A Book with a Heart of Ice

It's darn hot-- so hot that I'll pretend Ice Cream (Mable and Gar Hoffman, 1981) isn't just a little too new for my mostly-'70s and earlier blog.

Besides, it's got '70s appeal, like this Harvey Wallbanger Pie:

Plus, it's got a tropical twist on the '50s favorite, baked Alaska:

Families in the '50s and '60s certainly couldn't have resisted the Tiki appeal of an Aloha Baked Alaska (even though I have to wonder whether the pineapple shell would have insulated the ice cream as well as cake did). (I guess it probably doesn't matter too much if the whole thing is only in the oven for 3-4 minutes.)

We even have some glorious, how-to pictures, tying it to Betty Crocker's picture cook books.

I love how the instructions say to spread the ice cream and the ice cream in the picture seems like it's too firm for that.

That meringue looks so gloriously smooth-- definitely better than the "stuffed with tuna" look of the un-topped pineapple in the background!

The book also shows how to make a homemade copycat/ precursor of Friendly's Wattamelon Roll. (I can't figure out when that was introduced!).

Added bonus: If the melon-shaped Jell-O mold gets bored, this recipe will make its day! Ice cream > Jell-O.

Or, if you prefer actual melon, the book shows how to make just about any kind of fruit into ice cream.

I'm sure the dinner guests will be thrilled to play a guessing game to which the answer for "What kind of ice cream is this?" is "Random melon flavor."

The book also shows that even though people blame millennials for the rise of avocado-based desserts, the green sweets have been around for a long time.

And they look dang cute in orange peel cups:

The weirdest part about this ice-cream-themed book, though, is that it's not all desserts.

Want some chowder, but feel like it's too hot for that?

Have a Green Chowder Frappé! Enjoy the looks of surprise when guests realize the green slush with a garnish of sour cream in the sherbet glasses is green onions, watercress, peas, potatoes, and broth.

Or, for those who like gazpacho super cold, the booklet offers a Gazpacho Frappé:

I always feel like any reasonably sophisticated adult loves gazpacho, but I have tried to like it and it's just not going to happen. Seeing it as a bait-and-switch recipe in a book that's supposed to be about ice cream does not help!

The pictures are nice and colorful, though!

And I never expected to see instructions for cutting up green peppers in an ice cream book.

Plus, you've got to love a picture that makes gazpacho look like a Bloody Mary that had something go very, very wrong! Thanks to mom for sending this book.

Now, go ice yourselves down! (I'm sure I'd rather roll around in the gazpacho granita than try to eat it.)