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Health & Fitness

Summer Fun With Floats

Root beer floats make quick and delicious desserts the whole family can make and enjoy.

By Colleen Walsh Fong
It seems fitting that National Black Cow Day would fall during National Dairy Month, even though the black cows discussed here are of the dessert sort, not the animal-standing-in-the-field type. Black Cow Day is on June 10th this year and the dessert it celebrates is one of my favorites in warm weather because it is both cold and easy to make. So easy that kids 7 and older can make their own—and yours too.

Also called Brown Cow and Root Beer Float, the dessert beverage is made with vanilla ice cream and root beer. Some versions call for adding a bit of chocolate syrup. As much as I like chocolate I’m a purist when it comes to a root beer float and take mine “neat.”

There are many claimants to the title of “Inventor of Black Cows.” I favor giving the credit to Frank J. Wisner of Colorado, mainly because I like the story best.  According to this version, he invented the Black Cow in Cripple Creek, CO during the summer of 1893. Wisner made soda waters for residents near to the Cripple Creek Cow Mountain Gold Mining Company, which he owned. (Just that name alone endears me to this story.) Wisner is said to have taken his inspiration for the drink from the image of snow-capped and black Cow Mountain and he translated the vision into a glass of root beer sporting a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Whether or not it really came from a peek at a snow-capped mountain, the Black Cow can cap off a family meal with lots of fun. Just set out a container of vanilla ice cream, a scoop, a liter bottle of root beer, and some glasses, and let kids of all ages create their own delicious treats. Make this and other easy cookbook recipes at home to keep the budget down and the family well fed. 

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