Parkerhouse Ice Cream

Last year, a New York State ice cream manufacturer (Perry's) celebrated its 100th anniversary by bringing back several flavors of ice cream they were no longer making, but were once popular.

I absolutely fell in love with one of those flavors, which is called Parkerhouse.

What is a Parkerhouse?  Well, it could be a historic hotel located in Boston, Massachusetts.  The fine food served by the Parker House back in the 1850's attracted thousands of people to dine there.  If you've ever heard of Parkerhouse rolls or Boston Cream Pie, you have eaten food created by the Parker House.

And the best part - the hotel is still open, after 165 years.  Someone I work with even visited them last year.

So, what about Parkerhouse ice cream?  It dates from the 1950's but was bought back last year on a limited basis.  It is amaretto ice cream with marachino cherries.  But how did it get its name?

I don't know, and it intrigues me.

 For me, it was instant love-one of my favorite ice cream flavors ever.  So when it disappeared from stores last fall, I was crushed.

About three weeks ago we took a trip, and stopped at a convenience store for some refreshments.  In their freezer was Parkerhouse ice cream. Could it be?

When we got home, we went to our local store, and there it was. I don't know if it's back for good but apparently it might be.

Although I'm on Weight Watchers, I make room for it, eating 1/3 of a cup at a time served on top of fruit.

I still don't know if the ice cream flavor has anything to do with the Parker House. If so, it has a distinguished history.  If not, how did it get its name?

Does anyone have any idea? (Of course, I could ask Perry's Ice Cream, but that would be too easy.)

Mr. Softee #FlavoursomeTuesdays

A summer evening in Brooklyn.  I am visiting a childhood friend.  We've known each other for 50 years.  You can't get more nostalgic than that.

A familiar bell rings in the distance.

It's the Mr. Softee truck!

Mr. Softee was one of the staples of growing up in New York City, along with the Good Humor man.   But I hadn't had a Mr. Softee in - oh, 50 years?

I didn't even know they existed any more.

I had to have a Mr. Softee.  My friend's husband bought me my favorite, a soft vanilla cone. No sprinkles, no gunk, just pure vanilla pleasure.

I need to explain that Mr. Softee is a brand of something we call soft ice cream, or, sometimes, "custard".  I'm not sure how popular it is outside the United States, but, even today, it is popular where I live in upstate New York.  The soft ice cream is normally eaten on a cone, sometimes with sprinkles, or fudge topping (which freezes into a hard shell).  The favorite flavors are vanilla and chocolate, but, more recently, exotic flavors have joined the ranks.  And, for those lactose intolerant (as one of my childhood friends is), there are even milk-free varieties.

In the summertime (and this is still true today) ice cream trucks cruise residential neighborhoods, bells ringing, and stop every couple of blocks so the neighborhood children, clutching their money, can buy some spur-of-the-moment ice cream.

What happens when you try to relive your childhood memories?  Memories of food - taste, texture, and events surrounding the food are some of my strongest childhood memories.

So, I decided to go on You Tube, and, to my delight, I found I wasn't the only one who remembered Mr. Softee.  But, good news - they still exist.

This video shows the soft ice cream being served, and shows a vintage ice cream tune music box.

Sometimes, though, other things happens when you try to relive your childhood.  Like when I ate that ice cream cone above.

I had already eaten dinner, and I ended up with a stomach ache.

Why am I reliving childhood food memories?

Several weeks ago, I was invited by an Indian blogger, who goes by the name of Bellybytes, to participate in a weekly meme called "FlavoursomeTuesdays".  I promised her I would participate, and then life happened - more than once.

But I am finally posting today, and keeping the English spelling of (what we spell as "flavorsome") flavoursome, to keep the flavor.  So, if you have a food memory to share, why don't you participate, along with Bellybytes and Shilpa and me on #FlavoursomeTuesdays with "your droolworthy memories of food."

Tomorrow - Garden Bloggers Bloom Day