La fête du bon voyage (containing an ode).

(a), he was going to China, but

(b), so did Marco Polo, so

(c), it was perfectly fine for it to be a pizza party.

You cannot imagine the array of good pizza stuff I had--enough for pizzas for the 5000. We did happen to have only 2000 or so people, at the fête, so there was a lot of good pizza stuff left over, which we packed up and sent home with several.

But that's not what this post is about. What this post is about is ice cream cones.

IN PRAISE OF THE ICE CREAM CONE.

For it is edible, yet it contains an edible,

which is both icy and creamy;

but the cone itself is crunchy

and brittle: for it is

a cookie, yet it is also a vessel:

for it is made in several versions, to wit,

the cake cone, which is for children;

the waffle cone, embodiment of savoir faire,

the cone of choice at the ice cream parlor; and

the sugar cone, the cone of my youth,

burnt sugar crisp into which

the double dark chocolate

ice cream of Swenson's was dipped:

because it comes in exceedingly

small sizes, such as

the kiddie cone:

why not have two?

**********

The day before the party, I found tiny ice cream cones at Target, and the people, I bought them, and for dessert we had cupcakes baked by my daughter, with tiny Chinese flags affixed to toothpicks and stuck in the tops, and to finish it off, there were tiny ice cream cones, vanilla and chocolate, and they were adorable.

I don't always think "adorable" is the most salient quality in a dessert. But sometimes it is, especially when the boys--little and big--who are attending your party ask for just one more.

tags: ch-china, odes

Several items have come to my attention.

1. Betty, after the horrible surgery of a couple of months ago, is doing very well. Live strong, Betty!

2. The house is almost entirely back in order after the giant cooking-eating-entertaining extravaganza of yesterday.

3. I love how things look in my house right now--the beautiful tree, the new couch, a new rug we bought a couple of weeks ago, holiday decor, poinsettias. Why do I drag my feet at this every year, when it is so wonderful?

4. The cinnamon ice cream, which I put in a container in the freezer last night, is at a passably ice-cream-ish consistency, and tastes delicious, no doubt because it is full of fat. (If I'm eating ice cream before noon, all alone, is that a symptom of a problem? or am I the happy genius of my household? or both?)

5. Still grading.