PJ LIBRARY has a dear relationship with ice cream. After all, the program’s founder, Harold Grinspoon, was an ice cream peddler for several years before venturing into real estate (and then philanthropy). This month, we all get to celebrate ice cream in earnest, as it is National Ice Cream Month, with the third Sunday of the month (this year, July 20th) honored as National Ice Cream Day.
ENJOYING A JEWISH ICE CREAM MONTH
In 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month. As it is retold by the International Dairy Foods Association on the webpage “July Is National Ice Cream Month,” President Reagan “recognized ice cream as a fun and nutritious food that is enjoyed by a full 90 percent of the nation's population.”
According to Tablet Magazine writer Joan Nathan, Jewish Americans have contributed to making ice cream the popular staple treat it is today. In her article, “Ice Cream’s Jewish Innovators,” Nathan explains the ways in which “Jews have pioneered the premium ice cream craze for 40 years.”
Reuben Mattus, Nathan explains, founded Häagen-Dazs and “changed the [ice cream] business forever.” Interestingly, Mattus named his ice cream company based on some Jewish history. “The only country which saved the Jews during World War II was Denmark,” Nathan quotes Mattus as having said. “So, I put together a totally fictitious Danish name and had it registered.” Mattus adds, “Häagen-Dazs doesn’t mean anything.”
Another important Jewish ice cream story comes from two innovators named Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield. As Nathan reports, “Cohen and Greenfield opened their first Ben & Jerry’s ice cream parlor in 1978 in Burlington, Vt. in a converted gas station.”
ICE CREAM & ESTIE THE MENSCH
What could be kinder than sharing your ice cream? In the Challah Toast (3 to 4 years) age group selection, Estie the Mensch written by Jane Kohuth and illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger, we see this act performed.
Estie’s new friend, Petie, gets so worked up at having an ice cream cone at the zoo that jumps in the air with excitement. As a result, his two scoops of vanilla ice cream (with rainbow sprinkles) lands on the ground. Estie, being a mensch, pushes one of her own chocolate ice cream scoops onto Petey’s empty ice cream cone.
In honor of National Ice Cream Month, consider reading this book together as a family (over ice cream, of course).
RECIPES & ICE CREAM FUN
Ice cream is fun to eat, but it’s also fun to make. Families can make ice cream in a bag (thanks to Kveller blogger Joanna Brichetto and her post “Make Your Own Ice Cream (Without a Machine!) for Shavuot”) or they can even make strawberry rhubarb crumble ice cream (courtesy of Naomi Sugar of the MyJewishLearning.org blog Nosher). Moreover, the blog Joy of Kosher with Jamie Keller offers a long list of ice cream and sorbet recipes for families to try.
The fun doesn’t end with making ice cream. Here are a few other ice cream-related ideas for toddlers and their families:
- Simple Fun with Ice Cream
Blog Toddler Approved shares several family-friendly ideas from Gail Gibbons’ book Ice Cream: The Full Scoop.
July 9, 2014