Though one might easily think otherwise given the abundance of vintage recipes for sweet treats I post here, I don't actually eat sugar myself very often these days. Generally speaking, on a day-to-day basis, I get my dietary hit of sweetness from fruit and naturally sweetened yogurt. Once or twice a month however, I do like to indulge and sink my teeth into something scrumptiously sugary.
On such occasions, knowing that I'll likely not have dessert again for at least a couple of weeks, I like to try and pick foods that I know will bring joy to my taste buds and which I've given a fair bit of thought to (instead of just, say, reaching for the nearest cookie). Sometimes I'll whip up dessert from scratch and indulge in a generous serving, other times I'll call up my mom and ask she'd like to make a pan of her insanely awesome caramel popcorn (seriously, best caramel corn I’ve ever had!) or perhaps have a marshmallow roast together (we both adore fire toasted marshmallows).
Due to the fact that a number of my medical conditions greatly impact what I can and cannot eat, I very rarely dine out at restaurants. Truth be told, I've only been able to do so twice in the past three years, though during that time we did occasionally order take-away from a couple of places back in Toronto that had options on their menu I could safely eat. The one exception to that point being that, thanks to the fact that a number of their menu options are gluten-free, every once in a blue moon we'll drive by Dairy Queen and pick up a sweet, fabulously refreshing treat there.
With today kicking off June and thus the start of month that once again brings with it the return of summer, I can definitely foresee visiting good ol' DQ a few times over the coming weeks. Good thing then, thanks to a charming 1950s ad, I recently discovered that at one point the chain dubbed June as Dairy Queen Month.
{1953 Dairy Queen ice cream sundae advertisement via Captain Geoffrey Spaulding on Flickr.}
Founded in 1940 in Kankakee, Illinois, Dairy Queen has a history that stretches back for seventy-two years now. One of the first US fast food chains to jump on the franchising bandwagon, Dairy Queen was also quick to hop the border and set up shop in Canada, opening their first non-US location in Estevan, Saskatchewan in 1953. Today DQ operates more than 5,700 locations in 19 countries, and while their menu has changed and grown over the decades, soft serve ice cream still remains at the heart of their dessert offerings.
Which is rather good thing, if you ask me, as I've always adored soft serve ice cream - especially Dairy Queen's. As a child I can remember going to DQ with my mom for a Sundae every once in a while (back then I'd almost always get hot fudge and marshmallow sauce on mine), and as I got older my friends and I would sometimes swing by the town's one and only Dairy Queen for a Blizzard.
These days, just as when I was a youngster, I love sinking a shiny red plastic spoon in a Sundae (often caramel and strawberry, though raspberry and chocolate is a winning combo, too). I sincerely appreciate it when restaurants (be they fast food or otherwise) offer gluten-free menu options, and so far have yet to ever experience cross contamination from a DQ frozen treat (fingers crossed I never will!).
As such, if you're also a gluten-free gal (or guy) who loves ice cream (and really, who doesn't love ice cream?), I highly recommend swinging by Dairy Queen this month (or any time) and treating yourself to one of their fabulously yummy offerings.
Of course all of you who don't have to worry about being gluten-free, can certainly do the same thing, too. I just wanted to let those who might not know about it yet, that Dairy Queen offers a selection of gluten-free options - at least a few of which, you can better believe I'll be enjoying on my "dessert days" this summer! 
Happy start of June, everyone – here’s to a sweet-as-ice-cream month and season ahead!
