National Vanilla Ice Cream Day is observed annually on July 23rd. I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!! As part of National Ice Cream Month and not too far behind National Ice Cream Day, National Vanilla Ice Cream Day honors one of the most popular of the ice cream flavors.
In North America, the most common use of vanilla flavoring is for ice cream and many people consider vanilla to be the ‘default’ flavor.
Like with cherry trees and Washington, it seems some stretching of the truth is applied to our country’s third President concerning vanilla ice cream. His love of vanilla ice cream, most likely discovered during his time in France, lead to a belief that he brought the recipe to the United States. However, evidence exists supporting colonists made ice cream before Jefferson’s recipe surfaced.
By the time he was elected President, Jefferson’s fondness for the frozen dessert became evident. According to Montecello.org, the dish was reported by visitors served several times during his presidency. Jefferson produced a handwritten copy of a vanilla ice cream recipe in the 1780s, which is now housed at the Library of Congress. The Thomas Jefferson ice cream is also available at Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota.
