{"id":19939,"date":"2026-07-02T19:19:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T19:19:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=19939"},"modified":"2026-07-02T19:19:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T19:19:19","slug":"ice-cream-queen-flavors-from-black-americas-past-present-future-by-lokelani-alabanza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/02\/ice-cream-queen-flavors-from-black-americas-past-present-future-by-lokelani-alabanza\/","title":{"rendered":"Ice Cream Queen: Flavors from Black America\u2019s Past, Present & Future by Lokelani Alabanza"},"content":{"rendered":"

c.2026, W.W. Norton\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/strong>
\n$29.99 <\/strong>
\n264 pages<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Terri Schlichenmeyer<\/strong>
\nThe Truth Contributor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your tongue can barely stay behind your teeth.<\/p>\n

Is it Rocky Road that\u2019s tempting you, or chocolate chip cookie dough?\u00a0 Maybe something with caramel on top, or just plain vanilla, dressed up in a rainbow of sprinkles. Have you ever had a bad ice cream cone on a hot summer\u2019s day? Probably not \u2013 so dip into the new book Ice Cream Queen<\/em> by Lokelani Albanza<\/strong>, and have a taste.<\/p>\n

For nearly three centuries, says Albanza, \u201cAfrican American hands have been touching sugar.\u201d Planting it, harvesting it, processing it, every step was loaded with possible danger, loss of limb and loss of life.<\/p>\n

Sugar is the first ingredient for ice cream, which was first made some 1500 years ago but which didn\u2019t arrive in this country until around 1744. Thirty years after that, America\u2019s first ice cream parlor was opened in New York City, and it was a hit. Take note, though, and stress the word \u201cparlor.\u201d An ice cream shop<\/em> was a totally unacceptable place for unchaperoned ladies. A parlor<\/em> was completely fine.<\/p>\n

Writing about memories of her grandma\u2019s stash of ice cream, Albanza recalls enjoying it after a good Southern meal cooked by the Tennessean woman. In her career-journey, Albanza learned about other Black cooks and Black cookbooks,<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then I found Sarah Estell.\u201d<\/p>\n

From roughly 1840, until the Civil War, Estell, a Black woman, owned and ran an ice cream \u201csaloon\u201d in Nashville, serving ice cream she made. Known locally as the \u201cIce Cream Queen,\u201d Estell seemed to disappear after 1865.<\/p>\n

Like her \u201cNorth Star,\u201d Estell, Albanza makes unusual kinds of ice cream.<\/p>\n

In this book, you\u2019ll find a glossary of terms, lists of equipment needed and directions for different bases to get you started. There are recipes for basic flavors, Parmesan, cream cheese & pepper jelly, burnt almond and marshmallow. You can have blueberry ice cream, cranberry-cherry vodka, summer corn and more. But why stop there?<\/p>\n

Says Albanza, \u201cI have yet to come across one person who doesn\u2019t like ice cream. Not one.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s your preference? A waffle cone, a regular cone or in a bowl? Sprinkles or not and okay, now you want some ice cream but first, check out Ice Cream Queen<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The thing you\u2019ll notice about this book is that it\u2019s so happy.<\/em> From the \u201cbirth of ice cream,\u201d to tales of notable people in frozen-concoction history, to recipes for kids and kids-at-heart, this is one of those books that cooks will love but it\u2019s not just for them. Author Lokelani Alabanza satisfies everyone, from historians to foodies, with step-by-step, easy-to-try instructions, so you can create tasty foundations for whatever flavor you might want to try. There\u2019s even some encouragement for a little experimentation of your own. Glossy photos will make your mouth water while you\u2019re smiling big.<\/p>\n

Summertime can be a scorcher, and you know what cools you off best?\u00a0 Yep, so find this book, invest in a few tools and be the hit of the neighborhood. For that, a book like Ice Cream Queen<\/em> can\u2019t be licked.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

c.2026, W.W. Norton\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 $29.99 264 pages By Terri Schlichenmeyer The Truth Contributor Your tongue can barely stay behind your teeth. Is it Rocky Road that\u2019s tempting you, or chocolate chip cookie dough?\u00a0 Maybe something with caramel on top, or just plain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19940,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[20],"class_list":["post-19939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book_review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19939"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19941,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19939\/revisions\/19941"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19939"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=19939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}