Ice Cream Summer: Dairy Queen

Forgive us, readers, for we have sinned. It's been sometime since we last ventured forth to try new ice cream in LA. And we know that it's not right to try to pass the buck and put the blame elsewhere, but we're just an ice cream lover without wheels to take us too far afield from our commuter's radius, and with a lot of deadlines that are eating up our eating ice cream time. Our biggest sin, however, was to sneak down the block to our neighborhood Dairy Queen. The outing was brought on by equal parts nostalgia and craving; we'd seen some eye-catching advertising proclaiming the arrival of a Key Lime flavored Blizzard treat, and it seemed ideal as a salve to soothe our harried soul. But--oh! How wrong we were...

We've been longtime fans of the DQ. It goes back to our childhood in a far-away place, where just the words "Peanut Buster Parfait" sparked promise and happiness. (Now those same words pretty much make our gut wrench in pain, but that's besides the point.) We were stoked a few years back when Dairy Queen set up shop in the LA area, and we hit up the local franchise a few (too many) times over the years since. But it had been awhile, and it seemed like a good idea. When we got there we noticed that the Key Lime was nowhere in sight--it had been replaced by the Double Fudge Cookie Dough flavor of the month. Might have something to do with the Blizzard's 20th Birthday, which is apparently this year. Goodness, we're old! We remember the Blizzard's debut. But that was then. Oh well. Anyhow, we were about to order when we realized the sour-faced and shuffling-footed clerk had mumbled her curt hello and had disappeared. We waited. And waited. A short line formed behind us, and the clerk emerged again, and we opened our mouth to order...