Day 33 You Scream, I Scream, We All Scream...

My hometown boasts the best ice cream made anywhere in the world, Graeters. All the gelato, frozen custard, sorbets, hand cranked, and slow churned ice cream aside, Graeters is without a doubt the best, no cones about it.
In 1870 Louis Graeter immigrated from Germany and started an ice cream store, but this was no ordinary ice cream. He churned out a ethereal concoction using a French Pot process, a method which produces just two gallons at at time, so thick it's hand packed into pints.
In fact, on the Oprah Winfrey show in July 2002, she said, "you haven't had ice cream til you've had Graeters. The butter pecan is Stedman's favorite, and mine, too." The company was then overwhelmed with Internet and phone orders, so much for our town's best kept secret. But when you have an ice cream as irresistible as Graeters, I guess you have to share it with the world (and Oprah's seventy million viewing audience).
I love Graeters and all their signature chip flavors: black raspberry chip, coconut chip, mocha chocolate chip, toffee chip, peanut butter chip, mint chocolate chip with chips the size of Blackwood mulch. That's the result of pouring molten chocolate into the french pot, freezing it into a shell and then hacking it up manually with a blade. Dark bittersweet chips so huge, you have to mine them out.
On this particular morning of Day 33, after I had my usual coffee (80), my aunt dropped by with a Graeters pint of chocolate chip, my favorite and Graeters second best seller. Before lunch, I peeled back the lid, and spooned one luscious bite into my mouth. I had a couple more spoonfuls, holding them on my tongue to savor every every trace of cocoa bean and cream. By noon, the pint was gone (1160).
Eating an entire pint of ice cream isn't new for me. I've done it. A lot. What was new for me was not eating an entire buffet to go with it. Believe me, it's not difficult to eat an entire pint of Graeters. Ask any Cincinnatian.
I had about 250 calories to spend, so dinner was a Smart One and a Diet Coke.
I had splurged on something I love and enjoy. No, I wouldn't do that every week, but I ate it, counted it and moved on and I gave a 100% on my walk (45 minutes).