For the love of ice cream!

Recently I apparently caught some sort of yucky bug that lasted for about nine days. It went from bouts of nausea to light headedness to stomach pain. Then, at times it all hit me at the same time.

I didn't know for sure if it was just a bug until I met my daughter, Gina, in Cape and we went to the mall. As we passed through the fragrance center, I knew it definitely was a bug.

You who know me personally know I love my fragrance and won't leave home without it. But as we walked through what normally is a haven for me, it became a source of absolute nausea and a pain in my stomach as big as a basketball.

I told Gina, "Yep, it's a bug. We gotta get out of here". This is from a woman who normally will go through every fragrance in the department even though I have my two or three favorites that I have rarely strayed from for many years.

I had to say a hasty goodbye as I had an hour to drive in order to get home. As I pulled out of the parking lot, I was thinking, "If I go through McDonald's and get an ice cream, perhaps it will make me feel better and I can get home".

Sick as I was, I started reminiscing about when I was a little girl and was sick, how Dad would get ice cream for me. Miraculously, it always made me, if not well, much better. Really, it did. I always believed that ice cream had some kind of healing power, but Mom always said it was Dad's spoiling that made me well.

I finally made it to McDonald's in Sikeston, after two or three stops along the way to regroup, and managed the strength to order a vanilla cone. Although the cold did feel good to my tummy, it definitely did not make me well.

Later I began wondering about ice cream and its beginning and if it really does have some magical power.

Some of the things I learned surprised me. - mainly how long it has been around. The first ice cream parlor in America opened in New York City in 1776. American colonists were the first to use the term "ice cream". However, it had its beginnings way back before then. Heck, they didn't even have refrigeration when they invented ice cream. But, due to my lack of space in this column, I urge you to look it up. I believe you will find it interesting and surprising how it came about.

Someone figured out that using ice mixed with salt would lower and control the temperature of ice cream ingredients. Reading this made me think of another childhood ice cream memory -- that of Mom mixing the ingredients and pouring into the ice cream maker's container. Then, Dad would put the maker together, fill it with ice around the container, and cover the ice with salt.

Back then we didn't have an electric maker, so we kids would take turns sitting on top while someone else turned the crank. This was to hold the ice cream maker in place. My, my, what fun and how delicious. I almost forgot, Dad would place a toe sack on top of the ice. Toe sack? Something else for you to look up. How many of you remember the toe sack scarecrows? Oh, and in all my research, I didn't find anywhere that it would make me well. Must have been Dad's spoiling touch.

See ya next time somewhere in a korner. Remember, you never know when you may show up as my hero or heroin.

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