Ice Cream For A Champion's Birthday

Today is a day for ice cream. Why?
Well, to be honest you don't really have to have a good reason. Ice cream is one of those things that's easy to enjoy any day of the week. For me, however, today is a particularly good day for ice cream. It's my father's birthday.

Dad loved ice cream his whole life and today would have been his 82nd birthday. Sadly he's no longer here for us to treat him to an ice cream sundae but just on the off chance that angels get to eat ice cream on special occasions, this is for you Dad .... your favorite Knickerbocker Glory.

Happy Birthday from all of us - we miss our Knickerbocker Glory Champion.

Mint Choc Chip In The Rain - No Worries!

My recent ice cream blog post about Ice Cream For A Queen mentioned how people would be celebrating the Diamond Jubilee with street parties and concerts, etc. The celebrations were spread over 4 days up and down the length of Britain as well as in Commonwealth countries like Canada and Australia.

In Britain the weather was not the expected sunny, warm spell that everyone had hoped for. There was a lot of rain in some places. Even so, it didn't dampen the spirits of people in their keenness to celebrate and have a good time.

Here is Dylan, phtographed by his dad Paul at a fun park near London over the Jubilee weekend.

As you can see, it had been raining and although many children might look glum dressed in a plastic raincoat, unable to enjoy the outdoors .... not Dylan! An ice cream treat of a delicious mint choc chip cone was all he needed to stay happy. Simple but delightfully innocent and heartwarming. Dylan has loved ice cream since he was a baby - check out one of my previous ice cream blog posts entitled 'The Ice Cream Smile' from 2010 when Dylan was still in his high chair and see what he was doing with ice cream even then!

Thanks to Dylan's Dad Paul for kind permission to use his photos.

Oh and 'Happy Birthday' this week Dylan. Hope you get to enjoy lots more ice cream :)

Ice Cream For A Queen

This weekend marks a very special celebration in Britain and the British Commonwealth. It is the Diamond Jubilee of HM Queen Elizabeth II who has now reigned as British sovereign for no less than sixty (60) years. It is a remarkable achievement which will be celebrated with many special public events, street parties and home parties over the coming days.

My contribution to this celebration is a simple but sincere one. If you are getting together with family and friends to celebrate this weekend, make some homemade ice cream with a 'red white and blue' theme. There's no need for artificial colorings, no need for anything unusually elaborate to do this.

Simply make a batch of raspberry ripple ice cream and serve it topped with fresh blueberries. Honest and homemade, tasting delicious, I would like to think that Her Majesty would approve :)

This wonderful photo of The Queen was taken during a trip to Canada in 2010. I love the 'raspberry ripple' color scheme!

Here's to a happy, celebratory weekend in honor of a remarkable woman who has touched the lives of countless people during her many years of devoted service to her country. Long may that continue.