The month of July celebrates not just the birth of a nation but also summer’s favorite foods.
It’s National Ice Cream Month, but July also fetes the hot dog and cookouts in general. Not only is it National Hot Dog Month. July also steaks a claim as National Grilling Month, Picnic Month, Baked Bean Month, Peach Month and Blueberry Month.
In the spirit of grilling and picnics, Hiram’s Grille will throw a party celebrating 50 years at 25349 Airport Road for Punta Gorda Masonic Lodge 115. On July 4 from noon to 6 p.m. they’ll grill burgers, hot dogs and Italian sausage, with a bounce house, games, music, snow cones, cotton candy and popcorn.
INSPIRED SCOOPS
The National Dairy Foods Association reports that nearly 60% of all ice cream is churned and packed in July.
No wonder it’s National Ice Cream Month all month long — even in Florida, where cone contents run down your arm three minutes after you step outdoors.
And today, the first day of that special month, applauds ingenuity with National Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day.
Long ago, when vanilla, chocolate and strawberry sufficed, who’d even imagine celebrating such a day? The wildest we ever got was sticking a cherry on top.
These days, if you can dream it, someone will ice cream it.
No need to travel coast to coast for garlic, Earl Grey tea, pickle, lobster or Flamin’ Hot Cheetos flavors.
Any flavor imaginable can be found at more local creameries than ever, both those that churn their own and those importing the frozen goods.
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Ice cream for breakfast? Why not?
When he lived in New York, Jonathan Godfry somehow never ran into the Northeast’s favorite breakfast bread: cinnamon streusel coffee cake. But he jumped right on the Yoder’s butter-crumbly flavor of the same name, which he now serves at Insane Conez, 2686 Tamiami Trail, Port Charlotte.
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Sarah and Kevin Gleba of Englewood’s Arctic Alligator Creamery & Bakery, 3385 S. Access Road, have been in the business of ice cream invention for six years, ever since their A Better Scoop at 70 S. Indiana Ave. lost its supplier and they started making their own, using ingredients from honey to rum-soaked raisins from small local independents.
Today, Sarah is proud to reissue Pineapple Upside Down cake, whose pineapple swirl is made in house from fresh puréed, reduced, sweetened and caramelized pineapples.
Other creative faves of hers include Cinnamon Honey and 3 Pepper Chocolate, a hot chocolate flavor made with habanero, jalapeño, and red chili peppers. There’s something especially addictive about that blend of cocoa and hot peppers.
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Jay Blankenship at Watson’s Ice Cream in Deep Creek, 1540 Rio De Janeiro Ave., holds that their most creative, and certainly top-selling, Yoder’s flavor has to be Butterscotch Explosion. It delivers six beloved desserts in every scoop: butterscotch ice cream with a salted caramel ribbon, Oreo chunks, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Miniatures, brownie bites and English toffee crisps.
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“We really don’t have creative flavors per se, since Hershey’s makes all the ice cream,” said Jan Davis at Port Charlotte’s Hershey’s Flavortown, 1940 Kings Highway.
That didn’t keep her from correcting a Hershey’s omission.
“I put together a flavor with Hershey’s ice creams that’s our version of spumoni — pistachio, chocolate and cherry ice creams. It’s one that’s hard to find down here.”
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Kennedy Allison of Punta Gorda’s Harborwalk Scoops & Bites, 150 Laishley Court, describes two icy innovations that couldn’t be more different, ranging from soothing swirls to a spicy treat that looks like plain chocolate but packs a peppery punch.
“Of our 47 homemade ice cream flavors,” she said, “two of our most unique are our Lavender Honey and our Arriba, a caramel-swirled chocolate ice cream with a hint of cinnamon and a kick of pure liquid hot pepper.”
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Two Charlotte County scooperies are arguably the only places where you’ll find 92-year-old Belgian Lotus Biscoff flavor in ice cream form — if it hasn’t sold out like it usually does.
Al and Linda Biron‘s newly relocated Lava Ice Shop, 3280 Tamiami Trail, Promenades at Parkside, also our only local source of all-nondairy and vegan ices and ice creams, started incorporating the addictive airline biscuit last year, along with other innovations like Pineapple Passionfruit Coconut and Pineapple Upside Down Cake.
At first Al claimed not to like the cookies’ buttery gingerbread-spice flavor, but now he swears by the ice cream he makes with them.
After all, United Airlines was lambasted for removing Biscoff cookies from its flights. Two days after an Eater editor complained, “You Can Take My Leg Room, But You Can Never Have My Biscoffs,” the airline brought them back.
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Punta Gorda’s Zoet Sweet Boutique (27670 Bermont Road, Winn-Dixie plaza) co-owner Jordy Beumer deserves special recognition today, for inventing a creative Flavor of the Month all year long, for many years.
He said, “We’ve done a Bourbon Bacon flavor before, a Caramel Popcorn flavor, a Mojito flavor, and Strawberry Basil.”
No surprise, then, that you can also find Biskoff on the regular ice cream menu at Zoet, which makes its own Dutch Biscoff flavor out of Lotus brands’ cookie butter.
They also incorporate speculaas flavoring — basically the same recipe, Dutch style — in everything from filled cookies and cheesecake to Pumpkin Speculaas and Dutch Apple Pie ice creams.
WAFFLE ON THE WILD SIDE
Of course you can always order wild new ice cream flavors in waffle cones of all sizes, but that’s not what this bit is about.
General manager Dave Robbins of Punta Gorda’s ever-unique Waffle House has topped even his own Waffle House Valentine’s Day dinners this time.
Aiming to boost offseason second-shift sales, he’s announced a waffle-eating challenge from 3-7 p.m. every day.
For $35, you get a whole lot of waffles, plus a nonrefillable beverage of your choice. Challengers who successfully tackle and polish off a stack of 10 waffles in 30 minutes win bragging rights and more.
“If you succeed,” said Robbins, “you won’t be charged, you’ll get your name on the Hall of Fame, and we’ll give you a prize.
“This is only in my Waffle House. We do weird things here.”
Waffle House ($-$$), 941-916-2705, 1228 Tamiami Trail, Punta Gorda, is open 24-365. Waffle-eating challenge is from 3 to 7 p.m. this summer.
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