What’s your favorite ice cream flavor? Me, I am a chocolate kind of gal, but every now and then I let my taste buds wander. My love affair with ice cream began years ago. My maternal grandparents are Beaver people so every so often I would pile into our 1974 Ford Esquire Station wagon with my six siblings and hit the road with mom and dad to grandma’s house. On rare occasions, we would take the “old road” to Parowan and grab ice cream cones at the Pit Stop. They were simply delicious.
Intertwined with my Parowan Pit Stop memories of ice cream are the memories of churning ice cream in my grandma Hofheins’ ice cream freezer. As a family, we would gather in grandma’s kitchen and participate in the ritual of freezing the ice cream. It was fun, as cousins by the dozens flocked to take a turn at churning knowing there would be a big payoff.
In my later years, I ventured just two streets west of my home and discovered Cedar City’s Main Street. This was a huge discovery for me. Back in those days, Cedar Drug and Fernwood’s both had soda fountains. It was big business for me to take my Cowley Drug candy money and spend it on ice cream. But it proved worth it. After all, during the dog days of summer, don’t we all scream for ice cream?
Today, Bulloch Drug on Cedar City’s Main Street is my favorite soda fountain. I have been frequenting Bulloch’s for the past twenty-three years with one or more of our five children. The history of this place is just as delicious as the ice cream.
In 1934, present day Bulloch drug was Thornton Drug until 1955 when Don and Sylvia Bulloch purchased the business. Don and Sylvia expanded the drug store to house a café and a long soda fountain along the north wall. Unfortunately, in 1960, their doors closed. Gratefully, in 1996 Evan and Chris Vickers purchased Bulloch Drug and resurrected Cedar City’s gathering place. This 1950’s themed soda fountain serves up milk shakes, ice cream sodas, and banana splits. Bulloch’s “soda jerk” can customize any ice cream order. The store is complete with a vintage jukebox, 1950’s parlor chairs and tables, bulk candy, Fernwood Sweets, Utah Truffles and chocolate covered Cinnamon bears.
Other fun Cedar City summer treat spots worthy of your wander include: Palette Bakery, Sub Zero Nitrogen Ice Cream, Crumbl Cookies, Hermie’s, Culver’s Dairy Queen, Finney Farm Dairy and Country Store, Tiki Shack, and Cones Shaved Ice.
Grandma Hofheins’ Homemade Ice Cream
Scald 2 quarts milk until layer of milk forms on the top. Remove from burner, then add the following ingredients:
3 cups sugar
8 tablespoons flour
¼ teaspoon salt.
Stir until custard consistency. Let cool until room temperature and then add 4 eggs slightly beaten then add vanilla and lemon extract to your liking. Add 1 1/2 pints whipping cream pour into ice cream freezer and churn.
