The Only Emperor is the Emperor of Ice Cream
A friend in New York, who gathers writers and illustrators for dinner, will often stop the noisy discussion at the end of the evening and ask: “Would anyone like an ice cream cone?” It might be a cold winter night in January and the last thing anyone is expecting is ice cream in a cone. Everyone smiles and for a few moments arguments are halted and quiet prevails as we devour the ice cream before it melts down the side of the cone.
Notwithstanding, in my mind ice cream cones are best enjoyed outdoors during the summer months. In fact, it wouldn’t be summer without ice cream cones. Don’t you agree?
According to the International Diary Association (ida.org) “The first official account of ice cream in the New World comes from a letter written in 1744 by a guest of Maryland Governor William Bladen. Apparently President George Washington “spent approximately $200 for ice cream during the summer of 1790” and “President Thomas Jefferson had a recipe for an ice cream delicacy that resembled a modern-day Baked Alaska.”
We enjoy many ice cream options in the Lakes Region. Perhaps the closest is Happy Cow Ice Cream Shop on Union Avenue in Laconia. Not only a great variety of favors, you can even have your ice cream in a fruity pebble dipped waffle cone. What a treat!
Kellerhaus in The Weirs has been around since 1906 … long before any of us were born. When we were growing up a trip to Kellerhaus for ice cream sundaes from the buffet with anything you wanted, strawberries, hot chocolate or butterscotch sauce, nuts, whipped cream, was usually planned around a special occasion. Now when I think about an ice cream sundae of that proportion, I think about how it relates to the number of hours it takes at the gym to work off the calories. A cone is just the right size.
Summer begins when Jordan’s on Route 106 in Belmont opens. After an afternoon at the beach and a dinner that’s been grilled, it’s often off to Jordan’s. My mother always requests a “children’s portion” of her favorite, pistachio, and then finds even that is too much for her. “Yum, yum, yum” as my Grandfather Howard would have commented.
When you’re in the mood for soft ice cream and a graceful swirl of chocolate and vanilla, there is always Dairy Queen. In Japan, the favorite soft ice cream is green tea, devoured with the same passion as Americans devour chocolate.
“Summer time and the living is easy” the aria composed by George Gershwin in 1934 for for the opera Porgy and Bess seems to capture the mood in July and August. It’s lovely to meet your neighbors who have been hibernating through the winter.
Last weekend, when I took my bicycle out for early morning ride, I discovered the back tire was flat. After a few minutes I remembered there was a convenience store and gas station a few blocks away. When I didn’t have 50 cents for the air pump, the gracious lady behind the counter opened her own pocketbook and handed me two quarters. When that didn’t work, a kind man in a red truck offered to help and drove me home with the bike in the back of the truck. I owe them both ice cream cones and an enormous thank you for their generosity and kindness. Lakes Region Style!
Next weekend is Independence Day and during the long weekend of boating, swimming, and enjoying fresh strawberries, corn on the cob and other vegetables, I hope you will stop, have an ice cream cone and remember how fortunate we all are to be living in the United States. Happy Fourth of July.
*Title of a poem by the well-known American poet, Wallace Stevens.