Ice Cream Social

About Ice Cream Social

Ice cream is universally joyful, and Ice Cream Social is here to prove it. Hosted by David Boyer, owner of Jupiter Moon Ice Cream, this podcast explores the sweet intersection of ice cream and community. From what makes a great flavor to the memories tied to your first cone, every episode digs into the stories, the people, and the moments that make ice cream more than just dessert. Whether you're a small business owner in the food industry, a local community builder, or just someone who thinks about ice cream way more than the average person (no judgment), this show is for you. David brings the perspective of a hands-on ice cream shop owner running two locations, a busy mobile event business, and more on the way, so the conversations are grounded, real, and genuinely fun. New episodes drop regularly. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, leave a five-star review if you're loving it, and share it with someone who deserves a little more joy in their feed. Because everybody has an ice cream story. What's yours? https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/ (https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/)

Publisher

David Boyer

Category

arts · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

1 Jun 2026

Latest episode

7 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

18 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   7 Oct 2026

   How to Handle Bunnies, Doubters, and Grumblers: Community Building Lessons From Tracy Ore

   Takeaways Think big and share the load. Tracy Ore wants to essentially take over the block around the St. Cloud State University Community Garden, and she is bringing in students, the tech college, and partners so the project is not just hers. If you give people what they need, the doubters lose their argument. Tracy's bunny rule: plant 100 cauliflower, then another 100, and around 300 the bunnies get full. She takes the same attitude with people. Ice cream makers and gardeners make great collaborators. Freeze-dried strawberries keep water out of ice cream, and a garden with a giant freeze-dryer, plenty of habaneros, and strawberry basil makes for some serious flavor ideas. Summary of the episode In Part 3 of this conversation on Ice Cream Social, host David Boyer asks Tracy Ore, professor of sociology and director of the community garden at St. Cloud State University, about her ultimate growth plan. She would like to essentially take over the block, acquiring the house next to the garden and redoing it sustainably with solar power and technology designed by students. She is also talking with the tech college about students who could develop a business plan and a marketing plan for the space, and she wants more partners involved so the project is not just hers. Tracy says city officials have told her they want to incorporate the garden into plans to redo the street rather than pave over it, and David describes the garden as a bulwark against encroachments. Then David asks his favorite question: what was your favorite ice cream flavor at six years old? Tracy remembers family reunions in North Carolina, where her father made hand-cranked banana ice cream with rock salt in the yard. As an adult she is not a sweets person and prefers savory flavors, salty and sweet combinations with toffee, pistachio, and strong black licorice, and she enjoyed the strawberry basil that Jupiter Moon made. David shares the flavor he wants to flat out copy: a Ritz cracker toffee ice cream with chocolate swirls and caramel from Holy Cow Ice Cream, which won the tasting at the ice cream conference he attends every year. The two talk spicy ice cream, agreeing that dairy counteracts heat. David lists Aztec chocolate, mango habanero, and a Mexican street corn ice cream he sold only out of the trailer ("I loved it. Nobody else bought it."), and Tracy offers habaneros from the garden and describes the chili blend she makes from all of the garden's hot peppers. They then plan a winter collaboration around freeze-drying. David explains why water is the enemy in ice cream and how a freeze-dried strawberry gives strawberry flavor without little ice chunks, and Tracy has a giant freeze-dryer and locally grown strawberries ready to go, plus the chance to make astronaut ice cream. The conversation closes with the early believers who backed the garden from day one and the doubters who predicted people would just take advantage. Tracy's bunny story sums up her philosophy of giving people, and bunnies, what they need. Both agree that grumblers exist, that it takes a community effort to keep them from being the loudest voice in the room, and that optimism is a choice worth making. https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/ (https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/)

2. 

   30 Sept 2026

   Garden Lady: How 20 Years of Showing Up Earned a Professor a Place in Her Community with Tracy Ore

   Takeaways Big ideas can take years, so keep saying them out loud. Tracy Ore talked about creating a tomato unique to St. Cloud State from 2010 until a botanist arrived in 2022 and said it was easy, and now students have made more than 2,000 crosses. A garden with no fences, no fees, and no application can work. After 20 years, Tracy has seen people contribute well beyond what they take, the opposite of the tragedy of the commons. Community projects need a succession plan. Tracy is raising money to hire an executive director who can shadow her and carry the garden's core principles forward, so the work lasts beyond any one person. Summary of the episode In Part 2 of this conversation on Ice Cream Social, host David Boyer and Tracy Ore, professor of sociology and director of the community garden at St. Cloud State University, dig into the Husky tomato. The name honors the university mascot, though Tracy admits a different husky tomato already exists, so a tweak like "husky red and black tomato" may be coming. Tracy had pitched the idea of a tomato unique to campus since 2010, until Dr. Angela McDonnell, a botanist and biology professor who had just been cross-pollinating eggplants, arrived in 2022 and told her it was easy. Students and faculty started with striped and black tomato varieties and have now completed more than 2,000 crosses across four generations, with students presenting their work at conferences. The goal is a flavorful, attractive, consistent black and red tomato about the size of a cocktail tomato. This summer they planted seven seed sets, labeled them in secret, and Tracy and Dr. McDonnell each independently identified two seed sets they wanted. One selection is now growing in the greenhouse, and its very dark purple seedlings showed off a plant science concept called hybrid vigor. Tracy describes the flavor as sweeter and deeper than most tomatoes, great on a sandwich, and David is already dreaming of a tomato ice cream. He mentions that Crew has recently been experimenting with tomato ice cream of their own. The conversation then tours the rest of the garden: 20 varieties of okra, 30 varieties of eggplant, nearly 100 varieties of hot peppers, bitter melon, snake gourd, 12 kinds of basil, shiso, lemongrass, lemon balm, lemon verbena, and house-made tea blends. Tracy grows a wide diversity of plants so that no matter who walks in, they see something familiar, and she delivers herbs regularly to local businesses. Looking back on 20-plus years, Tracy shares a Grace Lee Boggs line from her email footer about staying in one place being the most radical thing she ever did. Staying put has given her a foundation and a community that shows up when things get hard. She shares a funny story about being greeted as "Garden lady" by the food sample guy at Costco, and says she feels she has earned a respectable place in the community and has the best job in the world. The episode wraps up with the future. David is eager to build serious ice cream collaborations with the garden, following the strawberry basil flavor Jupiter Moon made last year. Tracy shares her vision for The Commons, a house between the gardens that would become a food education and food preservation center with a cafe run by a tech college culinary arts program, plus a professional kitchen for community gatherings and ice cream collaborations. She is giving herself four years to raise money for an executive director, and has dreams of hiring a chief jam officer. Part 3 arrives next week. https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/ (https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/)

3. 

   23 Sept 2026

   Stay Long Enough to Name Its Problems: Community Building Lessons From a Community Garden with Tracy Ore

   Mentioned in this show: PBS Doc on Grace Lee Boggs: https://www.pbs.org/video/pov-american-revolutionary-meet-grace-lee-boggs/ (https://www.pbs.org/video/pov-american-revolutionary-meet-grace-lee-boggs/) Grace Lee Boggs children's book: https://link.amazon/B01TZGEbm (https://link.amazon/B01TZGEbm) Takeaways Real community change starts when you stay put. Tracy Ore's mentor challenged her to stay in one place long enough to name its problems with authority, and that challenge turned into a community garden that is still growing 20 years later. You do not need to know how to do something before you start. Tracy had never grown a vegetable before launching the St. Cloud State University Community Garden, and today it grows 95 varieties of tomatoes and is developing a brand-new one. Borrow companion planting for your community work. Instead of seeing other organizations as competition, ask what each partner brings to the table and how everyone's contributions can build on each other. In Part 1 of this conversation on Ice Cream Social, host David Boyer welcomes Tracy Ore, a professor of sociology and the director of the community garden at St. Cloud State University. David opens by explaining why the show exists: community and ice cream, and the people in central Minnesota doing their own thing for the same reason he started Jupiter Moon. Tracy is, in his words, the right guest. Tracy shares the origin story of the St. Cloud State Community Garden. In 2004, a mentor asked how she liked living in St. Cloud, and Tracy said she hated it and wanted to leave. That mentor, Grace Lee Boggs, told her you can't always just leave, and that you need to stay in one place long enough to name its problems with authority and then do something about it. A year later, in 2005, Tracy started a garden, even though she had never grown a garden or a vegetable in her life. Twenty years later, the garden grows 95 varieties of tomatoes, with a 96th on the way: the Husky tomato, a red and black striped variety being developed with a botanist and students. It has just completed its first field trial, and the sixth generation is already growing in the greenhouse. The conversation then turns to what it takes to make a community better. Tracy came to this work as a community organizer and a sociologist who studies inequality, and after living in her neighborhood for more than 27 years, she says she understands the community well enough to add real context when someone says "this is what's going on." She borrows a gardening term to describe how she works with partners like Jupiter Moon: companion planting. David connects it to his own reason for opening an ice cream shop, and both land on the same word for what their spaces create: joy. The episode closes with a look at Grace Lee Boggs, the Detroit activist and philosopher who shaped Tracy's life, the PBS documentary about her, and a children's book about Grace and her husband James Boggs that turns out to have a personal connection to Tracy. It is another in a summer of surprise connections. The conversation ran long, so David splits it into three parts, with Part 2 coming next week. https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/ (https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/)

4. 

   16 Sept 2026

   Inside Bruno Press 2.0: Why Mary Bruno Stopped Chasing What People Want

   Takeaways Sometimes the biggest business turning point isn't a new product, it's dropping the instinct to chase what you think people want and making what you actually like instead. A workshop full of strangers can do something a curated event can't. By the end of an hour, people are making plans together, proof that community can form fast when there's a shared, hands-on thing to do. Even the process behind the work, like mixing ink or running a steamroller over a print, can be the thing people actually want to see, not just the finished product. In the final part of this conversation, host David Boyer catches up with Mary Bruno, owner of Bruno Press (https://www.mcbrunopress.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoozFqfdehxJhGE2CbG_5rl_dcgzit9P8TtMswRU9U5LijO3qRtb), about everything she has going on right now. She is deep into a large public art commission for a soon-to-open apartment building, representing different cultures and communities through hands, not faces, and working against a tight deadline with a team of six summer interns. She also has upcoming workshops in the shop, including a cyanotype session (sun printing), and is preparing for the Southwest Print Fiesta this October in New Mexico, where she will teach and produce a 36 inch steamroller print. The conversation turns to why Mary's workshops matter, tying back to the show's running theme of memory and community. Unlike her curated print parties, the open workshops bring together total strangers who are, in her words, friends by the end of the hour, leaving with a finished print and plans to see each other again. David points out that this is really Mary's business model: creating the kind of connection that keeps people coming back. Mary shares the bigger story behind that shift. It took her about 15 years to stop making what she thought people wanted and start making what she actually liked, opening her doors to let people watch and take part in the process. A video of her simply mixing ink went viral, which taught her people were more interested in process than she expected. That post-pandemic pivot became what she now calls Bruno Press 2.0, and by her account, it has been the biggest change for her business, financially and otherwise. The episode closes on a personal note between two people who have known each other a while, with David thanking Mary for making time and Mary returning the compliment about David's own community-building work. No Part 4 is teased, closing out this three-part conversation. Key Topics Covered Mary's large-scale public art commission for a new apartment building Working under deadline pressure with a team of six summer interns Bruno Press's cyanotype workshop (sun printing) The Southwest Print Fiesta in New Mexico, and Mary's 36 inch steamroller print Why Bruno Press's open workshops build community faster than curated events The connection between workshops, memory, and running a small business Mary's 15-year shift from making what people want to making what she likes How a viral ink-mixing video changed her approach to sharing her process "Bruno Press 2.0": Mary's post-pandemic business philosophy Wrapping up the three-part conversation between David and Mary https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/ (https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/)

5. 

   9 Sept 2026

   Mary Bruno's Ice Cream Story: A Fourth of July Tradition Bigger Than Christmas

   Takeaways The ice cream memories that stick aren't the fancy ones. They're the specific, slightly ordinary ones, like a hand-cranked churn on the Fourth of July, which is exactly why a business that helps create those memories wins twice. Novelty and seasonal flavors, like dill pickle, garlic, and an April Fools "Beef Stroganoff" joke, don't need to be everyday best sellers to be worth making. They give people a reason to show up and talk about the shop. A new market, like Jupiter Moon's upcoming St. Paul location, is a chance to test bolder flavors that a more taste-conservative hometown crowd might not go for yet. Part 2 of this conversation picks up right where Part 1 left off, on the idea of core memories. David explains why he loves asking guests about their ice cream story: the best ones aren't fancy, they're specific, tied to a place or a person, even if the ice cream itself was nothing special. He argues that if a business can help create those memories, it wins twice, and Mary agrees that knowing Jupiter Moon was part of someone's memory is what makes the work worth it. Then it's Mary's turn. Her own ice cream story goes back to Fourth of July at the Bruno house, a tradition bigger than Christmas that predates the town's now-famous Joetown Rocks festival. Her dad, Don Bruno, a designer, artist, gardener, canner, and baker rolled into one, would hand-crank vanilla or chocolate ice cream in an old electric churn, and the whole family would wait, spoons ready, for the lid to come off. That story sparks a callback to Part 1's Mary Bruno Ice Cream Day idea (this time with pickles and kimchi on the table), and a detour into Jupiter Moon's running April Fools joke flavor, Beef Stroganoff. The conversation turns practical: Jupiter Moon's dill pickle ice cream (made once a year for Pickle Fest, a so-so seller once the gimmick wears off) and garlic ice cream (made the same weekend for the local Garlic Festival, where it sells out fast). Mary shares her own sixth-grade ice cream memory, a long-gone shop called Hudson and Company that made an actual bubble gum ice cream with real gum chunks mixed in, which gets David wondering out loud whether Jupiter Moon could pull off something similar. The episode wraps on flavor strategy. Salted caramel and chocolate are still Jupiter Moon's top sellers, tutti frutti didn't make the cut, and David's personal favorite, lemon poppy seed, undersells despite being a signature flavor. With a new St. Paul shop on the way, David's eyeing a bigger, different customer base to test bolder options, starting with the darker, more intense chocolate flavor Mary's been asking for. Part 3 is officially on the way. Key Topics Covered Why David loves asking guests for their ice cream story, and how "generic" memories still matter Mary's Fourth of July family tradition and her dad Don Bruno's hand-cranked ice cream The Mary Bruno Ice Cream Day idea returns, this time with pickles and kimchi Jupiter Moon's running April Fools joke flavor: Beef Stroganoff Dill pickle ice cream (Pickle Fest) and garlic ice cream (Garlic Festival), made the same weekend Mary's sixth-grade bubble gum ice cream memory from the former Hudson and Company Whether Jupiter Moon could make a real bubble gum ice cream flavor https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/ (https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/) https://www.mcbrunopress.com/ (https://www.mcbrunopress.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoozFqfdehxJhGE2CbG_5rl_dcgzit9P8TtMswRU9U5LijO3qRtb)

6. 

   2 Sept 2026

   Doritos on Ice Cream? The Six-Year-Old Flavor Memory Bruno Press Owner Mary Bruno Can't Shake

   Takeaways The best ice cream flavors, whether it's a six-year-old's Doritos-topped vanilla or a Ritz cracker flavor that won a national contest, usually come from a sweet and salty instinct, not a polished plan. Real community can't be built to chase an instant return. When it's authentic, it becomes an experience; when it's commercial, it's just a transaction, and that version eventually fails. A single well-hosted, well-curated visit, like the one Bruno Press owner Mary Bruno put together for a local influencer, can do more for a town's reputation than a planned marketing campaign, because people can tell when the excitement is real. In Part 1 of this conversation on Ice Cream Social, host David Boyer sits down with Mary Bruno, owner of Bruno Press in St. Joseph, Minnesota (https://www.mcbrunopress.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoozFqfdehxJhGE2CbG_5rl_dcgzit9P8TtMswRU9U5LijO3qRtb), and starts with his usual opener: favorite ice cream flavor. Mary is a matcha person through and through, but the flavor stealing her attention that day was Jupiter Moon's lavender matcha, made on an oat milk base instead of a traditional cream base. David explains why the oat milk version works so well (light, icy texture, a faint graham cracker finish that pairs naturally with pie-adjacent flavors like the shop's vanilla cardamom, blueberry cardamom, and peach cobbler), and reveals that the lavender matcha itself started as a customer recommendation. Then David asks the harder question: what was Mary's favorite flavor at six years old? Vanilla, she says, but only as a base for whatever she and her brother could find in the kitchen. Doritos, M&Ms, Tang, Nestle Quik, and peanut butter all made it onto the ice cream, and her go-to combo landed on salty and sweet: peanuts, peanut butter, vanilla, and a little chocolate. It's enough to get David proposing an official Mary Bruno Ice Cream Day, Doritos included. The conversation turns to David's own ice cream confession: Jupiter Moon has never entered the annual traveling ice cream contest (Palm Springs this year, Palm Beach the year before, Savannah before that) because the shop can't spare the production capacity for the special packaging it requires. But one winning flavor still lives in his head: Ritzy AF, a Ritz cracker ice cream from Holy Cow Ice Cream in Massachusetts, built with caramel, chocolate, and a sweet salty crunch. It's on David's list to steal one day. The back half of the episode gets more personal. David explains why community matters so much to Jupiter Moon and to St. Joseph (St. Joe, or Jo Town to locals), and calls Mary out as one of the people quietly building the town's core memories through her own work. Mary backs that up with a story about curating a recent visit for a social media influencer that ended up going viral, not because it was scripted, but because everyone hosting was excited to be there. The two land on a shared philosophy: community building that's chasing an instant return always turns into a transaction, but done with real heart, it becomes an experience worth having. This episode ran long, so David promises a Part 2. https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/ (https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/)

7. 

   26 Aug 2026

   Should Ice Cream Shops Do Samples? A Hot Take From Two Small Business Owners

   Takeaways David and Donella both wrestle with finding the right event size. Too big and you lose the craft and the community, too small and it is not sustainable, so the sweet spot sits somewhere in between. Jupiter Moon skipped cookie dough ice cream and Jules' Bistro skips fully organic produce for the same reason: sometimes doing it "right" is not financially viable, and both owners have made peace with that trade-off. David recently reversed a longstanding no-samples policy at Jupiter Moon after realizing it was creating friction with a ritual customers expect, and one of his two shop locations still hides the ice cream from view entirely, a deliberate design choice from his user experience background. Summary of the Episode In the final part of this conversation on Ice Cream Social, host David Boyer and Donella Westphal, owner of Jules' Bistro, get into the decisions that shape a small business behind the scenes. David talks about the event side of Jupiter Moon, which now ranges from small weddings to massive festivals, including one where Jupiter Moon shares vendor space with Ben & Jerry's and ends up as the cheapest option almost by accident. Donella relates immediately. Jules' Bistro has catered for as few as eight people around a dining room table and as many as 700 vegans at once, and she has spent years figuring out where her own sweet spot sits between those extremes, since going too big means losing the craft that makes the food special in the first place. That leads into a conversation about trade-offs. David explains why Jupiter Moon does not sell cookie dough ice cream: made properly, it is prohibitively expensive, and the one time he tried it, he lost money on every scoop. Donella shares a similar trade-off at Jules', where she would love to serve fully organic produce but cannot make it financially viable, so she focuses instead on sourcing and handling fruit with enough care that more people can afford to enjoy it. David then turns the tables with a hot take question: how does Donella feel about sampling ice cream before you order? Her answer is refreshingly direct. She believes in committing to your order, and if you truly do not like it, she will make it right with a full double of something else, no questions asked. That launches David into his own sample story. Jupiter Moon was designed during COVID to keep six feet of distance between the counter and the customer, which made offering samples nearly impossible, so for years the shop simply did not offer them. He recently changed that policy after realizing that sampling had become its own kind of core memory ritual for customers, and refusing to offer it was adding friction to an experience he wants people to remember fondly. The episode closes on an even bigger reveal about how David designs his shops. Drawing on his day job background in user experience, he explains why Jupiter Moon's St. Joseph location deliberately hides the ice cream from view, forcing customers to make an entrance, read a carefully designed menu board of 20 flavors, and talk to the "ice cream tour guide" behind the counter, while the Munsinger Gardens shop in St. Cloud keeps the ice cream visible for practical reasons, including built-in sneeze guard protection and eco-friendly packaging. It is a fitting close to a three-part conversation about how much intention goes into running a small business that people love. https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/ (https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/)

8. 

   19 Aug 2026

   The Muck and the Mire: Why Small Business Owners Need Each Other

   Takeaways Donella's ice cream story traces back to Grandma Dorothy, who worked all year at a thrift store so she could tuck cash gifts, including a hidden $100 bill, into Christmas trinkets for every grandkid. Successful small businesses become part of people's core memories, proms, dates, engagements, weddings, and that is exactly why David and Donella keep doing this work, even on the hard days. When small business ownership starts to feel like a grind, getting back on the floor and talking to people is often the fastest way back to remembering why you started. Summary of the Episode In Part 2 of this conversation on Ice Cream Social, host David Boyer and Donella Westphal, owner of Jules' Bistro, pick up right where the ice cream memories left off. David asks Donella's ice cream story one more time, and the answer is the same as always: Grandma Dorothy. This time, Donella goes deeper into who her grandma was. The family is from North Dakota, with Grandma Dorothy living in Bismarck and later Elgin, where Donella's aunt and uncle ran a dairy farm and brought warm milk straight to the table. Grandma Dorothy worked at a thrift store and spent the whole year saving her earnings so that every grandkid got a $20 or $50 bill tucked into a Christmas tree trinket, and she always kept a hidden $100 bill somewhere in the house. Donella once found it inside a Bible, tucked between the pages of the Christmas story. From there, the conversation turns to something bigger: how memory, community, and small business are tied together. David points out that Jules' Bistro has become part of people's biggest life moments, proms, dates, first anniversaries, the same way Jupiter Moon has become part of engagements and weddings. Both David and Donella admit that running a small business still gets hard, even nine years in for Donella, and that the fastest way out of a funk is getting back out on the floor, talking to people, and remembering what the business actually means to the community it serves. They also talk about the value of a peer community of other small business owners who understand the muck and the mire that comes with it. The episode lightens up with a flavor conversation: Donella's childhood love of vanilla, her current favorites (mint chip, salted caramel, lemon), and an ice cream philosophy David shares, that people generally fall into two camps, those who like "stuff" mixed into their ice cream and those who do not. Donella is firmly in the no stuff camp, though she makes an exception for a salted brownie, sparking talk of a possible collaboration flavor between the two businesses. The conversation closes on catering, and how it lets Jules' Bistro bring the same comfort and surprise people feel in the dining room out into the wider community, and how good it feels when people notice the care behind the food, even if they cannot name exactly what makes it different. https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/ (https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/)

9. 

   12 Aug 2026

   Simple vs. Sexy: How to Actually Choose an Ice Cream Flavor

   Takeaways Comfort flavors like vanilla often trace back to one specific memory or family tradition, not just taste. For Donella Westphal, that memory is her Grandma Dorothy's homemade hot fudge. Adventurous flavors, like a Mexican street corn ice cream made with real corn liquid and lime cotija, can be some of the most creative work a shop does, even if only a small group of people order it. A full toppings bar, not just the ice cream itself, is often what turns dessert into a lasting memory. Summary of the Episode In Part 1 of this conversation on Ice Cream Social, host David Boyer sits down with Donella Westphal, owner of Jules' Bistro in St. Cloud, to talk about the ice cream choices we actually make and why we make them. The episode opens with a simple question that turns out not to be simple at all: do you go classic and simple, or do you get adventurous? Donella admits she has never met an ice cream flavor she did not like, but the conversation quickly lands on something deeper than flavor preference. For her, vanilla ice cream is not really about vanilla. It goes back to her Grandma Dorothy's freezer, always stocked, and a homemade hot fudge that the whole family asked for the second they walked in the door. Vanilla carried her through the hardest parts of both pregnancies, and it still makes her happy today. That same instinct for pushing past the expected shows up in some of the boldest ice cream Donella has ever made, including a Mexican street corn ice cream built with real corn liquid, lime cotija, and a touch of cayenne. It came out closer to a sherbet than traditional ice cream, and by her own account, it may have been some of the best ice cream she has ever created. Not many people were willing to try it. David and Donella talk through why: most people are creatures of habit, drawn to the flavor they already know, which is exactly why a limited-run flavor, like a raspberry ice cream studded with a one-year-only Girl Scout cookie, or a salted black licorice ice cream headed to an ice cream event at the Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth, still matters. The episode closes on something less about flavor and more about how ice cream gets served. Donella shares the story of her son Wilson turning leftover vanilla ice cream and Jules' Bistro chocolate chip cookies into his own ice cream sandwich, no instructions needed, and how a recent catering event's toppings bar, with salted caramel brownies, molasses cookies, and canned cherries, was a direct nod to Grandma Dorothy's own table. Because that is really what the ice cream is for: a reason to put everything out on the table and let people go at it together. Key Topics Covered Choosing between a simple, classic flavor and something more adventurous Why vanilla ice cream is tied to childhood memory and comfort through both of Donella's pregnancies The Mexican street corn ice cream experiment: corn liquid, lime cotija, and cayenne pepper A limited-run raspberry ice cream made with a one-year-only Girl Scout cookie A salted black licorice ice cream headed to an ice cream event at the Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth The ice cream sandwich Donella's son Wilson invented on his own with Jules' Bistro cookies Building a catering toppings bar inspired by Grandma Dorothy's own table Remembering Grandma Dorothy: her garden, her canning, and her peach cobbler and bread pudding with ice cream https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/ (https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/)

10. 

    5 Aug 2026

    How to Become "Iconic" in Your Community, One Scoop at a Time

    Takeaways David's real motivation for Jupiter Moon isn't the ice cream itself. It's wanting the shop to be iconic and important to the St. Cloud community, which is also why he prioritizes showing up at local events. David asks every job applicant to share their own "ice cream story" during the hiring process, because he's found that almost everyone has one, and it's almost always a happy memory. Jupiter Moon studies other ice cream shops' social media for inspiration, including a Canadian shop called Elle's Cafe whose owner has built a whole memorable bit around riding a scooter into frame with a cone. Summary of the Episode In Part 2 of this two-part conversation on Ice Cream Social, host David Boyer and guest Ava Peters pick back up on the theme of memories, this time turning it toward the why behind Jupiter Moon itself. David shares that his real motivation for running an ice cream shop isn't really about the ice cream. It's wanting Jupiter Moon to be iconic, something that actually matters to the community, which is also why showing up at local events means so much to him. He even asks every job applicant the same question during the hiring process: what's your ice cream story? In his experience, almost everyone has one, and it's almost always happy. Ava shares her own: her dad blending mint Oreos into vanilla ice cream milkshakes after dinner, a ritual made sweeter by being an only child with no siblings around to complain about the mint. The two agree it might make a good future podcast topic on its own. The conversation also touches on how ice cream has shifted for some people from a celebration treat to a coping mechanism, with Ava sharing a coworker's plan to have her husband pick up her favorite flavor after a rough day. From there, Ava talks about the ice cream shop social media accounts she personally studies for inspiration, including Elle's Cafe, a Canadian shop whose owner has built a signature bit around riding in on a scooter with a cone and a chant that's intentionally hard to make out. David and Ava agree that becoming memorable, in a truly positive way, is its own form of marketing. The episode closes with a rundown of where to catch Jupiter Moon's ice cream truck and trailer this summer, including the Minnesota Yacht Club, Minnesota Country Club, the Raspberry Festival in Hopkins, Summertime by George, a concert series in Plymouth, and the St. Cloud Air Show, plus one of Ava's favorite awkward wedding stories about setting up the ice cream bike on a dance floor. David wraps with a memorably disgusting story about a Buckwheat Zydeco show at First Avenue, where the venue's uncleaned rafters once rained dust bunnies onto the crowd from the heat and humidity, a story that loops right back to the Purple Fuzzy Space Monster bit from earlier in the series. Key Topics Covered Why David really started Jupiter Moon: wanting the shop to be iconic and important to the community The "what's your ice cream story" question David asks every job applicant Ava's personal ice cream story: mint Oreo milkshakes with her dad Ice cream as a coping mechanism versus a celebration treat Studying other ice cream shops' social media for inspiration, including Elle's Cafe's scooter bit Ice cream at events: baseball games, concerts, weddings, and why First Ave would be a bad venue https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/ (https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/)

11. 

    29 Jul 2026

    Meet Ava Peters: The Social Media Manager Behind Jupiter Moon's Most-Viewed Posts

    Takeaways Jupiter Moon is exploring a whiskey and spirit infused ice cream collaboration with Redhead Creamery, the Brooten, Minnesota, creamery that distills spirits from its own cheese making whey byproduct. The shop's candy truffle ice cream traces back to Kernel's Creamery in Covington, Kentucky, whose owner personally drove his equipment and recipes up to Minnesota when he stepped away from the business. Jupiter Moon sometimes sells the exact same ice cream flavor under two different names on the menu to A/B test which one customers actually order, including a grape flavor once sold as both Purple Reign and Purple Fuzzy Space Monster. Summary of the Episode In Part 1 of this two-part conversation on Ice Cream Social, host David Boyer sits down with Ava Peters, the freelance social media manager who has spent the summer running Jupiter Moon's Instagram while also working as a client service representative at Jacobs Financial. The conversation opens with ice cream: Ava's flavor evolution from mint chip as a kid to the salted caramel truffle now, a flavor she describes as reminding her of whiskey thanks to its bitter caramel and espresso notes. That comparison leads to an interesting idea in the works: ice cream with real spirits in it. David shares that Redhead Creamery, the Brooten, Minnesota, creamery already distilling spirits from its own cheese making whey, has floated the idea of Jupiter Moon using their spirits in a seasonal flavor, possibly a peppermint schnapps ice cream for winter. It is still just an idea, but the relationship between the two local businesses is already there. From there, David tells the origin story behind Jupiter Moon's candy truffles: recipes and equipment inherited from Kernel's Creamery, an ice cream shop in Covington, Kentucky, whose owner personally drove everything up to Minnesota, with his grandson, when he stepped away from the business for health reasons. He has since gone back to making ice cream himself. David also walks through his habit of A/B testing flavor names on the menu, using the same grape ice cream sold at different times as Purple Reign (spelled to sidestep any issues with the Prince estate) and, originally, Purple Fuzzy Space Monster, a name he still loves despite it barely selling. The second half of the episode turns to Ava's own story: how she went from being unsure about being on camera and directing other people to running content that has become some of Jupiter Moon's highest performing social posts, including a "which one's vegan" bar joke and a "Minnesota nice, I'll pay" bit. She also opens up about how managing a business's social media, instead of her own, became a healthier relationship with the same platforms that felt unhealthy to her growing up. Key Topics Covered Ava Peters's role managing Jupiter Moon's social media as a freelancer, plus her day job at Jacobs Financial Flavor evolution from childhood mint chip to salted caramel truffle A potential whiskey and spirit infused ice cream collaboration with Redhead Creamery in Brooten, Minnesota The origin of Jupiter Moon's candy truffles, traced back to Kernel's Creamery in Covington, Kentucky A/B testing flavor names on the menu: Purple Reign versus Purple Fuzzy Space Monster Jupiter Moon's vegan ice cream option and how it inspired one of the shop's top performing posts Ava's personal history with social media and how managing a business account changed her relationship with it A shoutout to Jupiter Moon team member Isaac, headed to college in Ithaca, New York https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/ (https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/)

12. 

    22 Jul 2026

    From an Ice Cream Bicycle to 15,000 Gallons a Month: The Origin Story of Jupiter Moon

    Takeaways Jupiter Moon is completely nut-free — no tree nuts, no peanuts — and David Boyer made that call partly because he has a tree nut allergy himself. The decision he didn't fully anticipate was how many families it would free up: people who couldn't walk into a Twins game, couldn't walk into most ice cream shops, now have somewhere they can go without fear. Jupiter Moon started in a rented kitchen in Sauk Rapids, selling hand-packed cups from an ice cream bicycle at art fairs. David chose the bicycle not because he needed a bike, but because it was cute as all get out and fit the "rolling bubble of joy" experience he was trying to create. Today the shop makes around 15,000 gallons a month in the summer. A second Jupiter Moon location is coming to St. Anthony Park in St. Paul — a small space that used to be a tearoom, with a kitchen already in place and a neighborhood that fits the community-first model David has always built around. In the third and final installment of this conversation on The Ice Cream Social, host David Boyer and Liz Fiedler Mergen of Sunny Mary Meadow dig into the side of Jupiter Moon that most customers never see — and a few pieces of news that listeners might want to pay attention to. The episode opens with a look at what's coming next in the Jupiter Moon scoop case: a raspberry with chocolate flakes, a potential return of the white chocolate beta from last year, a banana cream pie that would actually work beautifully in oat milk (oat milk already has a graham-like flavor going for it, which Liz may or may not react to on camera), and the ongoing development of the Rainbow Nerds Space Rox flavor from the last episode. There are also early conversations happening about a flower ice cream made with freeze-dried edible petals from Sunny Mary Meadow. Nothing is confirmed, but the rose flavoring is in the building. From there, David explains what makes Jupiter Moon genuinely rare in the ice cream world: it is completely nut-free. No tree nuts, no peanut butter, no peanut ice cream. The decision started with David's own tree nut allergy — he wasn't going to make ice cream he couldn't eat — and a choice not to do peanuts either so customers wouldn't have to keep track of which category applied to them. What he didn't expect was the size of the community that decision would create. Liz shares a story about a physician friend whose college-age son has a tree nut allergy; Jupiter Moon is one of the only places the whole family can just go. People who couldn't walk into a Twins game without anxiety have a shop now. The origin story of Jupiter Moon comes up for the first time: the name came from friends at NASA who worked on a probe that has been circling Jupiter since 2016, discovering somewhere around 100 moons. David's crew has been assured that one of those moons is made of ice cream. That settled it. From there, he rented a kitchen by the hour from a gluten-free bakery in Sauk Rapids, made ice cream in the evenings, hand-packed the cups, and sold them out of an ice cream bicycle at Summertime by George and local art fairs. He chose the bicycle purely because it was, in his words, cute as all get out — and because the form factor fit the "rolling bubble of joy" experience he was already trying to design. His background is in UX: user experience design and front-end development. The psychology of how people interact with spaces has always shaped how he thinks about the shop. https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/ (https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/)

13. 

    15 Jul 2026

    The Accidental Gathering Point: How Two St. Joe Businesses Are Building Community on Purpose

    Takeaways The most intentional business decisions sometimes look accidental from the outside. Liz schedules her Friday farm tours at 1:00 PM specifically so visitors are hungry for lunch before and primed for ice cream after — she's building traffic to her neighbors on purpose. "Deeper, not wider" is the customer strategy behind Sunny Mary Meadow. Liz turns flower subscribers into wedding clients, wedding clients into Bloom Room renters, and Bloom Room couples into lifelong regulars who bring their baby showers back to the farm. Building a business that matters means being willing to share the hardest parts of your story. Liz was widowed in 2020, had 300 Instagram followers, and kept showing up in her stories every single day anyway — and by the end of that summer, she had 700. The community showed up because she did. Summary of the Episode In Part 2 of this multi-part conversation on The Ice Cream Social, host David Boyer continues his sit-down with Liz Fiedler Mergen, owner of Sunny Mary Meadow Flower Farm, inside Jupiter Moon Ice Cream. The episode opens with what a summer looks like when you live in a town with two ice cream shops and a husband who grew up on a dairy farm: you help them both out. You go twice a week. You do what you have to do. From there, the conversation moves into what Liz has built at Sunny Mary Meadow, which started as a cut flower farm north of St. Joseph and has evolved into something considerably bigger: a farm store, an on-farm event venue called the Bloom Room, and a thriving wedding florals business she never planned to be in. The Bloom Room is now booked 10 to 12 times a month when Liz originally planned for four to six. A third of those bookings are showers, a third are corporate events, and a third is everything else — retirement parties, anniversary dinners, the stuff that doesn't fit a clean category but fills a real need. David shares the moment that stopped him cold at a hockey game last year: eavesdropping on a family who didn't know he owned Jupiter Moon, talking about how that place had been part of their love story and would be part of their wedding. He turned around and introduced himself. Liz knows exactly what that moment feels like, because her business runs on the same current — people who've been Sunny Mary Meadow flower subscribers for four years who don't ask whether she does their daughter's wedding, they just inform her that she is. The Bloom Room, by design, is an everything-but-wedding venue. Liz explains exactly why: a 60-person wedding sounds simple until you count the emails. She's built a half-day rental model that works precisely because she's drawn a clear line. But book your wedding flowers through her and you get a discount on your bridal shower at the farm. Come for the shower and you start thinking about the rehearsal dinner. Have the rehearsal dinner and you'll be back for the baby shower. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a flower subscription and a lifetime of reasons to return. https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/ (https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/)

14. 

    8 Jul 2026

    Childhood Favorites, New Flavors, and the Ice Cream Making Process at Jupiter Moon with Liz Fiedler Mergen [Part 1]

    Takeaways Making ice cream at Jupiter Moon is a three-day process with three distinct steps: mixing the base, running it through the batch freezer, and hardening it in a super-cold cabinet that reaches negative 20 degrees. The difference between smooth, creamy ice cream and icy, grainy ice cream comes down to temperature: anything above negative 10 degrees during the hardening phase will cause ice crystals to form. New flavors go through a beta testing process that often starts in a two-pint test machine before committing to a full six-gallon batch, because sometimes you make a stinker and you need to catch it early. Summary of the Episode In this first installment of a multi-part conversation on The Ice Cream Social, host David Boyer sits down with Dr. Liz Fiedler Mergen, owner of Sunny Mary Meadow Flower Farm, for a conversation that starts exactly where every good conversation should: childhood ice cream memories. Liz grew up in Southwest Minnesota with a soft serve machine that dispensed something called Blue Goo, a birthday-cake-flavored swirl with color ribboned right through it. David's gateway to greatness came via cookie dough Blizzards at whatever Dairy Queen was half an hour away from whatever away game the school bus had stopped at. It's that kind of show. From there, the episode gets into what's actually happening in the Jupiter Moon kitchen. David breaks down the three-day process it takes to make a batch of ice cream: mixing the all-natural base that comes from about 60 regional farms, running it through the batch freezer in six-gallon increments, and then placing it in a hardening cabinet at negative 20 degrees for eight to nine hours. That last step, the hardening, is the make-or-break moment. Get above negative 10 degrees at any point in the process, and ice crystals form. The result is icy, grainy ice cream. The hardening cabinets that prevent this cost about $15,000 each. Jupiter Moon has two of them. There's also a new flavor in development: a Rainbow Nerds ice cream that the team is considering calling "Space Rox" for the St. Cloud Rox baseball partnership. And David shares one of his all-time favorite flavors he's created: a Mexican street corn ice cream with lime and pepper that nobody wanted to buy and he loved completely. That one remains a personal victory. A lime cotija is also on the way. Key Topics Covered Childhood ice cream favorites: Blue Goo soft serve, cookie dough Blizzards, and the discovery that some communities just don't have a Dairy Queen The three-day ice cream making process at Jupiter Moon and why each step matters Why temperature control during hardening is the single biggest factor in ice cream quality Hardening cabinets: what they are, why they cost $15,000, and what would happen without them Jupiter Moon's all-natural base mix sourced from approximately 60 regional farms with no artificial flavors or colorings Beta testing new flavors with a two-pint test machine before committing to a full six-gallon batch The new Rainbow Nerds ice cream in development, potentially named "Space Rox" for the Rox baseball partnership The Husky Power Play flavor: chocolate cherry in red and black for St. Cloud State hockey Mexican street corn ice cream: David's personal favorite that nobody would buy Lime cotija: a fan-favorite cheese ice cream coming back soon https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/ (https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/)

15. 

    1 Jul 2026

    Cheese Ice Cream, St. Paul Expansion, and the Scoop on Jupiter Moon's Big Summer [Part 3]

    Takeaways Jupiter Moon Ice Cream uses entirely natural ingredients for all flavors and colors in its base ice cream, including spirulina, turmeric, beet extract, and annatto, with a small-business supplier in Illinois that collaborates with the team weekly. The shop has deep roots in the local small business community, with partnerships that include Crew restaurant, Backwards Bread, Bad Habit Brewing, and Red Headed Creamery. A third Jupiter Moon location is opening in St. Paul's St. Anthony Park neighborhood at Milton Square, with a target of being open by July 4th. In this episode of The Ice Cream Social, host David Boyer sits down with Alex Smith for a wide-ranging conversation about what actually goes into making Jupiter Moon ice cream as good as it is. From St. John's University maple syrup to the spirulina that gives the blue raspberry sorbet its color, David pulls back the curtain on the surprisingly complex and intentional ingredient decisions behind every scoop. He explains why natural coloring matters, how the team works with a small family-run business in Illinois to source the right pigments, and why Lucky Charm marshmallows in Saturday Morning Cartoons are the one area where things get complicated. The episode digs into the small business partnerships that make Jupiter Moon more than just an ice cream shop. Crew restaurant features Jupiter Moon vanilla alongside their bread pudding. Backwards Bread stocks their freezer. Bad Habit Brewing supplies the root beer for floats, and the dream of a chocolate stout ice cream is very much alive. Out at Brewton Farm, the annual Curd Fest partnership with Red Headed Creamery is back this year, and Jupiter Moon is bringing the lime cotija — a cotija-and-sugar crumble creation that David says inexplicably tastes like cake. David also previews a huge summer ahead, including two big concert events at Minnesota Yacht Club and Minnesota Country Club, the annual Fourth of July parade ride, and the return of the Star Spangled Cake Batter flavor. The Munsinger Clemens Garden location in St. Cloud gets some well-deserved love, including a quick Italian lesson: affogato means "drowned," as in espresso poured right over the ice cream. The biggest news of the episode? Jupiter Moon is opening a third location in St. Paul, in the Milton Square neighborhood of St. Anthony Park, about a mile from the State Fairgrounds. The community surrounding it, including Nico's Tacos, the Finnish Bakery, and the newly opened woman-owned Acorn Bookstore, is exactly the kind of place Jupiter Moon belongs. David is hoping the doors open by July 4th. Key Topics Covered How Jupiter Moon uses natural colorings including spirulina, turmeric, purple beet extract, and annatto The Illinois small business partnership behind their natural color and flavor sourcing Local collaborations with Crew, Backwards Bread, Bad Habit Brewing, and Red Headed Creamery Cheese ice creams: lime cotija and brie, plus the craft challenges behind each The Munsinger Clemens Garden location in St. Cloud and what makes it special A new Jupiter Moon location opening in St. Anthony Park, St. Paul at Milton Square Summer events including Curd Fest (June 20), Minnesota Yacht Club, and Fourth of July parade The Star Spangled Cake Batter seasonal flavor returning for summer What affogato actually means (and why you should order one) https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/ (https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/)

16. 

    24 Jun 2026

    Ice Cream Stories, Flavor Science, and Community with Alex Smith [Part 2]

    Takeaways Why texture matters more in ice cream than most people realize The science behind overrun, freezing speed, and creamy texture How community shapes flavor creation at Jupiter Moon Ice Cream Summary of the Episode In Part 2 of this series, David Boyer and Alex Smith dive into the memories, science, and community connections that make ice cream special. From childhood ice cream stories to the surprisingly technical process behind creating premium ice cream, this episode explores how texture, ingredients, and local culture influence every scoop. They also discuss the origins behind Jupiter Moon favorites and why community remains central to everything they create. Key Topics Covered: Childhood ice cream memories and memorable flavor experiences Why texture can make or break an ice cream flavor The science behind freezing ice cream quickly Understanding overrun and why air matters in ice cream Differences between American hard pack, gelato, and sorbet How local community influences flavor creation The stories behind Straw Benny and Johnny Maple flavors Why building joyful experiences matters in business https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/ (https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/)

17. 

    17 Jun 2026

    Inside Jupiter Moon Ice Cream: Startup Stories, Summer Memories, and Community [Part 1]

    Takeaways Why opening an ice cream business during COVID unexpectedly created opportunities How first-time managers build trust while leading new teams The behind-the-scenes story of turning an ice cream hobby into a growing business In Part 1 of this special three-part series, David sits down with Jupiter Moon Ice Cream St. Joe manager Alex Smith to talk about ice cream, community, entrepreneurship, and summer memories. They discuss Alex's transition into management, favorite ice cream flavors, funny customer stories, and the surprising journey that transformed Jupiter Moon from an ice cream bicycle into a thriving local business. From failed sorbet experiments to opening during a pandemic, this episode explores what happens when passion, community, and a lot of ice cream come together. Key Topics Covered: Managing a growing seasonal staff Favorite Jupiter Moon flavors The origin story of Jupiter Moon Ice Cream Starting a business during COVID First-time leadership lessons Funny ice cream shop memories Why community matters in local business https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/ (https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/)

18. 

    1 Jun 2026

    Welcome to the 'Ice Cream Social' with Jupiter Moon Ice Cream

    It's finally here. Ice Cream Social is officially open for business, and we're so glad you pulled up a seat. Hosted by David Boyer, owner of Jupiter Moon Ice Cream, this podcast is all about the place where ice cream and community meet. Spoiler: it's a really good place to be. In this short trailer, David shares what to expect from the show: conversations about what makes ice cream great, the memories wrapped up in a single scoop, the people behind the cone, and the stories that always come with a smile attached. This summer is a big one for Jupiter Moon. Two shops running strong, a third in the works, a packed mobile event calendar with weddings and festivals, and a few surprises David can't quite share yet. You'll want to be subscribed when those drop. Subscribe so you never miss an episode. Leave a five-star review if this sounds like your kind of show. It helps more ice cream lovers find us. Share it with someone who gets unreasonably excited about a good scoop. That's the scoop. See you next episode.https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/ (https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/)

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