The Results

Short story: it was a total success! 

Lots of folks came, talked, lingered. The kids threw a football back and forth and the adults chatted and we ate All the ice cream (the 6 quarts that the machine made, plus a couple quarts leftover from the practice batch I made beforehand). 

I was too busy having fun to document the event very well but I did post a short video and a couple pics to facebook. Lots of likes, which, while nice, was not what I was going for. I was and am hoping that my friends might feel inspired and empowered to host their own socials. 

My life is richer this week than it was before I set out to do this. The murder of George Floyd broke my heart and was the incident that prompted me to reach out to the folks in my mixed neighborhood, so we could at least know who it is with whom we share this little patch of earth. 

If you live on a racially diverse street, this is a great way to meet the people around you. It doesn’t require too much commitment on either your part or theirs, plus there’s something about ice cream that tends to set people at ease. 

Even if your neighbors all look like you, it’s still a great way to build a little community. People are all different, and the more different people you know, the better your life. Preach it Lenker.

So! Here are a few tips for hosting a successful ice cream social. 

1. Pick the easiest time for people possible. For me, that meant Sunday at 6pm. Late enough so the day has started to cool down. Early enough so there’s still light for a couple hours. Decide the date however far in advance you want, but I wouldn’t start inviting people until just a few days before. I think the element of surprise works in your favor here. 

2.  Location. Keeping it outside is best. For one, hosting outside — in your front yard if possible — is good because it allows people to just ‘drop by’. It’s an act of courage to venture over to a stranger’s house, and I wanted to make it easy for my neighbors to take a chance. Having it in your front yard makes your gathering visible to the whole street, plus visitors don’t even have to knock on your door. 

Obviously COVID is still an issue. A very reasonable argument could be made that now is not the time for a social gathering. Two reasons I felt like going forward with the social: people clearly want to be together, want to do something tangible in answer to the murder of George Floyd. For me, ending racism starts with actually seeing the people around you. I am challenging myself to draw as large a circle of “Us” as possible, and having an ice cream social with my neighbors felt like a good start.

The other was keeping it outside minimized the risk. Of course it did not eliminate it. It was a call on my part and on the part of the people who chose to come. Some folks wore masks, some didn’t. I tried to be careful. I set the chairs up in the yard, spread as widely as I could, but once people started hanging out, as you can see, social distancing didn’t really happen. So, that might be a concern for you.
 

3. Make a simple flyer. I call my thing the Sunday Social but you can call yours whatever you want “Jimmy D’s Ice Cream Social’ or whatever. Put the date, time and your address on the front and a little disclaimer that says “homemade!”. That makes it feel special. My friend who is a professional designer (thanks Camp Nevernice!) made my flyers, but you can do anything. You don’t have to be an artist. Draw a balloon on there if you want. 

I printed my flyers up at FedEx (4 flyers on an 8x11sheet of paper) and cut them apart by hand on their paper slicer, but you don’t have to be that fancy. I made 40 flyers, which seemed about right. I wrote a note on the back of each saying “hope you can make it! text/call if you have any questions!” And I put my number. You don’t have to do that of course. I just wanted people to feel as welcome as possible. 

4. Hand your flyers out personally. I think this was the most important step. It lets your neighbors see that you’re a normal person. Normal enough. I knocked on each door on my street. Of course, when someone knocks on your door, your first reaction is to be annoyed. Why else would someone be knocking unless they wanted something from you? So yeah some people didn’t answer, in which case I left a flyer on the porch somewhere. But most did. The routine was always the same: 

Skeptical Neighbor: Y-yes?

Me: Hey I’m Korby and I live a few houses down from you.

Still skeptical neighbor: yes?

Me: And, well, come Sunday I’m making a bunch of ice cream and inviting everyone on the street and I wanted to make sure you were invited.

No Longer Skeptical Neighbor: Whaat? Oh, okay. Yes, I’ll try to come!

Then half the time I’d talk with my neighbor for five or so minutes. Just getting to know him/her a little bit. Feeling all happy, I’d walk to the next door and try again.

So before any ice cream was made or eaten, the neighborhood was already getting friendlier. It was great. 

5. Make a test batch of ice cream before your Social. Especially if you’ve never made it before. I used a White Mountain 6 quart freezer. A nice machine, but expensive. You can get something workable on eBay for less than 50 bucks. I wouldn’t get anything less than a 5 quart maker. 

I made vanilla becauseI made vanilla because Who doesn't like vanilla, and I got as many toppings as I could think of: chopped strawberries, walnuts, chocolate syrup, caramel, butterscotch etc.

Watch a video on Youtube called THE BEST HOMEMADE ICE CREAM RECIPE IN THE WORLD. Presenter John Sanders does a great job breaking down a simple, effective recipe. He doesn’t use eggs in his ice cream. But I think it needs them, so here is my recipe for homemade ice cream, which is basically John’s with a little less sugar, and 5 egg yolks. This recipe is for a 6 quart freezer:

Korby’s Homemade Ice Cream Recipe

1 quart whole milk

1 quart half and half

1 quart heavy whipping cream

2 3/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract (you can go heavy on this)

5 egg yolks

Just watch the video and do what it says, beating the yolks and adding them to the milk in the first step.

6. Day of. I made a playlist for the event, set up a small speaker for music. I bought a big garbage can. 50 plastic bowls and spoons. I didn’t advertise it but I did buy a few beers and through them in a cooler, and had another cooler with soft drinks, la croix, and bottled water. 

I also made a batch of Moscow Mule punch, thinking that might help folks linger (it did). I set up a table for the ice cream and put out whatever chairs I had. I told people, when I remembered, to bring their own chairs. A lot of them did. 

I made a little bit of food which I brought out after the first round of ice cream - about an hour in - and that helped folks continue to hang as well. 

It was really fun and now I know almost everyone’s name on my street. We're gonna do it again soon.

Let me know how your own social goes!

Korby