Now available in a seat back pocket near you!

Now that it's officially August, (with the heat and humidity to match) I can flaunt my latest oeuvre: the cover story for Southwest Airlines' Spirit magazine! "The Scoop" is a roundup of all things sweet and cool and creamy: ice cream, of course! I highlighted 10 fabulous artisan ice cream makers around the country (plus one popsicle purveyor and one ice cream sandwich impresario). It's exciting to think that my work will be available at 30,000 feet. Plus, airline magazines have a captive audience. (What else are you going to read while you snack on peanuts? War and Peace?) I hope to post the article's full text to my web site soon, along with the tantalizing photos that accompany it!

The research for this article was great fun. As many of you already know, I didn't have a travel budget for this story, so the ice cream shops sent me pints packed in dry ice and styrofoam coolers. There was a two-week period where the FedEx people were at my house nearly every day with a new cooler full of treats! I hosted a number of tasting parties, which not only were great fun, but also an excellent means of figuring out which flavors to feature. After months of, ahem, intensive research, here are a few of my unofficial favorites:

Best sundae topping: Peanut butter, Mitchell's Homemade, Cleveland
Best gelato: tie between mint stracchiatella and bourbon butterscotch, Capogiro, Philadelphia
Best sorbet: pink grapefruit, Mora Iced Creamery, Seattle
Best ice cream: tie between Key Lime and raspberry cheesecake, Mitchell's Homemade, Cleveland
Nicest p.r. people in the world: Mora Iced Creamery, Seattle
Most fun to interview: Jeni Britton, Jeni's Ice Creams, Columbus
Best summery flavor: Sweet corn with black raspberry conserve, Jeni's Ice Creams, Columbus