Voting is open for the 2012 Best of Clark County Awards through The Columbian.  We are extremely proud of the fact that you have chosen ICR as Best Ice Cream and Best Dessert’s in Clark County for 2009, 2010, and 2011.  Make sure to visit www.columbian.com/best and vote for ICR for 2012!

As a company named after a cultural and literary revival, we decided to run a holiday drive that would support the education, illumination, and development of less fortunate children in our area: a children’s book drive!

Our inspiration (and the statistics and information for this blog) came from The Children’s Book Bank, an amazing local organization that donates new and gently-used children’s books to families in poverty all around the Portland metro area. If a children’s book drive seems somewhat non-essential, think about the following:

• 2/3 of low-income families own no books for their children. Books may be considered an unnecessary luxury; however, early exposure to books is extremely important for developing literacy skills.
• Children who have not had early access to reading end up significantly behind other children in early literacy skills such as knowledge of letters and their sounds, left to right eye movement, concepts of print, rhyming, sequencing, etc.
• Gathering 100,000 picture books from the community would provide 5,000 young children with twenty books to call their own, giving parents the tools to help their children develop the early literacy skills needed to become successful readers and learners.

To help support this cause, come to Ice Cream Renaissance and donate new or gently-used children’s books in our donation box starting on December 4th and continuing through December 23rd. We will accept the following donations:

• Board books
• Picture and/or alphabet books
• Books about numbers, colors, animals, shapes and words, story books, rhyming books, Dr. Seuss books, and books in Spanish
• Early chapter books in great condition
• NO encyclopedias, musty or damaged books/coloring books, and school textbooks.

We very much appreciate your donations and support. Keep in mind, if you bring a new or gently-used children’s book to our Holiday Ornament Decorating party on Sunday, December 4th from 2-4pm, we will give you a free scoop at the party!

Thanks! And from everyone here at ICR: Happy Holidays!

Today’s the day.  New Seasons Market is opening their new store in Fisher’s Landing, and Ice Cream Renaissance ice cream is on the shelf!  They are currently carrying five flavors – Honey Vanilla, Bitter-Sweet Chocolate Love Affair, Coffee Addicts’ Choice, Peanut Butter Blitz, and Pumpkin Pie.

So why should you try ours as opposed to the brands and flavors you already know?  Our ice cream is made from mostly local ingredients (unfortunately, vanilla doesn’t grow well in our climate).  We make all of the ice cream in small, three gallon batches.  The standard that we have set for our flavors is 35% overrun. This basically means that there is less air in our ice cream than many brands out there, meaning you get more ice cream per pint!

So make sure to stop by New Seasons and pick up a pint of your favorite flavor.  Remember, if they don’t have it in stock, you can always come see us at our Main Street location to pick up any of our current flavors, hand packed while you wait.  See you soon!