It’s going to be a very busy weekend, my friends!  A very busy and also very delicious weekend, so I hope that you’ve already taken the time to polish up your favorite dessert spoon and clear your calendar…

Just a little bit of history for you – National Ice Cream Day was actually established by Ronald Reagan back in 1984 … in fact, in addition to designating the third Sunday in July as the official day, the guy saw fit to take it even a step further than that by proclaiming the entire month of July as National Ice Cream Month!  Finally, a President dedicated to what the people want! Something tells me that his cabinet meetings must’ve been awesome…

Anyways, although my wife and I were but wee toddlers when this holiest of all dessert-oriented occasions was first written into the books, I’ve got to tell you that nowadays this holiday is taken very seriously around our humble abode.  I mean, my wife absolutely loves all things frozen and scoopable and to serve a dessert sans ice cream is practically sacrilegious in our home, so really in a way, pretty much every day is National Ice Cream Day around here simply by the sheer volume of cartons that are packed into our freezer at any given moment, but nonetheless, kind of like how gingerbread men are just a little more special when you’re baking in the month of December, there are parts of this glorious day that simply can’t be mimicked on just any random Tuesday evening…

For me, it’s all of the preparations that go into making National Ice Cream Day Eve such an exciting day, like spending the whole afternoon decorating the house while singing ice cream carols, and coming up with all sorts of crazy, new toppings for the ice cream sundae bar (lesson learned: sardines do not make for a good ice cream topping…).  There’s that peaceful time while we all sit around the air conditioner and listen to someone read the story about how ice cream was first invented, and of course, it all leads up to that anxious moment when we scamper back to our rooms after leaving a big plate of shiny, new quarters out for the ice cream man at bedtime!

The waiting at that point, mind you, is absolutely unbearable, and as we lie awake in bed anticipating all of the new flavors that will be waiting for us come morning, my mind also wanders to other questions like, “What if I wasn’t good enough this year and the big man only leaves me sorbet instead?!” and “How does he fit that musical, refrigerated truck of his down our itty, bitty, little chimney???”

Some are questions that hopefully I’ll find the answers to soon enough, and some I may never find the answers to … at least not without camping out in the kitchen and disguising myself as the dishwasher or something … but one thing is certain as we approach National Ice Cream Day here during one of our muggiest years ever – at least for the next week and a half, my diet is so completely and totally boned!

So from everyone here at, well, me to all of you out there in Happy Reader Land, have yourselves a safe and wonderful National Ice Cream Day! May your ice cream headaches be short lived and your free samples be so plentiful that Ben & Jerry’s names their next flavor after you…

Just for the record, I think that Scott’s Succulent Summertime Surprise would look great there on the shelf in my grocer’s freezer section!  Birthday cake batter ice cream loaded with pepperoni pizza, sesame chicken, barbecue potato chips, that filling from the center of Oreo cookies, and just a hint of peanut butter – Mmmmmm…