Happiness Project: Sunday! Sundae!

The Ice Cream Sundae seems innocent enough: Ice cream with a bit of syrup poured over it, a generous dollop of whipped cream, possibly some nuts and then a cherry perched on top. The story behind it's origin, however, is a story that is hotly debated. There are two communities in the US that are at the front of this war. They are Two Rivers, Wisconsin and Ithaca, New York. The Two Rivers Wisconsin story goes like this: Due to blue laws sodas were outlawed on Sunday. To get around this, a local soda fountain started serving a "dry" soda that they called a Sunday. It was ice cream topped with chocolate sauce... a handful of berries was added to make the whole thing seem a bit more wholesome. The other community that claims to have stared the Sundae fad is Ithaca, New York. Their story is not about a legal smoke screen designed to deceive the religious right but rather it is a morally salubrious tale about a Unitarian minister inventing this after church treat with a local soda jerk.

If you are a foodlore nut like me you might want to read more about the history of the sundae at The Official Website of the Ice Cream Sundae. If you just like to eat and want to get scooping you can simply follow the lead of Thing 1 and Thing 2 here and make a Sunday Sundae. All you'll need is some ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce (or sauce of choice...I recommend against sweet and sour... but to each his own), and some cherries. You might also want some chopped nuts, sprinkles or bits of candy.

Sunday, May 1, was National Chocolate Parfait Day. And there was no better way to celebrate than with this layered frozen treat of perfection.

For those of you who think that they have figured it all out... The parfait DID NOT come before the Sundae... so we can't give the French credit for any more culinary masterpieces. The parfait traces it's origin back to 1894... the ice cream sundae on the other hand was invented somewhere around 1892. So maybe the folks from Ithaca and Two Rivers can just join hands in solidarity against the French. It has brought folks in this country together before...Let's give it try.

You can still win this cute toy by stopping by Monday's post and making a comment. The contest will be open until Friday and I will announce the winner on Monday at next weeks Makeover Monday.