Big Girl Blizzard Queen

When I was a little girl and an only child, my father loved my mother and me with food. My dad would take us out, after dinner, on many a summer evening, riding in the 1960 red Bonneville convertible, with the white top down, the jasmine breeze dilating our nostrils and flapping the silly chiffon scarves tied around our hair. These jaunts invariably ended up at a fast food drive-thru diner.

McDonalds, Wendy's,  they didn't exist back then. Our drive-thru quests took place at Big Boy's for the best Big Boy Hamburger sandwiches in the whole country. They came with lettuce, pickles, special sauce, and a sesame seed bun. Sans cheese, they were called Big Girls. Yummy. I'm craving them now.

More often than not, we also stopped at Dairy Queen, and that fortunate happenstance was the ultimate acme of summer activity, the taste bud pinnacle of delight. My ordered fare was a Jack and Jill sundae, a double scoop with one scoop of vanilla drenched in chocolate sauce and the other scoop, chocolate in marshmallow sauce.

These days, when I'm feeling nostalgic, I go for a Dairy Queen Blizzard, a soft serve milkshake with candied toppings. I belong to the Dairy Queen Blizzard Club. This month the featured shake at DQ is the Caramel Toffee Cookie Blizzard with almonds.

Oh, look at the time. It's after dinner and it is springtime. Hmm. I think it's time to search out a Blizzard.

---Oz