I scream, you scream, we all scream for

It’s summer time and as I was trying to get myself in shape (or kill myself, depending on how you look at it) the other day running in the 97 degree heat (heat index of 105 degrees), I couldn’t help but start thinking of ice cream. Summer and ice cream go hand in hand like baseball and hot dogs or peanut butter and bananas. I don’t eat quite enough ice cream, if you ask me, but when I do get around to it, I like to enjoy it whole heartedly. I’ll eat it any way I can get it too. Ice cream in a bowl or cone, ice cream sundaes, ice cream sandwiches…if it has ice cream in the name and comes in a cold form then I will probably eat it. My desire and love of ice cream has even gone to the point where when dining at The Cheesecake Factory restaurant instead of getting cheesecake (would make sense) I get a bowl of ice cream. There is no denying it, ice creams are one of the most popular frozen food items which anyone could have in the world. Ice cream is a food item which delights both the old and the young alike.

There are different types of ice cream which are produced throughout the world. The variety of flavors in which ice creams are available is one of the reasons why it is so popular. I think the most common flavor of ice cream that is made is vanilla (also one of my favorites). Some other popular ice cream flavors include chocolate, strawberry, peppermint (for the Christmas season), and apparently someone make a black currant ice cream (huh?). Let’s not forget all the combo flavors out there like cookies and cream, rocky road, chocolate chip cookie dough (also a favorite), and neapolitan (three flavors in one place, who can argue with that?). Then there’s the crazy ice cream flavors brought to us from Ben & Jerry’s and several independent brands. I won’t go into those because honestly they are less like ice cream and more like a mixture of candy pieces suspended in an ice cream like substance (who wants to eat something named Chubby Hubby?). For a purist, such as myself, the only chunks of anything in your ice cream should be chunks of the item the ice cream flavor is derived from (pieces of cut up strawberries in strawberry ice cream, for instance).

The United States is one of the countries where many of the popular ice cream manufacturing companies are located (where else than the land of the opportunity). Australia, New Zealand, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, UK and India boast some of the world’s best ice cream manufacturing companies (perfectionist foreigners). Most popular ice cream brands can be found around the world because they are the ones that people enjoy the most. Also, popular brands provide the widest range of flavors. For example, Baskin Robbins is one of the most popular ice cream producing companies and they have a presence in more than 40 countries. Ben & Jerry’s is also a popular brand along with the very reputable Haagen-Dazs and Stroh’s and Yeo Valley ice cream brands.

All of those are minor blips on my ice cream radar compared to the nearest and dearest ice cream manufacturer to my heart…Blue Bell. Blue Bell Creameries is the manufacturer of Blue Bell brand ice cream, which was founded in 1907 in Brenham, Texas. The company, which produces the third-best-selling ice cream in the USA, sells its products in only 17 mostly Southern states, although Blue Bell ice cream has also been eaten aboard the International Space Station and at Camp David. Corporate headquarters are at the "Little Creamery" in Brenham, Texas, which hosts tours (and if you haven’t been on a tour of the Blue Bell Creamery, you should). As of 2007, the company operates three manufacturing facilities, the largest (53,880 square feet) facility in Brenham, with auxiliary facilities in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and Sylacauga, Alabama. There are also 45 sales and distribution centers spread throughout their 17-state market. These facilities employ a combined 2,800 employees, with 850 of the employees working out of Brenham. In 2006, annual sales exceed $400 million. In 2001, Forbes Magazine named Blue Bell the best ice cream in the country (and they use that as their slogan to this day).

Blue Bell produces over 250 different frozen products. Of these, 66 are flavors of ice cream. Twenty of the flavors are offered year-round, while an additional two to three dozen are offered seasonally. In addition to ice cream, the company produces frozen yogurt, sherbet, and an array of frozen treats on a stick. Blue Bell offers a "true" half gallon (64 oz/1.89 L) container, a fact it mentions prominently in its advertising. R.W. Apple, Jr. of The New York Times claims that "[w]ith clean, vibrant flavors and a rich, luxuriant consistency achieved despite a butterfat content a little lower than some competitors, it hooks you from the first spoonful. Entirely and blessedly absent are the cloying sweetness, chalky texture, and oily, gummy aftertaste that afflict many mass-manufactured ice creams." If you grew up in Texas then you probably had Blue Bell ice cream at one point or another in your life (depending on your lactose tolerance). I can remember several times looking in the freezer of my house and seeing several half gallons of Blue Bell to slake the ice cream hungers of my dad, brother, and I.

Blue Bell introduced its flagship flavor, Homemade Vanilla, in 1969 and claims to have invented the flavor Cookies 'n Cream. Although the company at one time made Cookies 'n Cream from Nabisco's Oreo cookies, buying ordinary retail packages, today they bake their own cookies (you can see the baking process as part of the tour). As of 1997, Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla was the best-selling single flavor of ice cream in the United States. How can you argue with that? Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla is my favorite ice cream ever. If you really like vanilla then you will really like that stuff. It is jam packed with vanilla flavor due to the fact that they use real vanilla beans in the manufacturing process. This gives their Homemade Vanilla the distinctive brownish/black specks. There is nothing better than two scopes of Homemade Vanilla in a bowl that you let sit for about two or three minutes (to soften up). Man, I’d like some right now, but I don’t have any in the freezer and I am just too darn lazy to go get some (plus the Rangers game is on). I’ll put it on my shopping list.

So, that is what I was thinking about while running today. Not necessarily Blue Bell’s sales numbers and the year they were founded, but the rest of this stuff. I think of the weirdest things when I am out running. But, I guess that benefits ya’ll because I end up writing most of it down in this blog. Anyway, go grab yourself some ice cream. There’s no ice cream happy hour (though there should be) so no matter when you are reading this just get up and go get some ice cream and remember the glory of how ice cream can not only cool you down on a hot summer day, but also change your mood. It’s just that magical.