This year for our church barbecue, Debbie decided that she would show our English friends what an ice-cream sundae bar was for dessert. She had people bring ice-cream and all different kinds of toppings. On the day of the barbecue, she asked me and a couple of other ladies to "man" the cans of Reddi-Whip (which the Brits call "squirty cream") so that the kids wouldn't use too much. (We all know what kids do with Reddi-whip --- they either squirt it wrong and waste all the gas inside, or they pour it down their throats without limit!)
So, there I was at my station at the toppings table, with the can of squirty cream in hand. I asked each kid who came up if they would like some. It didn't take me long to figure out that the American kids would ask for it, but the British children did not. In fact, I noticed that I was getting some strange looks for even suggesting it. One girl responded to me by saying, "Squirty cream on my ice-cream?...... NO!" (How preposterous of me for asking!)I finally asked a British mother about it, and she told me that it is not customary for squirty cream to be put on ice-cream. Squirty cream was reserved for a few choice desserts like pie, but that was about it.
The kids seemed to have no problem with sprinkles (which by the way, they sometimes call "hundreds and thousands").... they heaped those one by the spoonful. And they also had no problem putting fruit on their ice-cream. My friend Debbie had a big bowl of cherries at her station, and the British people were trying to scoop them into their sundaes by the spoonful. Debbie had to politely teach them that they just get one cherry... on top, of course!
The ice-cream sundae bar was a hit! The kids and adults all enjoyed it. I even noticed a few British mothers who stood gaping at the sundaes saying things like, "I didn't know you could do this with ice-cream!" Leave it to us Americans to teach other cultures how to make something bigger and better.
