Ice Cream Talk.

Old Man with Ice Cream / Flickr photo by jl raymond



In the world of "there are two kinds of people," ice cream sits as one of the top separators. But in ice cream's case, there are those who love ice cream, and those who only like ice cream, for surely no one hates ice cream.

As you might guess I fall in the first group. I love it. I don't often partake because I would weigh 350 pounds if I did, but every once in a while I allow myself a cone, single dip.

Philly, my summer residence for now, is an ice cream town and Breyer's ice cream, my old favorite, is king. It's what I grew up with, the milk-fat percentage suits my taste. Ben and Jerry's and their type's are a little too creamy for me. The inexpensive brands are not creamy enough. When we moved to Texas, Breyer's hadn't yet made its way south, so I was forced to choose otherwise. I wasn't disappointed though, good ice cream is everywhere. Blue Bell is good, but Braum's is my first choice. The Marble Slab is over the top for me, and too creamy. Breyer's is sold here now, but it is not quit what it used to be. I think the company has been sold too many times and reformulated too many times.

On a hot summer day, I'll drive through Braum's for a single dip of Rocky Road or Chocolate Almond.

My favorite way to eat ice cream, and I have been doing this since I was a little guy, is this: Take a good, chilled, cereal bowl, add two scoops of ice cream, a light covering of cold milk (just enough to cover the bowl bottom and top with hand crumbled pretzels. Take your spoon and dip a little ice cream, a tad of milk, and a piece of pretzel. Summer evening perfection.

Summer Good and Healthy.

I don't know about you, but in the summer I eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.

In our refrigerator all summer: a very big ceramic bowl of in-season fruit, sliced, with one tablespoon of sugar and a little lemon juice. Eaten at will.

My favorite dessert, a bowl of fruit, natural yogurt topping, some healthy crunchy cereal (okay, all-bran) and I'm good.

Vegetables: summer means home grown tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. When broccoli is on the inexpensive side, I like to take a pot, add broccoli crowns, about a 1/2 cup of water, salt, heat and cover for a couple minutes. After they are bright green, throw on a little cheese and a few sliced tomatoes. Add to that some fresh bread from Whole Foods, a good hunk of cheese, and I have dinner 4 or 5 nights a week.

Heavy cooking is for winter. Summer in Texas is cooking outside, and plenty of cold fresh fuits and vegetables.

Believe it or not . . .

I remember flying on commercial airplanes before the days of de-regulation. I remember buying a ticket without being asked for an ID. I can remember someone giving me their ticket, which they weren't using, and me using it without ever revealing my name to the airline.

No mas.

The cartoon (above) is catchy, but actually I don't think the airlines have much choice. They have to be profitable to continue, but the high cost of fuel and additional costs for security has them bleeding money. Since September 11, 2001, airline costs have risen dramatically and that cost is being passed on to the average traveler. We are paying more and enjoying it less. I'll go one step further -- most travelers hate to fly anymore -- and the airline employee hates us flying. It's the darnedest thing I have ever seen. The customers hate it, the employees aren't happy. Something has to give. From 1970 - 2000, the Dallas /Fort Worth area had an engine driving its growth called DFW Airport. We have been benefiting from a thriving airline industry. Well over 50,000 employees directly related to the airlines, not counting support services. A hurting airline industry hurts us.

By the way, it was a Democrat that deregulated the airline industry, thus making flying, until recently anyway, very affordable. That Democrat was Jimmy Carter.