Time is going by too fast, but I am doing OK
We lost our ice cream store last fall. It has been part of the town for over 100 years and although there are other creameries around, none could compare to Nelson's. The texture was so smooth and rich, the flavors were divine, and it contained more than an average amount of fat. They had won many prizes for their quality but for some reason, the owners sold off the recipe and closed the store. This week something wonderful happened. They are back in business, and I think they are better than ever (probably even more fat). They have not returned to their former home but are selling it in gallon containers in a local grocery market and at a few small cafes where we can get it served in a cup or a variety of cones. Summer might be waning but there is still much to look forward to and enjoy. It’s about those little things that I love, the simple joys.
I wrote a post a few years ago about an August evening at this dairy store and I thought this would be a good time to do something I seldom do, a reboot from 2015.
No Phone Zone
On lovely evenings in the summer, with the sun still high in the sky and the air so pleasant, there is nothing nicer than visiting the local dairy bar. We had finished a long day in the gardens, cutting back bushes, removing debris and completing all the tasks that one must do to keep the area from looking like a jungle. I decided that we deserved a reward. We got the car keys and headed off to our town's little piece of heaven. There must have been about 40 gourmet flavors to choose from and all looked so good. I felt like a 10 year old with big eyes while staring longingly through the glass partition hoping for inspiration to make the right choice. It was my most difficult decision of the week. As we sat outside on a picnic table devouring our luscious, frozen delicacies, we watched the steady stream of customers coming by with friends and family to also take advantage of the perfect August night. What I noticed was that this was a place where no one had their phones out. Everybody was talking to each other face to face. Children were laughing and playing rather than checking social media. All it takes to really connect people is a cone of melting double dip ice cream.
I hope you are all enjoying a simple pleasure today.
We lost our ice cream store last fall. It has been part of the town for over 100 years and although there are other creameries around, none could compare to Nelson's. The texture was so smooth and rich, the flavors were divine, and it contained more than an average amount of fat. They had won many prizes for their quality but for some reason, the owners sold off the recipe and closed the store. This week something wonderful happened. They are back in business, and I think they are better than ever (probably even more fat). They have not returned to their former home but are selling it in gallon containers in a local grocery market and at a few small cafes where we can get it served in a cup or a variety of cones. Summer might be waning but there is still much to look forward to and enjoy. It’s about those little things that I love, the simple joys.
I wrote a post a few years ago about an August evening at this dairy store and I thought this would be a good time to do something I seldom do, a reboot from 2015.
No Phone Zone
On lovely evenings in the summer, with the sun still high in the sky and the air so pleasant, there is nothing nicer than visiting the local dairy bar. We had finished a long day in the gardens, cutting back bushes, removing debris and completing all the tasks that one must do to keep the area from looking like a jungle. I decided that we deserved a reward. We got the car keys and headed off to our town's little piece of heaven. There must have been about 40 gourmet flavors to choose from and all looked so good. I felt like a 10 year old with big eyes while staring longingly through the glass partition hoping for inspiration to make the right choice. It was my most difficult decision of the week. As we sat outside on a picnic table devouring our luscious, frozen delicacies, we watched the steady stream of customers coming by with friends and family to also take advantage of the perfect August night. What I noticed was that this was a place where no one had their phones out. Everybody was talking to each other face to face. Children were laughing and playing rather than checking social media. All it takes to really connect people is a cone of melting double dip ice cream.
I hope you are all enjoying a simple pleasure today.
Hi, Arleen!
ReplyDeleteThat bowl of Nelson's raspberry looks delicious, dear friend! I'm very happy to read how their high quality ice cream made a comeback in your area. Good ice cream is to be enjoyed all year 'round. Your flashback story reminds me of my youth in nearby York County. On summer evenings, families headed for Rutter Brothers Dairy Store on the north side of York. You parked your car in their large lot, went into the store, ordered at the counter, got your treats and came back out to your car to eat them, just like you did at a drive-in theater. On a typical Friday or Saturday evening the lot was filled with vehicles and families enjoying cones, cups, sundaes, banana splits, shakes and those jumbo size pretzel rods they sold. There were no electronic devices, no sea of faces simultaneously looking down into their laps, only happy families engaging in actual face to face conversation. We lost something important. How I miss those days!
It's great to see you, dear friend Arleen. Enjoy the rest of your week!
We had a few dairy stores also, Shady, and it was the place to go and hang out when I was young. Most of them have gone the way of drive-in movies (another great place to hang out). What fun they were, and, yes, the world has changed dramatically since. However, that is why I like Nelson’s. I look around at all the families eating their ice cream and the innocence of 1960 come back.
DeleteI am not a fan of icecream. Once or twice a year is plenty. HOWEVER, the simple pleasure your post and reboot trigger, have made me wonder whether I am wrong...
ReplyDeleteI am glad that they have returned, and you can still enjoy this treat.
Unfortunately and fortunately, I love sugar - and cream. It was always so special when I was a kid and my parents took us to the ice cream parlor in the summer. Then there was the Good Humor truck that used to come down our street a few nights a week in the summer. I remember the joy I had when I heard the bells ringing. It is not only the ice cream, it may be the memories also.
DeleteIt's not summer without ice cream.
ReplyDeleteNo, it isn’t, Delores. I eat it all year, but there seems to be more joy in it during the summer.
DeleteI was just talking about the difference between ice cream and ice milk. The cram is where the fat is and also the flavor. I'm going to go have some right now.
ReplyDeleteIce milk was always a disappointment. My body craved the fat.
DeleteSo, did you have a cone or a cup?
For me it was Vic's Ice Cream on Riverside Blvd. They opened in the old-time diner a couple miles from our house in 1947 and are still there. There is always an ice-cream shortage in summer and these magic places do their best to fill it.
ReplyDeleteThat is wonderful, Geo, that Vic’s is still there. Most of the dairy farms here that were once magnets for family and kids in the summer were sold and subdivisions were built in their place.
DeleteWe often drove through the mountains from Calgary to Vancouver to see the grandparents. About a third of the way there was a dairy farm which sold its own ice cream. It became a treasured stop for our family. Too sad we have to find pastimes where the wretched phones won't be pulled out. A winner for us is picnic supper at the beach. Not sure why it is a winner, just glad it is.
ReplyDeleteA definite winner is a dinner on the beach. One has to be careful, Susan, as the birds have no manners and like to steal.
DeleteI imagine rent got too high. This is a more economical move for them, glad it all worked out. But now I'm craving ice cream!
ReplyDeleteI am pretty sure they owned the building, but taxes are high. They sold the family held recipe to a corporation and, I would assume, came up with another one. I have only seen eight flavors and have tasted three. I think it is even more creamy.
DeleteSo pleased to hear you can buy that wonderful ice cream again. The photo looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteThat is black raspberry, and yes, Susan, it is delicious.
DeleteThat is the place to go! Ice cream sounds darn good; it is 100 deg. plus.
ReplyDeleteThose 100 degree temperatures are all too frequent. Ice cream helps.
DeleteThis is great news! Good ice cream is a joy. And a great ice cream company coming back to life is a cause for celebration. Now I want some.
ReplyDeleteDouble scoop of ice cream joy.
DeleteSimple pleasures are the kind I like, too. And you can enjoy them oftener than the big ones, too, because they don't cost as much (or sometimes not at all). My husband has been keeping the BBQ busy this summer and that is a big treat for us. He says it makes his vacation-less summer feel more like summer, and I say yay to no pots and pans :)
ReplyDelete
DeleteBBQ is another wonderful joy of the season, Jenny. We grilled corn tonight and I made a tomato/corn/chunky blue cheese dressing salad. One bowl, two dishes, one cutting board and two forks. Easy peasy and I got rid of some more of my overflow of tomatoes.
Your new Banner with the Butterfly is sublime! I'm glad your favorite Ice-Cream Vendors are back in business! So sad when we lose the long time establishments we've come to love and is an integral part of the Community. I agree the simple pleasures are the most cherished.
ReplyDeleteThank you Dawn. My Retired Man took that picture and many others of that butterfly. It was hard to choose one for my header. Seeing the butterflies back in my yard was another simple pleasure of summertime.
DeleteWe have one of those ice cream stores. It's called Country Maid. Been there longer than I have. The very big parking lot is packed with Jaguars down to rusty pick ups, with a lot of bikes included. Those last with engines and with pedals. What a grand thing!
ReplyDeleteIt is, Joanne. It reminds me of the old dirty, “ I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.
DeleteYum. I love local creameries! I worked in one when I was a teenager in the 60's. So much better ice cream than the dairy queens of today.
ReplyDeleteI always wanted to work at an ice cream store but I did hear that it is very hard on the wrists. Most ice cream is better than Dairy Queen.
DeleteLove this. I can just picture the soft summer evening. And the luscious ice cream. Oh, my word. Now I want an ice cream cone...
ReplyDeleteI think you aren’t the only one, Diane, as just the suggestion of something sweet and cool has people running to their freezer. I’d consider it myself but I ate that bowl of black raspberry earlier today. I had to, it was melting and I couldn’t let that happen.
DeleteI stopped in to say I was glad to see you'd been by---and glad I did because you have a new post up! YAY!!---and I love this post and I sure do love ice cream, LOL. I've never heard of the store or the brand but it sure sounds awful DELICIOUS!! My favorite is chocolate chip, the kind that is GENEROUS with the chips, and not just a few in the whole container, LOL! I also adore hot fudge sundaes and always have since childhood. Once in a great while I will make them here at home. I loved the post about going to the ice cream bar and enjoying the time there with friends/neighbors, very nice! Hope your week is going great.
ReplyDeleteWith all the many flavors that are offered, my favorite is still Strawberry. I love it when it is full of large fruit which is just what I’ll get at local dairies, especially Nelson’s. I have not had a Sunday or a banana split in years but I should try one again. They used to be the ultimate treat when I was young.
DeleteThat ice cream looked wonderful. Glad they were able to reboot and make it available. Then you can buy it - sit outside and have a simple pleasure day. I think they are important to celebrate - good idea. sandie
ReplyDeleteI got some cones so there are no dirty dishes to remind myself of how much I have eaten this week. Usually a gallon lasts me months, but I have put a good size dent in this container. My excuse is that it is so very hot outside (as I eat inside)..
Delete'A cone of melting double dip ice cream.' I had a lovely day out on Monday with my cousin. We went up to Caernarvon in North Wales. The sun was shining and that's just what we had in one of those ice cream (old fashioned) parlours. A little bit of heaven.
ReplyDeleteBesides the wonderful ice cream, an ice cream parlor is full of happy people. What could be better than that.
DeleteIt is always nice to see you drop in, Molly. I hope you are doing well.
We lost Rossi's Ice Cream Parlour from our local High Street a year ago BUT it is now a concession in a corner of a large discount store and they taught a young lady the 'secret techniques' of Italian ice cream making and it's doing OK. If we eat in any local restaurant, instead of a dessert we walk up to Rossi's. Hooray!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your day!
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We, also would have dessert at Nelson’s. It was perfect way to top the day off.
DeleteI don’t think I have had real Italian ice cream since I left New York which is over 50 years ago. I have had gelato, but it is more the commercial kind.
Oh I love ice cream....just can't eat it anymore. NO Phone Zone, great idea. I personally don't take mine out at dinner. If I am out I try to be sure it is on silent before eating. I think folks have gotten out of hand with them.
ReplyDeleteI do dislike going out with friends who will spend some of their time on the phone with other people. If it is an emergency, that is OK, but everything else is rude. I wish I had the courage to tell them so.
DeleteThere's just something about eating an old-fashioned ice cream cone. I think it brings out the kid in all of us.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you can still get your favorite ice cream, even though the shop itself has closed. It's been years since I've been to an old-fashioned ice cream parlor. There was one where we grew up called Arundel's. Their ice cream was great, but they had the best strawberry milk shakes in the world. BIG shakes, the kind two people could share. In fact, Smarticus and I shared quite a few of them way back when... Alas, that place is long gone, but the memories are still around. Thanks for making me think of them...
Have a super weekend!
Isn’t it wonderful, Susan, to have sweet memories of ice cream concoctions and fun, innocent times.
DeleteI grew up in New York and every neighborhood had an ice cream parlor. What I remember the most was the wonderful smell. It was unlike any other place and it was wonderful. We would have shakes, and floats and ice cream sodas and on extra special occasions, a banana split. When I moved to PA, there weren’t any parlors but there were dairy farms or dairy stores and they were the hub of summer fun. We also got double the amount of ice cream in our cones.
Oh now, banana splits... that's a whole 'nother story. The five and dime store's luncheon counter would have specials every once in a while that involved banana splits. They'd have colorful balloons strung up, and to find out how much you'd have to pay for a banana split, you'd pop one of those balloons to see what the paper inside said. My girl friend and I would pop a couple of balloons and split the combined cost. It was great! The price was as low as a penny! (Of course, the full price was probably less than a dollar. HA!)
DeleteDelicious! You didn't tell us which favour you chose. I would be dithering for ages with a choice of forty different flavours.
ReplyDeleteStrawberry and Black Raspberry. Double scoop.
DeleteOh how wonderful! Fat's where it's at! LOL...this post jogged my memory about spending Friday nights at the local ice cream shop...they don't seem to exist here anymore, I'm glad you got yours back! And yes, a night without people glued to their phones is always a nice one! :)
ReplyDeleteThere are franchise ice cream stores around here but I’d rather go to local establishments, especially those owned by the same family for over 100 years. They don’t cut corners on flavor or fat.
Delete"Everybody was talking to each other face to face. Children were laughing and playing rather than checking social media. All it takes to really connect people is a cone of melting double dip ice cream."
ReplyDeleteIt's so often the more simple things in life that bring out the best...it sounds a wonderful place.
Great post :)
All the best Jan
Any place that brings out smiles is a good place to be Jan. I hope you are having a pleasant day.
DeleteI am so glad you can still enjoy your delicious ice cream. It would be too sad if you had to forego this delicacy altogether.
ReplyDeleteWhat I like best, Friko, is tha this family business is back again in our little town. So much has been taken over by chain/franchise establishments and although they are convenient, they don’t have the same quality or history.
DeleteDear Arleen, up in Stillwater, MN, where I lived for 36 years, we had an ice-cream parlor called Nelson's. During the summer, people flocked from St. Paul to Stillwater for that ice cream. The servings were large and oh, so delicious! Peace.
ReplyDeleteGood ice cream is worth a trip, Dee. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful coincidence if my Nelson was related to your Nelson. Probably not, as that is a common name, but coincidences like that do happen.
DeleteTo many small town businesses over taken by the big boxes out local bakery for one...:(
ReplyDeleteThat is true Ray, but I try to buy from our local businesses instead of the chains.
DeleteI just wanted to thank you for always, always, always commenting on my posts. I don't eat ice cream but I so appreciate local businesses and how hard people work. I am sad to read that your local ice cream place is closing after 100 years!!!!! I hope that you find a new place to visit.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy your chocolate blog and have printed and tried many of your recipes. I don’t do cakes (but love to look at them), but your cookies and hot chocolate are always so good. I pray to the chocolate God.
DeleteOur Ice Cream store closed last year but they have come back and now sell their brand at a grocery store, a farm store and a few cafes. I am a happy lady.
Hi there! I've never been a huge ice cream fan but you've inspired me to take my ice cream loving husband on a nice cream date this weekend! Thanks for a great post!
ReplyDeleteI have always loved ice cream, although, I confess, I love (mostly) all sweet stuff. I am sure your husband enjoyed his date at the creamery and I hoped you, Jennifer, did also.
DeleteYou paint a heavenly word experience for eyes and taste buds. And it takes me back to summer Sunday nights after church, several families heading to the local ice cream shop for ice cream with kids concentration on their cones and each other and the adults in conversation but with an eye out for our behavior. Thanks for my no-carb, worry-free ice cream experience!
ReplyDeleteYes, that is a memory that I have also. Ice cream was always a wonderful family event. Thanks for stopping by LC, and I am glad you liked the sweet stuff.
DeleteI’m so glad that you’re once again able to enjoy your favorite ice cream. There’s nothing sadder than seeing couples and families in restaurants focusing on their cell phones more than each other. Thanks for sharing this refreshing scoop of nostalgia, Arleen!
ReplyDeleteJulie
Julie, I totally agree with you about phones being used by people when out to dinner with others. It is so rude, and very, very sad when one has a closer relationship with phone than with the people they are with.
DeleteI am delighted that someone else is making the recipes. We had a wonderful icecream store here - not as old as yours but probably 1930s. They too sold up. Their icecream is still sold by another store with the same name but only in 3 or 4 flavours which kind of misses the point IMO. Long may you continue with your favourite!
ReplyDeleteIt isn’t easy for small businesses to compete with corporations, but I do like to buy local and support my neighbors. I also think they try harder and the quality is usually better. I am so glad that I can get my very rich ice cream again.
DeleteAs Jenny says, so glad that this special treat is still available. We used to have a local farm shop selling delicious icecream, but only in about four flavours. They had to modify the vanilla because some people didn't like the 'black bits'. The farm shop closed, but the icecream is still available in a few local shops - still without the black bits. We can't blame everything on Brexit!
ReplyDeleteI like the black bits in vanilla ice cream. It shows that it is the real thing and not a cheaper version with less flavor. However, I can understand others not liking it as black spots in your food can make one wonder what exactly they are.
DeleteSo glad to see you stopped by to see me today and hope your week is going well so far! ME TOO!!--so looking forward to sweater weather...it's the BEST walking weather. It was hot here again today. Our flowers have taken a beating with the heat.
ReplyDeleteThis is so awesome that you still have the shops there. These are becoming a rarity nowadays.
ReplyDeleteThank you for always coming to comment on my blog. I hope that you are having a wonderful Fall.
ReplyDeleteYum! I don't eat much ice cream these days -- Alas! -- too much fat and sugar. But when I travel I indulge in local homemade ice cream and so enjoy the treat. Love this story and have a cone for Buttercup.
ReplyDeleteIt is finally getting cooler around here (70s) so ice cream eating will decrease. My husband used to love ice cream and because of his illness he forgot that he already ate it. I would buy half a gallon and in a day it was gone as he would keep going back to eat it again and again. Now I only buy the small quart and it lasts me a month or so!
ReplyDeleteI'll have a double dip of strawberry, please! It's almost Halloween so have a happy one and don't eat too much candy!
ReplyDeleteOh my. Our town has lost a number of family businesses lately. Our baker will be missed the most...:(
ReplyDeleteLove your Paddle Succulent wonderful photo. I would have stocked my freezer with ice cream already !
ReplyDeleteparsnip
so beautiful
ReplyDeletehttps://tantepoker.me
I do hope all is well, you haven't blogged in ages?
ReplyDelete