After our conversation about terms for ice cream trucks, a listener reports that her harried mother used to tell her kids that the cheery sounds wafting through their neighborhood were from the music truck. This is part of a complete episode...
Why is vanilla associated with blandness? When this flavor was first introduced to Europe in the 16th century, it was considered a delicacy. Thomas Jefferson came upon it during a stay in France and helped popularize it in the United States...
A traffic-light sundae is a dish of vanilla ice cream decorated with red, white, and green cherries, topped with nuts, crushed fruit, or whipped cream. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Traffic-Light Sundae” Grant, have you ever had...
Amelia in Traverse City, Michigan, says her grandfather used to pull her close and whisper There are no bones in ice cream. He has a point there, but where did the phrase come from? That phrase seems to have arisen as part of a goofy joke making the...
In response to our conversation about the expression ding-ding man, a term used mainly in Nebraska to mean “the driver of an ice cream truck,” Greg in Auburn, California, shared that he and his wife used to call that vehicle the music truck so their...
Herb in Greenfield, Massachusetts, learned French as a child and wondered why à la mode, meaning “in the fashion,” came to mean ice cream on pie. The phrase comes through French from the Latin modus, “manner, fashion, or style,” and English cooks...