January 16, 2011

When one says the words Disney and food, a cornucopia of things come to one's mind from the Disney theme parks' great world class dining destinations to the Turkey leg carts or perhaps the movies come to mind from the singing French chef Louie and how he loves "les poissons" or the little rodent chef Remy who cooks for big appetites in Ratatouille. Outside of the parks and movie theaters, Disney characters reach our everyday lives through food including Disney Princess Cereal, Donald Duck Orange Juice, Toy Story Fruit Snacks, and even Mickey Mouse sting cheese!  In the spirit of From Screen to Theme, this weekly blog will attempt to show you where you can find your favorite Disney characters in food, but also where you can find food at Disney.  The possibilities are endless!  Join me every Sunday as I help you add a little Disney magic to your recipes at home, find some Disney magic at your local grocery, or discover delicious escapes at the Disney parks.

What better way to begin this project on Disney and food then with the big cheese himself?  With the mouse that started it all for Walt Disney, I bring you the mouse's most famous form: the Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Bar.  Just thinking about the bar brings me back to those childhood summers when a cold treat was welcome on a hot day.  All fun and games would take a breather when that magical music box tune interrupted the shouts of laughter and play through the neighborhood.  My brother and sister and I would run to mother for a dollar to get a delicious cold treat to cure the hot and stickiness of the humid New Jersey summer. 

The Ice Cream man's truck was decorated with colorful menu signs showing some fun treats like the Flintstones push-up pops, the red white and blue Firecracker popsicles, and even a green colored ice cream treat in the shape of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.  Though I was partial to the Nestle Crunch ice cream bar, I did change it up a few times for a Mickey Mouse bar.  There was nothing more satisfying than biting into the chocolate dipped ear, hearing the clean snap of the chocolate and feeling it melt in your mouth as you dug deeper into the creamy chocolate ice cream inside.  Perhaps the juxtaposition between the snapping chocolate coating and the creamy ice cream made this a unique summer treat.  Perhaps it was Mickey's chocolate smiling face that let you know it was okay to devour him.  Perhaps the seasonality of the treat and the memories of visiting Disney World or watching a Mickey Mouse cartoon helped make the frozen treat extra sweet.  Whatever it was, the Disney magic made this summer treat extra special.

(Photo source: http://media.photobucket.com/image/mickey%252527s%20parade%20ice%20cream/justking81/Articles/mickey.jpg)

Through the years, Mickey Mouse's ice cream form has gone through many design and name changes such as the Mickey's Parade Ice Cream bar by Good Humor or Nestle's Mickey Mouse Premium Ice Cream Bar you can find in the parks today.  I haven't visited the neighborhood ice cream truck at all in the past decade, so I am not certain if Mickey is still available though a few years ago, I did stumble upon a nice surprise in the frozen food aisle at our local supermarket. Around that time, Disney brand food items were popping up all over the supermarket, and thankfully, the Disney food manufacturers had the sense to produce the Mickey Mouse ice cream bar, with the same chocolate dipped ears and chocolate ice cream features. Under yet another new name, the Chocolate Ears Mickey ice cream bars seem a bit smaller than the Good Humor bar of my childhood; nonetheless, it's great to have these bars available for your home freezer.  When you're feeling too old to visit the ice cream man and you're too far to visit the Disney parks' ice cream vendors, bring some Disney dessert magic into your life with this new incarnation of the Mickey Mouse Ice Cream bar.

Photo source: http://www.womansday.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/images/06-wd0609-ice-cream-truck-treats/646390-1-eng-US/06-wd0609-Ice-Cream-Truck-Treats.jpg