Ahhh, the never-ending question. “How did you come up with the name IceMilk Aprons? What is ice milk?” An understandable question.
Technically …Ice milk is a frozen treat, similar to ice cream, but instead is made with skim milk, having less than 10% milk fat and the same sweetner content as ice cream.
It is believed to have originated sometime around 1840, and was a commonly-known dessert until 1994, when the Food & Drug Administration rules allowed for “ice milk” to be called “low fat ice cream” – and thus, the term has become virtually distinct from our vocabulary (and freezer aisles).
So the name … why the name IceMilk Aprons? While the term may be extinct for most – not the case in our family. As a child, my sister & I would travel down several times each year to visit Grandma & Grandpa. There were two things we loved most (besides seeing them, of course) about our trips: 1) the Grab Bag 2) Supper.
The Grab Bag was a blue fishnet bag with large plastic rings, filled to the brim with random items that Grandma had collected since our last trip. Puzzles, sunglasses, pens, and trinkets galore. We would take turns closing our eyes and reaching (grabbing) into the Grab Bag until we had exhausted the items.
Supper, just as exciting, was an absolute delight! With the Grab Bag, you never knew what to expect, but with Supper – we knew exactly what was coming. Not a trip went by without partaking in the infamous meal of Belgian waffles, fresh fruit and ice milk. Where this came from, I haven’t a clue, but Grandma would make it for us each time. To this day, she is the only person I know that always referred to it as ice milk.
A cherished memory and forgotten term seemed the perfect inspiration for our heirloom aprons. And so, IceMilk Aprons it was.
