Travel & Leisure Weekend Vacations And Summer Popsicles From Martha Stewart Living

Featuring Travel + Leisure

Travel + Leisure is your how-to book of travel. Covers where to stay and eat, along with what to see and do. Regular columns include travel and health, travel and money and travel photography.

You get 12 issues of Travel + Leisure Magazine for $45.00 or 17% off the cover price.

Sneak In One Last Vacation

Just getting back from a relaxing time at the beach, I can attest to the healing powers of a vacation.  We kept this one cheap by visiting my brother in Florida; the beach was nice.  It was a lot of driving, but I feel pretty recharged. When I got back to work on Wednesday, I was inspired to talk about travel in the next newsletter.

I cracked open a copy of Travel + Leisure and found a few more destinations, I'd love to visit.  You can find some great suggestions on pages 23 through 52.  There you'll find the 6 Best Beach Towns, The 3 Best Weekend Road Trips, The 6 Best Bicycle Rides, and The 6 Best National Parks to visit this summer. 

We Scream For Ice Cream

My two year old son came in the bathroom this morning and asked me if he could have ice cream for breakfast.  Laughing I told him ice cream was for special occasions, for some reason though, I don't think I convinced him since the grandparents seem to ignore this rule when visiting. 

While flipping through the August 2009 issue of Martha Stewart Living, I found a recipe for a great refreshing summer popsicle made with puréed honeydew melon , heavy cream, honey and crushed pistachios. (See page 150 or online here) YUM!  So that got me thinking about the history of icy treats...since freezer refrigeration for the home wasn't invented until the late 1920's, I assumed that ice cream was a fairly new summertime treat.

I was wrong...

The first written record of an ice based treat was around 37-68 AD when the Nero commanded that ice be imported from the mountains and mixed with various fruits.  Cream and ice mixtures entered the culinary picture during the Shang Dynasty (618-697 AD) in China.  It is surmised that the Europeans got their first recipes for ice cream from China. Then all sorts of concoctions for sherbets, gelatos, flavored ice, and ice creams flourished on the dinner tables of Europe's wealthy during the Renaissance.

Ice cream was brought to America by its first settlers and was served at presidential dinners with many of our founding fathers. The first ice cream parlor was opened in New York in 1776. The word "ice cream" was actually coined by Americans from the original term "iced cream." Mass produced ice cream (in the buckets) surprisingly came about in 1851. Then the very first ice cream scoop was patented in 1897, followed by the ice cream cone introduced to the public at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904.

Commercial factory made Good Humor Ice Cream bars followed 16 years later in 1920.  Good Humor became popular because they marketed their product via the "ice cream trucks" in 1923. According to research, it appears the "Ice Cream Truck" has been around since at least 1885. Although, back then it was a horse-drawn cart with blocks of ice to keep things cold...but I don't think the repetitious tinkling music in the distance of "The Entertainer" came about until the late 1950's.

Where Have All The Moon Men Gone?

I was chatting with a co-worker the other day and she remarked that seeing the recent 40^th Anniversary of the first Apollo Moon Landing made her feel old because she was in high school when the event took place.  There is an inspiring article in the July 27^th 2009 issue of TIME magazine about all of the astronauts in the Apollo program. It talks about their experiences on the missions...all their stories and quotes have a poetic flair that makes you wish you had the chance to be a part of their profound adventure.

The parts that I found most intriguing were the small snippets about what happened to them when they became civilians upon retiring from their astronaut careers.  They are all in their mid to late 70's now, while six of the 24 have passed away.  Check out this eight page article starting on page 28 or online here, you'll be glad you did

Isn't it time you tried TIME? Get 56 weekly issues for $29.95, that's a great deal at 89% off the cover price.