Ice Cream Ireland

Since Christophe’s son is sadly a bit too young to help out, we’re looking for a production assistant for the summer, with the possibility of the position becoming permanent. So, if you want a summer in Dingle making ice cream, you can send a CV to:

• JP Houlihan, Murphys Ice Cream, Strand Street, Dingle, Co. Kerry
• You could also email it via this site, and I will pass it on.

Baking or other food background helpful, and love of ice cream a must! Legal only.

Technorati tags: job, production, Dingle, ice cream

I’ve been tagged by the Kitchen Goddess, and the idea was to put together your best ten photos. Boy, is the Goddess’ line-up beautiful, and it’s a site worth visiting for sure. However, I’m feeling very lazy, and instead of going through all my photos (the idea makes my head hurt), instead I’ve pulled up my ten favourite current ice cream news stories, which has nothing to do with anything (and don’t worry - there’s no tagging involved).

As you probably know, I’m rather fond of Google News, and the last time I looked up the news on ice cream, there was a lot of doom and gloom (Vol I here). This time, it was all fluff, nonsense, and happiness. To whit:

1. The Mail on Sunday broke the following story - “Posh takes kids out for ice cream.” Must have been a slow news day, and I have to wonder - a) who cares and b) is this really the most shocking photo the paparazzi can manage?
2. Staying with celebrities, it appears that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt feed their kids ice cream for breakfast. My estimation of the pair has definitely gone up.
3. On a more serious note, IOL has it that Carrie Underwood likes to eat ice cream after a break-up. She says, “Ice cream is my friend.”
4. Still more - the Boston Herald reports that Josh Beckett of the Red Sox has demanded to be traded unless the club return the ice cream machine it removed from the clubhouse. He’s not the only one aggrieved - third baseman Mike Lowell said, “I don’t know why we can’t have ice cream. We won the World Series with it there.”
5. Reuters reports that a Viking ship made out of ice cream sticks set sail for England from the Netherlands on Tuesday. I’m delighted at the recycling involved, but one really must wonder about the odd historical context. Maybe I didn’t pay attention in history class, but I don’t remember that the Vikings were big on popsicles…
6. More on recycling - it appears that the gunk at the bottom of wine barrels is good for stabilising ice cream. Yes, the sediment is called “grape wine lees” and a Taiwanese study shows that it apparently reduces melting in ice cream by 30-80%. Unfortunately, there are also some “unpleasant effects.”
7. The Baltimore Sun announces a fundraising ice cream social for dogs. It’s part of a whole array of events including “Bark and Rejoice” and “Wagging Contest.”
8. As several customers mentioned in our shops, the Apprentice had the contestants making ice cream. I missed it.
9. Even the Economist had a cheerful ice cream story- Mehmet Ali Talat, the unrecognised president of Northern Cyprus, pulled off a publicity stunt by going walkabout on the Greek side of the line and sampling the local ice cream.
10. Finally, I was intrigued by this story: Three Twins Ice Cream in California has a $60,000 sundae. Sound a lot? Well for that you get to fly to Tanzania first class and ascend to Mount Kilimanjaro, where the founder of the ice cream company will hand-churn your ice cream using glacial ice from the summit. You also get a souvenir t-shirt.

Technorati tags: ice cream, news, top ten

  I try to keep politics off this blog, but this story deserves attention:

The Green Party announced today that they are considering bringing a motion to the Dail that would ban freezers in Ireland. The ban is set to reduce carbon emissions, but Irish industry is less than impressed, stressing the likelihood of job losses. According to Green Party spokeswoman Deirdre De Gruen, however, the ban on freezers that could come into effect as early as January 2010 would play a major part in reducing Irish carbon levels to new stringent EU targets.

“We were elected to address climate change and get on with the business of government,” she said. “This bill will have a major impact on the environmental health of Ireland.”

According to activists, eating fresh foods instead of frozen foods would save up to 30 million tons of carbon through savings in electricity and diesel on freezer vans. A total ban on freezers would also result in a significant reduction of waste, as freezers cannot be recycled. In addition, it would have positive health implications, pushing consumers toward fresh produce. Even noted organics champion Prince Charles has weighed in on the issue.

“Food should come fresh from a farmers market or an organic farm,” he told a British broadsheet recently, “not from a little tin or pot. I would love to see Buckingham Palace freezer-free and Camilla agrees.”

So are refrigerators next, and could we survive without our frozen peas and ice cream? According to Government sources there are no moves yet to put a freeze on fridges, and surviving without a freezer might be easier than you think. Almost half of people surveyed by this paper couldn’t identify the contents of their freezers and 32.5% stated their freezers only contained left-overs that would never be consumed.

Not everyone is convinced, however, especially the fishing and ice cream industries. Small business consultant and representative David Montague claims such a bill would jeopardise as many as 1,000 Irish jobs and could have serious consequences for the economy.

“We will be mounting a campaign to stop this mis-guided motion before it ever reaches the floor of Government buildings,” he said.

So will business win out or will frozen fish, peas and ice cream simply melt away? According to the Green Party, there could be special exemptions for food producers and outlets. Chippers might be allowed frozen fish that comes from EU-designated disadvantaged areas, for example, and ice cream makers could still operate if they use alternative power sources.

“Change is not always comfortable, but it is time to do the right thing,” Ms. De Gruen said.

From the Muster Daily Express.

Note: Now that April Fools is past I will add that this was only meant for the day and there is no truth in this whatsoever (as far as I know!)

Technorati tags: freezer ban, Green Party, ice cream

 A reader of this blog passed on the following tidbit - there is actually a company that makes frozen treats for dogs. Yes, indeed, Polar Pups in Chicago makes soy-based doggie ice cream.

Ivan, the ice cream dog (shown above), has been known to enjoy an ice cream. In fact, he loves to hover outside our shops in the hope of distracted children and dropped cones, so maybe there is something to it. Mind you, I think he likes the actual wafer bit better than the ice cream, unlike the insatiable ice cream cat.

However, we try to keep their intake to a minimum, and other Irish animals shouldn’t get up their hopes when it comes to what we do. We’ll be sticking with ice cream for humans. For all other species wanting a taste, hanging around outside our shops is a pretty good bet. Something’s bound to fall…

Technorati tags: Ivan, dog, Polar Pups, ice cream

 I had an excellent surprise - in the middle of a day of proofing the latest version of the manuscript in the office and constantly running downstairs to scoop ice cream during this busy Easter week, I received a present of cupcakes.

It was Laura from Eat Drink Live, who was visiting Dingle from Limerick with her wonderful little daughter. And yes! Her baking tastes as good as it looks on her wonderful blog. The customers who can buy her muffins regularly at Ivan’s are lucky indeed!

Thanks, Laura!

This is not a real tub! It’s those folks over at Slate, who are running a campaign to name a flavour for Barack Obama after Ben Cohen of the Vermont ice cream company endorsed Obama (and the senator won in Vermont - that’s the power of ice cream!) Should Hillary get a flavour as well? How about Mr. McCain? I reserve the right to “borrow” this excellent idea the next time Ireland heads into a general election…

On a different note, I gave a recipe for Green Tea and Ginger ice cream recently, and if you want to see another take on green tea ice cream, head over to Tartelette, for a mouth-watering post about white chocolate and matcha ice cream taken from Kuidaore.

Finally, here are a couple of ice cream blogs to check out: Vegan Ice Cream Paradise (where you can find a vegan version of Guinness ice cream among other things) and Ice Cream Fellow who brings his scientific approach to the ice cream process…

Technorati tags: ice cream, flavour, Barack Obama

I’m half thinking, for the craic, of going to the blog awards dressed in full ice cream man regalia, including white wellie boots, which I have always wanted to wear in Dublin, and a big floppy Gelato chefs hat. Of course, it would be easier to pull off such a thing with my brother Sean (photo, right), who is fearless but sadly unable to attend. Still, it is tempting. What do you think?

 I’m in such a good mood! The sun is shining here in Dingle, this morning I found the most beautiful crocus (photo above) in my garden, there are daffodils popping up everywhere, and it well and truly feels like Spring!

I’m happy that my friend Cynthia won an Oscar for her documentary Freeheld, and I was delighted for Glen Hansard as well, who we’ve been lucky enough to hear in Dingle on numerous occasions.

And, best of all, after almost a month of grinding through yearly accounts, paperwork,  and pre-season planning, I’m finally going back into the ice cream kitchen this afternoon to play (developing caramelised coffee sauce and better chocolate chunks). Things are looking up!

Technorati tags: Dingle, Irish, spring, crocus, Oscar, Freeheld

A journalist asked me a couple of days ago whether I’d keep blogging if I didn’t get any comments or feedback. Although I enjoy writing about the sweet things I love, there is little doubt in my mind that some of your excellent comments as well as feedback like this keeps me at it. So… I’m adding “Recent Comments” to my sidebar as a little way of saying “Thanks!”

I’m sure you all know about Google News, but I’ve just discovered it. What fun! I looked up “ice cream,” and here’s what I learned after reviewing the news in the world of ice cream:  

The Top Ten Current Ice Cream Stories

1. Ice cream is just as prone as anything else when it comes to changing tastes.

• The Electric New Paper reports that in Singapore, a tree with a miraculous image of a monkey god on it is no longer the huge religious draw it used to be, forcing an ice cream vendor to close down his business.

2. The ice cream trade is far more violent than I had ever expected, living and working in the safety of Co. Kerry. A few examples:

• The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that a 19-year-old Richmond man was convicted today on charges that he shot and gravely wounded a Blue Bunny ice-cream vendor on a school playground parking lot in October.
• The Scotsman has a story that an ice-cream man who was gunned down as he served children from his van has complained of still being haunted by the attack.
• The Nevada Appeal: Henderson police say officers trying to issue a speeding ticket shot and killed a 42-year-old woman who they say took a knife from her ice cream truck and made threatening moves.
• The Telegraph has a story that an ice cream director was held hostage in France and only freed when the police stormed the building.

3. Ice cream could be a potential decider in US politics.

• The Boston Globe: Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s fame has endorsed Barack Obama, the Illinois senator’s campaign announced today.

4. Gravity applies to chocolate sauce.

• The Telegraph reports that an upmarket ice cream parlour is refusing to pour chocolate sauce over its cones because of health and safety fears (they are worried that customers might slip on spilled sauce). 

5. Never underestimate the effect of sweetening up your customers!

• The Boston Herald reports that Toscanini’s, a venerable ice cream firm in Cambridge, MA, had its assets frozen by the Internal Revenue Service and was on the verge of bankruptcy before it was saved by customer donations.

6. A certain natural sweetener is potentially endangered.

• CNN Money talks about how the widespread disappearance of bees is impacting on ice cream companies. Haagen Dazs is taking up the fight.

7. Ice cream theft (as tempting as it might be) is still theft.

• The Maui News declares that the students arrested in the theft of ice cream from their school will be charged with second degree burglary.

8. You can make ice cream out of snow, but avoid yellow patches!

• The Leader talks about the traditions and potential hazards of making ice cream from snow.

9. You don’t need racing cars for a Grand Prix.

• The Sanremo News announces the ‘Grand Prix del Gelato Artigianale’ in May, so if you’re in Italy, you can taste lots of ice cream and find out who will be this year’s champion gelato maker.

10. If you’re in the ice cream business, pray for a heat-wave.

• The Herald (South Africa) reports that the sales of ice cream and bottled water have soared amid summer sizzler.

Ah, that has me dreaming here in the cold of February. Heat-wave? That’s not likely to happen any time soon. I bet that statistically there’s a better chance of a monkey god appearing in a nearby tree… And, by the way, any US Presidential candidates are welcome to come to Dingle or Killarney for an ice cream if they are looking for an endorsement!

Technorati tags: ice cream, news, top ten