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Thursday, April 10, 2014

I is for Israel's Ice Cream

My theme for A- Z is the year my book takes place, 1881. I'll be posting about people, places, and random facts about the year as it relates - however distantly - to my book, West of Paradise.



While researching the town of Tombstone (which figures prominently late in the story), I came across mention of Israel's Ice Cream, much to my surprise. Who knew they had ice cream back then? Not me! But I had to incorporate it into my story:

 
Jack was gone before she could protest, but instead of finding someone to bring water for a bath, he headed back to where they’d first gotten off the stage. Because he’d spotted something he hadn’t seen in a long while: ice cream. Israel’s Ice Cream to be precise, and Jack was willing to bet Katherine had never had anything like it.
Katherine had barely gotten comfortable in the chair by the window when Jack returned.
“You’ll never guess what I found,” he said.
She sat up, trying to see what he had. Her eyes lit up as he drew closer.
“Where did you get that?” she asked.
“Israel’s Ice Cream,” Jack said with a pleased smile, handing her the dish. “I spotted it as we walked.”
“You are a man of many talents, Jack McCabe,” Katherine said. She dipped the spoon in and closed her eyes as she savored the taste, sighing with pleasure; it was cold and sweet and very vanilla.
She had eaten it all before she noticed Jack didn’t have any. “Oh! I should’ve shared!”
Jack shook his head with a smile. “It’s okay. I think it was actually more enjoyable watching you eat it.”
***








11 comments:

  1. Watching her lick the spoon...
    Sorry, back to reality.
    Bet they had to sell it fast.

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  2. And now I need to have some ice cream!

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  3. This was grea read. Smooth as ice cream.

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  4. I think it had just come into popular existence at that point.

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  5. How fun. I wish I remembered the first time I tasted ice cream...

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  6. I had no idea about that. What a cool fact.

    And I wouldn't have shared either. Ice cream is awesome.

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  7. I wonder how they made ice cream back then. What a treat it must have been.

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  8. Am I the only one who was caught by the name "Israel" and the white and blue bowl (the exact shades of the Israeli flag)? I don't know where that thought came from.

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  9. When was ice cream invented? When was refrigeration invented? I know ice cream has been around for a while...

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  10. Oh the joy of giving, and watching the receiver enjoy every moment... I love finding out unexpected snippets of information when researching

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