Ice cream!

I adore ice cream. And it's my good fortune that we live within walking distance of three ice cream shops ... all well-suited to satisfy three different moods. When I have an appetite for serious ice cream, the kind you can scoop, the kind that can handle big chunks of chocolate and big bites as it totters on top of a sugar cone, we can walk to Clark's.

When I want predictable, we can walk to Dairy Queen and enjoy smooth vanilla ice cream and precise portion control.

Almost always, though, I'm in the mood for soft ice cream and for supporting the mom and pop shops of our town, which is why we headed to the Frosty Freeze tonight.

There's just something sweet and old-fashioned about the Frosty Freeze. Even its name makes you think of the "good ol' days." The menus taped to the window are a bit haphazard and rattle off almost every kind of ice cream concoction you can imagine. Case in point - Matt got his usual Boston Cooler tonight (a smooth blend of ginger ale and vanilla ice cream).

I don't think I've ever seen anyone over the age of 15 working at the Frosty Freeze and there's almost always a line-up of cars at its drive through, and a pile of kids at the walk-up window.

I nearly always get a vanilla or chocolate dip, because it just sounds sooo good, and often regret it when it means I finish my treat faster than Matt finishes his. There's really no way to lick and leisurely relish a dipped cone.

I love that even in this recession, even in Detroit, people are still enjoying simple treats like ice cream. Maybe even enjoying them more than they ordinarily would. I think we are!