Strawberry Ice Cream

One of the interesting activities of my restricted day was perusing the menu to see what I might be able to eat for each meal. The hospital food service offers a good selection of dishes, and even with my restrictions, there is always something that appeals.

Of course, I was a bit shocked to find that on a neutropenic diet, you can't have either yogurt or fresh fruit, including bananas because of the risk of exposure to bacteria. But I was delighted to discover that you can order those cute little ice cream cups that we used to get in high school, the ones in the cardboard cups with the pull tab lids. And they come from Byrne Dairy, an excellent local establishment that I like.

I smiled when I saw the flavor selections. Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry. When I was a girl, there were eight of us kids, and when Mom splurged and bought a half gallon of Neapolitan ice cream when it went on sale, we each got one scoop. Mom always let us pick our flavor, and it didn't take me long to discover that half the kids preferred vanilla, the other half chocolate, but no one really cared much for the strawberry.

I figured out that if I asked for strawberry, I would get a more generous scoop! What a greedy little bugger I was. Instead of having my sister's backs and cluing them in on my secret, I let everyone believe that I loved strawberry best when I was really in the chocolate camp. Mom never found out until years later.

Out of shame and humiliation for my poor behavior, I swore off strawberry ice cream for many years. But today I have gotten over my childish wickedness. Out of nostalgia, I ordered the strawberry and enjoyed every bite. A refreshing change from chocolate indeed.