Just Desserts

Summer is for desserts. Everyone has their own favorite dessert. Carrot cake, cheesecake, cupcakes, chocolates, caramels, cotton candy, Charleston Chew (favorite candybar), custard, creme brule, cherry jubilee, crepe suzette, coconut cream pie, cinnamon roll with extra icing, cookies . . and those are just some of the "C's".

Think back to your childhood and remember how sweets were linked to your happy times: trick or treating, your birthday cake, the confections at the county fair, picking out cookies at the grocery store, waving down the ice cream vendor on the street, buying your favorite box of candy at the theatre . . .

When I was a kid, we patronized those old dairies with the long counters, the shine of stainless steel and the stools where you could sit and spin. They didn't have the fancy flavors of today, but if you coaxed the soda jerk, he might experiment on your behalf. I remember getting a lemon lime milk shake that way. Aachhh. Not something that you'll likely find at your local whippy dip.

One of my god awful good favorites was strawberry shortcake, with garden fresh strawberries and home baked shortcake cooked by mother herself. The shortcake had a crust to it, so you had to let the strawberry juice melt in a little bit to soften it up. It still was crunchy but crunchy sweet.

I believe it's because of our taste for old-fashioned sweets that you're likely to find old-time ice cream parlors around today, though Farrell's has pretty much disappeared. Remember, Farrell's with the peppermints, the pig's trough and the long-winded waiters who loved to publicly tease the customers. My sister was intimidated by all the goings-on when my wife and I first brought her to a Farrell's. When she asked how to find the lady's room, my wife, always the wag, said, "It's over there but you have to bang a big bass drum to get in."

You do??" my sister said very much taken in. Ahh, good times, my wife and I like to say.