Celebrating Ice Cream Month with a Graeter’s #Giveaway!

Did you know that July is National Ice Cream Month? I love ice cream and today is the next step in our Summer of Giveaways! Before the month ends I am sneaking in just under the deadline to offer you the chance to WIN 2 FREE pints of Graeter’s Ice Cream or Gelato! The perfect treat to help you cool off on these hot days!!

Graeter’s is an artisan family-owned and operated company in business in Cincinnati, Ohio since 1870, making old-fashioned ice cream, traditional Italian Gelato, sorbets, and Certified Low Glycemic ice cream using 50% less sugar. Their ice cream is made using the traditional French Pot process. Small batch processing gives each one personal attention and creating an irresistible creaminess that is completely unique, not to mention totally addicting!

Being in the heartland of the country, they have access to the freshest cream and milk from Ohio farms that practice humane and sustainable practices, including never using any artificial growth hormones. When that cream and milk are combined with 100% cane sugar and eggs, they get the perfect custard that is the base for all their flavors. They are committed to bringing you the best ice cream and use only the highest quality ingredients in everything they make. No fake syrups, sweeteners, colors or flavorings. And no hydrogenated oils so there are no trans fats in their products.

The French Pot process is similar to the old-fashioned hand crank system used in the earliest homemade ice cream machines. Long before there were electric machines, we had to put the custard into a metal drum, set it into a bucket, attaching a crank system to the top, and surround it with a combination of ice and rock salt. Yes, my family had one of these when I was young and it was so fun to make our own homemade ice cream, but a lot of work!

We would take turns turning the crank which moved a paddle inside the drum, scraping the thickened, partially frozen sweetened cream from the outside of the drum and remixing it into the rest of the custard. As more of the mixture froze in contact with the icy water on the outside of the drum, it became harder and harder to turn – that’s when my brothers would take over and eventually, toward the end of the churning, my dad would do the last of the turns until it was almost too difficult for him. Then we knew we had the perfect ice cream!

Graeter’s uses a similar process today, making just two gallons at a time. This gives them the ability to create ice cream that has that same home-churned flavor and texture. The French Pot system greatly reduces the amount of air being whipped into the cream, creating the unbelievably smooth and creamy texture that is remarkable. And once it it’s done, they pack each pint by hand, nearly 20,000 pints a day!!

If you are lucky enough to be in the Midwest and can get to one of their 40 neighborhood stores, stop in and get the full soda fountain experience! They have cones, sundaes, sodas, shakes, malts, smoothies, ice cream cakes and more. How Fun!

Now, how in the heck are you going to win that free ice cream? It’s simple – just complete the optional entries in the Rafflecopter below. Visit Graeter’s website to find stores in your neighborhoods where you can buy your own pints of your favorite Graeter’s flavors!

Good luck in the drawing and Happy National Ice Cream Month!

This contest is now over. Congratulations to winner Karen! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is open to residents of the United States who are 18 years of age or older. The giveaway begins on 7/28/16 at 12:00am EST and goes through 8/08/16 at 2:59pm EST. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. The winner will be selected and e-mailed within 5 days of the end of the giveaway. The winner has 48 hours to respond to the e-mail or another winner will be chosen. Vouchers will be sent directly to the winner by Graeter’s.

 

Create a New Tradition Today!

 

Disclosure: I was given samples of Graeter’s ice cream to review before recommending to you and they donated two vouchers for the Giveaway. I was not compensated for this post or running the contest. As always all opinions are my own. 

 

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