Tag Archives: The Food That Built America

7/11 Trauma

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One of our favorite shows was recently the result of reminding Sidney of past trauma…

The date was July 11, 2025. My wife kindly picked up on a tradition my parents started with the kids and took them to 7/11 for Free Slurpee Day. Her good intentions transformed into chaos…

This was a screenshot I took from a video that Sid took of the kids post-chaos at a local Spokane 7/11 on July 11, 2025.

In an act that can only be described as direct insubordination of my wife’s direction, Beau decided he wanted to pour his own Slurpee. He didn’t give a damn that many other Slurpee-loving customers were behind him nor that a 5-year-old had no business operating a Slurpee machine in the first place.

Deciding not to induce a major meltdown from her son, Sidney allowed Beau to pour his own Slurpee—CORRECTION—attempt to pour his own Slurpee. Ask him how that turned out. 😂

What resulted was a colorful, overflowing mess. Sidney was mortified at the snafu and the resulting humiliation at the register. If I remember hearing the story correctly, both Sid and Beau were so sticky it was a godsend that the Slurpees were free because any cash exchanged would have stuck to my wife’s hand.

Beau and Sloan hold their free Slurpees right outside of my parents’ local 7-Eleven earlier today. This was the year before Beau tried to take Slurpee pouring into his own hands.

Oh yes, you are probably wondering what television show beckoned this messy memory. It was our beloved “The Food That Built America” program that we catch on Hulu. As you probably surmised, the episode was completely devoted to 7/11. The show did a great job talking about how the invention of the Slurpee was revolutionary but they failed to analyze how it can be really tough on moms. Just two other cool things about 7/11…

– Believe it or not, 7/11 invented the concept of to-go coffee and the to-go coffee cup itself. It was unheard of at the time for motorists to have a disposable cup conducive to sipping a piping hot beverage like coffee. It makes me wonder that if not for 7/11 would we have the million coffee stands that line our streets here in Spokane?

– It didn’t take Jim Carrey in “Dumb and Dumber” to make the Big Gulp a significant player in American culture. When the soda fountain container was introduced, the average fountain beverage cup was just SIX OUNCES. Not only did the Big Gulp make soda enthusiasts happy, but it also set off the distinctively American trait of “the bigger the better.” After 7/11’s roll out, chains like McDonald’s and Burger Kings started offering “super size” options to their customers.

Guess what? We are exactly four months away from Free Slurpee Day. Make sure to mark your calendars but I am pretty sure Sidney is giving this tradition back to my parents. Don’t Blink.

The Birth of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

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This past weekend I learned the origin story of one of our country’s most magical flavors.

Sidney and I watch a show called “The Food That Built America.” It normally airs on the History Channel but since we don’t have cable we stream it on Hulu. The series chronicles the development of iconic foods and the people/companies that invent and produce them.

“The Food That Built America” is an awesome show.

Currently we are watching season five and recently finished an episode titled Ice Cream Revolution. It told the story of how America eventually moved beyond just vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice creams to richer flavors with candy mix-ins.

At one point, the show shifted to Dairy Queen’s introduction of the Blizzard. DQ bolstered its investment by officially partnering with candy and snack companies for its mix-ins. For example, Dairy Queen and Mars signed a contract so the fast food/soft serve giant could use M&M’s and Snickers in its Blizzards while also using the logos of the candy in its restaurants and marketing collateral.

Dairy Queen also partnered with Nabisco to use Oreos in its cookies and cream Blizzard. With this exclusive partnership now signed, Nabisco went after ice cream companies using its signature product in their own cookies and cream flavors. At the top of the list was Ben & Jerry’s. For years prior to the Blizzard, Ben & Jerry’s made a mint cookies and cream flavor that implied the use of Oreo cookies. Yep, DQ put a stop to that.

Desperate to replace its beloved ice cream flavor with something different, Ben & Jerry’s tried to come up with a new cookie-based flavor. While baking cookies for testing, they had a very bright idea: Why not just put the dough itself inside the ice cream? Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream was born!

Just in the same way that Sloan was mixing cookie dough, an idea sprouted in the minds of Ben & Jerry’s.

What a genius idea it was. Who doesn’t this flavor appeal to? I really feel Ben & Jerry’s hit gold by capitalizing on what Americans like even more than actual baked cookies…the cookie dough!

Then there is the nostalgia piece. Most of us have memories of eating the leftover cookie dough from mom’s baking bowl or just plotting an outright attack on the dough before it was even placed on a cookie sheet.

The combination of cookie dough and ice cream just works. In fact, the cookie dough flavor works for pretty much everything else including Pop-Tarts, Oreos, and protein bars. But let me not digress. This post is about chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and I have just two short stories to share.

Cookie dough and ice cream just go together. I got this cookie dough sundae from Sonic.

The first one is about 27 years old. I estimate I was about 11 when I had Ben & Jerry’s chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream for the first time. We were at an old pizza parlor in north Spokane and they had a cooler case with Ben & Jerry’s pints inside of it. My mom bought a chocolate chip cookie dough pint and I was blown away. It was like nothing I had ever tasted in my life. The rich vanilla ice cream combined with the gobs of cookie dough made my taste buds dance. I never knew ice cream could taste so good.

The first time I tried Ben & Jerry’s chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream was pretty special.

My other chocolate chip cookie dough story is actually chronicled in a blog post I wrote nine years ago. My wife was a great sport as she taste-tested five different chocolate chip cookie dough ice creams. The result is still shocking to this day.

Ben & Jerry’s chocolate chip cookie dough was definitely one of the cookie dough ice creams tested.

If you have time to watch the Ice Cream Revolution episode of “The Food That Built America” you won’t be disappointed. Just the chemistry of how Ben & Jerry’s was able to pack its ice cream with cookie dough pieces is worth it. Enjoy! Don’t Blink.