machine in Cumberland, Rhode Island. I usually got chocolate, but that day I felt brave and ordered Dutch apple pie. My mother was aghast. I savored that novel ice cream cone on the way home, feeling so proud and impressed with my bravery.”
Annemarie added, “The smell of fallen leaves, reading a favorite book, and feeling absolute contentment is all wrapped up in that one Dutch apple pie.”
At 4, It Was ‘Pretty Cool’
Brick (New Jersey) Patch reader Louie Dombrowski recalled a trip in 1950 to a working dairy in Upper Montclair that made its own ice cream.
The place was Applegate Farm Ice Cream, an institution in North Jersey since 1848 that had “live dairy cows,” a rare sight for a city kid.
“I was a 4-year-old boy,” Louie said. “Pretty cool.”
Hillsborough (New Jersey) Patch reader JLO recalls going to Applegate Farm, too, and discovering a lifelong favorite ice cream, black raspberry, proclaiming it “very yummy.”
Both The Ice Cream Machine and Applegate Farm Ice Cream are still serving up lifelong memories in their scoops.
So is Carvel in Hackensack, New Jersey.
“They still have the original cone sign at the store,” said New Jersey Patch reader Benni. “The cones used to twirl, but it’s nice to see the nostalgic Carvel is still there.”
Pennies For A Scoop
“I remember 5-cent ice cream cones at the local dairy,” said Pennsylvania Patch reader Quilterknitter, who also reads Ocean City (New Jersey) Patch during summers spent on the coast.
Peanut butter chocolate is Quilterknitter’s favorite because “it mixes the best of both flavors.”
Herndon (Virginia) Patch reader Carolyn said that if she were an ice cream, she would be “chocolate mint — brown and spicy.”
Her favorite flavor is vanilla, and her favorite ice cream memory from childhood was “stopping by the corner store after school to buy a Dixie Cup of ice cream for 10 cents and wondering which movie star would be pictured on the underside of the paper pull-off top.”
Bethesda-Chevy Chase (Maryland) Patch reader JJ thinks vanilla is the best, too.
“Vanilla is great plain or with maple syrup, caramel sauce or chocolate sauce,” JJ said with an aside, “Throw in some sprinkles and whipped cream if you must.”
‘Horrified And Amused’
FMC, a Holmdel-Hazlet (New Jersey) Patch reader, will have a chocolate cone, please, but would really rather have Heavenly Hash, “a long-gone flavor made by Sealtest, also long-gone.”
“Most delicious!” FMC said. “A perfect ratio of nuts and chocolate.”
Though it was a delicious memory for his kids, FMC’s dad “could not shake the image of a person and their dog taking turns licking the same ice cream cone.”
“He was horrified and amused,” FMC said.
Pennsylvania Patch reader Mary recalled another ice cream memory that was equally hard to explain.
“The whole family would be eating ice cream except for my younger brother. It looked like we were ignoring him. In reality, he wanted his ice cream warmed up,” Mary said, adding, “That never went well.”
Grandpa Sneaks A Cone
And what’s this?
“Once my family was eating at a dockside restaurant in Maine. My grandfather, who loved to save a buck, said he couldn’t possibly get a dessert and took a walk,” said Lawrenceville (New Jersey) Patch reader Josh. “A few minutes later, the waitress said to my mother, ‘Isn’t that your father out on the dock with an ice cream cone?’”
Josh is 100 percent a fan of coffee-flavored ice cream.
“I know, coffee is widely mocked (it didn’t even make your list), but I loved it even as a kid and always feel vindicated to hear the bit in ‘Jaws’ where Michael Brody requests it during his hospital stay.”
Churning With Dad
In many places, a freezer of homemade ice cream was the price of admission to an ice cream social. Families showed up with ice cream in a rainbow of flavors, and “we’d sample as many as we could,” said Arlington (Virginia) Patch reader Ellen.
Maryanne, an Across America Patch reader, recalls time spent with her dad taking turns cranking the ice cream maker.
“It took about 30 minutes of hard cranking, and we'd switch off,” Maryanne said. “It was the best ice cream ever, at least in my memory. I learned a lot about life making my ice cream with Dad.”
Terri, another Across America Patch reader, has a similar memory of using an old-fashioned wooden and metal ice cream maker with her dad.
“My father would put in the ingredients, and my brother and I would sit on the stoop for what seemed like hours and take turns churning the ice cream,” she said. “Once it was done, my dad would portion up the ice cream into single-serving plastic containers and freeze them. To this day, I have never eaten ice cream that tasted as good as that homemade vanilla ice cream.”
It remains “a favorite memory of the best ice cream ever,” Terri said.
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