Soft Serve Ice Cream

I grew up in Western Massachusetts.  Massachusetts has a wonderful history of ice cream:  Howard Johnson's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Johnson's was known for their 28 flavors.  Friendly's http://www.friendlys.com/ was another chain that featured ice cream as well as other foods.  There were many local producers of ice cream, including chain convenient stores, such as Cumberland Farms. http://www.cumberlandfarms.com/.   As time passed, there were even more exquisite producers of ice cream, such as Ben and Jerry's http://www.benjerry.com/, the Edys brand http://www.dreyers.com/main/index.asp?b=105, or or the commercial  kinds found in grocery stores.

We had soft serve ice cream. There were many individually owned stands that were open in the summer only.  Some were just for ice cream.  Some expanded to serving hot dogs, hamburgers and subway sandwiches. We had Dairy Queens, also, but mostly they were open in the summer.  They were called Braziers Dairy Queens http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dairy_Queen#Dairy_Queen_Brazier.  I loved soft serve ice cream.

Imagine my delight when I moved to Texas and I discovered that Dairy Queens www.dairyqueen.com/us-en/ are widespread in West Texas, and are opened all year round. My first job in Texas had me driving all over West Texas, and lo and behold, Dairy Queens were often found in these little towns, long before McDonald's http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/home.html or Burger King http://www.bk.com/ made it there. 
 
I do not eat much ice cream any more. But I still love soft serve ice cream.

Deep Fried

I should preface this by saying I was watching the Texas Tech Red Raider vs. Baylor Bears football game, today. It was being played in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, and at this time of the year, the Texas State Fair is occurring on the grounds around the Cotton Bowl. The announcers talked about all the food in which they had indulged. The announcers were shown, one with what was probably a corn dog, the other with a turkey leg. They made several comments about the turkey leg which made me wonder if they did not usually see turkey legs. They also talked about all the fried foods to be found at the fair.


My questions are many:

Do other parts of the country serve turkey legs as part of the junk food frenzy that accompanies fairs, carnivals, festivals, tailgating, and other activities where junk food is consumed in abundance. Is that a Texas thing? Is that a southern thing? Or is it common everywhere. Inquiring mind (mine) wants to know.


What has become very popular recently at these same types of activities is the fried food. It started with battered and fried cheese... Now we see fried snickers, fried s'mores, fried milky ways, fried Oreos, and I have heard, but not seen advertised, fried butter. I understand the latter is fried in cornbread dough (like a corn dog or fried cheese) and the butter just drips when you bite into it...I have not seen anything other than corn dogs or fried cheese, although the South Plains Fair advertised fried snickers, fried milky ways and fried s'mores. 


I understand other items have included Deep Fried Sweet Jalapeño Corn Dog Shrimp, Deep Fried Beer, Fried Peanut Butter, Deep Fried Peaches & Cream, Fried Banana Split, Jelly and Banana Sandwich. This year, Fried Club Sandwich, Deep Fried S'mores Pop Tart, Deep Fried Frito Pie and Fried Lemonade were possible fare.

If you care to comment, I would like to know about the turkey legs, and if you have a favorite decadent food, mentioned or not.

Cat Food

Today, I opened a new bag of dry "indoor" cat food.  I had tried a different brand than the first one I tried, and while it was more expensive, the girls did not seem to care for it as much, and it took forever to work their way through the bag. So, the kind I bought was the first brand that I had tried.

So, this morning, I put out some of the new bag, and Sake was very interested... Soon, Haiku appeared, waiting her turn, so I put a dish down for her...After a while, Sake decided to check out Haiku's dish... I stood their watching, and told Sake not to chase Haiku away...So, Sake walked off.

Hours later, no one was at the food center, and Sake walked up...She went directly to the dish of green food I put out for Haiku...hmmm...

Decadence: My Newest Favortie Food

For the fourth of July, the local supermarket chain, United http://www.unitedtexas.com/ had a prepared food for grilling:  jalapeño pepper, stuffed with a shrimp, cream cheese, and wrapped in a piece of bacon...

This is a wonderful food.  Tonight, I went to United to replenish some things, mid-week.  Usually, if I go to United mid-week, I buy sushi... I did not tonight, but I could not bypass the jalapeño, shrimp, cream cheese and bacon. 

Wow!

The Chrome Diner Fad

I recently had opportunity to eat dinner at The Chuck Wagon Diner

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&rlz=1I7ADBF&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=The+Chuck+Wagon+Diner&fb=1&gl=us&hq=The+Chuck+Wagon+Diner&hnear=Siena+College,+NY&cid=2095122581951968505

The menu was not especially unusual, a combination of barbecue, hamburgers, sandwiches, general hot meals, fried fish, and the assortment of sides and salads.  The food was tasty, the portions generous, service prompt.

What prompted me to stop and eat at this place was that it was an old fashioned chrome diner. If you Google "Chrome Diner" you can see many examples, but not the picture of this diner.  I was not eaves' dropping, but heard the owner tell a customer about what was original, and what was replaced...  I was delighted that there were jukeboxes http://www.google.com/images?q=Chrome+Diners&um=1&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&rlz=1I7ADBF&tbs=isch:1&ndsp=20&imgtype=i_similar&sa=X&ei=QN8aTMuAE4OclgeBxInjDA&ct=img-sim-l&oi=image_sil&resnum=4&tbnid=G35K23QgJvACdM:
at the booths, and my quarter was among those that proved it worked.

This was a pleasant dining experience that included an invitation to return again, the next time I am passing through!

Smoked Cheese

Each of my cats has her idiosyncrasies...One attribute that Haiku has is that she likes smoked cheese.  We have had various smoked cheeses over time: Edam, Gouda, Cheddar. It does not seem to matter too much.  She likes the smoked cheese.

Haiku will not eat smoke cheese if it is in a food dish, or on the floor.  But, if I hold it for her, she will lick the cheese with her textured cat tongue, and consume a good amount of the cheese.

Sake does not seem interested, at all, in smoked cheese.