By Kathryn Reed

When Ronald Regan in 1984 created July as National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday of the month as National Ice Cream Day, he said the dessert was fun and nutritious.

Well, having just made some ice cream last night, I can attest to the fun part. But, nutritious? That’s as logical as me claiming an order of French fries qualifies as a vegetable serving for the day.

Some foods are to be enjoyed and the healthy or unhealthy aspects should be ignored.

I joke the reason I’m not a vegan is because I refuse to give up real ice cream. There’s more truth than fiction to that statement.

I’ve been eating ice cream for as long as I can remember. Each birthday all of us kids as well as my parents had homemade chocolate chip ice cream on the menu. The maker came out on other occasions, too. I think it’s best when it’s first made – before it’s hardened up in the freezer.

Chocolate chip is one of the top flavors in the United States. The most popular flavors are vanilla (27.8 percent of people), followed by chocolate (14.3 percent), strawberry (3.3 percent), chocolate chip (3.3 percent) and butter pecan (2.8 percent), according to NPD Group, a market research firm.

No one knows where ice cream first came from, though the International Ice Cream Association says frozen desserts have been reported as far back as the second century B.C.

Here are some other stats from the IICA:

• The first official account of ice cream in America was recorded in 1700 from a letter written by a guest of Maryland Gov. William Bladen.

• In 1812, Dolley Madison served a strawberry ice cream creation at President James Madison’s second inaugural banquet at the White House.

• Italo Marchiony produced the first ice cream cone in 1896. Marchinoy, who emigrated from Italy in the late 1800s, invented his ice cream cone in New York City.

Last night I pulled out a recipe I’ve had since junior high. I took home ec (aka food) from Mrs. Eng. (Back then teachers didn’t have first names other than Mr. or Mrs.)

Instead of using the chocolate chips, we grated a large semi-sweet chocolate bar. What makes this recipe different from the family chocolate chip one is that it is cooked. With mint chip being my store bought favorite and Sue’s favorite, I thought I would see what she thought of the homemade version. It looks like she will be requesting homemade ice cream for her birthdays from now on.

Mrs. Eng’s Pine Hollow Intermediate School Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

1½ C sugar

¼ C flour

dash salt

2 C whipping cream

4 eggs slightly beaten

1 quart half and half

¾ tsp green food coloring

3 tsp peppermint extract

6 ounces chocolate chips, chopped

Combine first four ingredients in medium sized saucepan, adding whipping cream gradually. Stir constantly until mixture thickens and bubbles. Remove from heat.

Slowly stir half the mixture into beaten eggs, then stir back into saucepan. Cook for another minute, still stirring.

Chill.

Add cream, coloring and extract.

Poor into ice cream freezer. Add chips when ice cream is partially frozen.