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1968

The Red Lobster chain of seafood restaurants is launched in Lakeland, Florida.

Procter & Gamble begins manufacturing Pringles Potato Chips in Jackson, Tennessee. Compounded of dried potato flakes, these extruded, identically shaped chips are packed in tubular containers to keep them crisp, fresh, and intact.

With Phase One of its restoration completed, Shakertown (now Shaker Village) at Pleasant Hill, Kentucky, is open to the public. Of particular interest to visitors: the dining room and its menu of authentic Shaker recipes.

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MISSISSIPPI FRESH FIG ICE CREAM

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

This recipe comes from my friend Moreton Neal, who grew up in Mississippi but now lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She says that every summer when figs hung heavy on the bush, her grandmother would make this ice cream “for the family gatherings of my childhood.” Later Moreton served her grandmother’s fig ice cream at La Résidence, the restaurant she and former husband Bill Neal opened at Fearrington Village, then relocated to downtown Chapel Hill. The fig ice cream was so popular, she adds, “that several of our patrons asked to be called as soon as it appeared on the menu. We served it drizzled with a good ruby port.” Note: Moreton’s grandmother mashed the figs for her ice cream, but I purée them in a food processor. If you prefer a slightly coarser texture, pulse the figs only until moderately finely chopped. Tip: Turn the egg whites into angel food cake; it’s perfect with fresh fig ice cream.

3 cups half-and-half

8 large egg yolks

11/3 cups sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 cups puréed, peeled, dead-ripe figs (20 to 22 medium-size)

¾ cup good ruby port

1. Pour the half-and-half into a medium-size saucepan, set over moderate heat, and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally; this will take about 5 minutes. Moreton says that her grandmother just heated it until a “skin formed on the top.” If you stir the half-and-half as it heats, it won’t “skin.”

2. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks lightly with 2/3 cup of the sugar and the salt in a medium-size heatproof bowl, then continue whisking as you slowly add the scalded half-and-half.

3. Pour back into the saucepan and cook, whisking constantly, over moderately low heat for 8 to 10 minutes or just until the custard thickens; it should coat the back of a metal spoon. Do not allow the custard to boil; it will curdle.

4. Remove the custard from the heat, mix in the heavy cream and vanilla, then quick-chill in an ice bath for 15 to 20 minutes or until refrigerator-cold, stirring often.

5. Mix the remaining 2/3 cup sugar and the lemon juice into the puréed figs, then combine with the cooled custard.

6. Pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s directions.

7. To serve, scoop out the ice cream and spoon 2 tablespoons of the port over each portion.

BILL SMITH’S AMAZING HONEYSUCKLE SORBET

MAKES ABOUT 8 SERVINGS

I’ll never forget the midsummer night friends and I were dining in the garden at Crook’s Corner in Chapel Hill. Suddenly chef Bill Smith arrived at our table with a bowl of sorbet. “Let me know what you think of this,” he said. “It’s a new recipe I’m working on.” We were blown away. Bill had captured the sensuous floral fragrance every Southerner knows so well—honeysuckle—and spun it into a silky sorbet (the recipe is in his new cookbook, Seasoned in the South). In his headnote Bill says that Crook’s owner, Gene Hamer, had urged him to turn honeysuckle nectar into something edible. On steamy nights the heady scent of honeysuckle running amok just outside the restaurant was driving the staff nuts. Having read that Arabs in Spain and Sicily had made flower ices, Bill decided to give that a try. The trick was to capture the bouquet of the honeysuckle, not the bitterness. He succeeded. “The best flowers,” Bill writes, “seem to be the wild ones with the pinkish throats, although the regular ivory-colored