FREEZE-DRIED ICE CREAM.

• Author: Brown, Elizabeth Nolan
• Position: FOOD

As a kid, I thought the best part of science museums was the astronaut ice cream in the gift shops. Anyone who shares this nostalgia can nab the freeze-dried confection online. Astronaut Ice Cream--which bills itself as "the original space treat"--is sold via astronaut-foods.com.

If the name-brand stuff is sold out (as it was when I last looked), a number of alternatives exist. I tried the ice cream sandwich from Mountain House and the vanilla ice cream chunks from Super Garden. Both have that same chalky crunch that quickly gives way to melting in your mouth. Yum!

Lest anyone worry about the inauthenticity of off-brand space treats, take heed: Astronaut ice cream is a Space Age myth, as the museum product we know was never actually eaten in space. It was created in the 1970s by American Outdoor Products, after a request from the...