Fun Facts About Icecream

A first-century Roman emperor is said to have sent runners into the mountains for snow to be flavored with juices. In the 13th century, Marco Polo brought back from China descriptions of a sherbetlike dessert. Ice cream as we know it seems to have emerged in 17th-century France. The cone didn't appear until 1904, when a Syrian waffle maker at the St. Louis World's Fair began rolling his pastries into horns to help an ice cream vendor who had run out of dishes. Today the average American eats about 20 quarts of ice cream a year — the world's highest per capita consumption, according to the International Dairy Foods Association. Top-selling flavor is vanilla, with 33 percent of the market, and chocolate, with 19 percent!I don't think I've ever ordered plain vanilla icecream! There are so many luscious flavors to try! I think my favorite is a very dark chocolate, with praline pecan and peach coming in as 2nd and 3rd. I have a Krups maker which does a very nice job. But my fondest memories are at Grandpa's house with the old hand crank machine with rock salt and crushed ice. All the kids would take turns cranking that handle!