Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, which is one of the reasons why a recent article caught our eye. The story is about the romantic qualities of ice cream and, while we’ve never thought of ice cream in that way, apparently some people have. Jeni Britton Bauer of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams in Columbus, Ohio is one of those people.

“Ice cream is an extremely sensual experience,” said Bauer in an MSNBC.com article. “It’s cold when it first hits your lips — that sets everything off — then the sweetness comes out. After that, the flavor absorbed by the butterfat carries that scent to your nose.”

The article noted that Bauer’s store has served as the backdrop for several marriage proposals and one wedding. Some happy couples even used her ice cream at their wedding, “either by replacing the traditional cake with tasty scoops or incorporating it at the altar, holding ice cream cones and wrapping arms around each other to lick their significant other’s cone in an act of unification.”

Now that sounds like a wedding we’d like to be invited to!

Also high on our list is cute ice cream scoops like the one we’re giving away as this month’s prize. It’s the Boston Warehouse Frozen Friends penguin ice cream scoop and, as you can see above, it’s pretty darn adorable (that’s the back and front of it). The little guy is even weighted in the handle so you can stand him up instead of tossing him in the drawer with the rest of the not-cute kitchen utensils.

We’ll choose one comment at random from all the comment left on the blog this month to receive this frosty pal. Good luck!

We were a little stunned by the simple yet brilliant nature of the idea. After all, you’re the reason we write the blog and your comments are the best part of it, so why wouldn’t we ask you what stories should be covered more often?

With that question in mind, please take a few seconds to sound off in the poll in the right hand sidebar and offer some expanded input with a comment below. Your feedback will help shape the Ice Cream Journal in 2012 and beyond!

Previously, we wrote about a 91-year-old woman whose doctor remarked that he’d never in all his years of practicing medicine seen someone of her age with so much energy and liveliness. We also revealed that the super woman in question ate Turkey Hill ice cream every day.

We reached out to the ice cream lover the other day with a phone call and she was more than happy to talk to us. Her name is May, she sounds not a day over 60, and she lives in a retirement community in New Jersey. Early in our conversation, she wanted to set the record straight about her age: she’s not 91 years old, she’s 95 years old and healthier than ever!

When asked about her favorite ice cream flavor, May replied that good old fashioned Turkey Hill Vanilla & Chocolate (the combo flavor) is her go-to frozen treat. She also revealed that she eats three containers of Turkey Hill ice cream each week and that she’d never visited Lancaster County, which prompted an invitation from us to visit our neck of the woods and stop by the Dairy for a VIP tour. This week, May took us up on the offer and visited the Dairy with her son and granddaughter for a tour (that’s her above with Ernie).

Before we ended our conversation with May, we asked her to reveal her secret to a long, healthy life, to which she replied simply, “Think positive and eat ice cream.” Hard to argue with that!

We paid a visit to the Guinness Book of World Record website to see what the record books hold for ice cream feats, and the following is what we found. Which record do you think sounds the most extraordinary, and which one do you think Turkey Hill should take a shot at? We can’t say for sure if we’ll try it, but your input might inspire us to give it a shot!

1. “Most ice cream scoops thrown and caught in one minute by a team of two” — The record for most ice cream scoops thrown and caught in one minute by a team of two is 25, achieved by Gabriele Soravia (thrower) and Lorenzo Soravia (catcher) (both Germany), on the set of Guinness World Records – Die größten Weltrekorde in Cologne, Germany, on 1 September 2007.

2. “Most ice cream scoops balanced on a cone” — The most ice cream scoops balanced on a cone is 26 and was achieved by Terry Morris (New Zealand) on the set of Zheng Da Zong Yi – Guinness World Records Special in Beijing, China, on 20 May 2010.

3. “Most ice cream cones prepared in one minute” — The most ice cream cones prepared in one minute is 19 and is held by Mitch Cohen (USA) who broke the record on the Food Network TV show Paula’s Party on 28 June 2007.

4. “Most flavors of ice cream displayed together” –The most varieties of ice cream displayed together is 521 by the UPA Gelatieri Padova at the 500 tastes of solidarity event, Cavour Square, Padova, Italy on 28 March 2004.

5. “Longest ice cream dessert” — The longest ice cream dessert was a sundae measuring 39.77 m (130 ft 6 in) prepared by The Kids Club (USA) in Brunswick, Georgia, USA, on 12 November 2009.

6. “Longest chain of people licking ice cream” — The longest chain of people licking ice cream was achieved by 2,694 participants at an event organised by Augustana College (USA) in Rock Island, Illinois, USA, on 20 April 2010.

7. “Largest ice cream sculpture” — The world’s largest ice cream sculpture, shaped like an 18th century ship, weighed 925 kg (2,039.4 lb), used 1,715.54 litres (453.2 gal) of chocolate and vanilla ice cream and was created by Jacques Tokar, Antoine Tokar and Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream (all USA). The sculpture was unveiled at Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary School, Burbank, California, USA on 14 November 2002.

8. “Largest (tallest) ice cream cone” — The largest ice cream cone measured 2.81 m (9 ft 2.63 in) in height and was achieved by Mirco Della Vecchia and Andrea Andrighetti (both Italy) during an event organised by Rimini Fiera and sponsored by Sigep, Fabbri, Incisoria Imar, Icam, Martellato (all Italy), at Rimini Fiera, in Rimini, Italy, on 22 January 2011.

For those of you who were less-than-appetized by Monday’s entry about mastic ice cream (mastic = piney fresh tree sap), we offer the photo above of a much more tempting scoop served in an sprinkle-encrusted cone. Unlike Monday’s entry, we don’t have to ask “would you eat it?” because we know almost everyone would!

As for the sprinkle cone, which uses a layer of chocolate to capture the sprinkles, we have just one question: Why don’t more ice cream shops use cones like that?!

By the way, the final two winners in our 12 Days of Ice Cream celebration finally claimed their prize. They are Yaritza R. of Nanticoke, PA (the ice cream pillow) and Valerie B. of Albrightsville, PA (the ice cream scoop). Congrats!

For those who aren’t familiar with it, mastic is a tree resin (like a sap). The earliest uses of hardened mastic were as a chewing gum. Today, mastic is used as an ingredient in various dishes in countries like Greece, Turkey, and Lebanon. So how does mastic ice cream taste? The Village Voice offers this input: “Naturally, piney flavors shine, plus the texture is slightly chewier than most ice creams.” That’s a picture of it above with a sour cherry sauce and chopped pistachios.

It doesn’t sound bad if you like your ice cream piney fresh, which leads us to the ultimate question — Would you eat it?

In the bottom photo, Brenda performs a test on some cream that has arrived at the Dairy to make sure it meets Turkey Hill’s standards. Employees who work in the mixing room communicate with the lab techs to make sure the cream has met our quality standards before it can be used to begin the ice cream making process.

Okay, here goes: Turkey Hill will not be creating the Turkey Hill wall calendar this year.

Trust us, it wasn’t an easy decision to make. We’d been making the free calendar for the last 12 years – as well as off and on throughout the 1940s and 50s – and we’ve enjoyed creating it as much as you enjoyed receiving it (sort of like our ice cream and iced tea). The calendar was a lot of fun and a wonderful way to build relationships and stay in touch with fans throughout the region, and we appreciated how they’d become fixtures in homes, offices, and all sorts of other places. But as the size of the mailing list grew, and as Turkey Hill evolved from a local ice cream maker to a national one, we needed to find more efficient ways to stay in touch with our fans.

Now for the good news. Turkey Hill’s marketing department is hard at work creating a new keepsake, which should be available for distribution in February. The new mailer is like the calendar in many ways: It’s free, it’s fun, it’s designed to be a year-round reminder of Turkey Hill, and it still has coupons for Turkey Hill ice cream and iced tea!

Those of you who were on the calendar mailing list will automatically receive the new keepsake, which we will offer a sneak peek of in a blog entry next week. (Hint: Like the calendar, it will help you remain organized and on task).

Stay tuned, and feel free to grab another bowl of ice cream – to celebrate the arrival of the new mailer, of course!

The Farm Show, hosted at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg each January, is one of the biggest shows of its kind in the nation, and a good time for anyone who enjoys animals, family fun and good food (Farm Show snacks are legendary!). This year’s Farm Show will kick off this Saturday, January 7 and will run through Saturday, January 14. Check out the Farm Show website for directions and more information.

As usual, Turkey Hill Dairy will be in attendance and our Giant Cow will be parked in front of the Farm Show Complex. We’ll have a booth inside the Main Hall  too, where we will be giving away free samples of a brand new flavor – Double Cookies n’ Cream. That’s right DOUBLE Cookies n’ Cream! (Vanilla flavored frozen dairy dessert stuffed with chocolate cookie pieces and crunchy chocolate cookie swirl)

As an added bonus this year for our blog readers, we’ll be giving away FREE full-sized containers of Turkey Hill ice cream (in the form of a coupon) to the first FIVE people who visit the Turkey Hill booth each day and mention the secret password “ERNIE.”

We hope to see you there!

Thanks to everyone who left a comment during the 12 Days of Ice Cream. If you’re a new commenter, we hope you decide to stick around after the New Year and become a regular commenter, because reading the blog comments is a daily highlight for many of us here at the Dairy (yes, we really do read every single comment).

There were definitely a lot of comments left on the blog during our 12 Days of Ice Cream celebration — 2,552 comments to be exact. From those 2,552 comments, 12 were chosen at random to receive each of our daily prizes. And those lucky winners are…

DAY 1 (ice cream pillow) – Still waiting to hear from the winner!

DAY 2 (ice cream crayons) – Catherine C. of Pine Hill, NJ

DAY 3 (ice cream magnet) – John L. of West Islip, NY

DAY 4 (ice cream greeting cards) – Kay B. of Fallentimber, PA

DAY 5 (ice cream ring) – Lesley H. of Columbia, PA

DAY 6 (ice cream pint cozy) – Kathleen W. of Catskill, NY

DAY 7 (baby ice cream sweater) – David G. of Avon, CT

DAY 8 (ice cream scoop) – Still waiting to hear from the winner!

DAY 9 (ice cream bowl) – Linda R. of Wharton, NJ

DAY 10 (ice cream spoon) – Randy F. of Marlton, NJ

DAY 11 (ice cream sandwich soap) – Val S. of Fairfield, CT

DAY 12 (ice cream lampshade ornaments) – Susan F. of Fuquay Varina, NC

We’ll be hosting some family-friendly fun which will include live music and outdoor activities like face painting, games, and more. Bo, Cylo, Turkey Hilda and more of Lancaster’s famous cast of strolling characters will be on hand as well as Turkey Hill’s Giant Cow.

Also, anyone who goes through the Experience on New Year’s Eve will get in for a special discount of $7 per person. The festivities will culminate with the first-ever dropping of Columbia’s giant ice cream cone (that’s it on the right) by the Columbia #1 Fire Department.

Visit the Turkey Hill Experience website for directions and more information. We hope to see you there!

Included in the hard work here at the Dairy are things like planning next year’s Limited Edition ice cream flavors (already done!), determining which events our Giant Cows will make appearances at, and working with new grocery stores who might want to stock Turkey Hill products in new cities and states.

Speaking of our 2012 Limited Edition ice cream flavors, we’ll be sharing those plans with you in an entry in January. Which leads us to our poll: Which of our 2011 Limited Edition flavors were your favorites? Sound off with your opinion in the poll in the right hand side bar. Because we know how hard it is to pick just one, you can choose up to three different flavors!

As we wrap up our 12 Days of Ice Cream festivities, we’d like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and thank you all for making this the best 12 Days celebration ever! Our final 12 Days of Ice Cream prize are glow-in-the-dark lampshade ornaments created by Etsy seller FFT & B, who describes the ornaments like this:

I really can’t get enough of glow in the dark clay and these ornaments are ten times better than night lights. You attach these to the brim of your lampshade with the lights on, wait a few minutes, turn them off…and Viola! You’ve got yourself your own light show.

We’ll choose one comment at random from all the comments left on this entry to receive this illuminating gift. In the spirit of Christmas, we’ll even throw in a one month supply of Turkey Hill Ice Cream. Good luck!

By a show of hands, who here has ever wished they could take a bath in ice cream? Okay, probably not that many of you, but it would be pretty neat to be able to wash your hands with ice cream, right?

Today’s prize will let you do that (sort of) because it’s soap in the shape of an ice cream sandwich! The soap sandwiches are even scented with chocolate for added realism! Love Lee Soaps, the Etsy seller who makes these cleansing treats, says the soaps “look good enough to eat.” That may be true, but we don’t recommend it.

We’ll choose one comment at random from all the comments left on this entry to receive not one but TWO bars of this squeaky clean gift. Good luck!

On Tuesday, the prize was an ice cream scoop and, on Wednesday, the prize was an ice cream bowl. On both days (and every day during our 12 Days of Ice Cream) we added some free Turkey Hill Ice Cream to the gift. So what’s left to complete our ice cream equation? That’s right, a spoon!

Today’s prize is a personalized upcycled vintage ice cream spoon from Sycamore Hill on Etsy. Sycamore Hill specializes in upcycled silverware, which is the practice of taking something old — like silverware, ice cream containers, or snack bags — and giving them a fresh new life or purpose. In this case, it’s purpose is similar to its original purpose, but an old Turkey Hill ice cream container could be upcycled into a bird feeder, for example.

Sycamore Hill has this to say about this spoon:

This listing is for one custom TABLESPOON, personalized any way you wish. These are a great gift to send off to college or for a unique and personal birthday gift ~ use your imagination, you are not limited to ice cream. All of my spoons are vintage silverplate is absolute pristine condition! I also use excellent quality pieces, rest assured your custom piece will be a work of art! Please let me know the style of the silver pattern you are interested, simple/plain, floral, art deco. I will choose an appropriate patterns based on your preferences.

So, yes, you will be able to choose which type of spoon your name will be placed on. And it doesn’t have to say “(YOUR NAME)’s ice cream“. It can say “Hands off my ice cream!” or “My sweet treat” or maybe even “I love my Turkey Hill!” (just throwin’ that last one out there as an idea).

We’ll choose one comment at random from all the comments left on this entry to win this prize (along with some free Turkey Hill Ice Cream, of course). Leave a comment below and let us know what message you’d have placed on this spoon if you won. for those who are wondering, we’ll choose the winners of all of our 12 Days of Ice Cream prizes on Monday of next week. Good luck!

Now that you’ve scooped your ice cream using yesterday’s prize, the bocote wood ice cream scoop, you’ll need a bowl to serve it in, right? That’s where today’s gift comes in. The “perfect little ice cream bowl” — as it’s called by the artist who created it — features a ruffled edge and a floating blue glaze. The Etsy seller offering the bowl, Wild Card Pottery, offers this description:

Perfect for a generous serving of ice cream when you deserve a treat, warm creamy soup when you are feeling the chill of winter or a comfortingly crunchy bowl of cereal when you need some help getting back to sleep at 2 am. The glaze on this little cutie is a rich earthy brown with powder blue crystals floating on the surface where the glaze is thickest.

We’ll choose one comment at random from all the comments left on this entry to receive this sweet ceramic present, along with some free Turkey Hill ice cream to put inside it. Good luck!

To recap the 12 Days of Ice Cream, so far our daily gifts have been an ice cream pillow, ice cream crayons, an ice cream magnet, ice cream greeting cards, an ice cream ring, a pint cozy, and a baby sweater with an ice cream cone on it. We’ll choose our daily winners at the end of the celebration, so if you’d like to put your name in the running for any of those prizes, feel free to revisit them and leave a comment.

Speaking of leaving a comment, you’ll definitely want to add yourself to the list of potential recipients for today’s 12 Days of Ice Cream gift — a hand-crafted bocote wood ice cream scoop. The Etsy seller who made this beautiful kitchen accessory, whose store is aptly named Craftiness, describes the scoop like this:

Scoop your ice cream with elegance and flair with this attractive and unusual scoop. Features attractive and durable Gold Titanium plating, gunmetal chrome accents, and a convenient thumb rest for easier scooping. Includes an attractive Gold TN plated end cap. With lathe-turned handle of exotic Bocote, this scoop that will last for years to come.

As you can see in the photo above (look closely, and you might be able to see the photographer), bocote is a beautiful wood, which is why it’s prized by woodworkers worldwide. More information about bocote wood can be found here. And if you’re wondering how to say the name of the wood, there are many variations, but the common pronunciation is “ba-KO-tay.”

We”ll choose one comment from all the comments left on this entry to receive this handy hand-me-down. And since an ice cream scoop is no fun without some ice cream, we’ll throw in some free Turkey Hill ice cream, too. Good luck!

We’re half way through our 12 Days of Ice Cream celebration (bummer, right?), but it’s okay because that means we’ve still got six great prizes to give away.

Today’s gift is one of those great prizes. It’s an adorable handmade baby sweater created by Hearthside Handworks. The crafty momma behind the cozy creation is from right here in Lancaster County and is, in fact, the mother of a member of the Turkey Hill marketing team.

The sweater (photo above) is a size 4, 100 percent cotton, and is machine washable. We’ll choose one comment from all the comments left on this entry to win this prize. As always, we’ll throw in some free Turkey Hill ice cream. Good luck!

FACT: Turkey Hill makes a wide variety of ice creams in pint sizes. FACT: Eating ice cream from a pint is fun, but often results in frozen fingers (which isn’t fun).

It’s true, Turkey Hill does make pint-sized ice cream and eating ice cream from a pint does result in a mild but totally worth it case of frostbite. Today’s prize — the ice cream pint cozy — is designed to eliminate the frosty fingers while also insulating your ice cream and keeping it nice and cold. The Etsy seller behind these little ice cream sweaters, A&B Originals, describes them like this:

Our sox are very different from others … they have a bottom. The entire ice cream pint is covered, and the crocheted cover will absorb any moisture from the container as the ice cream is eaten.

We’ll choose one comment from all the comments left on this entry to win this ice cream insulator (your choice of colors — check them out here). As always, we’ll throw in some free Turkey Hill ice cream. Good luck!

UPDATE: If you’re interested in purchasing one of these cozy’s (only $10!), the crafty lady behind A&B Originals had this to say in a comment on this entry: MENTION TURKEY HILL ICE CREAM in your message to seller while checking out and get a 20% discount refunded to you. Thanks again Turkey Hill for featuring my wild and crazy ice cream cozy, I have enjoyed reading all of the comments !!!

If you’ve ever tried to wear a scoop of ice cream as a piece of jewelry, you probably know that it melts pretty quickly and makes a big mess out of your fancy dinner dress. Etsy seller Art Wonders found a way around that dilemma by creating a ring with a tiny scoop of chocolate peanut butter ice cream made from polymer clay.

The ring, pictured above, is adjustable but not edible (sorry). We’ll choose one comment at random from all of the comments left on this entry to receive this realistic charm along with some free Turkey Hill ice cream. Good luck!

Does anyone send cards and letters anymore? Sadly, not many of us do, what with the invention of email and text messaging all but eliminating the need to drop a letter in the mailbox now and then.

We propose a return of this time-honored communication tactic and we’re going to give away three hand made ice cream greeting cards to help get the ball rolling. These stitched greeting cards (photo above) are made by Etsy seller Polka Dot Shop. The cards measure roughly 4 inches by 5 inches and come with envelopes, which means the only thing you need to add is a stamp (and probably some sort of message)!

We’ll choose one comment at random from all of the comments left on this entry to receive this postal present along with some free Turkey Hill ice cream. Good luck!

The refrigerator, in addition to being a place to store delicious food and ice cream, is a place to display all sorts of artwork, lists, photos and other mementos (on the outside of the fridge, not the inside). Today’s prize – a hand made ice cream magnet – is a contribution to that collection. The magnet is the green one featured in the photo above and is made by Etsy seller Yaelel 365, who notes in the magnet’s description that it’s approximately 7 cm tall (almost 3 inches).

We’ll choose one comment at random from all of the comments left on this entry to receive this magnetic memento along with some free Turkey Hill ice cream. Good luck!

Speaking of refrigerators (or, in this case, freezers), it’s a little known fact that hockey pucks are stored in a freezer prior to being used in a game. Using a warm “biscuit” would cause the puck to bounce on the ice, and that’s not good. The Hershey Bears professional hockey team chills their pucks in Turkey Hill freezer (see photo on the right and article here).

Turkey Hill and the Bears are teaming up this Sunday, December 18, for “Turkey Hill Experience Night” at the Giant Center. Tickets are available online or at the game. As part of the night’s festivities, the first 3,000 fans will receive a $10 gift card redeemable at the Turkey Hill Experience. We hope to see you there!

Remember coloring books and crayons? Of course you do! Today’s 12 Days of Ice Cream prize, pictured above, will help you relive that childhood memory (coloring book not included). The crayons are made from recycled crayons (i.e. those little broken bits that were doomed to get sucked up by the vacuum cleaner) and are described by Etsy seller Red Elm Designs:

I have handmade fun Ice Cream Cone shaped crayons. Each crayon is about 2.75 inches by 1.50 inches. Each crayon set will come in its own reclosable bag ready to be given as a gift. We only use high quality crayons so they all color great. For this order you will get a total of 14 Ice Cream Cone crayons in all different colors.

We’ll choose one comment at random from all of the comments left on this entry to receive this colorful keepsake along with some free Turkey Hill ice cream. Good luck!

They say ice cream is a “comfort food” – ranking right up there with macaroni & cheese and chicken noodle soup. With that in mind, we’d like to kick off our 12 Days of Ice Cream celebration with a prize that puts a literal spin on the comfort found in ice cream – the ice cream pillow.

The plush prize pictured above is made by Etsy seller Lollipop Pillows and is described thusly:

This pillow cover is made for a 14X14 pillow insert. Insert is included. The cover is made up of 100% burlap and each layer on the design is hand cut from Eco felt made from recycled plastic bottles. The back has an easy access envelope back. You have the option of choosing the white burlap (pictured above). If you don’t like burlap or felt, I can also make it from fleece for a softer feel.

We’ll choose one comment at random from all of the comments left on this entry to receive this comfy gift. And, with all of our daily prizes during our 12 Days of Ice Cream celebration, we’ll also throw in some free Turkey Hill ice cream. Good luck!

Our Rum Raisin Ice Cream, which used to be a Limited Edition seasonal flavor like Egg Nog but is now available year round, is also performing well.

Speaking of hot cakes (we’ll explain the reference later), we’d be remiss in our holiday cheer-spreading duties if we didn’t remind everyone that Turkey Hill’s Egg Nog beverage – in regular Egg Nog and Light Vanilla Nog – is also available in most stores where Turkey Hill milk is sold. Popular food blog Serious Eats recently published a positive review of our nog, commenting that it “tasted like the eggnog (we remember) from growing up.”

Now, about the hot cakes reference. If you don’t like drinking egg nog (we know there are some people out there who don’t), you might consider using it as an ingredient in all sort of holiday recipes posted on the Turkey Hill website. Our collection of nog-centric concoctions includes Egg Nog Cookies, Egg Nog Cheesecake and, for breakfast, some Egg Nog Pancakes.

We’ve even got some recipes for desserts using Turkey Hill Egg Nog Ice Cream. Word of advice, try the Crispy Egg Nog Crunch. You’ll never look at Rice Krispie Treats the same way again.

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P.S. – If you tried to leave a comment on yesterday’s entry announcing the winner of our Ultimate Holiday Recipe Contest but were unable to, the entry has been fixed and comments are now enabled. Feel free to take a second look at the entry and let us know if you’ll be making the winning recipe. We’ll choose one comment from yesterday’s entry to receive some free Turkey Hill ice cream!

Have we stalled long enough for dramatic effect? Good. The winner of the 2011 Ultimate Holiday Recipe Contest (Chocolate Overload Edition) is…

Teressa C. of Dayton, NJ and her Fudge Merri-Mints ice cream sandwiches!

Congrats Teressa! Her Fudge Merri-Mints (recipe here and photo below) battled Hidemi’s Sweet Potato Ice Cream Chocolate Pie (recipe here), Connie’s Chocolate Strawberry Cherry Parfait (recipe here), and Mary’s Triple Chocolate Ice Cream Crepes (recipe here). Each finalist will receive a one month supply of Turkey Hill Ice Cream and, for her victory, Teressa gets a one year supply of Turkey Hill Ice Cream.

The celebration starts next Wednesday (December 14) and will feature a new blog entry posted each day in the 12 days leading up to Christmas. The fun part is that each entry will feature a different ice cream-related prize, which we’ll give away to one commenter chosen at random from each blog entry.

This year’s prizes include an ice cream pillow, ice cream Crayons, an ice cream ring and lots of other goodies. Of course, free Turkey Hill ice cream will also be included with each prize. To get everyone in the mood, we’re reprinting our very own version of the “12 Days of Ice Cream” song (sung to tune of “The 12 Days of Christmas”). Enjoy!

“THE 12 DAYS OF ICE CREAM”

On the first day of ice cream,
my true love gave to me,
a scoop of Turkey Hill ice cream!

On the second day of ice cream,
my true love gave to me,
two waffle cones,
and a scoop of Turkey Hill ice cream!

On the third day of ice cream,
my true love gave to me,
three hot fudge sundaes,
two waffle cones,
and a scoop of Turkey Hill ice cream!

On the fourth day of ice cream,
my true love gave to me,
four ice cream cakes,
three hot fudge sundaes,
two waffle cones,
and a scoop of Turkey Hill ice cream!

On the fifth day of ice cream,
my true love gave to me,
five golden spoons!
Four ice cream cakes,
three hot fudge sundaes,
two waffle cones,
and a scoop of Turkey Hill ice cream!

On the sixth day of ice cream,
my true love gave to me,
six pints of Moose Tracks,
five golden spoons!
Four ice cream cakes,
three hot fudge sundaes,
two waffle cones,
and a scoop of Turkey Hill ice cream!

On the seventh day of ice cream,
my true love gave to me,
seven banana splits,
six pints of Moose Tracks,
five golden spoons!
Four ice cream cakes,
three hot fudge sundaes,
two waffle cones,
and a scoop of Turkey Hill ice cream!

On the eighth day of ice cream,
my true love gave to me,
eight bowls of sherbet,
seven banana splits,
six pints of Moose Tracks,
five golden spoons!
Four ice cream cakes,
three hot fudge sundaes,
two waffle cones,
and a scoop of Turkey Hill ice cream!

On the ninth day of ice cream,
my true love gave to me,
nine ice cream sandwiches,
eight bowls of sherbet,
seven banana splits,
six pints of Moose Tracks,
five golden spoons!
Four ice cream cakes,
three hot fudge sundaes,
two waffle cones,
and a scoop of Turkey Hill ice cream!

On the tenth day of ice cream,
my true love gave to me,
10 cones a-melting,
nine ice cream sandwiches,
eight bowls of sherbet,
seven banana splits,
six pints of Moose Tracks,
five golden spoons!
Four ice cream cakes,
three hot fudge sundaes,
two waffle cones,
and a scoop of Turkey Hill ice cream!

On the eleventh day of ice cream,
my true love gave to me,
11 chocolate milkshakes,
10 cones a-melting,
nine ice cream sandwiches,
eight bowls of sherbet,
seven banana splits,
six pints of Moose Tracks,
five golden spoons!
Four ice cream cakes,
three hot fudge sundaes,
two waffle cones,
and a scoop of Turkey Hill ice cream!

On the twelfth day of ice cream,
my true love gave to me,
12 bites of Rocky Road,
11 chocolate milkshakes,
10 cones a-melting,
nine ice cream sandwiches,
eight bowls of sherbet,
seven banana splits,
six pints of Moose Tracks,
five golden spoons!
Four ice cream cakes,
three hot fudge sundaes,
two waffle cones,
and a scoop of Turkey Hill ice cream!

We also knew that you can’t have a birthday party without ice cream, so we created a Limited Edition ice cream flavor in honor of Millersville’s anniversary. The flavor – Swan Swirl – is available only at the Turkey Hill Experience Café & Creamery and is described as premium vanilla ice cream swirled with chocolate and marshmallow.

The flavor was unveiled at the Millersville 250th anniversary Grand Finale event, held at the Turkey Hill Experience on November 27, and was named after the famous swans which make their home in the Millersville University pond. One article about the Grand Finale party noted the special relationship between Turkey Hill and Millersville’s founding family:

“There has always been a unique connection between the Millersville Borough and Turkey Hill.  The Millers purchased their land at the same time the Frey family, the founders of Turkey Hill, bought theirs.  This would make them Millersville’s first neighbors.”

If you missed the event, you can still get a taste of Swan Swirl for yourself at the Turkey Hill Experience Café & Creamery throughout December and into the New Year!

After you vote, leave a comment below to let us know which recipe you liked best…or maybe even what you’d change about any of the recipes. To help refresh your taste buds, each of the four finalist recipes are posted below. As always, try not to drool on your keyboard!

FINALIST #1 – Fudge Merri-Mints (Teressa C. of Dayton, NJ)

FINALIST #2 – Sweet Potato Ice Cream Chocolate Pie (Hidemi W. of Plainfield, IN)

FINALIST #3 – Chocolate Strawberry Cherry Parfait (Connie M. of Monroeville, PA)

FINALIST #4 – Triple Chocolate Ice Cream Crepes (Mary L. of Columbia, SC)

Triple Chocolate Ice Cream Crepes

DESCRIPTION: Cocoa crepes filled with your choice of Turkey Hill ice cream and topped with a buttery chocolate drizzle.

SUBMITTED BY: Mary L. of Columbia, SC

INGREDIENTS

CREPES

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cocoa
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons melted butter
• Vegetable cooking spray

FILLING AND TOPPINGS

• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons crème de cacao
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 quart Turkey Hill Premium Chocolate Ice Cream (or choice of ice cream)
• 1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds

DIRECTIONS

To make crepes, combine flour, cocoa, sugar and salt. Add milk and almond extract, and beat on low until smooth. Add egg and beat well and stir in melted butter. Refrigerate batter for two hours or longer.

When ready to cook crepes, spray the bottom of a 6-inch crepe pan or heavy skillet with cooking spray. Heat until just hot, add two tablespoons batter to the pan. Quickly tilt pan in all directions so batter covers pan evenly. Cook one minute or until lightly browned. When the crepe can be shaken loose from the pan, flip the crepe and cook about 30 seconds on the other side. Place crepes on a towel to cool. Repeat until all batter is used. Makes 10 6-inch crepes.

To make topping sauce, place chocolate chips and butter in a large microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 45 seconds or until melted. Stir until smooth. Add powdered sugar, corn syrup, crème de cacao, water and vanilla and stir until smooth.

In the center of a crepe, spoon about 3 tablespoons of ice cream down the center. Fold sides over and place on serving plate seam side down (2 crepes per serving). Spoon warm chocolate sauce over each crepe and sprinkle with sliced almonds. Serve immediately.

Chocolate Strawberry Cherry Parfait

DESCRIPTION: Turkey Hill Vanilla and Chocolate Ice Cream blended with cherry and strawberry Jell-O flavoring and layered with whipped cream and crushed chocolate cookies.

SUBMITTED BY: Connie M. of Monroeville, PA

INGREDIENTS

• 1 small box of Cherry Jell-O
• 1 small box of Strawberry Jell-O dissolved in3/4 cup boiling water
• 1 1/2 cups Turkey Hill Chocolate  ice cream.
• 1 1/2 cups French Vanilla Turkey Hill ice cream
• large container of cool whip
• 10-12 crushed Oreo cookies
• Maraschino cherries
• Hot fudge topping

DIRECTIONS

Dissolve cherry Jell-O in 3/4 cup of boiling water. Cool to luke warm. Stir the chocolate ice cream in to the Jell-O. With an electric mixer, beat until very fluffy. Set aside.

Dissolve strawberry Jell-O in 3/4 cup of boiling water. Cool to luke warm. Stir the vanilla ice cream in to the Jell-O. With mixer, beat until very fluffy. Set aside.

Using eight parfait glasses, place thin layer of crushed cookies at bottom. Then add a thick layer of cherry/chocolate mixture, then a layer Cool Whip, a thin layer of cookies, followed by a thick layer of strawberry/vanilla mixture. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Before serving, top with dollop of whipped cream and a cherry. Sprinkle lightly with finely crushed cookie and drizzle with hot fudge.

Sweet Potato Ice Cream Chocolate Pie

DESCRIPTION: A sweet potato pie blended with honey and ice cream in a chocolate crust and topped with whipped cream and shaved dark chocolate.

SUBMITTED BY: Hidemi W. of Plainfield, IN

INGREDIENTS

• 1 ready-made chocolate pie crust
• 1 lb sweet potato
• 3/4  cup Turkey Hill Vanilla Ice Cream, melted
• 2 tablespoons Butter
• 1 tablespoon Honey
• Whipped cream
• 1/3 cup Shaved Dark Chocolate

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Peel and cut sweet potato into half-inch cubes. Boil water in a sauce pan, add sweet potatoes and cook until tender. Drain and transfer to a bowl. Add ice cream, honey and melted butter to the sweet potato. Blend well by hand or with blender until creamy. Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake for 30-35 minutes. Let cool completely then served topped with whipped cream and shaved chocolate.

FUDGE MERRI-MINTS

DESCRIPTION: Turkey Hill Skinny Minty Ice Cream sandwiched between two chocolatey cookies and rolled in crushed mint chocolate candy cane.

SUBMITTED BY: Teressa C. of Dayton, NJ

INGREDIENTS

• 1 package of chocolate chips
• 2 oz of unsweetened chocolate
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 chocolate mint candy canes (regular candy canes work, too)

DIRECTIONS

In a heavy medium saucepan, melt half the chocolate chips, the unsweetened chocolate and the butter. Stir. Remove pot from the stove and mix in the eggs, sugar, flour, vanilla and baking powder. Next, stir in the rest of the chocolate chips. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spoon the batter onto a non-stick cookie sheet (batter should yield 10-14 cookies). Bake cookies for nine minutes. Remove cookies from oven and allow to cool completely before removing from cookie sheet. Once cooled, place a generous amount of Skinny Minty Ice Cream between two cookies. Roll the outer edge of the ice cream in crushed chocolate mint candy cane. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving is a day for many things. It’s a day for getting together with friends and family. It’s a day for enjoying great food (followed by a nap). It’s a day for sharing. It’s a day for football. But most of all, it’s a day for giving thanks for all of the wonderful things in our lives. What are you thankful for on this special day?

And before you ask – no, the “Turkey Day Triple Fudge” featured above is not our next Limited Edition offering. Some of our readers might remember the phony flavor from our April Fool’s entry in 2010, which described the treat as packed with “morsels of real turkey covered in dark chocolate swirled with sweet potato, chocolate fudge and cranberry sauce.”

The fact that this isn’t a real ice cream flavor is one more thing you can be thankful for!

NAME: Craig S.

HOMETOWN: Dover, PA

POSITION AT TURKEY HILL DAIRY: Research and Development Coordinator

FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR: Fried Ice Cream

HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED AT TURKEY HILL? 16 years

WHAT ARE YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES AT TURKEY HILL?

I work on developing new ice cream flavors in our test kitchen. For example, I created our Double Dunker flavor by combining cookie dough pieces, chocolate cookie swirl, and mocha ice cream. Our team also works with vendors to come up with new ingredients to mix into our ice cream. R & D also organizes taste panels, so that other people can test and evaluate what we come up with.

WHAT HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR FLAVORS THAT YOU HAVE DEVELOPED?

I created Party Cake ice cream in 2000 (vanilla flavored ice cream swirled with buttercream frosting and multi-colored cake pieces). It started out as an ice cream for the millennium, originally called “Y 2 Cake.” This flavor was only going to be a Limited Edition, but we had so many requests to keep the flavor that we changed the name to Party Cake and kept it on permanently.

WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR THIS HOLIDAY SEASON?

Family, friends, and a freezer full of Turkey Hill ice cream!

• THE FAKE NEWS STORY IS… – Last Monday’s “Spot the Fake Ice Cream News” entry didn’t fool many of you, as most of you correctly guessed story #1 (about a man who survived by eating ice cream after getting trapped in a walk-in freezer for three days) as the bogus news item. That incident never happened but, like we said before, aside from the sub-zero temperatures of the freezer, being trapped with hundreds of gallons of ice cream isn’t so bad, is it?

• SEND US YOUR CHOCOLATEY RECIPE! – The deadline for this year’s Ultimate Holiday Recipe Contest (Chocolate Overload Edition) is November 25th, so you’ve got less than a week to send your best recipe to icecreamjournal@gmail.com. The only requirements: The recipe has to use Turkey Hill ice cream and it has be a chocolate lover’s dream come true (more details here). One recipe will win the grand prize: A year’s supply of Turkey Hill ice cream!

• SPEAKING OF RECIPE CONTESTS… – We don’t spend much time talking about milkshakes here on the Ice Cream Journal, which is a shame because milkshakes are delicious. We’ll talk more about shakes in the future (starting with the image above), but we wanted to poll our readers to see what you think about having a milkshake recipe contest here on the blog in the near future (probably in the Spring). Do you think it’s a good idea? Would you enter a recipe or two of your own?

It’s sort of become a running joke that nothing soothes personal heartache like curling up on the couch in your pajamas while drowning your sorrows in a pint of your favorite ice cream. This is usually the remedy for women recovering from the end of a relationship, but ice cream is the ultimate comfort food, so it probably applies to men, too.

Saturday Night Live took this advice to comical levels in a skit this weekend which featured a few pints of Turkey Hill ice cream. A screen shot of the skit can be seen above and you can check out the episode of SNL on Hulu (the Turkey Hill skit is toward the end, just after the 52 minute mark).

1. A NIGHTMARE … OR A DREAM COME TRUE? – When Tacoma, Washington grocery clerk Alex Krieder found himself locked inside walk-in freezer for nearly 48 hours while the grocery warehouse was closed for a three-day weekend, he did what any of us would have done in order to survive: He ate ice cream. “I probably didn’t need to eat as much ice cream as I did, but after the first 24 hours, I started getting pretty hungry,” said Krieder, who prevented himself from freezing by disabling the freezer’s temperature control system.

2. NOW YOU CAN EAT YOUR VEGGIES FOR DESSERT! — San Francisco-based trend foreceasters Andrew Freeman & Co. have announced that parents will soon have a new way to get their kids to eat their veggies thanks to an increase in vegetable-flavored ice cream. Examples of the trend can be seen at many upscale restaurants, including Mario Batali’s New York eatery Del Posto, where they offer a sorbet flavored with celery and fig.

3. WHAT, NO ICE CREAM CAMP FOR ADULTS? — Michigan ice cream shop Treat Dreams has created a three-hour “Kids Winter Break Ice Cream Camp” which, the store says, gives parents the perfect opportunity to get some holiday shopping done.  The $35 half-day camp lets kids design and make their own ice cream flavors and compete in teams. Each team’s flavor will be served at the store the following day.

4. THE FASTEST ICE CREAM MAN ON THE PLANET — In 2010, Brett Simala began selling ice cream at Arizona’s Cocapah Speedway. His love of ice cream was eclipsed only by his love of auto racing, which explains why he’d stop selling ice cream during the race track’s short events in order to watch each race.  “I should be out there; I can beat those guys,” thought Simala. So he got himself a race car and did just that, driving off with a win in a division heat race before winning the feature event soon thereafter.

This cocoa-laden image should serve as a reminder of our Ultimate Holiday Recipe Contest (Chocolate Overload Edition). In case you haven’t heard, we’re giving away a year’s supply of ice cream the top recipe. All recipes should contain Turkey Hill ice cream and, like the contest’s name implies, should also contain plenty of chocolate. To enter, just send your best recipe to icecreamjournal@gmail.com before November 25. It can be a “family recipe” or just something you found 10 minutes ago online…it’s up to you!

Speaking of chocolate, there are seven flavors in the Turkey Hill Premium Ice Cream line that contain the word “chocolate” in the name (not counting the Light Recipe or All Natural Recipe lines). Chocolate and Dutch Chocolate are two of the flavors. Limited Edition German Chocolate Cake is another. Can anyone name the other four chocolate-named flavors?

In the Dairy laboratory – where our tea, ice cream and milk are tested for quality, freshness and other factors – is a small room known as the shelf life cooler. In it, you’ll find a wide variety of Turkey Hill products all meticulously labeled by our laboratory staff.

The products are stored until after their expiration date (and sometimes well beyond), at which point they are tested to make sure they are capable of standing the test of time and living up to Turkey Hill’s high standards of freshness and quality. And yes, our lab techs perform actual taste tests on all of the products. Above is Cindy checking the date of a tea.

More than 1,400 students submitted responses in an effort to claim the $5,000 prize given to the middle school and high school students with the best stories. After reading all 1,400 stories (yes, we read each and every one of them), one thing is for certain: Our nation’s students are smart, articulate and full of hope about our nation and its future.

Every story submitted was outstanding, which made our job of choosing one from each age group that much more difficult. But, after a considerable amount of discussion and debate, we were finally able to identify the winners of the $5,000 in scholarship money. And the winners are…

ETHAN L.

HOMETOWN: Seaford, DE

SCHOOL: Homeschooled (Grade 12)

FUTURE PLANS: After he graduates from high school, Ethan plans to continue his education in religious studies.

ESSAY TITLE: “Liberty and Justice for All”

EXCERPT: America is the nation that she is because of the fact that her people are strong believers in freedom, hope, responsibility, dedication, and hard work. The character of America’s people is what makes me proud to be identified with our great nation. America’s people are the industrious, free, kind people that they are, because liberty isn’t only printed on our coins, it’s engraved on our hearts. That’s what liberty means to me, and that’s why I am, and always will be, proud to be an American.

JULIA H.

HOMETOWN: Clinton, CT

SCHOOL: Jared Eliot Middle School (Grade 7)

FUTURE PLANS: When she graduates in 2017, Julia plans to attend college. To her, “the future is fun to think about” because she’s interested in so many areas, including music, law and medicine.

ESSAY TITLE: “Liberty is Power”

EXCERPT: Liberty is freedom, and in America, freedom is abundant. Everywhere we turn there are examples of the everyday liberties scattered within our lives. To name them all would be impossible, and having those freedoms – independence and control over ourselves – is something many of us may take for granted, but in reality, it is special, and it is a gift. What Lady Liberty symbolizes is the philosophy of the United States, and how special and privileged all of her citizens are. Lady Liberty symbolizes the gift of freedom, and the individual power it grants us.

We also chose 10 essays as honorable mentions, and each of those students will receive a one-month supply of Turkey Hill ice cream. Congratulations to Ethan and Julia, and thank you again to all of the students who took time to enter the Lady Liberty Essay Contest. You’re all winners in our book!

We’re posting the photo of the delicious looking chocolate ice cream cake above for two reasons. The first is because it looks absolutely incredible. (If you agree, check it out on Milly and Tilly’s website.) The second reason is to remind everyone to send in your recipes for our Ultimate Holiday Recipe Contest (Chocolate Overload Edition) before November 25. Like we said before, your recipe can be a drink, a pie, a cake, or something entirely different! The only requirements are that it includes Turkey Hill ice cream – preferably as a main ingredient – and lots of chocolate.

The best part is, it doesn’t even have to be a recipe that you’ve made before. It can be a recipe you just discovered! You check out all the details about the contest here, but we should remind everyone that the prize is a ONE YEAR SUPPLY OF TURKEY HILL ICE CREAM. We put that in all caps because it’s a great prize, isn’t it?

The Ice Cream Journal is all grown up now, but we remember that day fondly. At the time, we weren’t sure if there’d be enough stuff to write about to keep an ice cream blog going for five months, much less five whole years! But here we are, 754 blog entries and 50,995 comments later, and we’re showing no signs of slowing.

So grab a bowl of your favorite ice cream and join us in looking forward to another five years of ice cream blogging fun and excitement. In the words of Turkey Hill President Quintin Frey on our  very first blog entry, “This blog is meant to be fun. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoy writing it. And, just like ice cream, feel free to share it with friends!”

The Turkey Hill team is with the Statue of Liberty today, where they’re giving away free samples of her namesake ice cream flavor. On the right is a photo of one of the Turkey Hill staffers with Lady Liberty in the background. If you “just happen to be in the area,” stop by and say hello!

According to an MSNBC.com article about today’s festivities, there’s a lot going on to celebrate the big day: “A total of 125 immigrants from 46 countries have been sworn in as United States citizens at a ceremony marking the 125th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. Lady Liberty is (also) getting a high-tech uplift for her birthday. Five webcams attached to the torch held high in New York harbor will offer views not seen by the public in nearly a century.”

The views from the video cameras can be seen online (here). Feel free to check them out…perhaps while enjoying some Lady Liberty Mint Premium Ice Cream!

(UPDATE: This month’s Find that Experience has already been found. Stay tuned for another Find that Experience opportunity in December!)

P.S. – Not sure how many of you noticed, but our new “autumn” blog header has been installed, replacing the old “farm and field” image we used throughout the summer. Before long, we’ll update it again with a wintery image. Until then, enjoy the changing fall colors!

This year’s Yankees Sweepstakes winner was Patrick Jacob of Syosset, NY. Patrick, his wife Jane and kids were treated to dinner with Yankees legend Mickey Rivers. That’s the Jacobs — minus Patrick, who served as photographer – with Rivers on the right.

Fans know Rivers best as the speedy leadoff-hitting centerfielder for the Yanks when they won back-to-back world championships in 1977 and 1978.

The Jacobs, who describe themselves as “the world’s biggest Yankees fans,” had a great time with “Mick the Quick.” In addition to a few priceless memories, Patrick and his family took home some autographs signed by the man many historians call “the fastest Yankee of all time.”

The Yankees Sweepstakes will return next year. Although we don’t yet know which Yankees legend will dine with our winner, one thing’s for sure – it’ll be an unforgettable experience!

Tweet ups are typically open to Twitter users, but we wanted to let our blog readers know about a tweet up that’s open to all fans of Turkey Hill and fans of free ice cream. That’s right, we said free ice cream. Anyone who orders one of our café’s delicious sandwiches during the tweet up will get a free large cone of our Limited Edition pumpkin soft serve ice cream. In addition to the free frozen goodies, we might also give away free Turkey Hill ice cream in the form of drawings held throughout the 90 minute event.

If you’re in the area on Tuesday evening and looking for a quick bite to eat and a chance to meet some fellow Turkey Hill fans, this is the place to be. Feel free to RSVP on the invite page or just show up with a friend or two. Either way, we hope to see you there!

In past Ultimate Holiday Recipe Contests, we asked you to use our holiday-themed Limited Edition flavors, but this year’s recipe contest is even simpler (and tastier):

You can use any Turkey Hill ice cream flavor you’d like, but the recipe has to include one key ingredient – chocolate.

Your recipe can be a drink, a pie, a cake, or something entirely different! The only requirements are that it includes Turkey Hill ice cream – preferably as a main ingredient – and lots of chocolate. If you have allergies to chocolate (first of all, you have our deepest sympathies), feel free to submit a recipe anyhow … but have a friend serve as your taste-tester!

E-mail your entries, along with your name and address, to icecreamjournal@gmail.com before midnight on Friday, November 25 to be entered to win the grand prize – a one year supply of Turkey Hill ice cream. At that time, we’ll choose our four favorite recipes (each of whom will receive a one month supply of ice cream) which will be posted here on the Ice Cream Journal. Blog readers will then vote to determine the winner.

As always, you can submit as many recipes as you’d like. And remember: There’s no such thing as “too much chocolate.”

Ever wonder what’s happening at Turkey Hill Dairy on any given day? With the “dairy cam” at the Turkey Hill Experience, you don’t have to wonder because you can watch what’s happening at that very moment at our Dairy headquarters just a few miles from the Experience.

On a series of monitors, you can see the raw receiving room (where shipments of milk and cream arrive every day), the quality assurance lab (where Turkey Hill food scientists test each batch of ice cream and iced tea to make sure it’s as good as it can be), the liquid processing room, the batching room , the warehouse and the heart of the Dairy, the ice cream production room. If you look closely, you might even see Ernie hard at work!

NAME: Melissa H.

HOMETOWN: Wrightsville, PA

POSITION AT TURKEY HILL: Tea Filler on Production Line

FAVORITE ICE CREAM AND ICED TEA FLAVOR: My favorite ice cream flavor is Peanut Butter Ripple and my favorite iced tea flavor is Diet Green Tea Mango.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED AT TURKEY HILL: 11 years (since 2000)

WHAT ARE YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES AT TURKEY HILL?

I make sure that everyone takes their breaks off of the tea production line when they need one. I help oversee the filling of all our tea bottles. My team and I also make sure that all of the tea labels are being placed on the bottles in the correct way.

HOW MANY TEA BOTTLES DOES YOUR TEAM FILL PER DAY?

On average, we can run up to 250,000 gallons of tea in a 24 hour period. During our busy season, that number can go well above 300,000 gallons! Tea production has three shifts working a six day rotation, but sometimes we need to have production seven days per week.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT WORKING FOR TURKEY HILL?

My favorite thing is that I enjoy the people I work with, and the people I work for. I believe that Turkey Hill really cares about its employees, and they will listen to our feedback about how to make things even better.

GOT ANY GOOD STORIES ABOUT WORKING HERE?

I love the Turkey Hill Olympics! Every other year, our Wellness Committee puts together an Olympics for employees. We get in small teams and compete for first place. I am on the committee, so it’s fun for me to plan this event and then see it all come together. Our next one is February of 2012!

At the Creamery & Café, you can enjoy café-style light meals, including freshly prepared hot and cold sandwiches and paninis, soups and salads, and a fully stocked selection of your favorite Turkey Hill iced teas and drinks. And that’s just the “Café” part. On the “Creamery” side is an assortment of 32 different Turkey Hill Ice Cream flavors, including special selections available only at the Creamery & Café (that’s how our new Limited Edition Whoopie Pie flavor came about).

The nice part about the Creamery & Café is that you can eat there whether you tour the Turkey Hill Experience or not. Of course, the Creamery & Café is a likely stop for people on the tour, but its separate entrance means anyone can visit for lunch, dinner or for a double scoop of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream with the family.

Speaking of lunch, our daily specials are $6.95 each, served from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.:

• MONDAY: Half sandwich (or wrap) and soup

• TUESDAY: “Tuna Tuesday” (tuna sandwich, melt, salad or wrap)

• WEDNESDAY: The Rachel Sandwich

• THURSDAY: Create Your Own Sandwich (choose sandwich or wrap, bread, two meats, cheese, and toppings)

The Creamery & Café even has a “happy hour” – 4 p.m.-7 p.m. Friday through Sunday – when you get a free scoop of ice cream with every meal! And when you’re done eating, you can visit the Turkey Hill Experience gift shop, located just a few steps away.

The Creamery & Café is open Monday-Thursday 11 a.m.-2 p.m. for lunch and 11 a.m.-7 p.m. for ice cream; Friday-Saturday 11 a.m.-8 p.m. for lunch, dinner and ice cream; and Sunday from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. for lunch, dinner and ice cream. For a full menu visit the Creamery & Café section of the Turkey Hill Experience website!

No, this isn’t a picture of milk someone neglected to clean up. Those who tour the Dairy may notice this white, sudsy substance inside the doorway of each working space. The foam is sprayed periodically from a nozzle just inside the door. It’s intended to disinfect the soles of your shoes to avoid tracking things throughout the premises. So, if you’re ever lucky enough to take a tour, make sure you step in the foam, not over it!

To help celebrate the Phillies’ winning ways, Turkey Hill has created a new Phillies Ice Cream Cake. The six-inch cake is made with Cookies ‘n Cream Premium Ice Cream and loaded with crushed cookies, topped with creamy vanilla icing, and candy star confetti.

The cake will be available throughout the Philadelphia region. For a listing of stores that carry Turkey Hill Ice Cream Cakes, visit our store locator. If you can’t find it, don’t worry. There’s plenty of Phillies Graham Slam and Phillies Batter Up! Ice Cream in stores to help you celebrate the Phils’ pursuit of a World Series title.

The Yankees kick off their playoff run tonight against the Detroit Tigers (at 8:37 p.m. on TBS) and the Phillies’ postseason gets underway tomorrow with a game against the St. Louis Cardinals (5:07 p.m. on TBS).

If you’re a fan of either team, you can stock up on the official flavors while you watch the Yankees and Phillies battle it out in the playoffs for a chance to play in the World Series later in October. For Phillies fans, that means Phillies Graham Slam or Phillies Batter Up. For Yanks fans, you’ll want plenty of Yankees Bronx Bombers Sundae or Yankees Pinstripe Brownie Blast.

Of course, you can also root for both teams with a bowl of each team flavor. There’s nothing wrong with that. It might get a little tricky if both teams face each other in the World Series (which happened two years ago), but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there!

The breakthrough was made by Elizabeth Fenner (above), a food science graduate student at the University of Missouri College of Agriculture. According to articles about the creation, the two-for-one flavor is made possible thanks to “micro-encapsulation techniques that coat the second flavor (molecule), but break down almost immediately in the mouth, releasing additional flavor compounds.”

In other words, at first you’ll taste vanilla bean, and then a blast of dutch chocolate — all in the same bite!

The technology is still years away from being used in real ice cream, but it’s nice to know that it’s possible, just in case Turkey Hill ever decides to create a Black Raspberry + Banana Split flavor. Those are just two of the many different flavor combination possibilities. If anyone has any suggestions for two Turkey Hill flavors that might be good for this new concept, let us know with a comment. (Check out the ice cream page of our website for inspiration.)

WARNING: The following video may cause extreme cravings for ice cream sandwiches which could result in sudden trips to the grocery store. Viewers are advised to watch the video only if their freezer is properly stocked with ice cream.

Legend has it there’s a place in Annapolis, Maryland called Chick & Ruth’s Deli that offers a towering six pound milkshake. If you finish the $17 behemoth, you get your photo taken and placed on the deli’s website. Many have attempted the challenge, some with a little help from a friend, but most have failed.

Pictured above is a gentleman who not only completed the milkshake in the photo, he tackled the deli’s “Man vs. Food Challenge” by also downing a one pound cheeseburger (that’s it on the table in front of him) in under an hour! Knowing that the Ice Cream Journal has some of the biggest ice cream fans in the world as its readers, we were curious to know how many of you think you could tackle Chick and Ruth’s jumbo shake. The burger, of course, is optional!

Football fans, of course, already know this. Here in Lancaster County most are either an Eagles fan or a Steelers fan. That’s why we’re proud once again to reintroduce our football-themed ice cream flavors – Blitzburgh Crunch and Eagles Touchdown Sundae. To refresh everyone’s memory, below are the player bios for each of these hard-hitting gridiron stars.

PLAYER BIO: BLITZBURGH CRUNCH

NICKNAME: “The Crunch,” “Crunch Time,” “The Frozen Curtain”

DEBUT: July 15, 2010

SIGNATURE TOUCHDOWN DANCE: “The Blitzburgh Boogie”

DESCRIPTION: Sweet cream vanilla ice cream with chocolate cake crunchies and crunchy chocolate cookie swirl.

BACKGROUND: Blitzburgh Crunch is a relative newcomer to the Turkey Hill roster, but it’s wasted no time in establishing itself as a dominant player in the frozen foods aisle. Before joining the lineup full time in 2010, The Crunch got into playing shape by tackling three-gallon containers of Rocky Road and Strawberry Cheesecake in the scoop shop section of the Turkey Hill warehouse. Said a confident Blitzburgh Crunch during a preseason practice: “What time is it? It’s Crunch Time. It’s crunch o’clock. It’s crunch thirty. Bottom line: It’s always time for me. Sweet cream vanilla ice cream, chocolate cake crunchies, crunchy chocolate cookie swirl. What’s not to love?”

PLAYER BIO: EAGLES TOUCHDOWN SUNDAE

NICKNAME: “The Sundae Special,” “The Good Stuff,” “E.T.S.”

DEBUT: July 25, 2003

SIGNATURE TOUCHDOWN DANCE: “The Regal Eagle”

DESCRIPTION: Vanilla flavored ice cream spiked with peanut butter choco footballs and swirls of peanut butter and chocolatey fudge.

BACKGROUND: A veteran of the frosty gridiron, Eagles Touchdown Sundae has been a force to be reckoned with in freezers throughout Pennsylvania for eight seasons, and is showing no signs of slowing. “The Official Ice Cream of the Philadelphia Eagles” has been called a sure fire Frosty Hall of Fame candidate by many ice cream experts, but E.T.S. dismisses the praise. “I don’t play for awards,” said the Eagles flavor. “I play for taste … and maybe some chocolate fudge and sprinkles on top.”

For those unfamiliar with the signature touchdown dances of both flavors, we’ll post an entry in the near future offering step-by-step instructions for each. We might even post a video … if we can convince some members of the Turkey Hill team to show off their dancing skills.

Is there any dessert better than a warm brownie topped with ice cream? We don’t think so. Enjoy today’s featured photo and, as always, try not to drool on your keyboard!

This past weekend was certainly a time to reflect and remember the things that have made us the proud nation we are today. One of things that makes us proud is the Statue of Liberty. Ten years ago, Lady Liberty stood tall on Liberty Island in New York Harbor and watched as our nation was transformed and emerged stronger than ever.

As many of you know by now, this year marks the 125th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty’s arrival as symbol of American freedom and liberty. It’s an occasion we’re marking with our Limited Edition Lady Liberty Mint Ice Cream (mint ice cream with chocolate cake crunchies and crunchy chocolate cookie swirl).

Part of that celebration is our Lady Liberty Essay Contest, which asks middle school and high school students a simple question: What does liberty mean to you? To enter, students should fill out the entry form located on the contest web page by October 21, 2011. The best middle school essay and the best high school essay will each receive $5,000 in scholarship money!

If you have school-aged children of your own, you should definitely take a shot at the prize by entering this contest. If you don’t have kids, but know someone who does, please forward them a link to this blog entry and encourage them to take part. $5,000 might not go as far as it used to when many of us were younger, but it can certainly still buy a lot of liberty and freedom for today’s college-bound students.

Last week, we posted four celebrity ice cream news stories and asked readers to spot the fake story. All four stories received votes as the phony scoop, but the first and second stories received the most votes. In the interest of setting the record straight, here’s the truth behind our four stories:

1. JUSTIN BIEBER PERFUME INSPIRES SUNDAE - London-based luxury department store Harrod’s sells a $32 ice cream sundae to launch teen pop idol Justin Bieber’s new perfume.

THE TRUTH: This story received the most votes as the fake, but it’s true! Proceeds from the sale of the sundae were donated to the Make-A-Wish-Foundation. (Story here)

2. IT’S A NECKLACE AND A SNACK! - Superstar lady rapper Nicki Manaj, wore a necklace featuring a full-sized replica of a soft serve ice cream cone.

THIS TRUTH: Our runner-up vote getter for the fake story was this one, but like the first story, this tall tale is also true. Those who know Nicki Minaj might not be surprised by her outrageous neckwear considering her track record for sporting attention-grabbing outfits. You can buy your own Minaj ice cream necklace (above) for $79.99.

3. PAPPY, PAX AND ZAHARA GRAB A SCOOP - Angelina Jolie’s father, actor Jon Voight, was photographed in a London park while taking a stroll and enjoying ice cream with grandkids Pax and Zahara.

THE TRUTH: Many of you cried foul on this story because of the well-publicized rift between Angelina Jolie and her father, but we’re happy to report that the pair have patched things up and this story is 100 percent true. (Story here)

4. WHO WANTS A NUTTY BUDDY? - Will Ferrell prepares for an upcoming movie role about dueling  ice cream truck drivers by hitting the streets of LA as the driver and operator of a real-life ice cream truck.

THE TRUTH: Last but not least is this hilarious Will Ferrell comedy. Unfortunately, this story is the fake. It’s too bad, because it sounded like a great idea for a funny movie, didn’t it?

Pretty much everyone has a computer these days. And if you have a computer, you might have a need for this month’s prize: The chocolate ice cream bar flash drive (above and right). Just plug this tasty little treat into your computer’s USB port and it’s ready to store or transfer up to 4 GB of files. That’s enough gigabytes to store just about anything you’d need it to, with room to spare!

We’ll choose one comment from all the comment left on the blog this month to receive this sweet gadget. Good luck!

Once the ice cream has been palletized, it is stored in Turkey Hill’s freezer warehouse (one of the aisles shown above) until it is ready to be shipped to a grocery store near you. The warehouse holds more than 4,000 pallets of ice cream. That’s approximately 3,000,000 packages of ice cream! To put that in perspective, if you were to eat one package of ice cream every day, it would take you 8,220 years to finish it all (never mind the expiration date on that last container of Cookies ‘n Cream).

1. JUSTIN BIEBER PERFUME INSPIRES SUNDAE - London-based luxury department store Harrod’s launched teen pop idol Justin Bieber’s new perfume “Someday” by creating a $32 ice cream sundae available to Bieber fans and hungry shoppers. The sundae, inspired by the fragrance notes of the perfume, includes a mix of wild berry, fresh pear and vanilla ice cream, accented with lavender sprinkles and edible glitter.

2. IT’S A NECKLACE AND A SNACK! - Superstar lady rapper Nicki Manaj, who has mentioned Turkey Hill in her songs in the past, made ice cream a central part of her outfit at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards when she showed up sporting a necklace featuring a full-sized replica of a soft serve ice cream cone. The sweet jewelry was actually the least unusual part of her ensemble, which included a multicolored surgical mask and with a stuffed animal hanging from her waist.

3. PAPPY, PAX AND ZAHARA GRAB A SCOOP - Angelina Jolie’s father, actor Jon Voight, is a proud grandpa, and was recently pictured going what every proud grandpa likes to do — treat his grandkids to some ice cream. Voight was photographed in a London park while taking a stroll with two members of the Jolie-Pitt crew, seven-year-old Pax and six-year-old Zahara, while the duo enjoyed some tasty ice cream treats.

4. WHO WANTS A NUTTY BUDDY? - To prepare for his role in an upcoming movie, funny man Will Ferrell has been hitting the streets of suburban Los Angeles, selling frosty treats to kids as the driver and operator of a real-life ice cream truck. Ferrell’s film, about a pair of dueling ice cream truck drivers locked in a head-to-head battle to determine the city’s best ice cream man, features Hangover star  Zach Galifianakis as Ferrell’s sundae-selling nemesis.

But don’t worry, you can still have ice cream even though the temperature outside is on a downward decline. Speaking of a downward decline (as in a downward decline in the number of people who might try this ice cream flavor), today’s “Would you eat it?” flavor comes from Max & Mina’s Ice Cream in New York City.

M&M’s is known for their wacky flavors, but one of their wackiest is lox ice cream. For those who aren’t familiar with it, lox is thinly sliced smoked salmon (commonly combined with cream cheese and spread on bagels). Max & Mina’s mixes the smoky fish with vanilla ice cream to create an flavor that’s received plenty of positive reviews from adventurous customers.

Since we’ve never tried it, we can’t testify to how good the flavor is, but we’re dying to know…would you eat it?

Ice cream and childhood memories go hand-in-hand, which is why we asked some of our reader-writers to write an entry about their earliest or fondest childhood ice cream memory. Evelyn R. of Pittsburgh, PA offering the following story about her local ice cream stand. Enjoy!

My earliest recollection of ice cream was when I was a very little girl, probably about 10 years old. We lived in what was a rural area then. It was mostly farm land, and my friends and I could take long walks, even drink water from a free flowing spring. Of course there were no big grocery stores but about a mile from my home was a little store, owned by a family. The ice cream counter was just inside the window of the store.

The father of the family that owned the store was old, or so he seemed then, and made small ice cream cones. The son, who was younger, made big ice cream cones. My brother was ten years older than me and had a car, so he would take me to the store. We would sit in the car, and when we saw that the father was busy with a customer, we would rush in and buy ice cream cones from the son. Ice cream cones were probably a quarter, so we wanted to get the most for our money, but we also loved ice cream!

The favorite flavors then were chocolate and vanilla. There weren’t wonderful flavors like Turkey Hill has now. The expression that my father taught us then was “You Scream, I Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream!” The store is long gone, replaced by an intersection, but it is still remembered.

Not long ago, we mentioned our involvement with the Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association’s “VIP Dairy Farm Experience Contest.” To recap, the V.I.P. Dairy Farm Experience is a contest that will give six winners a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a V.I.P. guest on a working dairy farm. Winners will also receive a basket full of dairy-themed goodies, including a one month supply of Turkey Hill ice cream.

The purpose of today’s entry is to remind you that there’s still time to enter the contest before the August 31 deadline! To enter, all you have to do is describe, in 50 words or less, why you should be chosen as a dairy farm V.I.P.

Entries can be submitted via the Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association’s Facebook page. The contest is open to entrants 18 years and older and those living within the Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association region (which includes Maryland, Delaware, most of Pennsylvania, and southern NJ).

SIX WINNERS will be whisked away, with a friend, to a local restaurant to be treated to dinner, including an overnight stay at a local bed and breakfast or luxury hotel. The following morning, they’ll receive a behind-the-scenes tour of a dairy farm and enjoy an afternoon of fun activities.

Although the specific afternoon activities vary depending on the farm, one thing is for sure — the six lucky people who win this contest will have a V.I.P. experience they’ll never forget!

Here’s what she had to say in response to the entry’s question about which ice cream you’d eat for the rest of your life if you could only choose two flavors:

Only two flavors for the rest of my life??? Luckily, I’ve lived half of my life already but no question, I’d chose Black Raspberry and Choco Mint Chip for my second half.

Congrats again to Regina and huge thanks to all of our readers who helped us achieve such an amazing milestone. Your comments are the very best part of this blog and everyone here at the Turkey Hill offices — from the summer interns to Turkey Hill President Quintin Frey himself — loves reading them!

We started five weeks ago with 16 movies that showcased the immigrant experience. The reason: To celebrate the Statue of Liberty’s 125th birthday and our new Lady Liberty Mint Premium Ice Cream. Your votes eventually narrowed the list to just two movies — Eddie Murphy’s hilarious 80s hit “Coming to America” versus Will Smith’s 90s blockbuster “Men in Black” (aliens are immigrants too!). And the winner, with 56 percent of the vote in the final round is Coming to America!

As promised, we’ll choose four comments from all the comments left on our movie tournament entries to receivethe Ultimate Movie Prize Package, which consists of DVD copies of four movies from the Movie Showdown Extravaganza (G-rated so the whole family can enjoy them!) and a one-month supply of Turkey Hill ice cream!

This is John. He works in the palletizing room (10 degrees) where he loads ice cream on to pallets. On an average day, John and his co-workers handle approximately 30,000 containers of ice cream, which allows them stay in shape for their nightly snack. Wonder what that might be?

It’s also why everyone here at in the Turkey Hill offices is excited about an Ice Cream Journal milestone we’re going to reach in the very near future — our 50,000th comment! We’re not there yet, but we should pass the magical 50,000 mark some time next week. To celebrate the occasion, we’ll give away a month’s supply of Turkey Hill ice cream to the person who leaves the 50,000th comment!

To help us get there — possibly with this blog entry! — feel free to answer this question: If you could only eat two flavors of ice cream for the rest of your life (scary thought, right?), which two flavors would you choose?

Which one will win The Lady Liberty Super Spectacular Movie Showdown Extravaganza? That’s for you to decide in the poll on the right. We’ll announce the winner next Monday.

Don’t forget, we’ll choose four comments from all the comments left on the tournament’s weekly entries to win the Ultimate Movie Prize Package, which consists of DVD copies of four movies from the Movie Showdown Extravaganza (G-rated so the whole family can enjoy them!) and a one-month supply of Turkey Hill ice cream.

The Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association is an organization that represents more than 7,200 family-owned dairy farms throughout the mid-Atlantic region. The V.I.P. Dairy Farm Experience is a contest that will give six winners a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a V.I.P. guest on a working dairy farm. Winners will also receive a basket full of dairy-themed goodies, including a one month supply of Turkey Hill ice cream.

The contest is part of the Association’s “Your Milk Comes From a Good Place” campaign, which is designed to shed some light on the hard work of the region’s many dairy farmers.

Farming buffs can enter the V.I.P. Dairy Farm Experience contest by describing, in 50 words or less, why they should be chosen as a dairy farm V.I.P. Entries can be submitted via the Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association’s Facebook page. The deadline for applications is August 31. The contest is open to entrants 18 years and older and those living within the Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association region.

The winner will be whisked away, with a friend, to a local restaurant to be treated to dinner, including an overnight stay at a local bed and breakfast or luxury hotel. The following morning, they’ll receive a behind-the-scenes tour of a dairy farm and have an opportunity to perform a variety of hands-on farming tasks.

If a V.I.P. farm tour – plus the free Turkey Hill ice cream! – sounds like fun, feel free to submit your 50-words-or-less essay on the Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association Facebook page. How much is 50 words, you ask? It’s the length of this paragraph! Pretty simple, huh?

Here it is: The coldest room in the entire Dairy. After the ice cream is packaged, it is still relatively soft (roughly the same consistency as soft serve ice cream). To make it firmer, the containers spend six to 10 hours in the quick-harden room, where the temperature is a frigid minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit below zero with a minus 70 degree Fahrenheit wind chill factor! After the ice cream reaches minus 20 degrees, it is moved to the frozen warehouse, which is kept at a temperature of minus 20 degrees.

Needless to say, a person cannot spend much time in the quick-harden room. Our photographers were only able to stay for about 60 seconds before they had to retreat to warmer temperatures. Even then, it took about 20 minutes before their cameras could warm back up so they could get on with the rest of the tour.

Don’t forget, we’ll choose four comments from all the comments left on the tournament’s weekly entries to win the Ultimate Movie Prize Package, which consists of DVD copies of four movies from the Movie Showdown Extravaganza (G-rated so the whole family can enjoy them!) and a one-month supply of Turkey Hill ice cream.

This week’s match-ups are below along with some commentary from Turkey Hill’s “Movie Master.” Vote for your favorite movies in the polls on the right.

Sophie’s Choice (1982) vs. Coming to America (1988)

Far and Away (1992) vs. Men in Black (1997)THE MOVIE MASTER SAYS: Both showdowns this week feature a drama versus a comedy. You might think pitting the dramas against each other and the comedies against each other would have made more sense, but I think it works better this way. By the way, fans of the game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” — which asserts that any actor or actress can be linked to a Kevin Bacon movie in six or fewer steps — might be interested to know that Mr. Bacon can be linked to each of our four finalist movies in only one step! Here’s how:

- Sophie’s Choice leading actress Meryl Streep starred alongside Kevin Bacon in “The River Wild” (1994)

- Coming to America featured Cuba Gooding Jr. (in a tiny role as “boy getting haircut”), who eventually starred with Kevin Bacon in a “A Few Good Men” (1992)

- Far and Away’s Tom Cruise also starred with Kevin Bacon in “A Few Good Men”

- Men in Black featured Tommy Lee Jones, who performed with Kevin Bacon in “JFK” (1991)

July and National Ice Cream Month both come to close today, and although we’ve definitely had some fun here on the Ice Cream Journal over the past 31 days, we can assure you that the fun will continue through the rest of the summer and the entire year. We’ve got some fun activities planned for the near future, so stay tuned! And now, today’s ice cream fact:

In the 1930s, the Great Depression made a serious dent in the sales of ice cream nationally. Ice cream manufacturers tried all sorts of things to get people to buy ice cream again, including suggesting ice cream as a breakfast ingredient. One ad by the Hydrox Corporation exclaimed, “Ice Cream for Breakfast! Well, why not?” along with a suggestion for topping cereal with a scoop of your favorite ice cream flavor. Said the ad, “It is cream, you know.”

Don’t forget, we’re celebrating National Ice Cream Month by giving away a free container of Turkey Hill ice cream every day to one commenter chosen at random, so feel free to comment as often as you’d like!

Can you believe we’re down to our last two days in National Ice Cream Month? Where did July go? We’re going to file a motion with whoever decides these national food months to have August and September declared National Ice Cream Month as well so we can continue the fun we’ve had so far! Here’s today’s ice cream fact:

One out of every five ice cream eaters have been known to binge on ice cream in the middle of the night. These late-night freezer raiders are typically in the 18-24 year old age group with men are more likely to exhibit this behavior than women.

Don’t forget, we’re celebrating National Ice Cream Month by giving away a free container of Turkey Hill ice cream every day to one commenter chosen at random, so feel free to comment as often as you’d like!

The top three cities in America that purchase the most ice cream on a per capita basis aren’t in Hawaii or other warm weather locations, they’re in Portland, Oregon; St. Louis, Missouri; and Seattle, Washington. Why do you suppose that is?

If you’re following along at home, you’re probably wondering about the answer to Wednesday’s question — What percentage of women admit to licking the bowl clean after finishing their ice cream? The answer is 8 percent. And the answer to the question before that — What percentage of the world’s vanilla beans are grown in Madagascar — is 80 percent!

In honor of the Statue of Liberty’s 125th anniversary, Turkey Hill Dairy has created a Limited Edition Lady Liberty Mint Premium Ice Cream flavor, on sale throughout the year wherever Turkey Hill ice cream is sold. We’re also posting a different Lady Liberty fact every day for 125 days on our Twitter feed. Today’s featured fact is:

Following a fundraiser to raise money to build Lady Liberty’s pedestal, “The World” newspaper printed the name of every contributor, no matter how small the amount.

Today’s fan photo is an example of a clever way to reuse an empty Turkey Hill ice cream container. It was sent to us by Delores K., who noted that she loves Turkey Hill ice cream, “and so do our feathered friends.”

Ready for another multiple choice question? Of course you are. Guess the answer to the following question by leaving a comment below.

Approximately 13 percent of men admit to licking the bowl clean after finishing their ice cream. What percentage of women admit to the same indulgent behavior?

A. 3 percent
B. 8 percent
C. 13 percent
D. 26 percent

Today’s fan photo is a shot of Turkey Hill super fan Luke D, who, as you can see in the picture below, loves our Light Recipe line-up!

Don’t forget, we’re celebrating National Ice Cream Month by giving away a free container of Turkey Hill ice cream every day to one commenter chosen at random, so feel free to comment as often as you’d like!

As a reminder, we’ll choose four comments from all the comments left on the tournament’s weekly entries to win the Ultimate Movie Prize Package, which consists of DVD copies of four movies from the Movie Showdown Extravaganza (G-rated so the whole family can enjoy them!) and a one-month supply of Turkey Hill ice cream.

Below are our round two match-ups along with some commentary from a member of the Turkey Hill team who, for the purposes of this tournament, prefers to be known as “The Movie Master.” Which movies will win and represent their category in the final four? That’s up to you to decide. Feel free to cast your vote in the polls on the right and leave a comment or two with your thoughts about the remaining flicks.

CLASSICS CATEGORY

The Immigrant (1917) vs. Sophie’s Choice (1982)

THE MOVIE MASTER SAYS: These are definitely some powerhouse cinema classics, which is what makes this match-up hard to predict. Sophie’s Choice is a pretty weighty movie about the Holocaust and it’s hailed as Meryl Streep’s best performance (she ended up winning the “Best Actress” Oscar for the role) which is saying a lot considering she’s had so many amazing performances. On the other hand, it’s hard not to love Charlie Chaplin, especially in a movie like this, which was selected for preservation by the United States Library of Congress because it was “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

COMEDY CATEGORY

Born in East L.A. (1987) vs. Coming to America (1988)

THE MOVIE MASTER SAYS: These comedy classics are two of the funniest movies made in the past 30 years, so I’m not surprised to see them facing off in round two. In one corner, you’ve got Cheech Marin — half of the Cheech & Chong comedy duo — and in the other corner you’ve got Eddie Murphy, whose comedic qualifications are well known. Which one will win? I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be watching both of these movies this weekend to relive some of the laughs from my younger years.

DRAMA CATEGORY

Far and Away (1992) vs. The Terminal (2004)

THE MOVIE MASTER SAYS: Is Far and Away the best Tom Cruise movie? No. In fact, it’s not even the best movie Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were in together . Same thing with the The Terminal. There are at least a half a dozen films on Tom Hanks’ impressive resume that are better than this one, but The Terminal is still a good movie and definitely a strong contender in this tournament. Which one will win this battle of the Toms? That’s for you to decide!

EXTRATERRESTRIAL CATEGORY

Coneheads (1993) vs. Men in Black (1997)THE MOVIE MASTER SAYS: This might be the “Extraterrestrial” category, but you may as well call it the “More Hilarious Comedy” category, because that’s exactly what you’ve got with this funny pair. Coneheads, of course, is a spin-off of a classic Saturday Night Live skit and stars two great SNL alums (Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin). And Men in Black is a easily one of the best action-comedies of all time and spawned Men in Black II and a third M.I.B. movie due out in 2012.

The polls in the first round of our Lady Liberty Super Spectacular Movie Showdown Extravaganza will remain open for one more day and round two will kick off tomorrow. If you haven’t voted in the polls on the right, now’s your chance to do it!

TODAY’S FACT: The top five most popular ice cream flavors are: vanilla, chocolate, neapolitan, strawberry and cookies n’ cream, in that order, with vanilla comprising about 25 percent of all ice cream sales!

For all you inquiring minds out there, the answer to Saturday’s trivia question – What percentage of the world’s vanilla bean used to make ice cream is grown in the island country of Madagascar? – is 80 percent.

And finally, today’s fan photo comes from Diane, who describes the picture like this: “My two-year-old granddaughter, Lila, sneaked into the freezer and, armed with a measuring spoon, helped herself to Turkey Hill vanilla. Too cute to punish her!

TODAY’S FACT: Ice cream novelties such as ice cream on sticks and ice cream bars were introduced in the 1920′s. Adults consume nearly one-half of all ice cream novelties.

Our Turkey Hill fan photo for today was submitted by Kim Z. of Brooklyn, NY. Way back in December 2008, Kim was the winner of a one year supply of Turkey Hill ice cream for her and a friend during our 12 Days of Ice Cream holiday celebration here on the Ice Cream Journal. Below is a photo of Kim’s freezer and what Kim had to say about how she spent her winnings:

Greetings to all the sweet folks at Turkey Hill!

I have been meaning to send this photo & email for some time now and finally got around to it when I saw the blog post about the photo contest.

I would like to express my deep gratitude to everyone at Turkey Hill for supplying my family with 2 wonderful years of free ice cream! In January of 2009, I was the winner of the “Year’s Supply of Ice Cream for You and a Friend” contest. I used half of the vouchers myself and gave the other half to my brother (and his family).  Since the vouchers didn’t expire until December of 2010, instead of a year’s supply, we ended up with two!  Turkey Hill has always been my favorite brand of ice cream (seriously!) and now of course you will have my loyalty for life.

The contest allowed me to try every flavor, and never have a bare freezer… which brings me to the photo.  On a super hot day in the summer of 2009, I decided to share my wealth of ice cream with my friends and have an old-fashioned ice cream social.  Everyone brought their favorite topping – pot-luck style, and I provided a huge variety of ice cream.  Sadly, somehow, the photos I took at the party were lost (sob!), but one picture survived that I took the night before of my packed-to-the-gills freezer (see attachment).

Please express my thanks to the folks who were involved in the contest, and I would like to thank EVERYONE at Turkey Hill for making the best ice cream on earth!

Your eternal fan,
Kim Z.

Here’s another multiple choice question. Take a shot at the answer by leaving a comment below. By the way, the answer to our last multiple choice question – What percentage of American households purchase ice cream? – is 98 percent. And now, on to today’s question:

What percentage of the world’s vanilla bean used to make ice cream is grown in the island country of Madagascar?

A. 80 percent

B. 87 percent

C. 95 percent

D. 100 percent

Today’s fan photo was submitted by Erin K. of Lakehurst, NJ. Erin took the picture during her recent trip to the Turkey Hill Experience.

Children ages two through 12, and adults age 45 plus, eat the most ice cream per person.

Today’s fan photo was sent to us by Joann P. of Belleville, PA who describes herself as a “proud mother-in-law.” Joann described her photo with this story:

When our son-in-law asked my husband for permission to marry our daughter, he tried “bribes” of money, credit cards, his car, but finally “won” a “YES” with my husband’s favorite ice cream: Turkey Hill Chocolate Marshmallow.

Don’t forget, we’re celebrating National Ice Cream Month by giving away a free container of Turkey Hill ice cream every day to one commenter chosen at random, so feel free to comment as often as you’d like!

In honor of the Statue of Liberty’s 125th anniversary, Turkey Hill Dairy has created a Limited Edition Lady Liberty Mint Premium Ice Cream flavor, on sale throughout the year wherever Turkey Hill ice cream is sold. We’re also posting a different Lady Liberty fact every day for 125 days on our Twitter feed. Today’s featured fact is:

Liberty and Ellis Islands remain New York territory despite being on the New Jersey side of the river.  

Today’s fan photo was sent in by Tom F. of Chambersburg, PA. It’s a picture of Mickey the Yorkie. Mickie might only weigh five pounds, but he’s not going to let anyone near his beloved Chunky Peanut Butter ice cream.

Don’t forget, we’re celebrating National Ice Cream Month by giving away a free container of Turkey Hill ice cream every day to one commenter chosen at random, so feel free to comment as often as you’d like!

The two factors that contributed to ice cream’s meteoric rise in availability in the mid 19th century was the invention of machines to make ice and the lower cost of sugar. Prior to this period, ice was harvested from natural sources and sugar was a costly luxury item. Thankfully, we found a way to make both factors more readily available and affordable. Otherwise, we’d all be paying $45 for an ice cream cone today.

Today’s fan photo is a picture of Tom D. looking very small in front of our Giant Cow during a recent trip to our new Turkey Hill Experience.

Don’t forget, we’re celebrating National Ice Cream Month by giving away a free container of Turkey Hill ice cream every day to one commenter chosen at random, so feel free to comment as often as you’d like!

Some of you may have noticed that there was an error with Sunday’s entry which prevented readers from leaving a comment. The error has been fixed, but if you want to comment on the entry’s trivia question — What percentage of American households purchase ice cream? A. 65%, B. 88%, C. 90%, or D. 98% — feel free to leave a comment on this entry. And now, today’s fact…

In 1843, New England housewife Nancy Johnson invented the hand-cranked ice cream churn. She patented her invention but lacked the resources to make and market the churn herself. Mrs. Johnson sold the patent for $200 to a Philadelphia kitchen wholesaler who, by 1847, made enough freezers to satisfy the high demand. From 1847 to 1877, more than 70 improvements to ice cream churns were patented.

More specifically, we’re on a mission to determine the greatest movie of all time involving the immigration experience. And in this case, that immigration experience includes immigrants arriving from outer space!

To do that, we’ve created The Lady Liberty Super Spectacular Movie Showdown Extravaganza. It works sort of like our annual Ultimate Flavor Tournament. In round one, 16 movies will face off in head-to-head match-ups and your votes will determine which ones win and advance to the next round. The field will eventually be narrowed down to two movies and one will be named the Movie Showdown Extravaganza champion.

Of course, there will be prizes. We’ll choose four comments from all the comments left on the tournament’s weekly entries to win the Ultimate Movie Prize Package, which consists of DVD copies of four movies from the Movie Showdown Extravaganza (G-rated so the whole family can enjoy them!) and a one-month supply of Turkey Hill ice cream.

And now, on with our round one match-ups. Sound off with a comment to be eligible for the prizes and vote for your favorite movies by casting votes in the polls on the right.

CLASSICS CATEGORY

The Immigrant (1917) vs. Popi (1969)

• The Immigrant (1917) – Charlie Chaplin stars in this silent picture as an immigrant who comes to the U.S. at the beginning of the 1900s.
• Popi (1969) – A Puerto Rican widower (Alan Arkin) living in Harlem puts his children aboard a raft off of Florida’s coast in hopes that the cute “asylum-seekers from Cuba” will win hearts in America.

Scarface (1983) vs. Sophie’s Choice (1982)

• Scarface (1983) – A determined Cuban immigrant (Al Pacino) takes over a Miami crime empire but is eventually brought down by greed.
• Sophie’s Choice (1982) – Sophie (Meryl Streep) is a Polish Catholic survivor of the holocaust who makes her way to the U.S. after the war.

COMEDY CATEGORY

Moscow on the Hudson (1984) vs. Coming to America (1988)

• Moscow on the Hudson (1984) – Touring the U.S. with a band during the cold war, a Soviet saxophone player (Robin Williams) defects to the U.S. while in Bloomingdale’s.
• Coming to America (1988) – On his 21st birthday, the Prince of Zamunda (Eddie Murphy) is to marry a woman he has never met. Breaking with tradition, he chooses to come to America, in search of the love of his life.

Spanglish (2004) vs. Born in East L.A. (1987)

• Spanglish (2004) – A woman and her daughter emigrate from Mexico for a better life in America, where they start working for a family where the patriarch (Adam Sandler) is a newly celebrated chef with an insecure wife.
• Born in East L.A. (1987) – When Rudy (Cheech Marin) is unable to convince authorities that he is American, he ends up deported to Mexico with no knowledge of Spanish and no idea how to get back home.

DRAMA CATEGORY

Far and Away (1992) vs. The Joy Luck Club (1993)

• Far and Away (1992) – Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman star in a film about the story of both poor and wealthy immigrants from Ireland and their quest for the American dream.
• The Joy Luck Club (1993) – The story of four Chinese women who immigrated to the U.S. When one of the women dies, her daughter plays Mahjong with the older women and begins to really learn what her mother endured in China.

The Terminal (2004) vs. Avalon (1990)

• The Terminal (2004) – An eastern European man (Tom Hanks) is stranded at New York’s JFK Airport without a passport when his homeland is overthrown in a coup.
• Avalon (1990) – A Jewish family immigrates to the United States from Poland in pursuit of the American dream.

EXTRATERRESTRIAL CATEGORY

Superman (1978) vs. Men in Black (1997)

• Superman (1978) – An alien orphan (Christopher Reeve) is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home’s first and greatest super-hero.
• Men in Black (1997) – Two men (Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones) who keep an eye on aliens in New York City must try to save the world after the aliens threaten to blow it up.

Coneheads (1993) vs. District 9 (2009)

• Coneheads (1993) – While waiting to be recalled to their mother planet, an alien couple (Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtain) start a family and try to blend into middle class suburbia.
• District 9 (2009) – An extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth suddenly finds an ally in a government agent who is exposed to their biotechnology.

Today’s fact is a multiple choice question. Guess the right answer by leaving a comment below.

What percentage of American households purchase ice cream?

A.      65 percent

B.      88 percent

C.     90 percent

D.    98 percent

Don’t forget, we’re celebrating National Ice Cream Month by giving away a free container of Turkey Hill ice cream every day to one commenter chosen at random, so feel free to comment as often as you’d like!

Roman emperor Nero is credited with creating the first frozen desserts. Back in the first century A.D., the emperor sent his servants into the mountains to retrieve snow which was then mixed with nectar, fruit and honey to make something similar to the modern sorbet. Later, in 1295, Marco Polo returned to Italy with a Chinese recipe that mixed yak milk with snow. The creamy frozen treat soon became very popular throughout Europe.

Our Turkey Hill fan photo for today was sent in by Karen S. of Westfield, NJ. It’s fitting that Twin Mint is the flavor featured in the photo because, according to Karen, “the kids eating the Dynamic Duo are my very own Dynamic Duo, Rachel and Justin (twins).”

Don’t forget, we’re celebrating National Ice Cream Month by giving away a free container of Turkey Hill ice cream every day to one commenter chosen at random, so feel free to comment as often as you’d like!

In honor of the Statue of Liberty’s 125th anniversary, Turkey Hill Dairy has created a Limited Edition Lady Liberty Mint Premium Ice Cream flavor, on sale throughout the year wherever Turkey Hill ice cream is sold. We’re also posting a different Lady Liberty fact every day for 125 days on our Twitter feed, so be sure to follow us for more daily facts. Today’s featured Lady Liberty fact is:

The interior of the statue within reach of visitors is coated with a special plastic so that graffiti can be washed away.

Don’t forget, we’re celebrating National Ice Cream Month by giving away a free container of Turkey Hill ice cream every day to one commenter chosen at random, so feel free to comment as often as you’d like!

According to DumbLaws.com (and several other websites), in Newark, New Jersey it is illegal to sell ice cream after 6pm unless the customer has a note from his or her doctor.

Don’t forget, we’re celebrating National Ice Cream Month by giving away a free container of Turkey Hill ice cream every day to one commenter chosen at random, so feel free to comment as often as you’d like!

During World War I, ice cream became a source of American pride after a German officer was quoted as saying, “We do not fear that nation of ice cream eaters!”

By the way, the answer to Monday’s question – What is the most popular ice cream topping? – is chocolate syrup!

Don’t forget, we’re celebrating National Ice Cream Month by giving away a free container of Turkey Hill ice cream every day to one commenter chosen at random, so feel free to comment as often as you’d like!

Some of the most popular flavors of ice cream were invented only a few decades ago. Take Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough for instance. That heavenly concoction was invented in 1991. Or Cookies ‘n Cream. In 1983, that flavor was invented using real Oreo cookies and quickly climbed to number five on the list of best-selling ice cream flavors. Its meteoric rise in popularity makes Cookies ‘n Cream the fastest growing new flavor in ice cream history!

Today’s Turkey Hill fan photo comes from Ivette M., who grabbed this picture of a very young Double Dunker fan!

It’s time for another multiple choice question. Post your answer below with a comment along with your favorite ice cream topping.

What is the most popular ice cream topping? (We’ll take a sundae with A, B, C, D, and extra E please!)

A. Chocolate syrup
B. Whipped cream
C. Caramel
D. Chopped nuts
E. Sprinkles

Ice cream headaches are caused by the dilation of blood vessels in the head when cold substances contact the nerves in the roof of the mouth. The best way to avoid the headache is to eat slower, which allows the nerves to warm up between bites, and prevent the cold stuff from touching the roof of your mouth.

Today’s fan photo was sent to us by Job T. of Little Rock, Arkansas. Job never knew the joys of Turkey Hill ice cream until his fiancee, who’s from gool ol’ Lancaster, Pennsylvania, introduced him to it. In his email to us he said, “Look how happy I am to have Turkey Hill ice cream!” Remember Job, don’t eat the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup too fast or you’ll get brain freeze!

Don’t forget, we’re celebrating National Ice Cream Month by giving away a free container of Turkey Hill ice cream every day to one commenter chosen at random, so feel free to comment as often as you’d like!

It takes about 50 licks to eat a single scoop of ice cream. We’re not sure how scientific the test to determine that fact was. For instance, are we talking about soft serve ice cream or hard ice cream? It seems like soft serve ice cream would disappear a lot quicker. Then again, just about any ice cream you put in front of an ice cream fanatic will disappear quickly!

Don’t forget, we’re celebrating National Ice Cream Month by giving away a free container of Turkey Hill ice cream every day to one commenter chosen at random, so feel free to comment as often as you’d like!

In honor of the Statue of Liberty’s 125th anniversary, Turkey Hill Dairy has created a Limited Edition Lady Liberty Mint Premium Ice Cream flavor, on sale throughout the year wherever Turkey Hill ice cream is sold. We’re also posting a different Lady Liberty fact every day for 125 days on our Twitter feed, so be sure to follow us for more daily facts. Today’s featured Lady Liberty fact is:

The right foot of Lady Liberty is raised to signify that she is moving forward.

Don’t forget, we’re celebrating National Ice Cream Month by giving away a free container of Turkey Hill ice cream every day to one commenter chosen at random, so feel free to comment as often as you’d like!

The Heladeria Coromodo ice cream shop in Merida, Venezuela holds the world record for the most varieties of ice cream (over 800 and counting). Not all flavors are available every day, but highlights include “smoked trout-flavored ice cream and tuna ice cream, along with shrimp, squid, ham and cheese, meat, whiskey, beer, champagne, wine, crab, rice, pumpkin, roses, black beans, ginger, asparagus, chili, spaghetti and cheese, garlic and corn.”

By the way, the answer to Tuesday’s question – What percentage of people admit to sharing their ice cream with their pets? – is 5 percent. That number seems a little low to us!

Don’t forget, we’re celebrating National Ice Cream Month by giving away a free container of Turkey Hill ice cream every day to one commenter chosen at random, so feel free to comment as often as you’d like!

Jacob Fussell is known as the “Father of the Ice Cream Industry” largely because he opened the first large scale ice cream factory in the U.S. in Baltimore, Maryland back in 1851. Back then, the average American ate just one teaspoon of ice cream per year (What?!). Today, the average person indulges in over 23 quarts per year!

Today’s Turkey Hill fan photo (below) comes from Jennifer D. from New Jersey. According to Jennifer, the photo is the culmination of one very determined ice cream fan’s journey:

“I was waiting for the new flavor “Blitzburgh Crunch” to come out and I was sad when I couldn’t find it anywhere. I called Turkey Hill to ask why and found out they don’t sell it in New Jersey. So we took a three hour road trip to Lancaster, Pennsylvania to buy it in a gas station. We sat in the hotel with plastic spoons and styrofoam cups and enjoyed every last spoonful!”

According to studies, what percentage of people admit to sharing their ice cream with their pets?

A. 1 percent

B. 5 percent

C. 12 percent

D. 35 percent

Don’t forget, we’re celebrating National Ice Cream Month by giving away a free container of Turkey Hill ice cream every day to one commenter chosen at random, so feel free to comment as often as you’d like!

The first ice cream parlor in America opened in New York City in 1776. Is it a coincidence that the first ice cream parlor opened in the year of our nation’s birth? We don’t think so!

Don’t forget, we’re celebrating National Ice Cream Month by giving away a free container of Turkey Hill ice cream every day to one commenter chosen at random, so feel free to comment as often as you’d like!

In today’s society, the ice cream man is a welcome distraction on a hot summer day. But it wasn’t always that way. In the 1850s, when ice cream vendors began selling their treats in the streets, people complained of what they thought was unsanitary conditions and of the poor quality of the ice cream. The vendor’s outspoken sales pitches were also deemed a public nuisance.

Don’t forget, we’re celebrating National Ice Cream Month by giving away a free container of Turkey Hill ice cream every day to one commenter chosen at random, so feel free to comment as often as you’d like!

TODAY’S ICE CREAM FACT: In the mid-19th century through the early 20th century, ice cream street vendors would sell ice cream in glass containers called a “penny lick.” As the name implies, the sweet treat would cost just a penny.

In addition to our  featured ice cream fact, we also wanted to take some time to introduce everyone to Turkey Hill’s new batch of summer marketing interns with the Q&A below.

NAME: Emily (Lancaster, PA), Jen (Lancaster, PA), Madeline (Willow Street, PA), Jess (York, PA)

FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR: Jess – Phillies Batter Up, Jen – Blitzburgh Crunch, Emily – Mint Chocolate Chip, Madeline – Party Cake

HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED AT TURKEY HILL?  This is Madeline’s third summer, Jess’s second, and Jen and Emily’s first.

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF:

Jen: I finished my sophomore year at Elizabethtown College, where I’m majoring in International Business & Spanish. I’m looking forward to studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain in the fall.

Madeline: I graduated from Penn State University in May with a degree in Advertising. I’m very personable and I enjoy this position because I get to meet and interact with a lot of people when I work at events!

Jess:  I recently completed my sophomore year at Millersville University where I’m studying Communication, with a focus in Broadcasting. I am huge Philadelphia Eagles fan and hope to one day become a sideline reporter for the NFL.

Emily: I just graduated from Penn Manor High School, and will be attending Elizabethtown College in the fall. I am planning on studying Occupational Therapy, and will also be playing soccer for my school.

WHAT ARE YOUR DUTIES AS MARKETING INTERNS?

We get to travel to many different events throughout the summer and hand out samples of Turkey Hill ice cream. You might catch us at baseball games, state fairs, football training camps, and even local Turkey Hill Minit Markets.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT WORKING AT TURKEY HILL DURING THE SUMMER?

The free ice cream, of course! We also like traveling to new places and getting a chance to interact with the people who enjoy our products. It’s always funny to see the reactions when our drivers arrive at an event with one of our giant cows!

WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU NEXT?

Our next big events include sampling at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh on the 4^th of July and Yankee Stadium on July 9 & 10. If you’re at one of these events, grab some free ice cream, and say hello!

It’s July 1, which signals the official start of National Ice Cream Month. We plan to celebrate this glorious 31-day holiday here on the Ice Cream Journal by posting one ice cream fact every day. Throughout the month, we’ll also be posting photos of ice cream lovers with their Turkey Hill ice cream. If you have a photo, send it to icecreamjournal@gmail.com. If we post it, we’ll send you some free Turkey Hill ice cream.

We’ll also be giving away a free container of Turkey Hill ice cream EVERY DAY to one commenter chosen at random, so feel free to comment daily! Also feel free to register your opinion in our poll in the sidebar on the right which asks, “How often do you eat ice cream?” And now, our first ice cream fact…

National Ice Cream Month started in 1984, when President Ronald Reagan declared July as National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday in July as National Ice Cream Day. President Reagan signed the proclamation with the request that Americans celebrate ice cream throughout July with “appropriate ceremonies and activities.” We’re not sure what those ceremonies and activities might be, but hopefully they involve a scoop and a large bowl!

Ever take a look at the bottom of a container of Turkey Hill ice cream? That inked series of numbers and letters isn’t stamped on, but sprayed on. Immediately after being filled, the containers move down the line, where a metal arm flips them over and a nozzle hovers about an inch over the container (on the left) and sprays on a label that identifies the date, time, operator and line on which the ice cream was packaged. This ensures quality in all of our products. After the packages are labeled, an arm flips every other package right side up. The containers get bundled together in groups of six. By grouping them this way, the bundles are square and easier to store and ship in pallets.

Foods with a little alcohol added to them to make them fun for adults are nothing new. In the recent past, we’ve seen alcohol-infused whipped cream and alcohol-infused popsicles called “Liquor Sicles.” Of course, chocolate candies with alcohol fillings have been around for awhile, too. With all these adult-friendly snack options, it was only a matter of time before someone created alcohol-infused ice cream.

A new product called snoBaR, made by a company in California, includes ice cream with 4 percent alcohol by volume, which is about as much as a light beer. The line-up includes flavors like Pink Squirrel (with brandy and amaretto), Grasshopper (with brandy and creme de menthe), and Brandy Alexander (with brandy and creme de cocoa). Apparently, brandy mixes well with ice cream — or the company had a lot of brandy and needed to figure out what to do with it.

It should be noted that this isn’t the first time ice cream has seen alcohol as an ingredient. The popular rum raisin ice cream flavor used to be made with real rum (and still is in some places, although not in quantities that would affect you in any way), but today is made with a rum extract.

Summer officially started today here in Lancaster County at precisely 1:16 pm EST. It should come as no surprise that summer is our favorite season. When you make ice cream and iced tea for a living, it kind of makes sense that the sunny and warm July through September time frame would be your favorite, right?

We may have unfairly influenced your answer, but we have to ask: What’s your favorite season? Let us know with a comment. Also let us know what your summer plans are. Does anyone have any family vacations or weekend trips planned? We hear Lancaster County is beautiful this time of year and the new Turkey Hill Experience is a can’t miss stop on anyone’s summer travel schedule (wink, wink).

By the way (a few of you are asking in the comments), we’re not sure what flavor of ice cream is featured in the photo above, but it sure looks good, doesn’t it? If anyone has any ideas about what flavor it could be, leave a comment with your guess.

It’s not easy being a family-owned hometown ice cream shop these days. There’s lots of competition, not just from other mom-and-pop ice cream shops, but from the national chains as well. One way to stand out from the crowd is to create fun and unusual flavors of frosty treats. That’s exactly what Scott Southwick, owner of Sparky’s Homemade Ice Cream Shop in Columbia, Missouri did when he created cicada ice cream. That’s right, cicada ice cream.

The bugs, which emerge from the ground every 13 years, were collected by employees from their own backyards. The insect’s breasts, thighs and legs were boiled and then coated in brown sugar and chocolate. Some of the cicadas were de-winged, while others kept their wings for “extra crunch.” The creepy crawlies were then mixed in a brown sugar and butter based ice cream.

Bug-flavored ice cream might sound less than appetizing, but guess what — the ice cream sold out within hours after its debut. Unfortunately for those hoping for a second scoop, local health officials advised Sparky’s against making another batch, not because eating bugs is harmful, but because health department codes were unable to advise on the correct temperature at which to cook the insects.

A sign now hangs on the door of Sparky’s telling customers to expect another batch of cicada ice cream in 2024, which is the next year the bugs are scheduled to make an appearance in Missouri. Those who tried the cicada ice cream compared the taste of the bugs to that of a peanut. Regardless of the taste, we have to ask our local Ice Cream Journal readers: Would you eat it?

The design on the right received the most votes and, with the help of a professional giant cow artist, was immortalized on one of Turkey Hill’s travelling Giant Cows last month. The design was submitted by Stephanie Orts of Seymour, CT. As the winning artist (her design received over 47,000 votes!), Stephanie was rewarded with a Turkey Hill ice cream party for her friends and family which included a visit from the Giant Cow she designed.

Below is a picture of Stephanie (that’s her sitting on top of the giant container of Turkey Hill ice cream) along with her friends with the Giant Cow. Speaking of pictures, don’t forget to send in your pictures of you, your family or your friends enjoying some Turkey Hill ice cream. The pictures don’t have to be anything fancy (you can even take it with your cell phone if you want), just make sure Turkey Hill ice cream is in the picture.

E-mail your photos to icecreamjournal@gmail.com before June 30. We’ll choose some of the best to be featured on the blog in July (National Ice Cream Month). If your picture is featured, you’ll get a free container of Turkey Hill ice cream!

Round and round they go! In this picture, empty containers are filled up in one quick deposit of Tin Roof Sundae swirled goodness before getting a lid and moving on down the line. About 50 containers of ice cream can be filled each minute by Turkey Hill’s filling machines.

By the way, in our last Inside the Dairy entry about marshmallow, we mentioned our Chocolate Marshmallow Premium Ice Cream and asked you for the names of the other four Turkey Hill ice cream flavors that use marshmallow. Several of you got the right answer — Chocolate Marshmallow Frozen Yogurt, Rocky Road, Phillies Graham Slam, and Southern Lemon Pie!

This past weekend marked the grand opening of the brand new Turkey Hill Experience in Columbia, PA. The Turkey Hill Experience is a 26,000 square foot attraction right here in Lancaster County that pays homage to Turkey Hill’s history while highlighting our ice cream and iced tea-making processes. It includes interactive displays, a café, a gift shop and lots of other fun things for the entire family!

The grand opening ceremony included a ribbon cutting ceremony and little Emily from right here in Columbia was chosen from the crowd to do the honors. That’s her above with Turkey Hill president Quintin Frey and below being interview by our local NBC news team.

The Turkey Hill Experience is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Admission is $11.50 for adults and $9.50 for kids 5-17 and adults 62+ (kids 4 and under are free!). Look for regular “Behind the Experience” blog entries here on the Ice Cream Journal throughout the summer. The entries will offer a peek at one of the many fun exhibits and a chance to win some fun prizes!

On Wednesday, the Experience opened its doors for a special Turkey Hill Employees Day. Hundreds of Dairy employees brought their families down to the Experience and everyone had a great time. Then, on Thursday, the folks from FOX 43 news stopped by for a series of live segments that aired on their morning news. You can check out one of those segments below. Enjoy!

In addition to tempting you with the delicious image above, we have a couple of announcements. The first is in regards to our May 20 entry which asked you to identify the fake wacky ice cream story. Although many of you guessed the second story was the bogus news bite (the one about the Google Android phone’s new operating system named “ice cream sandwich”), that story is real. The fake story was #4 — the one about the man who ate nothing but ice cream for an entire year. It’s a dream diet for many of us, but no one has every done it…yet!

The next announcement is more of a reminder, actually. Last week we asked you to send us your pictures of your or your friends and family enjoying Turkey Hill ice cream. We’ll choose 31 pics to be featured in daily blog entries here on the Ice Cream Journal during National Ice Cream Month in July. If your pic is chosen, you’ll get a free container of Turkey Hill ice cream!

Below is one of the photos submitted so far. This one was submitted by long-time Ice Cream Journal reader Karen S. of Westfield, NJ, who says the picture was taken by a five-year-old aspiring photographer (and, we presume, a Light Recipe Vanilla Bean fan) named Henry. Thanks Karen and Henry!

In that announcement, we mentioned that we’ll be doing “lots of fun stuff” throughout the summer to help celebrate the Statue of Liberty and her 125th birthday. The first fun thing is our weekly Lady Liberty Trivia Contest. Every Monday over on the Lady Liberty Trivia page of our website, we’ll be posting five trivia questions related to the Statue of Liberty. Take a guess at the answers and you’ll be entered to win our weekly prize – a month’s supply of Turkey Hill ice cream. But, you will want to study, because for every correct answer you get, you’ll receive and additional entry to win again in the weekly drawing. At the end of the five weeks, we will draw an additional winner to receive a full years-supply of our ice cream.

The first five trivia questions were posted on Monday (check them out here) and new questions will be posted every Monday for the next four weeks. You have until this Sunday to answer this week’s questions and be entered to win the weekly prize. After that, be sure to come back to answer next week’s questions.

We’ll ask one easy trivia question to get everyone warmed up. Has anyone ever visited the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island? If so, what was it like?

Starting right now, we’d like you to send us photos of you, your family or your friends enjoying some Turkey Hill ice cream. The pictures don’t have to be anything fancy (you can even take it with your cell phone if you want), just make sure Turkey Hill ice cream is in the picture.

We’ll choose 31 of our favorite pictures to feature on the blog in July and everyone whose picture is featured will receive a free container of Turkey Hill ice cream. We’ll also give away prizes and free ice cream in July to readers and commenters, but we’ll talk more about that another day.

E-mail your photos to icecreamjournal@gmail.com before June 30, and whatever you do, don’t forget to smile!

HOMETOWN: Lancaster, PA

POSITION: Facilities Maintenance Supervisor

FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR: Butter Pecan

HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED AT TURKEY HILL? 13 years

WHAT’S A TYPICAL DAY LIKE FOR YOU AT TURKEY HILL?

I’m involved in the general upkeep of all facilities at the Dairy and supervise repairs of Turkey Hill equipment, such as freezers and coolers. I also oversee plant waste recycling. Last year we recycled about 850 tons of plastic, cardboard, paper, and metals, in addition to other materials. We distribute the recycling to local facilities in south central Pennsylvania. I have personally seen a significant increase in the amount of product we’ve recycled over the past few years. Our recycling efforts go hand in hand with utilizing wind power from our turbines in an effort to become a “greener” company.

HOW HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED WITH THE TURKEY HILL EXPERIENCE?

I’ve assisted with the overall construction as well as smaller projects, such as repainting the giant containers that will be displayed in the Experience, building platforms for the mixing tanks, and helping to construct fan displays for the freezer wall. It’s been a very busy few months, but it’s amazing to see how an empty warehouse became filled with interactive exhibits, a creamery, and a gift shop in a matter of months. We are very much looking forward to the Grand Opening on June 4.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT WORKING AT TURKEY HILL?

There’s always something interesting and fun to do!

It’s time once again for some weird and wacky ice cream news. As usual, three of these stories are true and one was made up by the Turkey Hill team. Guess which story is the fake by leaving a comment!

1. WATCH OUT, IT’S THE ICE CREAM MAN! -- A Tampa Bay, Florida ice cream truck driver was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol recently after concerned onlookers reported his erratic driving. When pulled over by police, the driver staggered out of the ice cream truck and recited his birth date when the deputy asked for his address. Police found two opened bottles of whiskey in the ice cream truck, which likely contributed to the driver’s 0.22 blood alcohol content being nearly three times the legal limit.
2. PLEASE DO NOT EAT YOUR SMART PHONE -- The tech wizards over at Google have been hard at work on the newest operating system for the company’s Google Android smart phones. Earlier this month, the Google folks unveiled the operating system, which has been named Ice Cream Sandwich. The frosty software, which includes an ice cream sandwich-like logo, is expected to hit the market in select Google devices later this year.
3. AND NOW THE WORLD RECORD FOR THE WORLD’S LARGEST BRAIN FREEZE -- Graduate students from the University of Toronto’s food engineering laboratory helped to set a Guinness Book of World Record on May 10 with the creation of the world’s largest ice cream cake. Once fully assembled, the cake weighed over 10 metric tons (nine tons of which was ice cream), eclipsing the earlier record holder by over two metric tons.
4. SOUNDS LIKE A DREAM COME TRUE TO US! — A Sioux City, Iowa man made headlines recently after completing one year of what he calls “The Extreme Ice Cream Diet.” The 45-year-old high school health teacher consumed nothing but ice cream during the 12 month period as a way to gauge the effects of certain diets on the human body. The self-described “fitness fanatic” gained only five pounds during the year and claimed his favorite flavor — which he will continue to eat — was chocolate chip cookie dough.

The reason we’re writing about it here on the Ice Cream Journal, aside from the fact that it’s a fun time for the whole family, is because Turkey Hill Dairy will be there with our Giant Cow and some ice cream and iced tea.

Those in the area are well aware of Sertoma’s legendary status as the “World’s Largest Chicken Barbecue” (officially certified by the Guinness Book of World Records). To put the size of the event in perspective, below is a photo of a few of the Sertoma grill masters hard at work at last year’s barbecue.

The event is organized by the Sertoma Club of Lancaster with profits going to the beautification, upkeep and improvement of Long’s Park (last year’s event raised more than $100,000 for the park). Check out the Sertoma website for details. Tickets are $8 in advance and $9 at the event, with discount tickets available at Turkey Hill Minit Markets. Hope to see you there!

A few weeks ago, we saw 50-gallon barrels of fudge being emptied to make Tin Roof Sundae ice cream. Here we see a member of the Turkey Hill team pouring out marshmallow, which will added to chocolate ice cream to make Chocolate Marshmallow Premium ice cream. Chocolate Marshmallow Premium is one of five Turkey Hill flavors to use marshmallow as an ingredient. Can anyone name the other four?

FACT: People viewing this photo are 87 percent more likely to rush to the grocery store today to purchase ingredients to make brownies tonight and top with two scoops of their favorite ice cream. We know at least half of us here at the Turkey Hill offices will do that!

With all the sampling events and Giant Cow appearances, the spring and summer months can get pretty busy for us. That’s why we’ve decided to post a new entry here on the Ice Cream Journal each month to keep everyone up-to-date on the Turkey Hill team’s upcoming appearance. Hopefully you can make it out to at least one of them!

MAY 14

Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia, PA) – Turkey Hill will pay a visit to the Phillies ballpark to give away samples of our Lady Liberty Mint Premium Ice Cream at the Phillies LOCK IT event. The event is free and open to the public.  It gives people a chance to get their vehicle’s VIN number etched on their car windows to deter car thieves.

MAY 14

Seaside Board…Walk to Defeat ALS (Seaside Heights, NJ) – Turkey Hill will be providing drinks for all the participants and spectators at the walk. This is one of the seven walks we will be participating in throughout 2011.

MAY 14-15

Turkey Hill Challenge (Downington, PA) – Turkey Hill is partnering with the Philadelphia Union and hosting a youth soccer tournament at the United Sports Training Center in Downingtown, PA. We’ll be sampling Eagles Touchdown Sundae and Vanilla Bean to everyone attending the event.

MAY 16-18

Various Acme store locations (Akron and Canton, OH) – The Turkey Hill team will be stopping by six Acme grocery store locations in the Akron and Canton, OH areas to give away samples of our ice cream and iced tea.

MAY 18

McCaffrey’s Market (Yardley, PA) – We’ll be visiting McCaffrey’s Market with the Giant Cow and giving away ice cream samples (of course!).

MAY 26-29

Food Lion Speed Street festival (Charlotte, NC) – We’ll be sampling Ice Cream during the event, which transforms the streets of uptown Charlotte into a showcase of motor sports with non-stop entertainment on three stages.

MAY 30

Memorial Day Weekend Parades (various locations) – Our Giant Cow will be participating in three Memorial Day parades: the Marietta Memorial Day parade (Marietta, PA), the Mountville VFW Memorial Day parade (Mountville, PA) and the Kennett Square Memorial Day parade (Kennett Square, PA).

This month’s poll question isn’t a new one — we’ve asked it before (way back in 2008) — but it’s a fun one, so we thought we’d reopen the discussion today. We want to know how many containers of ice cream you have in your freezer RIGHT NOW. Is it one or two, or are you one of those people (like many of us) who have to rearrange the meat and frozen veggies to make room for yet another container of French Vanilla (like the freezer shown above from the “best grandma ever“). Feel free to sound off with your answer and with a comment below.

If you live in the area – and by “area” we mean within an hour or so of Lancaster County – we urge you to clear your calendar this Saturday, load the family into the car and head on over to Turkey Hill’s 12th annual Country Classic.

Like we mentioned last year, the Country Classic features biking and running events, including a 5k and 10K, but also fun things for the whole family. It will be held at the Central Manor Church in Washington Boro, PA here in Lancaster County. Our Giant Cow will be there and we’ll have free Turkey Hill drinks, ice cream, Herr’s chips and Hatfield hot dogs.

Thanks to the tons of family-friendly activities and games, you don’t have to participate in one of our biking and running events to have fun. Of course, the Baby Derby will also return for its 7th year, but don’t forget about the Second Annual Mascot Race, featuring some of your favorite mascots, including Silo from the Barnstormers and the Phillie Phanatic.

If you plan to attend, you can find all the details about the day’s activities on the Country Classic page of our website (don’t miss the links on the right). If you’re just coming to hang out and have fun, you should arrive around 10 am (or 9am to register for the kids races). If you’re using MapQuest or GPS to find the location, the address is 387 Penn Street, Washington Boro, PA. See you there!

Anyone who thinks today’s teens are lazy hasn’t met Zach Cohen and Will Yolen of Connecticut. The pair of enterprising young men started their own ice cream truck business  last summer and are doing it again this year. The Ridgefield Press tells their story thusly:

When Ridgefield High students Zach Cohen and Will Yolen set out to line their pockets last summer, the thought of mowing lawns or chasing after kids at a summer camp wasn’t appealing. They went with another summertime staple and bought an ice cream truck. They found an ice cream distributor, got a vender permit from the town, and had their frozen venture rolling by the end of May.

The teens call their business “Cones 4 College” — a reference to their goal of raising money to help fund their higher education. You can check them out on their website, which notes that you can also schedule their ice cream truck to make an appearance at special events and parties.

The best stops for their ice cream truck are local pools, but the ice cream truck business hasn’t been easy for them, mainly because they’re not the only ice cream truck in town. Either way, we applaud them for their hard work and if you’re ever in Ridgefield, Connecticut, we urge you to pay a visit to their truck for a frosty treat or two!

Good question, Debbie. We do a lot of research to decide the best “Featured Flavors” to create and when to release them. Once we agree on a flavor, we make it and then do several rounds of taste tests to make sure the recipe is just right.

Sometimes we take ideas from customers and ice cream fans like you. Our flavor development team (yes, there’s really a team) is more than happy to hear from customers about potential new flavors. Do you have any ideas in mind?

- Ernie

DEBBIE RESPONDS: Ernie – Thank you for taking the time to answer my question. I often thought about “Peanut & Butter Jelly” flavored ice cream, wondering how peanut butter and strawberry would taste in ice cream. What do you think? I also think a flavor that’s exploding with coffee flavor would be great, kind of a cappuccino with chocolate covered coffee beans in it, whipped cream, and caramel.

(ERNIE’S NOTE: Both flavors have potential! I’ll pass the ideas along to the team. I’m especially curious about the PB&J idea!”)

Got an ice cream-related question for Ernie?
Feel free to ask by using the “Ask Ernie” feature in the right hand sidebar!

After the goodies are fed into the mix, the really good stuff is added. This includes marshmallow, peanut butter, fudge and other gooey liquids. These are added through a “ripple tube” to give the goodies a swirl pattern throughout the ice cream. Above, we see Eric adding chocolate fudge to the “fudge hopper.” This machine will, in turn, swirl the fudge into the mix to make Tin Roof Sundae ice cream.

Sorry, you can’t lick the spoon, but our photographer did sample some fudge from the container after it was emptied. By itself, the fudge tastes slightly different than the chocolate fudge you’d get at the grocery store to put on top of ice cream. That’s because the flavor properties of this fudge are meant to be enhanced by the ice cream that surrounds it.

Earth-friendly or “green” operating policies is something Turkey Hill has focused a lot of attention on in recent years. After all, we rely heavily on the output of local farms (mainly for milk and cream), so it makes sense that we’d want to do everything we can to preserve that environment.

Below are just a few of the ways Turkey Hill has turned Earth Day into a year-round observance. For more information about these practices, stop by the green page of our website.

• THE FREY FARM WIND TURBINES – Two wind turbines (similar to the ones in the photo on the right) installed in 2010 generate about 25 percent of the Dairy’s annual electricity needs, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by about 5,900 tons per year and producing enough electricity to make six million gallons of ice cream each year.
• ENERGY EFFICIENT LIGHTING– The installation of energy-efficient lighting throughout the Dairy helps reduce annual operating costs, extended lamp life cycles, lower maintenance costs, and reduced heat load in warehouses.
• RECYCLING PROGRAM – For years, Turkey Hill has maintained an active recycling program. In the past three years alone, the Dairy has recycled 902 tons of cardboard, 305 tons of plastic, 135 tons of paper, and 130 tons of metal.
• REDESIGNED DAIRY CRATES – The reusable plastic crates used to ship our drinks were redesigned to use less plastic, saving an estimated 40,000 pounds of resin annually while remaining just as durable and protective as the old crates.
• REDESIGNED HALF GALLON CONTAINERS – Turkey Hill redesigned its half gallon beverage containers to use 22 grams less of plastic resin than the old container, resulting in an annual savings of more than 1,400,000 pounds of resin.
• PAPER ICE CREAM LIDS – Even though ice cream container lids lined with plastic rims are the industry standard and cost less, Turkey Hill made a commitment in 2002 to switch to paper-rimmed lids. The change saves 210,000 pounds of plastic per year.

One restaurant in Nagoya, Japan is aptly named “Mayomayo” and features a whole menu of items devoted to the creamy condiment. Diners can purchase their very own jar of mayonnaise, put their name on it and keep it at the restaurant to enjoy with future mayo-covered meals. Of all the items on the Mayomayo menu, one in particular caught our eye — mayonnaise ice cream. That’s a picture of it above. It looks like good ol’ fashioned vanilla, but we’re guessing it tastes, well, like frozen mayonnaise.

Another Japanese restaurant called Mayokichi (“Mayonnaise Kitchen”) serves up a mayonnaise milkshake. (Recipe: Combine ice cubes, two scoops of vanilla ice cream, and two scoops of mayo in a blender. Enjoy.) The Travel Channel’s Andrew Zimmern sampled some Mayokichi fare in a recent episode of his show, Bizarre Foods. The video below features his adventure. The mayo milkshake starts about one minute, 15 seconds into the video.

You can watch the video if you’d like, or you can skip it and do your best to imagine what a mayo milkshake looks like. Either way, we have to ask: Would you eat it?

And like we said at the beginning of the tournament, we’ll choose one comment from all the comments left here on the Ice Cream Journal during the tournament to receive a one-year supply of Turkey Hill ice cream, so keep the comments coming!

FINAL MATCH-UP – Orange Cream Swirl vs. Double Dunker

ERNIE SAYS: Traditionally, I don’t offer a prediction during the final round of the Ultimate Flavor Tournament because I wouldn’t want to unfairly influence the vote. Instead, I’ve assembled some of your comments left here on the blog about each flavor. Needless to say, it looks like both flavors have some very passionate fans, which should make for a very interesting final match-up. Good luck to both!

ORANGE CREAM SWIRL FANS SAY:

“You go Orange Swirl! I was able to get some at my local store this week and it was on sale to boot! Oh happy day!” (Regina)

“Go Orange Swirl, GO!!!!” (Donna Joyce)

“Nothing brings back being a kid to me like the delicious taste of orange and vanilla –what a winner!” (Sue)

“The Orange Cream Swirl always brings me back to my childhood memories of eating a Creamsicle!! Always the YUMMIEST flavor!!” (Beatrice Stobeski)

“My grandkids love orange cream swirl. I have to keep it on hand at all times.” (Joseph)

DOUBLE DUNKER FANS SAY:

“Let’s go Double Dunker!! You’re the best!” (IceCreamFiend)

“Double Dunker is FABULOUS!!!” (Susan Martin)

“I ate a whole container of Double Dunker yesterday. Oh my!” (HookMan)

“Whomever created Double Dunker should get a culinary award!! I’m afraid I will be headed toward addict status real soon..YIKES.” (Shelly)

“Double Dunker is the slam dunk for the tourny winner this year! So good, so yummy, even my six-year-old asks for it by name!” (Karin)

Of course, this isn’t the final part of the process. The below picture shows the ingredient feed This is when the peanuts, cookies, cherries, chocolate footballs and other goodies get added to the mix.

Now each of the four conference champs will face off in our Frosty Four to determine which two flavors will advance to the final round. After correctly predicting two of last week’s four match-ups, Ernie is back with his analysis of our round four showdowns.

MATCH-UP #1 – Peanut Butter Ripple vs. Double Dunker

ERNIE SAYS: Peanut Butter Ripple has been pretty consistent so far, winning its first three match-ups with 53 percent, 56 percent and 55 percent of the vote. Meanwhile, Double Dunker got off to a hot start by capturing 78 percent of its first round votes, but has slowed since then, getting just over 50 percent of the vote in round two and 53 percent of the vote last week. What does this mean? I’m not really sure, but all signs point to a win for Peanut Butter Ripple this week.

MATCH-UP #2 –Orange Cream Swirl vs. Dutch Chocolate

ERNIE SAYS:  Like I’ve said in the past, I go with my gut when it comes to predicting the outcome of tournament match-ups. What’s my gut telling me about this particular showdown? It’ll be a narrow win for Orange Cream Swirl.

Speaking of the Phillies, we almost forgot to announce the newest ice cream flavor in the team’s line-up – Batter Up. The flavor joins Phillies Graham Slam as the Fightin’ Phils official flavors and is made with yellow cake batter flavored ice cream swirled with chocolate cake icing. Each scoop is essentially a slice of cake in ice cream form!

Look for Batter Up to be sold in the Phillies home market which includes Southern New Jersey, Southeastern Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Basically, if you can find Graham Slam, you’ll be able to get Phillies Batter Up, which is great news for the Phillies fans out there who like to enjoy a nice bowl of ice cream while they watch their team rack up wins.

Lady Liberty Mint (Mint ice cream with chocolate cake crunchies and crunchy chocolate cookie swirl) was created in honor of the Statue of Liberty’s 125th birthday this year and will be available throughout 2011. This summer, we’ll be doing a lot of fun stuff here on the blog and on our Facebook and Twitter pages to celebrate the Statue of Liberty and the new flavor. Stay tuned for announcements about that. In the meantime, you can pick up some Lady Liberty Mint at a store near you and start celebrating the anniversary of Ellis Island’s most famous neighbor.

Turkey Hill will also make a donation to support the work of The Statue of Liberty – Ellis Island Foundation at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum.

Speaking of Ellis Island – we’ve mentioned this fun fact here on the Ice Cream Journal before, but did you know that ice cream was one of the first things served to immigrants arriving on Ellis Island in the 1920s. For many, it was the first time they’d ever eaten ice cream, and many newcomers tried spreading this “frozen butter” on bread!

Last week’s action featured two of the closest races in Ultimate Flavor Tournament history. In the battle between All Natural Mint Chocolate Chip and Eagles Touchdown Sundae, 630 votes were cast and Mint Chocolate Chip won by just four votes. The showdown between Double Dunker and Yankees Pinstripe Brownie Blast was even closer, with Double Dunker beating the Yanks by only three votes. It just goes to show, every vote is important!

THE VANILLA CONFERENCE

MATCH-UP #1 – Peanut Butter Ripple vs. All Natural Mint Chocolate Chip

ERNIE SAYS: Talk about a showdown. In one corner you’ve got peanut butter – a classic ice cream ingredient. In the other you’ve got mint – another favorite. This one will definitely be close, but I predict a win for the Ripple.

THE CHOCOLATE CONFERENCE

MATCH-UP #1 – Stuff’d Chocolate Mint Moose Tracks vs. Dutch Chocolate

ERNIE SAYS: At the beginning of the tournament, I thought Dutch Chocolate was the easy favorite to win it all, but last week’s narrow 52 percent win over German Chocolate Cake has me second guessing Dutch Chocolate’s power. Meanwhile, Mint Moose Tracks has been dominating in its match-ups which is why I’ll predict an upset here and call this showdown in favor of Moose Tracks.

THE FRUIT CONFERENCE

MATCH-UP #1 – Orange Cream Swirl vs. Black Cherry

ERNIE SAYS: As much as I love Orange Cream Swirl (and I love it a lot), Black Cherry has shown a lot of fight in this tournament and I predict another win for Black Cherry in this round.

THE “OTHER FLAVORS” CONFERENCE

MATCH-UP #1 – Party Cake vs. Double Dunker

ERNIE SAYS: Party Cake took out Lady Liberty Mint last week, but will the party end in this round? Meanwhile, Double Dunker pulled out the slimmest win in Ultimate Flavor Tournament history in round two, beating the Yankees by just three votes. I think the battle wore DD out, which is why Party Cake will celebrate another win this week.

For now, our name will remain Turkey Hill Dairy. Not that there’s anything wrong with “Turtle Hill Dairy” … the little turtle guy on our package is actually kind of cute, wouldn’t you agree?

In case you missed it, we even changed our main website’s header yesterday to reflect our new identity (check it out below). The snapping turtle used in the image is definitely not cute.

Centuries ago, this region was home to the Susquehannock Native American tribe, which lived just north of the ridge where the Dairy is located. The land was a fertile hunting ground for the Susquehannocks, most notably because of its large population of turkeys. And so, the ridge became known as “turkey hill.”

Or so we thought.

In the past year, thanks to a new understanding of the Susquehannock language and archaeological evidence discovered in the area, researchers have begun to question whether the tribe hunted turkeys at all. Last week, that evidence finally yielded an answer when a team of Lancaster County historians concluded that instead of hunting turkeys, the Susquehannocks hunted turtles (specifically, snapping turtles), which thrived on the banks of the nearby Susquehanna River.

For this reason, and because we take our history very seriously, Turkey Hill Dairy has decided to change its name to Turtle Hill Dairy. The official change will take place on June 1, 2011, but we’ve already incorporated the change in various places. Below is a sneak peek at our new logo and package. You can also see the new logo on our website (since “turtlehill.com” was already taken, our web address will remain turkeyhill.com … at least for now). The change, so far, has been pretty simple. As Turkey Hill President Quintin Frey likes to point out, “We only have to change three letters!”

We’re very excited about this new chapter in the Dairy’s history, and we hope all of you are too. We’d like to emphasize that even though our name may be changing, you can be sure that our commitment to high quality ice cream and iced tea will remain the same!

For some people this announcement doesn’t need to be made because this date has been circled on their calendar for months, but today is a very special day. It’s special because it’s the Opening Day of the Major League Baseball season. Even if you’re not a baseball fan, Opening Day is something worth celebrating. That’s because baseball season marks the start of spring — a good reason to celebrate if there ever was one.

Of course, we’d be remiss if didn’t wish the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies good luck this season. Turkey Hill makes the official ice cream flavors for both teams and both are expected to do very well this season (the teams and the ice cream flavors). The Yankees kick off their season this afternoon at 1:05 pm against the Detroit Tigers and the Phillies get underway tomorrow at 1:05 pm against the Houston Astros. But regardless of which team you root for, we hope you find time this weekend to sit back, relax and enjoy America’s pastime the way it was meant to be enjoyed — with a big bowl of ice cream!

It’s true that food stylists – those who arranged and photograph food for those tempting photos you see in ads and in restaurants – sometimes create ingenious concoctions to stand in for the real thing under the hot lights of the studio.

Mashed potatoes are sometimes substituted for ice cream. So are recipes involving shortening and confectioners sugar. But when it comes to photos used in advertising, the Federal Trade Commission has deemed that real ice cream must be used in ice cream ads. However, if the ads are for the ice cream cone or a hot fudge topping, a phony ice cream concoction can be used.

So what’s being used in the photo below: Real ice cream or an imposter? We’re not sure, but it sure looks good!

And what a first round it was! More than 60,000 votes were cast in the head-to-head match-ups and the winners have advanced to round two and will face off this week to determine who will move on to the “Edible Eight” next week. Feel free to cast your votes in the polls on the right.

As always, our own “Einstein of Ice Cream,” Ernie Pinckney, is here to offer his personal analysis and predictions of this week’s eight high-powered match-ups.

THE VANILLA CONFERENCE

MATCH-UP #1 – Peanut Butter Ripple vs. Cookies ‘n Cream

ERNIE SAYS: Both of these flavors were locked in some very close battles in round one, so this one is tough to call. I’ll have to trust my gut (which rarely lets me down) and predict a narrow win for the Ripple.

MATCH-UP #2 – Eagles Touchdown Sundae vs. All Natural Mint Chocolate Chip

ERNIE SAYS: The Eagles flavor beat the Steelers flavor in round one in the closest of all of last week’s match-ups. The question is, do the Eagles have enough energy left in the tank to take down a powerhouse like Mint Chocolate Chip in round two? I don’t think they do, which is why I expect Mint Chocolate Chip to win by a touchdown or two.

THE CHOCOLATE CONFERENCE

MATCH-UP #1 – Stuff’d Chocolate Mint Moose Tracks vs. Rocky Road

ERNIE SAYS: This is one of the week’s toughest match-ups to predict. Both of these flavors are great. Rocky Road has plenty of experience, but Chocolate Mint Moose Tracks has lots of flavor. I’ll flip a coin to decide. And the winner will be … Moose Tracks by a moose whisker.

MATCH-UP #2 – Dutch Chocolate vs. Limited Edition German Chocolate Cake

ERNIE SAYS: Dutch Chocolate is the odds-on tournament favorite this year, so I think we all know who will win this one. The only question is, by how much? In round one, D.C. nabbed 75 percent of the vote. German Chocolate Cake is a formidable opponent, so I don’t expect a margin of victory that large in this match-up, but I think 60 to 65 percent of the vote is a definite possibility.

THE FRUIT CONFERENCE

MATCH-UP #1 – Strawberries ‘n Cream vs. Orange Cream Swirl

ERNIE SAYS: Strawberries ‘n Cream had the easiest win of all the match-ups in round one, beating Rum Raisin with 79 percent of the vote. In this battle of the cream flavors, I predict another win for strawberries.

MATCH-UP #2 – Black Cherry vs. Banana Split

ERNIE SAYS: Talk about a tough call. This one could go either way, but I’m going to go out on a limb and predict a win for Banana Split in round two even though, on paper, Black Cherry appears slightly stronger.

THE “OTHER FLAVORS” CONFERENCE

MATCH-UP #1 – Party Cake vs. Lady Liberty Mint

ERNIE SAYS: It was great to see the rookie, Lady Liberty Mint, pulling off an upset in round one by beating a heavily favored Colombian Coffee.