Category Archives: Quick Hits

It’s National Ice Cream Day- Who Wants to Party?!

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Children walking outdoors in cool weather, happily eating ice‑cream cones, with buildings blurred in the background.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream!

Do you know what day it is? It’s National Ice Cream Day! A totally legitimate excuse to pig out on your favorite frozen treat — cones, sundaes, cups, bars, whatever makes your inner child happy.

A Little Nostalgia

Let’s get nostalgic for a minute. Do neighborhoods still have ice cream trucks? They used to cruise the streets with jolly jingles and ringing bells, and we all came running. We had to get our ice‑cream bar or our little “hoodsie” cup.

Anyone remember the old ice‑cream counters, or am I really dating myself? They were usually tucked inside the local drugstore or a Woolworth’s. You climbed up on a stool and ordered a shake or a cone, and life was good.

Right now I’m craving some Caramel Cup ice cream… and of course my freezer is empty.

Freebies for National Ice Cream Day

A bunch of ice‑cream companies are celebrating with deals and giveaways:

  • Dairy Queen: Rewards members get a free Dilly Bar with any order of $1 or more using the DQ App.
  • Baskin-Robbins: Rewards members get $5 off an order of $20 or more, plus a buy‑one‑get‑one free single scoop next week.
  • Friendly’s: Every guest gets a free cone or dish — no purchase necessary.
  • Dippin’ Dots: Participating locations are giving away free mini cups during a designated two‑hour window.
  • Häagen-Dazs: Rewards members can get a Buy One, Get One Free sundae at participating shops.
  • Insomnia Cookies: Get a free two‑scoop ice‑cream cup with any $5 purchase.

And while Boston isn’t hosting an official Ice Cream Day celebration, plenty of shops are scooping happiness today.

So… What Are You Doing for National Ice Cream Day?

I think I’m going to go buy a quart of my favorite flavors. Maybe two. It is a holiday, after all.

 

To Deep Fry or Not to Deep Fry

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Golden, crispy onion rings piled on a wooden surface with a small dish of red dipping sauce in the background.”

Onion Rings & Other Adventures

I almost never deep fry anything, but the craving for onion rings hit hard this week. So I broke down, hauled out my trusty cast‑iron skillet, clipped a deep‑fry thermometer to the side like I knew what I was doing, and went for it.

They were pretty good — crisp, golden, and absolutely worth the trouble. The only downside? By the time I was done, the oil looked like a snow globe full of batter crumbs. Since I fry with Crisco, I had to strain it before it cooled or it would turn back into a solid brick. I remembered my mom straining hers through cheesecloth, which sent me on a whole mental scavenger hunt wondering where people even buy cheesecloth these days. (Answer: apparently everywhere except my kitchen.)

And now, a brief report from the Feline News Desk at WMEW — All Meow, All the Time:

Banner: “We observed the frying operation from a safe distance. The sizzling noises were concerning, but we remained brave.”

Balboa: “I would like to formally request onion rings be added to the treat rotation.”

Rocky (retired, reporting from the Rainbow Bridge editorial suite): “Deb, next time take pictures. The readers deserve visual proof of this chaos.”

No photos this time — just a craving, a skillet, and two cats who think they’re culinary experts.

 

Look! 100,000 views

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“Deborah sits between her two cats, Banner (orange tabby) and Balboa (black cat), with a softly glowing, ethereal image of her retired editor‑in‑chief cat Rocky in the upper right corner.”

The Dustyroads Team — Banner, Deb (aka Dusty), Balboa, and Editor‑in‑Chief Cat Rocky (retired)

Hello my friends, loyal readers, and family.

Today is a very special day at Arounddustyroads. It feels like I’ve been writing forever, but this morning we crossed a huge milestone: 100,000 all‑time views. My little blog — this one‑woman column from Taunton that started with a camera, a keyboard, and a stubborn posting schedule — finally hit six figures. And we couldn’t have done it without you.

Along the way I had a finicky editor‑in‑chief cat who kept nudging me forward even when the going got tough. Rocky may be retired now, but his legacy lives on. Banner and Balboa have big whiskers to fill.

Here’s to the next 100,000 views. 

 

Breaking News from the Feline Desk – Daylight Saving Time Moves Ahead

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Banner and Balboa perched in front of the TV, one orange and fluffy, one black and sleek, looking like feline news anchors.

DST Déjà Vu

Well… here we go again. The House has once more nudged a bill forward to make Daylight Saving Time permanent. It’s not a done deal — it would still need to pass the full House and Senate — but the committee pushed it to the next step. We’ve been down this road before, so consider this another lap around the track.

Critics say keeping time saving daylight as a permanent fixture would mean darker mornings, groggy commutes, and kids waiting for buses in the shadows. Proponents counter that lighter evenings mean fewer accidents and a little more sunshine in our day.

Banner and Balboa have weighed in, of course. They love springing forward — earlier breakfast is a win in their book. But as for the concept of Daylight and Saving Time, “falling back”? Absolute chaos. Too many delays. Too much waiting. Feline outrage everywhere.

So what do you think? Would you want to keep Saving Time Daylight all year: good idea, bad idea, or “haven’t we talked about this every few years since the dawn of time”?

And finally, as Daylight Saving changes come up yet again, inquiring minds want to know your opinion.

The Day Roswell Landed on the Map

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“A glowing disc‑shaped UFO hovering in a dark, misty night sky, shining bright green beams of light onto the ground below.”

Seventy‑nine years ago today, on July 8, 1947, the Roswell Army Air Field casually announced they’d recovered a “flying disc.” Just tossed it into the news like someone found a lost hubcap in the desert.

By the next day, the Army said, “No no, wait — it was a weather balloon.” And that was the moment America collectively raised an eyebrow and said, “Sure it was.”

That tiny headline didn’t just make the local paper — it put Roswell, New Mexico on the map. Before the “crash,” it was a quiet desert town. After the “crash,” it became the Alien Capital of the World, complete with:

  • UFO museums
  • alien‑themed diners
  • green‑skinned mascots
  • and an annual festival that looks like Comic‑Con met Area 51

All because someone typed “flying disc” before their morning coffee.

The whole modern UFO craze — the sightings, the documentaries, the late‑night radio callers, the government cover‑up theories — traces back to that one moment in 1947.

And decades later, The X‑Files summed up the entire Roswell vibe with its iconic slogan:

“I want to believe.”

Roswell still does. Do you?