Ice Cream & I go way back. I’m a Texan, so naturally, I love Blue Bell & rightly so. It is delish & hard to beat. The sweetness seems to hit the palate with the perfect amount of flavor. I do not recall having any other tub in our freezer than that brown or gold rim hailed from the Country Creamery in Bluebonnet heaven of Brenham, Texas.

Then, one day, my dad brought home an old-fashioned ice cream maker. He told us we would make ice cream & it would be fantastic. I was unhappy that for the ice cream to be made, it required churning the handle while sitting on the bucket while parts of your body froze. Luckily, it was the hot Texas summers, so it was a blessing in disguise. The bucket was packed with rock salt, which was pretty cool (very cool, literally) to see it stick to the ice. I was thankful I had 3 other siblings; we would each take turns cranking. My dad would come to refill the bucket with salt, check the progress, add more ice, and tell us to keep on cranking & we could not wait for the ingredients to freeze. My mom would teach us the phrase, “Ice Cream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream.” We literally did. Our butts were cold & arms sore, but (no pun intended) it was worth it! Homemade Ice cream that you churn was just as delicious & at times, my mom would add peaches. Homemade Peaches & Cream ice cream is hands down probably the best you will ever taste! That process of making our Ice Cream occurred in the early to mid-80s. Memories that will last a lifetime.

On occasional Texas road trips for my dad’s work, we would find Mississippi Mud Pies. Ice Cream on a sandwich with the bits of goodness had us at 1st bite! We had a mud pie mustache all the ride back. The ride alone to the hill country.. the mud pie was worth the no elbow room sharing the back of the car with 4 kids. It was not cozy, but comfort food had us all getting along & in harmony, singing the ice cream song.

I celebrated my 5-year-old birthday party at La’Kings on the Strand in Galveston. I remember getting a banana split & feeling so special. The pretty boat dish, the color & flavor of the scoops, whipped topping, chocolate sauce, strawberry sauce, butterscotch, nuts & cherry on top, I felt like a Queen. I was so young, but I recall how special that day was. I remember what I was wearing, where I sat, my party guests, the server’s hats, the tea party style chairs, wood floors, ice cream buckets & the taste of that treat. It rocked my little 5-year-old world. When I made my birthday wish, I wished I could celebrate in an ice cream palace all my days as I loved that moment so much.

On Monday night Family Home Evenings, we often had a dish of Blue Bell Ice Cream with toppings of our choosing. It was our favorite dessert. We would get creative with how we would top the frozen sweet cream. Magic Shell was invented & I was sold. To squeeze the bottle & watch the liquid goodness come out and then freeze, followed by a crack of the back of the spoon to watch it split, was also entertaining. However, a recipe was invented that took away the magic shell hype. My dad invented what we call to this day “Daddy’s delight”! It consists of 2 or 3 large scoops of Homemade Vanilla Blue Bell (Gold Rim), a spoon of creamy peanut butter, a handful of M&M’s & & a pour of Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup. He was the GOAT of ice cream fun!

As we got into our early teenage years, we graduated from Mississippi Mud Pies & Magic Shell to a new level…Fried Ice Cream! Back then, one of the best Mexican Restaurants off the Island (as we lived on the mainland then) was up Hwy 45 near Almeda Mall. The food was excellent & they introduced us to a Miracle, Hot Fried Ice Cream!! This perfect round ball of yummy ice cream was rolled in a tasty crumb batter sprinkled with cinnamon and topped with whipped cream, cherry & hot honey poured over the top. It was a slap, ya momma, good treat!! We would head up I-45 each weekend just to hurry up & order dessert, singing the ice cream song along the way as we thought we found a wonder of the world!

If you build it, they will come! They built another wonder & it was called Marble Slab! We were in awe!! We didn’t have to drive as far; this location is just off the Bay Area in Clear Lake. Closer, plus they opened up an even tastier Mexican restaurant off Nasa Rd. 1, so after dinner, we’d head over to the Slab. They featured homemade waffle cones (our family breakfast tradition), so we were at home. Marble Slab was unique with its homemade ice cream & you can mix in add-ins that they smashed together on a cold slab, watching them work your treat. The flavor is different than Blue Bell but just as delicious! I fell in love with taste-testing the flavors; hmmm, which one should I land on?? Was it going to be the chocolate with Snickers? Pecan in Chocolate? I would change it with all the choices but found that my go-to was pecans or marshmallows. When they had a waffle cone dipped in chocolate & rolled with pecans, I was then in la la land with sweet cream & marshmallow. Add in and mix in!

Circa 1986, my parents opened an Ice Cream Parlor in Santa Fe’ (Texas, not New Mexico). My dad named it Club Mardi Gras. I suppose keeping the culture of the Galveston Mardi Gras taking it to the mainland. The parlor had 2 attachments: an epic game room & the music/dance/band club. Those attachments were incredibly fun & have many stories I’ll share in another blog, so stay tuned. But heading back to Ice cream land, my dad had the Brenham Blue Bell Creameries Truck making weekly deliveries. No more road trips, no more churning, no more Family Home Evenings at our actual home; it was all gonna take place at Club Mardi Gras Ice Parlor!

I don’t ever recall a family meeting or agreeing to any assignment in this new endeavor; we were just given them including a need-to-know basis, which we didn’t know any better & honestly did not care about knowing all & back then, you did not think twice to not obey, you simply helped your family & did what you were told & took care of business. I was never going to complain anyway. I felt like we had opened Disney Land! I got to help run an Ice Cream Parlor/Dance Club. Nor were my sisters gonna complain, nor was my brother ever going to squawk at helping run the game room & snack bar, nor were my parents, who love treats & to entertain; we were in heaven & would continue to sing & and dance to the Ice Cream Song!

Club Mardi Gras’s menu consisted of the Grand Special “Daddy’s Delight,” which was a top seller. The unique feature was “Fried Ice Cream”! My mom recreated it. She combined crushed granola, coconut & pecan as the breading, rolled a couple scoops of ice cream, shaped the ball, sprinkled cinnamon, added whip & cherry & drizzled hot honey over the treat! She also ordered a trendy waffle cone maker. We had after-school & weekend treats of our choosing, new flavors Blue Bell delivered, new creations my mom made, the smell of waffles daily, and people who came to see us, always smiling when they entered & happy to get served. At this venture, I found a new love lasting about a decade. Mint Chocolate Chip was my spirit animal ice cream; I was happy & satisfied. We lived in La La Land for a few years before we kids graduated & parents closed it down. Maybe they couldn’t hire free help, or I’ll work for Ice Cream wages, ha!

I moved away. I eventually moved to Brenham, TX, the land of the creamery. I met the family, Kruse, who taught the youngest son Martial Arts & got him to Brown Belt. The Kruse family sponsored my Team’s competition to The Worlds, where I had 31 competitors traveling to Missouri. I ordered custom Karate Gi’s of White camo, which reminded me of cows; I called us the Texas Cream Team (play on words), and Blue Bell paid for the uniforms & some trip costs. We had a photoshoot where all our competitors wore Blue Bell Buckets as hats in fight poses. We did kick butt, we came, we saw, we conquered &creamed the other teams, ha! To this day, I still have a saved uniform from that competition; it was a moment I’ll cherish forever. Decades later, Blue Bell Country Store would carry my Baseball Dream book & sell out! I owe many a great memory to Blue Bell, so many flavors, stories, and love.

I keep a personal note of my trips across the nation to see who has the best Ice Cream in their region. I must shout out to Vineyard, Utah, to Brooker’s Founding Flavors Ice Cream. It is sogood! Another great spot in Idaho Falls is Manwaring Cheese & Gelato. You haveto try these places. La’Kings will always be a place I take family & recommend it to island visitors. However, I think I will go a little retro & buy an old ice cream maker, get some premium ingredients, add some peaches & stroll down memory lane. When you see me, ask me how it “Churned Out,” haha! You Scream, I Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream! Yum, Yum, get you some!