Sprinkle some fun into your summer with all things ice cream! National Ice Cream Day is July 21, and at Seward Co-op, we’re taking a deep dive into the delectable, creamy treat. Learn about the history of ice cream–including when it was made at the Franklin Cooperative Creamery–,explore delicious options available at Seward Co-op, and try a Microgreens activity for your youngest cooperators: making your own ice cream in a bag!

Interested in hearing which ice creams are staff favorites? Check out some current staff picks!

Ice Cream Throughout History

Ice cream exists in many forms all over the world, and humans have been enjoying sweet, iced treats for thousands of years. The first people to have eaten something more closely to what we know today in America as ice cream–or, at least, a sweet, frozen, milky food–were the emperors of the Tang Dynasty in China between 618-907 AD. Food historians consider an Italian’s recipe from the mid to late 1600s as the first “official” ice cream.

Black Americans played significant roles in bringing ice cream to its current popularity in the United States–not to mention, revolutionized how we eat it! James Hemings, an enslaved man who worked as Thomas Jefferson’s personal cook, was the first French-trained American chef, and brought recipes for ice cream back from his studies in Paris. Augustus Jackson, another chef for presidential families, started his own ice cream business in Philadelphia after his time in the White House. Known as “the father of ice cream,” Jackson was responsible for adding salt to the ice cream recipe, which lowers the freezing temperature, and developed a lighter recipe that did not contain the eggs that many earlier versions included. Alfred Cralle, who in the 1890s was working at a drug store ice cream counter, invented the ice cream scoop with the mechanical trigger to release the ice cream, becoming the first Black inventor to hold a solo patent.

Cooperative Brand Ice Cream

In early 20^th century Minneapolis, the Franklin Cooperative Creamery Association, where Seward Co-op now has its administrative offices, was making ice cream for the Twin Cities. By 1931, the Franklin Cooperative Creamery had 10 ice cream delivery routes throughout the area. Called “Cooperative Brand Ice Cream,” the Creamery Co-op’s confection was sold in bulk, bricks, meringue pies, and individual molds for all occasions.

Sweet Treats from Seward Co-op

Today, you can find a wide variety of ice creams at Seward Co-op, including local Community Foods producer Sweet Science. Since 2012, founder Ashlee Olds has been using her passion for ice cream to craft unique and complex ice cream flavors. Always made with organic, grass-fed cow’s milk and organic sugar, Sweet Science sources ingredients locally whenever possible, often gluten-free, and never artificial. Sweet Science Ice Cream is committed to making ice cream free of stabilizers, artificial flavors, colors or gums. They rely on the properties of food science to get the most out of every organic ingredient, and make the ice cream base and every swirl, cookie, sauce and crunch by hand in St. Paul.

Seward Co-op offers a number of dairy-free ice cream options in the freezer aisle as well, including vegan treats from So Delicious, Oatly, Cosmic Bliss, and more.

Microgreens: Make Ice Cream in a Bag!

Did you know you can make ice cream without an ice cream maker? It’s easy—and fun!—to whip up tasty vanilla ice cream with just a few ingredients, tools, and the simple steps below. Try this activity with the young cooperators in your life! Find even more Microgreens activities here.

Ingredients

Makes one small serving. Double the recipe for even more ice cream!

1/2 cup half and half

3/4 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tbsp. sugar

1/8 cup salt

ice

Preparation

Gather two resealable bags, one large and one small. Reusable silicone bags will work, but they may need a little more shaking time.

In the small bag, place the half and half, vanilla, and sugar. Squeeze as much air out of the bag as possible, and seal it.

Fill the large bag about halfway with ice. Add the salt. Put the smaller sealed bag in the large bag and add a little more ice on top. Seal the large bag.

Time to shake! Shake the sealed bags for around 6 minutes. Use oven mitts to protect your hands from the cold. If the mixture in the small bag still looks thin and liquid after 6 minutes, keep shaking until it firms into your preferred ice cream texture.

When you’re done, remove the small bag from the large bag. Rinse the small bag in cold water to wash off the salt and prevent any from getting into the ice cream when you unseal it.

Open your ice cream and enjoy right away! Add any toppings you might like, from sprinkles to chocolate chips to fresh fruit from the Produce section.

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