My New Favorite Holiday

President Reagan did few things that I agree with in his presidency (fine - I'll give him the whole detente with the Soviets). However, his stock is rising. Unbeknownst to me, Reagan proclaimed the month of July as National Ice Cream Month. And, this coming Sunday (the third in July) is National Ice Cream Day. According to the International Dairy Foods Association, "[Reagan] recognized ice cream as a fun and nutritious food..." and "called for all people of the United States to observe these events with 'appropriate ceremonies and activities'."

Okay, first off - isn't this the same administration who tried to make ketchup count as a vegetable in public school lunches? Even I don't buy the argument that ice cream is nutritious (no mom, ice cream does not count as your calcium intake for the day). Second, this is the type of stuff that kills me about government. It only took the Reagan administration 4 years in office to come up with this proclamation, but it was an additional three years (in 1987) before Reagan felt moved to publicly address the growing AIDSs epidemic. Priorities. Grrrr.

Regardless, this is a proclamation I can get behind. Sadly, I have a bridesmaid dress to fit into one week after this national holiday, so I don't think I can celebrate it with appropriate ceremonies and activities (I had a fleeting thought of camping at Cold Stone Creamery for the day and trying a different flavor each hour). My personal suggestions would be the following flavors and varieties:

Culvers - Bless the Lord I am returning to the land of Culvers on Sunday. You can never go wrong with the basic chocolate, but if the special of the day is Chocolate Volcano (chocolate ice cream, chocolate flakes, chocolate chips, oreos, m&ms, and chocolate sauce), I would drive from Florida for a scoop.

Dairy Queen - a blizzard, preferably Oreo. If you must, cookie dough. But you want to be careful with the blizzard; some, like the Butterfinger, sound good in theory, but prove to be too difficult to eat (the Butterfinger chunks are too hard).

Cold Stone Creamery - ice cream for the elite. If you're willing to shell out $4.00 a scoop, you can imbibe in ice milk heaven (hmmm.... a gallon of gas, or a scoop of ice cream....). The Birthday Cake flavored ice cream will have you singing and looking for trick candles, and the endless mix-in possibilities will pose problems for the indecisive. NavyGuy suggests Founder's Favorite, a mix of sweet cream ice cream, and chocolate, caramel, pecans, and brownie pieces; I per usual, steer toward the Oreo Overload.

Gillies - a Fond du Lac institution. Great cones, great sundaes, great turtles. Pull up in your dad's new car, park under the canopy, turn on your lights, and wait for the goodness (just don't slam your cone into the interior of dad's new car... hehe).

Edy's Ice Cream - if you haven't checked out their new "loaded" line of ice cream, you are seriously missing out. Try the Mint Chocolate Chip Brownie.

If these suggestions are too tame, you could always check out these more adventurous flavors (mmmm... garlic and whale and curdled bean... delicious!).