Dippin Dots - Ice Cream of the Future!

I had my first experience with what I will always call "space ice cream" at a science museum when I was young. If you've never had it, this gimmicky ice cream is compiled of little ice cream balls (the so called dots) about a centimeter in diameter. I'm not sure what exactly makes it ice cream of the future, other than it's presence at science museums and planetariums nationwide, but it's billed as the ice cream of astronauts and other space men, and that's good enough for me. Imagine my surprise then when I found out that there are not one, but four locations of Dippin' Dots at non-science educational sites in the greater Cleveland area. 

My astonishment doubled when, upon walking into the Dippin' Dots on Miles Road, I came face to face with a whole slew of allergy information. I scanned past information on the usual suspects - nuts, milk, soy - and was pleasantly surprised to find information on gluten. The ice cream itself does not contain gluten, but like any good establishment making sure it doesn't get sued, it maintains it cannot attest to the flavorings of it's third party vendors. 

Well. I guess I'll get vanilla, I thought, plain ordinary vanilla. But the two women behind the counter saw me reading the allergy information and asked what I was allergic too. I explained my situation and the manager asked which flavor I was most interested, offering to personally check the ingredients for me. I scanned the offerings and selected Moose Tracks - I mean, who can turn down peanut butter and chocolate? 

A few moments later, she returned, bringing the bag of dots out for me to read, saying "you probably know what you're allergic to better than I do".  I always appreciate that, when people know their limitations and respect your knowledge of your own body. 

As it turns out, the moose tracks was gluten free, well as far as I can tell anyway. That third party vendor line always leaves me questioning myself, but in this life, sometimes you've got to take risks. Especially if it involves space ice cream. 

(I'm being a little glib here, but it's for the same reason those catch all, noncommittal warning labels exist. The fact is, I think it was okay, but I have no solid proof. I'm very careful about these sort of things, but one never knows.) 

The moral of the story is, Dippin' Dots was a fun and delicious outing. And I learned, once again, that it never hurts to ask for a little special treatment; you'd be surprised how willing people are to work with a food allergy. In the world of the future, we'll have cars that run on solar power, world peace, and easily understandable allergy information every where we go. Until then, I guess I'll settle for ice cream of the future. Especially when it's this yummy.