A Few of My Favorites

Thoughts From the Front Porch

Random thoughts from the front porch…

Disclaimer: I am not a paid influencer. I have never received a dime for promoting a product, and I don’t intend to start now, although I would accept a lucrative payment to be a product spokesperson if I truly believed in the product. The likelihood of that happening is slightly less than the U.S. ever being able to pay off it’s national debt.

Like Julie Andrews in the 1965 classic movie, “The Sound of Music,” today I will share with you a few of my favorite things. Actually a couple of things, both related to ice cream.

I’m not promoting or recommending them. I’m just expressing my fondness for these products. This may be a continuing occasional feature of this newsletter, if the subject matter resonates with my readers, who would be interested in sharing their thoughts about their favorite similar products.

On Substack, likes are great but comments are what expands the discussion of the subject matter provided. So, please, don’t be shy. My favorite things cannot be debated, it’s a personal thing. I will appreciate and respect your thoughts and recommendations on the product I discuss or on your preferred choice of a similar product.

A Few of My Favorite Things:

Turkey Hill Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Premium Ice Cream

If I could have a bowl of any supermarket variety of ice cream in the world, I’d choose this one.

As the box says, it’s chocolate ice cream swirled with roasted peanut butter. The ice cream is creamy and smooth with just the right reading on the chocolate meter. It’s the peanut butter that separates Turkey Hill from the other brands’ chocolate and peanut butter mixtures. I think it must be because it’s “roasted.” The swirls of chocolate are generous and they are frozen hard, so they crunch in your mouth before they thaw and give you that burst of peanut butter flavor. Reese’s proved decades ago that peanut butter and chocolate were made for each other. When both are of high quality, it’s unbeatable.

Turkey Hill Dairy began in 1931 during the Great Depression. Farmer Amor Frey began selling milk to neighbors from his sedan, according to Wikipedia. Interestingly, Frey’s family obtained the farm directly from Thomas and Richard Penn, sons of William Penn.

The company is headquartered in Conestoga, Pa. It was a subsidiary of Kroger from 1985 until it was sold to Peak Rock Capital, a private equity firm, in 2019. In 1954 the dairy began making ice cream. Records from 2012 said Turkey Hill Dairy produced 25 million U.S. gallons of frozen dairy dessert. Since 2000, Turkey his has been the fourth largest producer of ice cream. Nestle, producers of Dreyer’s/Edy Grand, Haagen-Dazs, Movenpick ranked first. Second was Unilever, makers of Breyers Ice Cream (another great brand) and Ben & Jerry’s. Third was Wells’ Dairy, makers of Blue Bunny.

Turkey Hill products are available at Walmarts and other retailers.

Leopold’s Ice Cream Shop, Savannah, Ga.

I’ve only been to Leopold’s once, but I’m longing to return. It’s about an hour’s drive from my Brunswick, Ga., home but if I’m in the neighborhood, I’m there.

My wife and I stopped for lunch when were enjoyed with our grand daughter a trolley tour of the beautiful southern city of Savannah. Where we ate was just around the corner from Leopold’s, which had an advertisement in the trolly tour information. We all agreed, Leopold’s was in a class by itself when it comes to ice cream shops.

Leopold’s has been serving up ice cream since 1919 in Savannah.

I don’t remember what ice cream I ordered, but it looked a lot like the photo that accompanies this post. It was chocolate and nuts for a heavenly mixture. It’s the place to go for a real ice cream shop experience. They offer scoops of many flavors of deliciousness as well as ice cream sodas and old-fashioned milk shakes.

Two Greek-immigrant brothers, George and Peter Leopold came to Savannah to be close to a sister and to open an ice cream shop. Peter’s youngest son, Stratton Leopold, took over the business in 1963, at age 20. He closed the shop six years later and left Savannah for Hollywood, where he became a film producer, director and actor, his life-long dream. Stratton, now 81 years old, has been in the film business for more than 40 years. He also served as Executive Vice President of Paramount Pictures. His ice cream shop has a lot of movie memorabilia to enjoy while savoring the ice cream.

The Leopold brand was continued at Basil Leopold’s Restaurant across town.

In 2004, Stratton Leopold moved the ice cream shop to its present location on East Broughton Street, in Savannah’s downtown. Stratton Leopold hired Hollywood production designer Dan Lomino to recreate his father’s soda fountain from the original store. The ice cream is made using the same recipes developed by the Leopold brothers. Today, it is known for regularly having a line of customers waiting outside.

If you fly into Savannah’s airport, Leopold’s has a full-service shop there, so you don’t have to go downtown. Jimmy Carter’s favorite was Leopold’s butter pecan. Carter wrote the forward tp Leopold’s Ice Cream: A Century of Tasty Memories, 1919-2019.

Leopold’s will ship ice cream almost anywhere.

By the way, Leopold’s is just around the corner from Paula Dean’s Lady and Son’s restaurant.

Thanks for reading. Your comments are most welcome and would make this post even more interesting.

Or you could support my work by buying me a $5 cup of coffee here. That’s cheaper than a dozen eggs these days. And… coffee is my drink of choice when I’m enjoying ice cream.