When I was a kid, my grandfather would take me on a walk to Carvel, where his friend Jasper worked. I was allowed to pick whatever I wanted (always a flying saucer with colorful sprinkles) and life was the kind of pure joy you never experience again.
I remember walking on a stone ledge that fenced in the neighborhood park, feeling like an acrobat scaling impossible heights, licking sprinkles, and enjoying time spent with the sweetest man I would ever, in my entire life, know.
I've also never known ice cream that sweet.
Time skip
Decades later, walking back to my car after an appointment near where my grandparents once lived, I saw the Carvel store. It was open, but I didn't go in. Instead, I walked the old route back to my grandparents' house. Passing the park, I was shocked to see that the ledge I had once scaled had shrunk! It rose barely a foot off the ground.
Of course, it was not the ledge that had shrunk; it was the world and I that had grown. Writing this is a wonderful act of shrinking it back, if only for a moment.
This may be one of the easiest prompts we’ve had yet. Chocolate. All day. Every day. No questions.
Chocolate ice cream has always been my treat of choice. I will take it over bars or cake. This sweet treat in an ice cream form just makes me happy. I prefer the chocolate milkshake and always get one after something happens at the dentist.
Chocolate ice cream is the treat that my mom and I will bond over. Everything just becomes brighter when I have it. Of course, you shouldn’t have this all the time, but every once in a while? I am so happy to indulge in a sweet treat.
I definitely had ice cream dreams last night after I ate Ben and Jerry’s Strawberry Cheesecake. That is the lamest Ben and Jerry’s ice cream name by the way. When I started my comment of this prompt I went back to find the name and was very disappointed it wasn’t something like “Strawberry Fields” or “Berry Cheese and Crackers”, just Strawberry Cheesecake, but it was delicious. Strawberries, cheesecake, and graham crackers with vanilla ice cream was a wonderful combo, just a lame name.
I paid $10 for the pint here at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel after a night of dancing at the Wild Horse Saloon with a couple thousand teenagers from around the country. We are here for a show choir competition which our group placed third. Maybe I was eating my feelings. I am so proud of this group and they worked so hard and I believe they should have taken it, but that is life when you compete for the opinions of other humans.
I’ve been reflecting on this whole experience and am in awe of what these kids do. They go to school, rehearse for 3 hours a day, weekend competitions, and some of them play other sports and have jobs. This is what chasing your dreams looks like and I couldn’t be prouder of all of the kids, including the other choirs. I would have thought this was stupid when I was a teen because I was too busy getting high and being intimidated by anything remotely close to challenging.
I watched a sea of teenagers on the floor at the Wild Horse Saloon learn line dances, dance and sing to live music, and shake away all of the pressure from the competition. They made connections with other choirs and made new friends. It was a party well deserved. These kids sacrifice most of their social lives to this activity, and here they are, in Nashville, dancing their boots off with other elite hardworking kids from all over the country.
So I ate half of a $10 pint of ice cream with a lame name so I could savor this experience just a little longer. We leave today to get back to the daily grind, and I am so grateful I was here for the ride to and back from Nashville!
Anything with coffee or chocolate, and I'm happy. We have a great couple of local ice-cream shops here in my Minnesota town - they do honeycomb, rhubarb... all very delicious. Growing up in the UK in the 80s and 90s, your standard ice cream was made from pig fat or vegetable oil. My mom (who is American) was always very sniffy about it. We finally got a Baskin Robbins in London, and to visit was such a thrill!
Well Bridget, you are in for a treat. You are moving to the land of the absolute best ice cream on the planet. In fact, Atlantic had an article about premium ice creams many years ago. The author went through Ben and Jerry's and all the others then in his final paragraph said, "And if you really want the best ice cream, go down to Texas and have some Blue Bell." They're no longer confined to Texas but they're still the best, and they are always coming out with new flavors. They're also a bit on the pricey side due to Biden inflation.
You mentioned maple walnut. I think I've had it but I'm not sure. One of my dad's favorites was black walnut. I like it and butterscotch but I've never met an ice cream I've turned down. There's a small ice cream shop near Reliant Stadium in Houston called Hanks that has good ice cream. Hank is an old colored man who has been making his own ice cream for decades.. He comes up with some pretty exotic flavors, such as spinach and broccoli. One of the girls who works there told my wife and I he was trying to come up with a recipe for port chops ice cream. It's been a while since we've been there so I don't know if he was successful.
Chocolate chip has always been my favorite. Never changed from childhood to now. I’ve added peanut butter chocolate chip to my ice cream flavors but that’s about it.
Ahhh....this one’s gonna be fun! I love ice cream, always have for as long as I can remember! Sometimes, my mom would eat it for dinner and my dad always made home made when we were kids! Vanilla is my favorite - HOMEMADE! And I make that now as an adult during the summer time! Buuuut, my first job was Baskin Robbins and a friend I worked with taught me how to “make mistakes” on customers orders....and take them home, the little taster spoons were always well stocked and we tasted everything! I think my all time favorite was a burnt almond mousse we had back then (1984-85?) Chocolate covered toasted almonds in a toffee/carmel flavored ice cream. I’ve asked for it over the years, but have yet to find it. What I wouldn’t give for a pint, or quart, of that one! Now, if I do Baskin Robbins I usually do jamoca almond fudge with mint and chip. At home I’ve been loving the Talenti gelato (grocery store) southern butter pecan and coffee chocolate chip. And now I want a bowl of ice cream!
When I was a kid, my grandfather would take me on a walk to Carvel, where his friend Jasper worked. I was allowed to pick whatever I wanted (always a flying saucer with colorful sprinkles) and life was the kind of pure joy you never experience again.
I remember walking on a stone ledge that fenced in the neighborhood park, feeling like an acrobat scaling impossible heights, licking sprinkles, and enjoying time spent with the sweetest man I would ever, in my entire life, know.
I've also never known ice cream that sweet.
Time skip
Decades later, walking back to my car after an appointment near where my grandparents once lived, I saw the Carvel store. It was open, but I didn't go in. Instead, I walked the old route back to my grandparents' house. Passing the park, I was shocked to see that the ledge I had once scaled had shrunk! It rose barely a foot off the ground.
Of course, it was not the ledge that had shrunk; it was the world and I that had grown. Writing this is a wonderful act of shrinking it back, if only for a moment.
This may be one of the easiest prompts we’ve had yet. Chocolate. All day. Every day. No questions.
Chocolate ice cream has always been my treat of choice. I will take it over bars or cake. This sweet treat in an ice cream form just makes me happy. I prefer the chocolate milkshake and always get one after something happens at the dentist.
Chocolate ice cream is the treat that my mom and I will bond over. Everything just becomes brighter when I have it. Of course, you shouldn’t have this all the time, but every once in a while? I am so happy to indulge in a sweet treat.
I definitely had ice cream dreams last night after I ate Ben and Jerry’s Strawberry Cheesecake. That is the lamest Ben and Jerry’s ice cream name by the way. When I started my comment of this prompt I went back to find the name and was very disappointed it wasn’t something like “Strawberry Fields” or “Berry Cheese and Crackers”, just Strawberry Cheesecake, but it was delicious. Strawberries, cheesecake, and graham crackers with vanilla ice cream was a wonderful combo, just a lame name.
I paid $10 for the pint here at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel after a night of dancing at the Wild Horse Saloon with a couple thousand teenagers from around the country. We are here for a show choir competition which our group placed third. Maybe I was eating my feelings. I am so proud of this group and they worked so hard and I believe they should have taken it, but that is life when you compete for the opinions of other humans.
I’ve been reflecting on this whole experience and am in awe of what these kids do. They go to school, rehearse for 3 hours a day, weekend competitions, and some of them play other sports and have jobs. This is what chasing your dreams looks like and I couldn’t be prouder of all of the kids, including the other choirs. I would have thought this was stupid when I was a teen because I was too busy getting high and being intimidated by anything remotely close to challenging.
I watched a sea of teenagers on the floor at the Wild Horse Saloon learn line dances, dance and sing to live music, and shake away all of the pressure from the competition. They made connections with other choirs and made new friends. It was a party well deserved. These kids sacrifice most of their social lives to this activity, and here they are, in Nashville, dancing their boots off with other elite hardworking kids from all over the country.
So I ate half of a $10 pint of ice cream with a lame name so I could savor this experience just a little longer. We leave today to get back to the daily grind, and I am so grateful I was here for the ride to and back from Nashville!
Anything with coffee or chocolate, and I'm happy. We have a great couple of local ice-cream shops here in my Minnesota town - they do honeycomb, rhubarb... all very delicious. Growing up in the UK in the 80s and 90s, your standard ice cream was made from pig fat or vegetable oil. My mom (who is American) was always very sniffy about it. We finally got a Baskin Robbins in London, and to visit was such a thrill!
Well Bridget, you are in for a treat. You are moving to the land of the absolute best ice cream on the planet. In fact, Atlantic had an article about premium ice creams many years ago. The author went through Ben and Jerry's and all the others then in his final paragraph said, "And if you really want the best ice cream, go down to Texas and have some Blue Bell." They're no longer confined to Texas but they're still the best, and they are always coming out with new flavors. They're also a bit on the pricey side due to Biden inflation.
You mentioned maple walnut. I think I've had it but I'm not sure. One of my dad's favorites was black walnut. I like it and butterscotch but I've never met an ice cream I've turned down. There's a small ice cream shop near Reliant Stadium in Houston called Hanks that has good ice cream. Hank is an old colored man who has been making his own ice cream for decades.. He comes up with some pretty exotic flavors, such as spinach and broccoli. One of the girls who works there told my wife and I he was trying to come up with a recipe for port chops ice cream. It's been a while since we've been there so I don't know if he was successful.
Chocolate chip has always been my favorite. Never changed from childhood to now. I’ve added peanut butter chocolate chip to my ice cream flavors but that’s about it.
Oh how I miss the guiltless indulgences of pregnancy!
Ahhh....this one’s gonna be fun! I love ice cream, always have for as long as I can remember! Sometimes, my mom would eat it for dinner and my dad always made home made when we were kids! Vanilla is my favorite - HOMEMADE! And I make that now as an adult during the summer time! Buuuut, my first job was Baskin Robbins and a friend I worked with taught me how to “make mistakes” on customers orders....and take them home, the little taster spoons were always well stocked and we tasted everything! I think my all time favorite was a burnt almond mousse we had back then (1984-85?) Chocolate covered toasted almonds in a toffee/carmel flavored ice cream. I’ve asked for it over the years, but have yet to find it. What I wouldn’t give for a pint, or quart, of that one! Now, if I do Baskin Robbins I usually do jamoca almond fudge with mint and chip. At home I’ve been loving the Talenti gelato (grocery store) southern butter pecan and coffee chocolate chip. And now I want a bowl of ice cream!