[1] Bake a Lemon Blueberry Icebox Cake for National Blueberry Month. The recipe is below (photos #1, #2, and #5 © C&H Sugar).

[2] Cool from the fridge, icebox cake is a treat on a warm summer day.

[3] It’s blueberry season, and it’s easy to make fresh blueberry jam for the recipe (photo © Burpee).

[4] Buy lemon curd and use the rest of the jar on toast (photo © Bonne Maman).

[5] Thanks to C&H sugar for the recipe.

July is National Blueberry Month, and July 8th is National Blueberry Day. That calls for something special—and easy to make, like this Lemon Blueberry Icebox Cake.

You don’t need an oven to make a great dessert. Made with fresh blueberries, lemon curd, and sugar, Lemon Blueberry Icebox Cake is a no-bake treat everyone will love.

Thanks to C&H Sugar for the recipe.

Is it icebox cake or ice box cake? The compound noun, icebox, is the preferred usage in dictionaries.

> The history of icebox cake is below.

> More icebox cake recipes.

> More blueberry recipes.
 
 
RECIPE: LEMON BLUEBERRY ICEBOX CAKE

Prep time is 35 minutes, and chill time is 4 hours. Because the cookies need time to absorb the moisture from the whipped cream, you need to prepare the cake at least 4 hours in advance. You can make this cake the night before and let it set up in the refrigerator overnight.

Stored in the fridge, icebox cake should last 2-3 days. But if you want the cake to last more than a day, use stabilized whipped cream.

You can make this a red, white, and blue cake for Memorial Day and July 4th by mixing blueberries and raspberries.
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREPARE the blueberry jam. In a small saucepan, place 2 cups of blueberries, granulated sugar, lemon juice, and salt. Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally until thickened, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool down. Once the jam is at room temperature, mix in ½ cup of fresh blueberries. Place in the refrigerator while you prepare the cream.

2. USING the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat at medium-high speed the cream cheese, baker’s sugar, and lemon zest until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the cream. Increase the speed and beat the mixture until stiff peaks form. Reserve one-third of the mixture in the refrigerator to finish the cake after the chill time.

3. LINE a 10 x 5-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap. Place a layer of graham crackers onto the bottom of the pan. If needed, break crackers to fit. Evenly spread one-third of the cream over the graham crackers. Dollop 1/4 of the prepared jam over the cream. Dollop 1/3 of the lemon curd over the jam, evenly spreading both layers. Repeat the layering process. Finish with a layer of cream and graham crackers.

4. COVER with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for at least 4 hours. When ready to serve, invert the cake over a serving plate, remove the plastic wrap, and cover the cake with the reserved cream cheese cream. Top the cake with the reserved blueberry jam. The cake can be stored in the refrigerator prior to serving.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF ICEBOX CAKE

The concept of the icebox cake is simple yet ingenious. It typically consists of layers of cookies such as chocolate wafers or graham crackers, alternated with layers of whipped cream or pudding. The cake is then chilled in the refrigerator (the “icebox” of yore), allowing the ingredients to meld together to create a moist, creamy, no-bake dessert.

It is a no-bake descendant of the French charlotte and the English trifle.

In the days before air conditioning, it was a welcome summer alternative to turning on the oven.

Icebox cake (also known as refrigerator cake) is an American invention. Recipes for icebox cakes began to appear in the 1930s when most households had an icebox (an insulated box that held a block of ice). The electric refrigerator was just beginning to gain traction†.

The Famous Chocolate Refrigerator Roll recipe, printed on the back of the Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers box, instructed home cooks to layer the chocolate wafers with sweetened whipped cream and let it set in the refrigerator overnight. The moisture of the whipped cream penetrated the cookies, turning them into cake-like layers.

Nabisco Chocolate Wafers were the most commonly used cookies for icebox cake but home cooks all over the world have experimented and come up with endless variations. That’s good news, because in 2023, Mondelez, the owner of the brand, quietly discontinued Nabisco Chocolate Wafers (boo! hiss!).

Here’s a recipe to bake your own.

The icebox cake quickly became a hit. The recipe was widely shared and variations emerged using different ingredients, including different cookies, flavors of pudding (à la trifle) instead of whipped cream and added fruit (sliced banana, pineapple, etc.).

Today, icebox cakes continue to be a popular dessert, although they may have evolved with modern variations and creative twists. For example:

 
 
________________

*You can pulse granulated sugar (table sugar) into ultrafine sugar in a food processor.
 
†At the beginning of the 1930s, only 8% of American homes had a refrigerator.: By the end of the decade, that number had jumped to 44%. By the end of the 1940s, they were a common feature of American homes [source].

[1] Just hand us a spoon for a dive into a pint of chocolate chip ice cream (all photos © Rebel Creamery).

[2] From pint to cone.

[3] One of America’s Top 10 favorite flavors, birthday cake.

[4] Ready to slurp: chocolate and strawberry shakes.

[5] Finally: sugar-free sorbet (here in raspberry and mango).

July is National Ice Cream Month, and we’ve found a winner. We stumbled across Rebel Ice Cream in our supermarket. The pint carton screamed out: No Sugar Added! Lactose-Free! Low Carb! High Fat! (The fat here is a good thing; you need it for premium ice cream.)

We were intrigued enough to pick up a pint to scan the ingredients and liked what we saw. It’s our Top Pick Of The Week.

While we don’t follow a ketogenic diet, we do look for sugar-free ice cream (because we eat so much of it), and given our proclivity to eat 3/4 of a pint as a normal serving, our system likes lactose-free dairy as well.

Rebel’s nutritious fats, zero sugars, and no lactose enable everyone to indulge in creamy, full-fat ice cream. It’s the first premium, low-carb, high-fat, no-sugar-added brand of ice cream and sorbet.

So how does Rebel compare to other ice creams, from Halo Top to Häagen-Dazs?

Check the chart below. And check out all of the wonderful flavors of ice cream and sorbet in the next section.

> The history of ice cream.

> The different types of ice cream.
 
 
A CORNUCOPIA OF ICE CREAM & SORBET FLAVORS

Rebel’s line of keto-friendly ice cream flavors was created to be the lowest net carb ice cream to deliver the taste and texture of a creamy premium ice cream.

How can one relatively small company offer 28 flavors? We’re not complaining: Each one we’ve tried has delivered.

How many of these would you like delivered to your freezer?

Rebel Ice Cream Flavors

 
Rebel Sorbet Flavors

 
Total sugar per pint is 0g-2g; each pint has 4g-8g net carbs. The sweeteners used are erythritol and monk fruit.

Most flavors have fewer than 0.5g of sugar per serving and are therefore sugar-free according to USDA standards. All flavors are lactose-free.

Rebel is the lowest glycemic index ice cream on the market. It’s also gluten-free.

Again, here’s the comparison chart of Rebel and other brands, from sugar-free to superpremium.

The brand also sells ice cream sandwiches, chocolate milk, and coffee milk. We can’t wait to try them.
 
 
GET YOUR REBEL ICE CREAM

Check here for a store locator.

You can also purchase from the company website, RebelCreamery.com.

And yes, there are gift cards.

Rebel Creamery co-founders, Austin and Courtney Archibald, said they initially tried a keto diet as an experiment to reduce their sugar intake and eat more healthfully.

One thing they missed, though, was ice cream.

“Homemade ice cream was a staple in our house and a favorite family activity. [But] existing commercial options were higher carb, contained sugar, and had an icy or chalky texture,” said Austin Archibald. “Rather than giving it up, we decided to ‘ketofy’ our favorite recipes.”

Seeking the creamy texture of real, full-fat ice cream, they worked with food scientists to develop the lowest net-carb ice cream that had the taste and structure of premium ice cream

“We ran a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign in December 2017. We were overwhelmed by the response! We hit our goal within 3 hours of launch and ultimately raised $80,000.

“We soon learned there were millions of people out there also looking to indulge in creamy ice cream without the negative impacts of sugar. Their demands and voices helped us get into thousands of stores across the nation [source].”

By 2020 the family start-up had reached $97 million in sales [source]!

We discovered a new product at this year’s big food show for the specialty food trade: DateFix Natural Energy Snack.

Although it was developed by a long-distance runner, it’s a real find for those of us who have never run a block in our lives.

DateFix is a healthy snack that’s made only with puréed dates and orange blossom water, plus optional flavorings (cinnamon, ginger, and turmeric).

The small squeeze pouch with 80 calories has turned out to be a great pick-me-up for us. It fits into the smallest pockets and is a delicious companion when we have a cup of coffee on the go.

The line has no added sugar, is non-GMO, OU kosher, shelf-stable, and vegan.
 
 
MORE USES FOR DATEFIX

Eat it from the tube, spread it on celery or a cracker, or:

 
Dates are high-fiber, high-potassium, low-glycemic fruit. The snack is a whole food that’s sweet and delivers energy with no sugar crash.

They deliver energy-rich carbohydrates, dietary fibers, proteins, minerals, and vitamins (calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and vitamin B complex).

The brand’s founder developed DateFix after realizing that date paste, a popular Middle-Eastern pastry filling, presented a delicious opportunity.

And that opportunity is now available to anyone looking for a better-for-you sweet snack.
 
 
GET YOUR DATEFIX

Head to DateFix.com.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF DATES

Dates, the fruit of the date palm tree (Phoenix dactylifera), have a chewy texture and candy-like sweetness. They have been called “nature’s candy.”

Dates are one of the oldest cultivated fruits*, first grown in the Fertile Crescent† as 4000 B.C.E.

The date palm tree is native to the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East. Fossil evidence indicates that dates grew wild at least 50 million years ago.

There are more than 200 varieties of dates with different shapes and flavors; however, all of them are the same in nutrition. Check out some of the most popular types of dates.

They continue to be an important crop for Iraq, Iran, Arabia, and North Africa.

Dried dates could keep for years, making them valuable food for travelers. But that’s not all!

They were turned into a honey-like sweetener; in fact, the phrase “the land of milk and honey” refers to honey made from dates, not bees.

Dates were also fermented into date wine. The tree itself was a source of fiber for ropes and baskets; the fronds provided shade.

Some date varieties were brought to California and Mexico by the Spaniards in 1765.

According to National Geographic, however, the Medjool date and Deglet Noor date were brought to California in the 1900s by the great American botanist and agricultural explorer Walter Swingle.

Since the early 20th century, dates have also been cultivated in Arizona and Florida.

Dates’ popularity in the U.S. grew in the 1940s when they were eaten instead of the sweets that couldn’t be made because of sugar rationing during World War II.

In the U.S., most dates are grown in the Coachella Valley and the Bard Valley of California. An annual Date Fest has been held in Indio, California since 1921 [source].
 
 
________________

*Figs are the oldest cultivated fruit, followed by dates, grapes, and olives. They were a primary food source for the ancient peoples of the Mediterranean region. The domestication of figs goes back as far as 11,000 years [source].

†The “Fertile Crescent” or “Cradle of Civilization,” are names given to the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. It was the original area for much cultivation of essential crops. Today, the area includes modern Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and southwestern Iran.
 
 
 

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[1] DateFix’s four flavors in convenient pouches (photo © DateFix).

[2] Medjool dates (photo © Bard Valley Natural Delights).

[3] Barhi dates (in photo) along with the Medjool variety are the most popular in the U.S. These dates are dried (photo © Good Eggs).

[4] A cluster of Barhi dates on the tree. You can recognize them by their yellow color (photos #4 and #5 © Arno Senoner | Unsplash).

[5] The clusters in photo #4 growing in the date palm.

[1] Grilled romaine hearts with apples, cherries, walnuts, and feta cheese (photos #1 and #2 © Envy Apples).

[2] An Envy apple.

[3] It’s easy to grill hearts of romaine (photo © Hitchcock Farms).

[4] Use fresh pitted cherries. The photo shows are a mixture of Bing and Queen Anne varieties (photo © Washington State Fruit Commission).

[5] Walnuts are delicious on this salad, but you can substitute pecans (photo © Bake Your Day [now closed]).

[6] This recipe uses feta, but you can substitute blue cheese or goat cheese (photo © DeLaurenti).

[7] It’s easy to emulsify a vinaigrette by shaking the ingredients in a jar (photo © Colavita).

When you turn on the grill for burgers, franks, chicken, whatever, how about including a grilled salad (a.k.a. charred salad) into the “whatever?”

Over the long holiday weekend, we had the opportunity to grill romaine, which we enjoy in a grilled Caesar salad. But yesterday, we added fruit and nuts. It was a crowd-pleaser.

The recipe for this sweet and spicy grilled salad was sent to us by Envy apples. Envy is a crossbreed of Braeburn and Royal Gala apples, bred for a sweet flavor and satisfying crunch.

> The history of salad.

> The history of apples.

> The history of romaine is below.

> There are 13 more grilled salad recipes below.
 
 
RECIPE #1: GRILLED ROMAINE SALAD
 
Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the grill. Slice the apples into 1-inch cubes and set aside.

2. PIT the cherries, cut them in half and set them aside.

3. SAUTÉ the walnuts in butter until the edges are browned.

4. SLICE the romaine in half lengthwise and place on the grill. Grill romaine until char marks appear.

5. PLACE the romaine on a serving tray and top with the sautéed walnuts, feta cheese, apples, and cherries. Drizzle with vinaigrette. Garnish with optional flowers.
 
 
RECIPE #2: HONEY VINAIGRETTE
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE all ingredients in a jar and shake until blended.
 
 
MORE GRILLED SALAD RECIPES

 
 
THE HISTORY OF ROMAINE LETTUCE

Romaine (Lactuca sativa L. var. longifolia) is the most upright growing of the four major types of lettuce. It has a cylindrical shape instead of a round head like iceberg or Boston lettuces. The leaves are long and crisp with a distinctive rib down the center.

Romaine has been cultivated and eaten cooked or raw for more than 5,000 years and may very well be the oldest form of cultivated lettuce [source].

It was grown and eaten raw or cooked in China’s early history. Paintings in Egyptian tombs‡ dating from about 4500 B.C.E. show a type of lettuce with long pointed leaves, similar to romaine lettuce.

It was called Cappadocian‡‡ lettuce by the Romans, which led to its being called Roman lettuce. In Italian the translation is lattuga romana and in French laitue romaine, leading to the shortened name “romaine” [source].

In the 14th century, when the popes moved their papal residence from Rome to Avignon, France,† they grew romaine in the palace gardens. It then became known as Avignon lettuce.

When romaine arrived in England, it was called cos lettuce after the Greek island of Cos (also spelled Kos, the birthplace of Hippocrates!), off the coast of Turkey in the Aegean Sea, where the variety was said to have originated*.The first mention of cos lettuce in English dates from the late 17th century [source].

Romaine is also known as Cos lettuce in some parts of the U.S. source.

As with other dark leafy greens, the antioxidants (specifically, carotenoids) contained within romaine lettuce are believed to play roles in blocking the early stages of various cancers [source].

In terms of nutrition, romaine is the most nutritious lettuce. It has the most vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants per serving, delivering more folate, potassium, beta-carotene, and lutein [source].

Romaine is the second most important type of lettuce, iceberg lettuce being the first.
 
 
________________

*Other authorities trace cos to the Arabic word for lettuce, khus [source]. Romaine lettuce is commonly used in Middle Eastern cuisine [source].

†French-born Pope Clement V moved the papacy to Avignon in response to an increasingly fractious and political environment in Rome.

‡According to Wikipedia, for 3000 years (from at least 2700 B.C.E.), the lettuce was associated with the ancient Egyptian god of fertility, Min, for its resemblance to the phallus.

‡‡Cappadocia is a region in central Turkey.

[1] Burrata is a delicious first course or snack, paired with basil, tomatoes, and extra virgin olive oil (photos #1, #2 and #3 © Mozzarella Company).

[2] Burrata stracciatella. Cutting into the pocket of mozzarella cheese reveals shreds of mozzarella mixed with cream.

[3] Burrata con crema with red grapes and balsamic glaze. You can also drizzle regular balsamic vinegar, honey, or extra virgin olive oil, and can use any stone fruit.

[4] Burrata can become a vegetarian main course on top of vegetables (photo © Sid Wainer & Son | Facebook).

[5] Pizza with burrata and Parmesan cream. Here’s the recipe (photo © Casserole et Chocolat).

[6] First course or dessert: grilled peaches with burrata. Here’s the recipe (photo © DeLallo).

We love burrata, a cream-filled fresh cheese.

Burrata is a sack of mozzarella filled with a creamy center. Unlike most cheesemakers, Mozzarella Company, one of America’s great artisan cheesemakers, makes three varieties:

 
If you’re a burrata superfan (and we are!), you’ll want to order some of each for a special cheese fest.

Here’s how burrata is made, per Paula Lambert, owner of Mozzarella Company, which is based in Dallas, Texas, and sells its cheese online as well as at fine retailers nationwide.

Following this section on the production process, there are more articles and recipes below.
 
 
HOW ARTISAN BURRATA MADE

“To make our mozzarella we coagulate farm-fresh milk by adding selected bacteria (called cultures) and rennet (an enzyme that reacts with the lactic acid that is produced by the milk) so that our milk soon resembles a vat of white jello or yogurt,” says Paula Lambert.

“Once coagulated we manually pull cheese knives through the milk to cut the curd into soft, little pieces. Immediately upon being cut, a cloudy yellow liquid called whey comes out of the curds.

“Because milk is mostly liquid, eventually there is a lot of yellow whey and a smaller amount of curds. (It takes one whole gallon of milk to make just two 8-ounce balls of mozzarella.)

“When the curds are mature we stretch them in hot water using a paddle to [turn them into] a smooth and satiny mass of fresh mozzarella.

“This is where the art of cheesemaking comes into play because there is only a small window of opportunity during which the curd can be successfully stretched and formed.

“Since the development of the lactic acid cannot be stopped. If the cheese is stretched before the pH reaches 5.2, the cheese is tough and inferior. If the pH falls too low, we have lost the batch of cheese completely.

“Next we pinch off a piece of fresh mozzarella that we stretch to become a flat disc. Then we fold it into a beggar’s purse* and fill it with creme fraiche [for burrata con crema].

“We seal the burrata by squeezing the mozzarella. Finally, we toss [the balls] into cool water to chill.

“Once chilled, the balls are packaged in governing liquid (water) which helps to maintain their shapes while keeping them very moist.

“Our burratas stay fresh for about 3 weeks. They can also be frozen and later defrosted in the refrigerator.”
 
 
ORDER YOUR BURRATA

> Head to the Mozzarella Company website.
 
 
MORE ABOUT BURRATA

> An overview of burrata cheese.

> The history of burrata cheese.

> The history of cheese.

> The different types of cheese: a photo glossary.
 
 
BURRATA RECIPES

Burrata is one of those treats that can be served for breakfast with toast, with lunch, or with dinner.

Or, serve it when you kick back with a glass of wine, perhaps with these crostini recipes).

The simplest way to serve burrata is on a plate with some crusty bread, sliced heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil, and a drizzle of fine olive oil. It’s a variation of Caprese Salad.

Just as easy: Place a burrata half or quarter atop a green salad, a fruit salad, or a bowl of pasta.

Some recipes:

 
 
________________

*Beggar’s purse (a.k.a. crêpe purse) is a shape used for dumplings, filled pasta, and other filled foods. They are called sacchette, sacks, in Italian. The shape got its name from a pouch-shaped form of the alms purse worn on the belt and containing the money. See photo #7 below.

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