Since I started my Weekend Update series off with a favorite ice cream, it only seems right to follow it up with the ice cream that started it all: Graeter’s Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip. I discovered Graeter’s (pronounced like Gray-Ters/rhymes with Gators) when I was in college. Back in those days, my dad came to Columbus nearly every Wednesday for business, and he always swung by campus to pick me up for dinner. Quite a few of those dinners ended with a trip to Graeter’s for an ice cream. Looking back some dozen years later, I suppose those dinners and ice creams were favorite double-shots.

After all this time the ice cream remains one of my favorites. I can count on one hand the number of times I have strayed from my beloved Black Raspberry Chip. That may change now that I have discovered Coconut Chip. Regardless of the flavor, the chocolate “chips” in these ice creams are more like chocolate icebergs. They are huge. This is the dessert for ice cream enthusiasts who moonlight as chocolate lovers.

The good news for the tastebuds and bad news for the waistline is Graeter’s sells its ice cream in quite a few grocery stores across the country. To find Graeter’s where you live, click here to view a distribution map on their website. For those who live in the Charlotte metro area, I strongly suggest purchasing Grater’s at Earth Fare rather than Fresh Market to save $1.50 per pint ($5.49 versus$6.99). Yes, I recognize one can buy a gallon of ice cream at that price, but I promise this is worth the splurge from time to time.

Now on to another Ohio favorite: Cheryl’s Cookies. Interestingly enough, both the Graeter’s and the Cheryl’s stores I frequented in my younger years were conveniently located across the street from one another. I have no idea if either of those Lane Avenue stores are still there, and since I can’t imagine the rest of you have any interest in these nostalgic ramblings all that much, I’ll get on with it.

I like Cheryl’s Cookies because they offer something I can not seem to master at home, and that is a fluffy sugar cookie. I love sugar cookies, but to date I have yet to make them like the pros. Couple that with my complete lack of patience to decorate the things in a presentable manner, and purchasing them seems to be the way to go. That said, I probably would not be sharing Cheryl’s with you if it were not for my recent discovery of their Cookie Greetings.

I received my own cookie greeting this past fall.

I take sending birthday cards very seriously, but they seem like such a waste. I send cards because I want my friends and family to know they are important to me. But why not just pop two or three bucks in an envelope and send it off with”Happy Birthday” written on a post-it note?

I love getting cards, but I usually throw them away after a time. I would not throw dollar bills in the trash can, so why do I throw dollar bills transformed into cards in the trash? Perhaps I am paying for the sentiment rather than the card, but I still don’t like it.

The cookie greeting solves this problem. For just a few dollars more, I can send  a cookie instead of a card! The $5 price tag includes a themed cookie delivered in a recycleable or reusable box, a personalized note and shipping. Cheryl’s offers cooking greetings for nearly any occasion, so if you are looking to send someon a sweet valentine, this could be your solution.

As we celebrate love or whatever it is we pay tribute to on February 14th, it seems remiss not to take a moment to recognize the heart makes up heartbreak. Some time ago, I remember hearing or reading about a beautiful, talented freeskier named Sarah Burke who died from injuries she sustained after a halfpipe crash. I am not a skier or an XGames enthusiast (Sarah was an XGames champion), but I am a human being who – given my former line of work – is well aware that grief is the price we pay for love.

It is on that note I encourage you to read this beautiful letter a professional skier and friend to Sarah and her husband wrote to honor her memory one year after her death. I found it a poignant reminder of  how life moves on, and despite how much life after loss sucks, good things remain in this world.

What’s the thing where people take a picture of their food at a restaurant & tweet it? Are we supposed to comment? Critique? Congratulate?

— Willie Geist (@WillieGeist) January 19, 2013

Two camps seem to have developed in regards to this whole Instagramming meal pictures thing. Some people love it while other people despise it. I am neutral on the whole subject. I see taking a picture of food no different than photographing any other still life. Yet, “Eat it, don’t tweet it” cracks me up every time.

If you are on board with sharing pictures of food via social media, you may want to consider signing up for The Meal. At noon Eastern Standard Time on Friday, February 22, take a picture of you with your meal and email it to The Sketchbook Project at themeal@sketchbookproject.com or tweet it to @arthouse (be sure to include #themeal). From what I gather, the idea is to inspire a feeling of community share a meal across the world and at the same time raise money to support Action Against Hunger.

Last but not least, in honor of the Super Bowl tomorrow, I would like to share this You Tube video. I am forever last to the party when it comes to music, books and anything social media, but on the off chance you have not yet seen this, take a few minutes to laugh. “An orange peanut! For me?” Happy Weekend!

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