ICE CREAM: YOU SCREAM, WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM

About half the customers who come through the door at Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop in Town Plaza already know what flavor they'll select for their cone or sundae. Others scan the coolers to see what's being offered.

Parker Butler, 7, of East Prairie, Mo., walked up and down the cases Wednesday afternoon, pondering flavors like Pink Bubblegum, orange sherbet, Chocolate Cookie Dough, and of course, vanilla and chocolate.

"When you have 31 flavors, you don't just pick one," said Nina Schmidt, who with her husband, Richard, has owned the Baskin-Robbins franchise since 1978.

But Butler did choose one flavor at least at first. He chose a scoop of pink bubblegum because it had real pieces of gum in it. About half-way through that scoop, he opted for orange sherbet instead.

With the summer in full swing, people all across Southeast Missouri are enjoying ice cream treats and frozen desserts. Local consumption of ice cream is only a portion of the 1.4 billion gallons of ice cream produced and eaten during 2000.

According to statistics from the International Ice Cream Association, the United States leads in world production of ice cream -- making 20 1/4 quarts per person.

Sales of higher fat content ice creams are on the rise; the low-fat and light ice creams have seen a decline in sales.

Schmidt attributes that to people's desire for a "good ice cream that's rich and creamy." The varieties with no milk, sugar or fat aren't as popular with the Baskin-Robbins customers, she said.

Most customers come for just a scoop or two as an afternoon treat, she said. Toppings and other goodies are "just the icing on the cake."

At the Dairy Queen in Jackson, Mo., vanilla is the only flavor served. But you can choose from a variety of sundae toppings.

And the toppings and order usually varies based on the age of the customer, said Jessica Russell, who has worked at the shop for two years.

"The older people tend to get single cones and sometimes sundaes but they get toppings like butterscotch, not hot fudge," she said. Younger children favor the cookie-dough blizzards.

Al Spradling is a regular customer at the Baskin-Robbins shop, where he usually buys four hot fudge sundaes made with a scoop of chocolate chip ice cream. The ice cream is a treat for the three secretaries (and him) who work at the Spradling and Spradling law firm.

"If I go get a hair cut, they send me for ice cream," he said.

Spradling has been coming for the desserts for nearly 20 years, about every two weeks.

People are always in a good mood when they come for ice cream, Schmidt said.

Seasonal treat

Of course, frozen treats are more popular when it's hot outside.

The Dairy Queen in Jackson is only open during the warm-weather months.

Baskin Robbins is open year-round, but "When there's ice and snow on the ground, I'm one lonely scooper," Schmidt said.

Lana Andrews, a teacher at Central Junior High School, remembers childhood summers filled with scoops of the frozen treat. Her father, now 75, made homemade ice cream every summer she can remember.

"It's been a tradition in our family," she said. Only a few times recently, since her father's health has been failing, has he not opted to make the dessert himself. "But he insisted it be homemade," Andrews said. "He sat in the kitchen and dictated the ice cream recipe."

The flavor is always vanilla, she said.

Choosing a flavor is tough when they are so many options. Baskin-Robbins keeps 16 staple flavors and rotates the others. Quarterback Crunch arrives during football season and is replaced by Baseball Nut during the summer months. Other varieties for July, which is National Ice Cream Month, are Cherries Jubilee, Everyone's Favorite Candy Bar, Old Fashioned Butter Pecan, Gold Medal Ribbon and Pistachio Almond.

Choosing just one flavor to buy at the grocer's is sometimes tough for Kim Butler of East Prairie.

"Pretty much everyone likes a different kind," she said. "Usually we try to agree, and I buy the one I like, if I can."

Ice cream tips Tips for scooping and storing ice cream:

* Don't allow ice cream to repeatedly soften and freeze. Set the freezer between -5 degrees and 0 degrees Fahrenheit.

* Store ice cream in the main part of the freezer, not in a door or side shelf.

* Keep the lid of the ice cream container tightly closed.

* Use heavy scoops with fine edges to dish out the dessert.

* Warming a scoop in hot water will keep the ice cream from sticking to it.

Test your ice cream I.ce Q. Do you know the scoop about ice cream? Take this quiz and find out. If you miss more than 2 questions, you froze.

Questions

1. What month is National Ice Cream Month and who designated it?

2. Which country produces the most ice cream?

3. Are Americans eating more or less high fat ice cream?

4. What are the most popular ice cream flavors?

Answers:

1. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month and named the third Sunday as National Ice Cream Day. In making the designation, Reagan recognized that 90 percent of the nation's population enjoyed ice cream.

2. The United States leads the world in annual ice cream production, with 1.6 billion gallons in 1999 and 1.4 gallons in 2000. Nearly 9 percent of all the milk produced on the nation's dairy farms is used to produce ice cream.

3. Americans like to indulge. In 1999, the highest supermarket sales increase came in ice creams with higher fats. Gallon sales of superpremium ice creams rose 14 percent from 1998 to 1999.

4. America's top favorites were vanilla, chocolate, vanilla/chocolate mix, fruit flavors like cherry, orange, peach, etc., and cookies and cream. The ratings were based on 1999 sales figures compiled by the International Ice Cream Association.

Source: St. Louis Dairy Council