Arctic’s ice cream turkeys quickly becoming a Thanksgiving tradition
Thanksgiving is just about here, which means stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, turkey-shaped ice cream, cranberry sauce …
“Hey now you just wait a second,” I can hear you screaming, after throwing your newspaper out of your hands, standing up out of your easy chair, placing your pipe on the end table (this is how people still read newspapers, right?). “What’s this silly talk about turkey-shaped ice cream? This is nonsense! I demand an explanation!”
Well settle down. Explanation forthcoming.
“I’ll be making them all day tomorrow. And the next day. And Monday and Tuesday also,” said longtime Arctic Ice Cream turkeymaker Chris Giberson. “Vanilla and chocolate only.”
If you’re wondering why anyone would want turkey-shaped ice cream for their Thanksgiving, I’ve got a better question: Why wouldn’t you?
“They stand up,” Giberson said. “Made to order.”
For the record, they are singleserve, cost $4 a bird, and need to be ordered by Saturday for Wednesday pick up at Arctic’s HQ on Arctic Avenue in Ewing.
They are remarkable. Truly. Works of art. Finely detailed. Kind of incredible.
And we’re lucky to have them. “Yeah, we found the molds for these a bunch of other stuff in the attic a few years back,” said third generation owner Tom Green. “I’ve got crates full of them. We do Santas for Christmas. We have airplanes, footballs, everything.”
The molds date back to the 1940s, Green said. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the directions that came with them.
“It took us a while to figure out how to even do it,” Giberson said. “You have to put it on dry ice, but if you leave it too long, the ice cream will shatter. Too short, they’re too soft and you can’t get them out of the mold.”
Giberson said she’s got a system, doing six ice cream turkeys at a time, though she may have to ramp up production.
“More and more are ordered each year,” she said. “We’ve been doing it for six or seven years, which as it turns out is long enough for some families to start seeing this as part of their tradition.”
Gotta be real here: The idea of 25 ice cream turkeys marching out of the kitchen as dessert on Thanksgiving is … well, it’s lovely. It feels so down-home, I can practically hear the roosters crowing in the background.
Which makes sense as Arctic has been a staple in the Mercer County community since 1931, when it originally opened on Hermitage Avenue, moving to its present location in the early 1940s. For a long time, a restaurant was attached — think comfort food with fresh ice cream for dessert — but running a restaurant and running a wholesale and retail ice cream establishment are two different turkeys, so Green closed the food operation about a decade ago.
But the ice cream marches on, with dozens of local — and beyond — restaurants dishing out their “house” treats, which are made right here in Ewing.
Ask Green which restaurants, and … well, you have a better chance finding out the truth about Roswell.
“We are famous for our peanut butter, though,” Green admits.
Gobble-gobble.
Jeff Edelstein is a columnist for The Trentonian. He can be reached at jedelstein@ trentonian.com, facebook. com/jeffreyedelstein and @ jeffedelstein on Twitter.