A lot of people believe in the power of astrology and horoscopes, including several members of the Turkey Hill team here in the office. That’s why it was no surprise when one of our most passionate horoscope reading co-workers found this ice cream-themed Zodiac chart. We’re not sure if the chart was made purely for entertainment (some may say all Zodiac charts are), but it seems pretty accurate for most of us.

For example, it describes Tauruses as loving decadent chocolate-covered ice creams, while Virgos prefer options that cater to their healthier lifestyles. Sagittariuses and Aquariuses like exotic flavors while Pisces sometimes have trouble making up their minds about which flavor to indulge in.  (Don’t we all?)

Check out the complete listing here and let us know if it comes close to predicting your ice cream eating habits.

P.S. – The entries in our Ultimate Holiday Recipe Contest are pouring in! We’ve got more than 60 recipes already, with more arriving every day. To recap, send your best recipes using Turkey Hill ice cream to icecreamjournal@gmail.com. The categories are Ginger Snap (recipes using our Ginger Snap holiday flavor) and Everything Else (recipes using any other Turkey Hill ice cream flavor). Four finalists will be chosen to receive a one month supply of ice cream and one grand prize winner will receive a year’s supply of ice cream. More details can be found here. Good luck!

The following will be sent out via e-mail to our mailing list in a few days, but we thought we’d announce it here on the Ice Cream Journal to give you all a head start!

Last year we asked you to send us your best recipes featuring our Limited Edition holiday flavors and you answered the call by submitting more than 150 recipes. We called it the Ultimate Holiday Recipe Contest (the best recipe got a year’s supply of Turkey Hill ice cream!) and it’s back again this year.

Here’s how it works. All you need to do is create a holiday recipe for either of two categories:

1) Recipes using our new Ginger Snap holiday ice cream flavor (in stores soon)

2) Recipes using any other Turkey Hill ice cream flavor

Your recipe can be anything you’d like – a drink, a pie, or something entirely different! The only requirement is that it includes Turkey Hill ice cream, preferably as the main ingredient.

E-mail your entries, along with your name and address, to icecreamjournal@gmail.com before Monday, November 30 to be entered to win the grand prize – a one year supply of Turkey Hill ice cream. The best recipes will be featured on the Turkey Hill website and the four finalists (each of whom will receive a one month supply of ice cream) will be posted on our blog, the Ice Cream Journal. Blog readers will then vote to determine the winner!

Good luck and feel free to submit as many recipes as you’d like!

P.S. – For inspiration, check out the ice cream recipes page of the Turkey Hill website.

JANICE K. OF SCRANTON, PA ASKS: What was the first ice cream flavor ever?

Good question, Janice. We’d all like to think it was chocolate chip cookie dough or Moose Tracks, but that’s not the case.

We know in the 4th century B.C. that Roman emperor Nero sent servants into the mountains to retrieve snow, which was then flavored with honey, nuts and other fruit toppings, but that’s not really ice cream because it contains no milk or cream. Some of the earliest frozen treats to use milk and cream originated in the Middle East around the 10th century A.D. These desserts (I’m assuming they were eaten for dessert) were also flavored with fruit and nuts.

But if you’re looking for the first modern ice cream recipes — the stuff that most closely resembles the ice cream we know and love today — you’ll have to go back in time to 18th century England and America. It was then that one of the earliest ice cream recipes was printed in a book called Mrs. Mary Eale’s Receipts. Mrs. Eale describes making ice cream with “Cherries, Rasberries, Currants, or Strawberries.”

It was around this time, or maybe a little earlier, that Europeans were working hard on perfecting the art of freezing flavored cream. They, too, added fruits to their recipes, but they also added grated cheese and candied orange flower. According to the article “Asparagus Ice Cream, Anyone?“, not all of their creations were successes, as in the case of the aforementioned pureed asparagus ice cream and foie gras ice cream (yes, duck livers).

So, it’s likely that the first ever ice cream flavor was some sort of fruit flavor. You’d be inclined to think the first flavor was vanilla, because vanilla is the base for so many other flavors, but that would require early ice cream makers to add vanilla bean or vanilla extract to their iced cream concoction and there’s no evidence of that in the earliest days. Still, vanilla was one of the first widely produced and enjoyed flavors of the modern era (19th century to the present). Even today, vanilla is the number one selling flavor in the world, which is quite an achievement considering all the other great flavors in existence!

Wait! This happened last year around this time (and the year before if I remember correctly). That must mean that it’s HALLOWEEN! Ahh, it all makes perfect sense now! Well, Happy Halloween to everyone. I’d suggest giving out Turkey Hill ice cream to your michevious visitors, but I don’t think that would end too well.

P.S. – We’re very close to reaching a milestone here on the Ice Cream Journal. To date, our cozy little ice cream blog has attracted 1,979,904 visitors, which means we’re a stones throw away from reaching TWO MILLION visitors! According to my calculations, we should surpass the two mil mark any day now. To celebrate, I’m going to give away a special prize (to be announced later) to our two millionth visitor. Could it be you?

Just like the name implies, this ice cream is flavored with corn and edam cheese. Edam cheese is described as a very mild cheese, with little or no smell and a slightly salty or nutty taste. In other words, not a bad cheese to add to ice cream. And before you say “What?! Cheese in ice cream?!”, remember that our very own strawberry cheesecake ice cream tastes like its namesake cheese-based dessert. As for where this corny concoction is from, we’re not exactly sure, but we do know that the photo above has origins somewhere in Asia.

And there you have it — Corn Ice Cream with Edam Cheese. So the question remains: Would you eat it?

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a great book. So great, that we asked the author for three signed copies to give away to three comments chosen at random from this entry. Good luck!

Steff has an admitted lifelong infatuation with ice cream (“Sometimes my love for ice cream even scares me.”) and pours her heart and soul into this book. Each chapter focuses on a different ice cream flavor, from strawberry and cookie dough, to pistachio and rum raisin. Within each chapter, Steff discusses her feelings about the flavor itself and how certain people or experiences from her life personify that particular variety. (Her reflections in Chapter 13 – Banana Split – are especially poignant.)

After reading The Ice Cream Theory, we asked Steff a few questions about her life and love of ice cream.

ICE CREAM JOURNAL: Congrats on your first book! I’ll bet the “research” for The Ice Cream Theory was kind of fun.

STEFF DESCHENES: To be honest, ice cream in my world is a way of life. So, initially, there was no research – it came naturally.  But eventually it got around that I was writing a book about ice cream and suddenly I was being asked to go on ice cream outings by people who wanted to try and impress me or introduce me to a flavor or place they thought I didn’t know about.  It happens even MORE now that the book is out.  So, yeah, the entire adventure in ice cream eating has been a blast to this point!  Although, I do have to work out a lot more than I used to!

ICJ: What’s one flavor of ice cream you don’t want to run into in a dark alley?

SD: Anything super chocolaty, because in my head, super chocolaty ice cream is portrayed by a big brown dragon that breathes hot fudge sauce. And, if I ran into this in an alley he’d be like “Eat me!” and I’d be like, “Okay!”  Because, really, how can you say no to a giant dragon made of chocolate ice cream in a dark alley?

ICJ: Yeah, I think you pretty much have to do what the dragon says at that point. Is it possible for people to personify more than one ice cream flavor? Have you ever met a Neapolitan or would that make them sort of schizophrenic?

SD: I don’t think that people can embody more than one flavor.  That is too schizophrenic!  I think that people can start off as one flavor and over time as we get older and our personalities and preferences shift, the people around us change, too.  Thus, how we see and interact with them alters, right?  So, the ice cream we originally associated them with doesn’t apply anymore.

ICJ: When you eat certain flavors of ice cream, does it make you think of certain people?

SD: Absolutely!  For example, I just discovered this lavender-rosewater gelato and everybody thinks it tastes like perfume, but for some strange reason it reminds me of ex-boyfriends.  You know, like first dates and hand holding?  Pistachio ice cream reminds my mom and I of her dad (my grandfather).  He passed away a couple years ago, so in the summer when we really miss him we get pistachio ice cream and watch baseball, and in a really bizarre way it’s like a little piece of him is with us.  Being able to compare ice cream flavors to people is a really cool way to resurrect or recreate certain feelings and memories associated with a person, time, or place.

ICJ: It’s time for the Lightning Round. What’s the most over rated ice cream flavor of all time?

SD: Coffee.  YUK.

ICJ: Most under rated ice cream flavor of all time?

SD: Lime sherbert!!!

ICJ: If you could eat only one flavor for the rest of your life, it would be…

SD: Chocolate soft serve.

ICJ: Sprinkles or no sprinkles?

SD: 90% of the time – NO sprinkles; 10% of the time – rainbow sprinkles (though we call them “jimmies” where I’m from!).

ICJ: Cup or cone?

SD: Sugar cone!  Has to be a sugar cone.

ICJ: What kind of ice cream is in your freezer right now?

SD: Ready for this?  I have . . . chocolate goats milk ice cream, dairy-free coconut milk “ice cream,” dairy-free pomegranate chocolate-chip “ice cream,”  key lime pie gelato, dark chocolate gelato, strawberry cheesecake ice cream, pumpkin pie ice cream, and cookie dough ice cream. Can never have too many flavors, right?!

ICJ: Wow! That’s a lot of ice cream. What’s the best way to get rid of an ice cream headache?

SD: Just!  Keep!  Eating!

ICJ:  Good job. You clearly know your ice cream.

SD: I think it’s all thanks to my wonderful parents who raised me to believe that ice cream really is its own legitimate food group, like fruits and vegetables!  Hah!  In all seriousness, they taught me that ice cream is good for the soul.  Because, really, how can you not feel uplifted when you’ve got a scoop of your favorite flavor in front of you?

ICJ: Thanks for agreeing to chat with us! What’s next on the horizon for Steff Deschenes, “the author?”

SD: I’d made several comments in the book about writing “The Burrito Theory,” and people seem genuinely bummed out when I tell them it’s just a joke.  So maybe I need to reconsider that?  People like burrito fillings? Salsa and pinto beans and shredded cheese?  Hmmm . . . I might actually vary away from a food topic and write about my adventures as a promotional beer model.  For now, I happily blog throughout the week on my website (www.steffdeschenes.com).  I write something called “Maybe It’s Me” Mondays, which are usually tangential musings on thoughts I’m having; and “Fact is Better” Fridays which are the real life conversations that happen in my world that are usually so outlandish people always think I’m making it up!

1. What monster once claimed that he would eat anything, but when offered some sardine ice cream, he declined, saying that he would eat almost anything?

2. Which two week 2008 event in Japan featured more than 100 ice cream flavors, including a garlic variety known as Dracula Ice Cream?

3. It’s Halloween in your neighborhood, and you decide to give away one Turkey Hill Double Decker ice cream sandwich to kids dressed as witches, two sandwiches to kids dressed as superheroes, three sandwiches to kids dressed as pirates, and four sandwiches to kids dressed as ghosts.

How many boxes of Turkey Hill Double Decker ice cream sandwiches would you need     to buy if you were visited by 12 superheroes, every superhero except for four was     accompanied by two pirates, there were three times as many visiting witches as pirates,     and every other pirate was accompanied by one ghost?

4. Which of the following was not one of the edible images featured on “Haunted House Ice Cream,” a treat sold in the 1970s in the UK: a skeleton, a witch, a spider, or a vampire.

5. Candy corn: A tasty Halloween treat, or the last thing to be eaten out of your Halloween candy stash? (There’s no right or wrong answer for this one, we’re just curious because we’ve been talking about it around the office.)

INGREDIENTS

• Vanilla ice cream
• Red syrup or decorating gel
• M&Ms (various colors)
• Black decorating gel

DIRECTIONS

Scoop the ice cream into balls. Drizzle red syrup or gel onto each ball to create a bloodshot effect. Put an M&M (logo facing down) at the center of each and top with a drop of black decorating gel to form a pupil. Enjoy!

Congratulations to the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees!

Both teams won their Divisional Championships and will advance to their respective League Championship Series (this is a sweet repeat for the World Champion Fightin’ Phils, of course). Suffice it to say, Turkey Hill is awfully proud to be the official ice cream of both winning teams.

For either team, advancing again means a shot in the World Series. We think this is a win-win but if we had to pick a favorite based on their Turkey Hill team flavors, we’re caught in a pickle!

On one hand, the Phillies Graham Slam is chock-full of graham “phlavored” ice cream with scoops of choco marshmallow cups and a graham swirl while the Phillie Phanatic Double Play consists of Bavarian cream-flavored ice cream with caramel corn and caramel swirl. Yum!

On the other hand, the Yankees Bronx Bombers Sundae contains Chocolate ice cream with chocolate cookie swirl and chocolate covered crunchies, and the Pinstripe Brownie Blast is Vanilla ice cream with brownie batter swirl and brownie pieces. Mmmm!

We’re not sure which team we’ll root for (it’s like picking a favorite child!) but it’s going to be fun watching the action unfold. Whether you make it out to the ball game, or you watch the action from your favorite recliner, be sure to clinch a bowlful of your team’s delicious Turkey Hill ice cream to cheer them on.