It’s hot, y’all.
It’s hot and humid and sticky and gross. This is that part of a North Carolina summer my relatives in Pennsylvania tell me is inhumane. (The joke is on them when they get snow in November though.)
Sometimes, when the sun seems angry at you personally and the world feels like it’s falling apart (see: pandemic, police brutality, climate change, the 24-hour news cycle), there’s nothing better than some ice cream to cool off and coat your insides with delicious sugar (or dairy-free with sugar substitute– do you). Want to surround yourself with ice cream history and recipes? The library can help with that.
First up we have Of Sugar and Snow: A History of Ice Cream Making by Jeri Quinzio. People have been making some kind of ice cream for centuries and this book tells you all about it.
A fun fact: The ice cream scoop was invented in 1896 by a Black man living in Pittsburgh, PA named Alfred L. Cralle. The book also includes a recipe for something called butter ice cream. Please someone make it and send me some!
Next up is Ample Hills Creamery: Secrets and Stories from Brooklyn’s Favorite Ice Cream Shop by Brian Smith, Jackie Cuscuna, Lauren Kaelin, and Lucy Schaeffer. This book has a ton of ice cream recipes that are organized by mood. Feeling inspired? Try making their creamy cyclone flavor. Feeling curious? Check out breakfast trash. Feeling nostaligic? Make Nonna D’s oatmeal lace ice cream. I have a feeling you won’t be disappointed.
Last but not least, let’s learn about the brand that has become synonymous with both broken hearts and social justice in the book Ice Cream Social: The Struggle for the Soul of Ben& Jerry’s by Brad Edmondson. Ben & Jerry’s made an impact this summer with their call to dismantle white supremacy, but that is hardly the first time the company has taken a stand. Learn about the beginning of Ben & Jerry’s, the struggles they faced trying to run an environmentally and socially conscious business, and how it became the company we see in every grocery store ice cream aisle now.
To access these ebooks, use the link provided in the description or go through the library’s Articles, Journals, and Databases box on the library homepage (E for Ebook Central), and log in off-campus by using your Durham Tech username and password–the same one you would use for Sakai or Self-Service.
I’ll leave you with a recipe I’ve tried myself, so I can vouch that it is a) delicious, and b) not too hard to make. It’s for a giant mochi cake, which is basically a huge, round ice cream cake. If you don’t have an ice cream maker you can use store bought ice cream that has melted at least a bit. Pro-tip: either aim to eat it all at once (maybe with socially distanced friends?) or cut a piece and immediately put it back in the freezer. Otherwise you’ll end up with a melty mess. Enjoy this picture of my own giant mochi cake!
