Marilyn Brant Skids in Sideways
Please welcome Marilyn Brant to Skidding in Sideways. I had the good fortune to meet Marilyn through the Jane Austen blogosphere, and she was kind enough to come here bearing prizes and ice cream recipes. So if you love ice cream, Jane Austen, or romantic comedies, please check out Marilyn's books. So without further ado, welcome, Marilyn!
First of all, I wanted to say a big thank you to Jennifer for having me here today. It was so kind of her to invite me over!
I have loved ice cream for as long as I can remember. Having grown up in America's Dairyland (let's hear you all shout, "Wisconsin!!"), I had the opportunity to eat LOTS of ice cream as a kid. We lived in close proximity to the UW-Madison, and there's a well-known place on campus called Babcock Hall where they make really fresh, really creamy and, sometimes, really unusual flavors of ice cream. They have "Berry Alvarez," which is a combination of berry ice cream with swirls of blueberry, plus raspberry and strawberry bits, and "Union Utopia," which is vanilla ice cream with swirls of peanut butter, caramel and fudge, and my very favorite, "Orange Custard Chocolate Chip," which is creamy orange-flavored custard packed with chips.
And we also were within easy driving distance of a Bridgeman's Ice Cream Shoppe that served more traditional flavors, but they were all delicious. I especially loved their "Cinnamon." Even more fascinating to me was their famous Lollapalooza Ice Cream Sundae — eight scoops of different ice cream with whipped cream, a banana, nuts, various sauces and cherries! I was never allowed to order it as a kid (sigh), but one time, when I was in 2nd grade, my adventurous aunt went there with us and she did order it… Not only that, she ate the WHOLE thing by herself! As a seven-year-old, I was awestruck. In many ways, I still am…
So, my delight in all things ice cream goes back decades, and when I began writing my romantic comedies, On Any Given Sundae (June 2011) and Double Dipping (out now!), my goal was to share some of that love with readers. On Any Given Sundae is about a shy dessert cookbook writer and the high-school football star — turned successful restaurant owner — that she always had a crush on, and how the two of them end up running an ice cream parlor for the summer. Double Dipping, however, my newest release, delves even deeper into the ice cream world. I actually did some serioius research on ice-cream-making for this novel (no joke!), including reading a book on the history of Ben & Jerry's, since that was the kind of premium, creatively named ice-cream I was looking to replicate in this story.
Double Dipping is a book about a dedicated second-grade teacher who fights the school's new financial director in order to reinstate a much-beloved autumn festival. But there are secrets, ambition, attraction and meddling family members complicating matters in their little corner of Wisconsin — a town where the motto is "Sundaes Save Souls," where doctors prescribe "two scoops" instead of aspirin and where homemade ice cream is plentiful, thanks to a chemist in town called Mr. Koolemar. His brand of "Kool Kreme Ice Kreamations" were tremendously fun to create on paper, and there are a couple that I'd love to try to make in my kitchen!
A few of my favorite fictional flavors from the book are: "So-Ho-Ho Supreme," which is New York cherry melded with wintergreen and peppermint, "Tangy Citrus-Pumpkin Mélange," which is a blend of cool pineapple, orange, grapefruit and lemon flavors with the warmth of sweet roasted pumpkin and the recipe (a real one!) that starts each chapter, one step at a time, "Chunky Cherry-Chocolate Jubilee," which has candied cherries, milk chocolate chips and shaved dark chocolate. I made up a score of other flavors, too, like Bananarama Creme Pie, Chocolate Chip Peanut Brittle Bonanza, Coconut Carob Ripple, Runaway Mint Paradiso and Strawberry Whiplash.
I found online a recipe that I imagine would fit right in with Mr. Koolemar's stash, and I wanted to share it with you. I think it's the perfect blend of summer refreshment + fall flavors: "Pumpkin Ice Cream in Chocolate-Dipped Cones"! Check out the Better Homes & Gardens page for it here: http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food/recipes/pumpkin-ice-cream-540785/ YUM!
Okay, so now it's your turn! What is your favorite ice cream flavor — or flavors?? Have you ever tasted a really creative combination? I have a prize for one random commenter — gifts from my women's fiction stories: an According to Jane tote bag (that's my Austen-inspired book where a woman gets dating advice from the ghost of JA), a Friday Mornings at Nine t-shirt and a luggage tag for my upcoming novel A Summer in Europe. Open internationally.
Hope you all have a wonderful week!!
Jennifer here. In addition to commenting on this blog post and answering Marilyn's question (I suspect she's actually looking for new flavors to feed her addiction!), I'm offering some other ways you can enter to win her awesome prize pack. One entry each. Please leave a comment for each of the following ways you enter:
Follow Marilyn's blog
Follow Marilyn on Twitter
Tweet the following message. (You can tweet this once a day and will get one entry per tweet.)
Love romantic comedies and ice cream? Enter to win a @marilynbrant prize pack! http://bectonliterary.com/?p=1655 #doubledipping
The Fine Print
This giveaway will remain open until Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at 11:59 EST, at which time one (1) winner will be randomly selected. Open internationally. Prizes graciously provided by Marilyn Brant.
