ice cream sandwich

The other night I attended the annual Healthcorps Gala. (Healthcorps is a non-profit organization that my brother-in-law started to help fight childhood obesity, and to teach kids to make healthy choices.) There were inspiring words about health, and some delicious food offerings (my favorite appetizer was from Candle 79 - an amazing vegetarian restaurant in the city,) and I got to visit with some people that I don't get to see very often (like my cousins: Barbara and Lauren "the Lemon").

This morning, I was off to a good, healthy start when I made myself a 'magic drink' (which is a banana/juice/vitamin smoothie that my mom invented years ago). I also had big plans to go to a yoga class or for a run in the park.

But as the day wore on, I decided that a walk in the park would suffice...

It ended up being more of a stroll... while eating an ice cream sandwich... It was such a gorgeous day today, and I was craving that particular childhood snack because it reminds me of summer afternoons when I was growing up.

I spent a considerable amount of time trying to track one down. It's more difficult than you think to find a single ice cream sandwich. Sometimes they have them in corner stores, but they're not the same as the ones you buy in the supermarket... (I was looking for the thin kind wrapped in white paper that always sticks to the sandwich.) Eventually I settled on one that was almost right. It was a little too thick, and wrapped in foil - but the taste was a reasonable approximation of the one I was searching for, and it wasn't stale (for which I was exceedingly grateful.) And it was sustaining in a way that has nothing to do with caloric value or fat content.

And so, while my brother-in-law might question that particular health choice I made today, I'm pretty comfortable with it. And even though the treat I gave myself wasn't the one I wanted - not exactly - it was somehow perfect.


P.s. You may remember from a post awhile back that I gave up dairy for Lent. After Easter, I mostly lost the taste for milk. Nowadays I prefer soy milk in my tea, and use an organic vegetable 'buttery spread' instead of butter. But I don't consider myself to be a vegan. While I avoid dairy - I don't rule it out entirely... (If an imported -humane- cheese makes its way to my plate I might not always turn it down...)