I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

I don’t know how or when this phrase started, but it rolls as naturally and logically from my brain and tongue as 2 + 2 = 4. It seems like an aphorism that always has been and always will be; is anyone ever taught it, or does it just become part of our English repertoire organically? It’s just something that someone will invariably say (or at least be thinking) when frozen dairy desserts are consumed. 

Perhaps it feels so natural because it rings so true to ingrained human nature. As an 11-month-old, Kiah obviously doesn’t understand everything we say, but my goodness she got the screaming for ice cream message loud and clear. 

That girl is learning her preferences, and correspondingly how to make them known. I already wrote about how obsessed she is with blueberries, and her devotion to ice cream is on a comparable if not surpassing level. I mean, do you blame her? It’s ice cream! 

Yes, my children are often seen chomping on cucumbers, I almost always throw apples in the snack bag as we head out the door, and we can barely keep carrots on hand — but my kids eat lots of less-healthy options, too. And sometimes even from my own hand, not just the grandparents’! 

For months in their infancy I staunchly turned away their Daddy’s and Papa’s requests to feed my babies ice cream … selfishly reserving that milestone for myself, knowing once I opened the ice cream floodgates, there would be no stopping. I was not wrong. To be fair, we’re dairy farmers, so there’d be something wrong if we weren’t eating ice cream. 

I have to be careful because I know my father-in-law reads these articles, but I don’t think he minds me sharing that it’s extremely rare if a single day passes without him eating ice cream. Maybe once a year, tops? (Unfortunately the majority is vanilla, which is too “vanilla” for me.) 

Benson immediately picked up on the swing of things, and I’m guessing he could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times he’s been to Grandma’s house without eating ice cream. 

We tried to have family Sunday lunch at their house with a different dessert than ice cream one time, and Benson fell apart. This week he explained to all of us, as his meal plate remained largely untouched, “My stomach hurts for regular food, oh but it doesn’t hurt for ice cream!” Hmmm.

We probably didn’t even need to have dessert that day, since my sister-in-law was hosting a farm party/tour for her work people that evening — and tours mean getting out the soft-serve ice cream machine. Because of course we have one of those. And in fact, this time we didn’t even have to get it out, just reload it again, since that was the third field trip we hosted this week. It’d been a while since the cows had had visitors, and it just so happened the schedules all collided into this week. I honestly do not even want to know how much ice cream Benson has had, considering he was averaging two cones per tour. 

What do a bunch of 5th-6th graders, a group from an assisted living facility, and an office of hospice care workers have in common? They scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream. 

Sundae Cone Affogato

Is there any other food that I could feature for the letter “I” besides ice cream?? (For real though, it’s pretty much that or iceberg lettuce, injera (Ethiopian crepe), or iodized salt.) Soft-serve ice cream is delightful, but we usually just do vanilla and it gets a little one-note and too-sweet for me after a while. One of my favorite things to do is come back in the house and sprinkle in some instant coffee granules or dollop on some peanut butter, something a little bitter or savory to counteract the sweetness. Putting it all together like this took the fun up a notch. 

Prep tips: I used a homemade unsweetened chocolate syrup because I’m weird like that.

• a vanilla ice cream cone (soft-serve or regular)

• ¼-½ cup iced strong black coffee/espresso

• chocolate syrup

• whipped cream

• chopped nuts

• pinch of coarse salt

• dash of chai masala or pumpkin pie spice 

Keep the whole ice cream cone in the freezer until you’re ready to assemble. Pour coffee into a wide mug, pop the cone in upside down, and garnish with the remaining ingredients. Eat immediately, enjoying the changing flavors and textures as things melt and meld.

Amanda Miller lives with her husband, two young children, and whoever else God brings them through foster care on the family dairy farm in Hutchinson. She enjoys doing some catering, teaching cooking classes, and freelancing, but mostly chasing after her kids. Reach her at hyperpeanutbutter@gmail.com.