I'll have Vanilla on a plain cone please!

Here it is, one of the coldest months of the year, and what do I find myself thinking about? You guessed it, ice cream. Why ice cream? I believe that it truly is its' own food group, and even on a cold winter's night, there is nothing quite like the refreshing taste of ice cream, no matter the flavor. Ordinarily however, ice cream is thought of as a summer treat, one where you'd sit out and bask in the warmth of the late afternoon sun while savoring every last bite of a double scoop cone. I'd like to recount just a few of those summertime, ice cream memories.

While growing up, I remember 2 ice cream stands that my family would frequent on those hot summer nights, Delaney's and Wassmaco's. They were virtually next to each other, so we usually would end up at the one that was least busy. I preferred Wassmaco's because, if you dropped your cone, they'd replace it, free of charge. For a bunch of "busy" kids, that wasn't an uncommon occurrence. They were known for their plain cones too, so that made it even better for me, since I preferred plain over the dreaded sugar cone. My sisters always ordered chocolate walnut fudge. Although mint chocolate chip has become my favorite, at that time, it was either orange sherbet or vanilla with jimmies on top. My father would always bring along a wash cloth and basin to deal with the aftermath. There were lots of sticky fingers.

Years ago Wassmaco's closed and Delaney's has since changed hands several times, but the ritual of stopping for ice cream has remained constant, certainly in my family. Now it's Hodgie's, White Farms, Gifford's, Pine Tree Frosty, and Hodgman's that conger up those same familiar, mouth watering, anticipatory responses you get just thinking about it. Just like baseball, we mark the family calendar signaling opening day. On that day, make mine a double with a glass of water on the side please!