Some would argue that the season is over for frozen desserts but I say coffee ice cream all year round! Fresh dairy and quality coffee are always readily available. Also pie season is upon us and à la mode is always à la mode.

Personally, I prefer my ice cream blended into a thick, creamy beverage. To the rest of the world it's a frappe or a milkshake but where I'm from, Rhode Island, we call them cabinets and we specialize in the coffee variety. I grew up drinking this heavenly treat at Delekta's, a mom and pop pharmacy seated on Main Street in Warren's sleepy town center. Delekta's makes their own coffee syrup and serves your beverage half in a classic soda pop glass and half in the malt mixer it was made in. A perfect pick-me-up for a bad day or a...well, actually I think these are perfect for any day, any weather, any mood.

Just thought I'd share this little bit of local TV which came by way of @NY Farmer:

Sally Goodrich is an 81 year-old dairy farmer in Cabot, VT, where she and her husband Walt still look after their herd of 120 cows, descendants of a famously prodigious milker named Flower:

The end of this week sees the start of the Slow Food Cheese Festival in Bra, Italy. Held every two years it is a spectacular event staged in the streets of this ancient town. Small scale cheesemakers and affineurs from all over the world converge to sell cheese, talk cheese, consume cheese and generally have a good time.

As if attending this event, wasn't enough of a privilege, the trip to Europe also affords many overseas visitors such as me, the opportunity to visit cheesemakers and producers in situ. This year, I have been spending time with my friend and colleague Norbert Sieghart of Kaeskuche. Norbert is a wholesaler and exporter of cheeses from Bavaria and the Allgaü region, a mountainous and spectacularly beautiful area reaching across from southern Germany into western Austria.

I spent my entire senior year at Emerson College in a turmoil of stomach pain before it dawned on me that I might have an allergy to something. As a rabid consumer of coffee, mostly in (iced) latte form, there were zero minutes in the day when milk was not in my system. Therefore, lactose intolerance never crossed my mind. Finally, a friend recommended I avoid dairy for a day. This was excruciating (hello, my COFFEE!), but I went with a black americano and voila! It was the most amazing feeling. Peace in my stomach!

Clearly, foregoing dairy was not a long term option for someone like me. I despised the chalky aftertaste of soy, and had absolutely no interest in venturing into the world of rice or almond milk. I NEEDED a way to get back to eating cheese, ice cream, and drinking iced lattes (believe it or not, I’m not obese).