National Ice Cream Soda Day

Today is National Ice Cream Soda Day

Actually, June 20 and June 30 are both listed as National Ice Cream Soda Day, depending on which website you refer to. Take your pick . . . I chose June 30 because that is today's date . . .

My personal favorite ice cream soda is a Root Beer Float.

When I was a kid, my mom and dad used to take us to one of those drive in restaurants . . . Dog N Suds . . . they made the best Root Beer Floats!

Sometimes I'll get a strong craving for one (actually one of the things that will get me out to the grocery store fast) . . . I even have the big and thick Dog N Suds mugs that I found on eBay . . . I also have A&W mugs and those awesome milk shake glasses from Steak & Shake . . . I love ice cream sodas and the glassware associated with back in the day.

Some of my glassware collection





The way I make my Root Beer Float . . . chill the mug in the freezer, fill the mug with vanilla ice cream (I like to smoosh it a bit to make it soft enough to stir around, but that is my preference) . . . carefully pour chilled root beer over the ice cream. I like to make it thick, using more ice cream than root beer, stirring the root beer in a little at a time until it is just the way I like it . . . and eat it with a spoon . . . try it some time. I guess I should just put it in the blender, but that would ruin the fun.

So Delish . . .


Other than taking your favorite flavor of ice cream and adding your favorite soda, below are two basic recipes for old fashioned ice cream sodas from back in the day . . . I remember purposely missing the school bus home so I could stop off at the drug store soda fountain on my walk home to have a strawberry ice cream soda . . . mmmmm :)

Old Fashioned Ice Cream Soda
INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons chocolate syrup
1 cup vanilla ice cream (or 1 large scoop)
club soda or seltzer water (cold)
canned whipped cream (optional)


DIRECTIONS:

Pour the milk into one tall 16-ounce glass.

Stir in syrup.

Add in ice cream and enough soda water or selzer to fill almost to top of glass.

Top with whipped cream if desired.

Serve with a long spoon and a big straw.




Strawberry Ice Cream Soda

INGREDIENTS:

strawberry jam
crushed fresh strawberries
heavy cream
strawberry ice cream
soda water
whipped cream
more berries for garnish or cherries


PREPARATION:

For each ice cream soda, put a heaping tablespoonful of strawberry jam and a heaping tablespoonful of crushed fresh strawberries in large (16 ounce size) glass. Add 2 tablespoons heavy cream and a big scoop of strawberry ice cream.

Fill up to 2/3 full with soda water, then add another big scoop of strawberry ice cream. Top with a dollop of whipped cream and a garnish of chopped berries, if desired. Serve with straws and a long iced teaspoon.

Caramel French Toast

1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of butter
2 tablespoons of corn syrup
12 slices of regular sandwich bread
6 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 teaspoon of salt

Combine sugar, butter, and corn syrup in a small saucepan; cook over medium heat until
thickened, stirring constantly.

Pour syrup mixture into a 13x9x2-in baking dish. Place 6 slices of bread on top of syrup mixture. Top with remaining 6 slices of bread.

Combine eggs, milk, vanilla, and salt, stirring until blended. Pour egg mixture evenly over bread slices.

Cover and chill 8 hours.

Bake, uncovered, at 350ºF. for 40 to 45 minutes or until lightly browned.

Serve immediately.

Yield: 6 servings

Hard Rock Cafe Baked Potato Soup

8 Bacon slices - fried & crumbled
1 cup Yellow onions - diced
2/3 cups Flour
6 cups Chicken stock - hot
4 cups Potatoes - baked, diced & Peeled
2 cups Heavy cream
¼ cup Parsley - chopped
1½ tsp Granulated garlic
1½ tsp Salt
1½ tsp Red pepper sauce
1½ tsp Coarse black pepper
1 cup Cheddar cheese - grated
¼ cup Green onions - diced



Chop bacon; reserve. Cook onions in remaining drippings over medium high heat until transparent, about 3 minutes.

Add flour, stirring to prevent lumps; cook for 3-5 minutes, until mixture just begins to turn golden.

Add chicken stock gradually, whisking to prevent lumps until liquid thickens.

Reduce heat to simmer and add potatoes, cream, chopped bacon, parsley, garlic, basil, salt, pepper sauce and black pepper.

Simmer for 10 minutes; do not allow to boil. Add grated cheese and green onions, heat until cheese melts smoothly.

Garnish each serving as desired with chopped bacon, grated cheese and chopped parsley.


Makes 8 Servings.

Perfect Crab Cakes

- serves 4 as a generous main course or 8 as an appetizer -

Adapted from The Dean & Deluca Cookbook by David Rosengarten, Joel Dean, and Giorgio Deluca

Ingredients

Canola or safflower oil for oiling the baking sheet
3/4 cup thick mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 pounds lump crabmeat, picked over to remove cartilage
Lemon wedges as an accompaniment

Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F and lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. Whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, and egg in a mixing bowl until combined well. (I realize now that the last time I made these, I seasoned lightly with salt and pepper at this point. It seemed odd to me that it wasn't part of the instructions. I don't know if it made a big difference or not.) Gently fold in the crab with a rubber spatula until just combined.
3. Gently form the mixture into eight 1-inch thick cakes and transfer to the baking sheet.
4. Bake the crab cakes for 15 minutes or so, or until lightly golden. Run a spatula under them once or twice to make sure they’re not sticking. When the cakes are ready, put them under a preheated broiler for 2 to 3 minutes, or until they’re lightly browned on top. Remove from broiler and let stand on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.