Food Holidays: July 23rd, 2022

Welcome to our series sharing Food Holidays: July 23rd, 2022. I wish David was home this evening so we could celebrate National Vanilla Ice Cream Day by having a scoop of Ice Cream. Would you like to join us for Ice Cream which I can pick up at the store when we go grocery shopping in the morning.

National Vanilla Ice Cream Day

Did you know National Vanilla Ice Cream Day is celebrated on July 23th? This is a special occasion for the simple, yet all-time favorite dessert. Vanilla is traditionally made by combining Cream, Sugar, and of course, Vanilla.  In fact, Vanilla is added to other Ice Cream flavors as Vanilla helps to enhance their taste. Vanilla Ice Cream has a wide fanbase as Vanilla is the single most popular Ice Cream flavor around the world. The cold dessert’s subtle flavors allow you to enjoy Vanilla in a variety of ways. You can have Vanilla pressed between two Cookies, or you can enjoy Vanilla with Cake. For the food adventurers who do not shy away from trying something new, you can even try putting Vanilla between a plain Chicken Burger. Vanilla Ice Cream was so adored that Thomas Jefferson, who is often credited with the Ice Cream’s popularity in America, had it served to almost every guest at the White House.

HISTORY OF NATIONAL VANILLA ICE CREAM DAY

National Vanilla Ice Cream Day is an unofficial holiday so its origins are not very well-known. However, an online search reveals that Vanilla Ice Cream has been celebrated regularly since the year 2000. Since then, people across the Country have indulged in their favorite Vanilla Ice Cream treat on July 23rd every year.

Vanilla belongs to the Orchid group of family that has over 25,000 species. Being a native plant of Central America and the Caribbean, Vanilla was used by the Totonacs living in Mexico. Later on, when the Totonacs were conquered by the Aztecs, the latter got their hands on Vanilla. The Aztecs started using Vanilla by mixing it into their Chocolate. As globalization spread, more and more people from different places started being exposed to Vanilla. The Spanish took Vanilla to their home Country and, from there, Vanilla spread to the rest of Europe and the world. People in Britain and Spain used Vanilla in much the same way as Aztecs. Vanilla in drinks like Chocolate, Tea, and Coffee became popular. It wasn’t until Vanilla reached France that it was added to Ice Cream. 

As far as American history is concerned, the credit for creating Vanilla Ice Cream a national treat goes to Thomas Jefferson who was known for his fascination with collecting different types of recipes. It is believed that on a visit to France during the 1780s, Thomas Jefferson came across Vanilla Ice Cream, which was a popular dessert among the French. On his return to America, Thomas Jefferson made Vanilla Ice Cream popular among his people as well.

The Vanilla Ice Cream recipe is no less than a national treasure for the Americans as Vanilla lies protected in the U.S. Library of Congress in Washington. Hardly two decades after Jefferson’s discovery of Vanilla Ice Cream, recipes for Vanilla Ice Cream began to be published in various recipe books. Among the most popular books were those written by Hannah Glasse and Mary Randolph.

Americans became fans of this creamy Ice Cream. However, the main challenge was that producing Vanilla involved an expensive process, which made it hard to come by for many Americans. By 1841, a new technique had been discovered through which Vanilla Plants could be pollinated by hand, paving the way for commercial production of Vanilla in different parts of the world.

Today, the world enjoys heaps of Vanilla Ice Cream, all thanks to the invention of the ice-cream machine that made Ice Cream easier to make.. Nancy Johnson made the world’s first ice cream maker that had a crank located outside. The crank addition and placement allowed for the Ice Cream to mix and scrape the Ice Cream at the same time. But before this machine became commonplace, making Ice Cream required much more time. 

Vanilla Ice Cream became one of the most sold flavors due to its popularity and versatility. The market, in the modern-day, has a lot of Ice Cream varieties and flavors, ranging from Chocolate to Strawberry. But nothing beats the classic taste of Vanilla Ice Cream, which is an experience unto itself. 

HOW TO CELEBRATE NATIONAL VANILLA ICE CREAM DAY

1. What better way to celebrate National Vanilla Ice Cream Day than by hosting an Ice Cream party for your friends. Your family will love you for this party because who doesn’t enjoy free Ice Cream in the middle of the Summer season. Stock up on lots of Vanilla Ice Cream and invite your family to enjoy the refreshing and sweet dessert. Because it’s so versatile, Vanilla Ice Cream will go well with a ton of different flavors. You can set a table with Chocolate or Caramel Syrup, Sprinkles, Cake, and much more.
2. Making fresh Ice Cream at home without any coloring or preservatives can be a healthy activity. To do this, you can either purchase an electric ice cream machine from the market or get yourself an old-fashioned manual ice cream maker. If you search online, you can even find videos that teach you how to make a manual ice cream maker at home. Turn this into a family project to keep the kids busy and develop their motor skills.
3. Whether it’s a scoop, or a pint, or even more than that, go all out on Vanilla Ice Cream today. Do research and purchase different Vanilla Ice Creams from different regions. While all Vanilla Ice Creams may taste the same in plainness, they may vary in the subtleties of their flavors, with some being smoky while others are more Anise-like.

5 FACTS ABOUT VANILLA BEANS

1. The Vanilla Plant belongs to the Orchid family, which is the only Fruit-bearing plant of the entire family.
2. A Vanilla flower only lives for one day, so the seeds have to be quickly picked and dried.
3. Because of the tedious process involved in producing a few pounds of Vanilla Beans, Vanilla is the second most expensive Spice in the world, with Saffron being the first.
4. The world has mostly Madagascar to thank for its Vanilla supplies as 75% of all Vanilla comes from Madacascar
5. It is required by law in the U.S. to have all Vanilla extracts sourced from true Vanilla.

WHY WE LOVE NATIONAL VANILLA ICE CREAM DAY

1. For Ice Cream lovers, National Vanilla Ice Cream Day is a heavenly experience where we can gorge on as much Ice Cream as we want. Ice Cream has traveled all over the world to become a favorite dessert of many people. When Summer sun is burning hot, we turn to Ice Cream to not only cool us down but also provide us with that much-needed boost of energy.
2. While it’s good to have complexities, it’s also great to have a dose of simplicity to allow us to appreciate all facets of life. Being ‘as plain as Vanilla’ is a way of saying something or someone is as common as Vanilla Ice Cream. However, without the plainness of Vanilla around us, we wouldn’t be able to appreciate the other flavors.
3. Vanilla Ice Cream is one of the healthier Ice Creams on the market, mainly because Vanilla Ice Cream has a lower calorie count than other flavors. This makes Vanilla Ice Cream the best flavor for people who are conscious about keeping their weight under control and want to watch their calorie intake.

Five Facts about Vanilla:

1. Vanilla is the only edible Fruit of the Orchid family, the largest family of flowering plants in the world.
2. Vanilla is a Tropical Orchid, and there are more than 150 varieties of Vanilla, though only two types: Bourbon and Tahitian used commercially.
3. Vanilla grows within the 20-degree band either side of the Equator and is native to the Americas.
4. The Olmeca people on the Gulf Coast of Mexico were perhaps the first to use Vanilla as a flavoring in beverages.
5. The Totonaca people of the Gulf coast of Mexico were probably the first people to domesticate Vanilla.

Thank you,

Glenda, Charlie and David Cates