Snoopy Snow Cone Maker
Sometimes you get a craving for a particular flavor. You can try to appease this craving by eating things that are similar. But to really feed the monster, you must locate the exact item...and quickly (lest you consume a week’s worth of calories in failed attempts).

On sultry hot summer days, I crave lemonade (the fair kind made with water, sugar, and squeezed lemon), grilled meats, and a tall, icy snow cone made with Snoopy’s (most likely cancer-producing) #5 Red, Cherry-flavored flavoring.

My lips smack just thinking of that sticky goo that probably originated from a gelatin recipe. The red is so vibrant that it stains your teeth, lips, upper lip...and God help you if you spill a drop on your mother’s prized sofa (the one no one's permitted to sit on).

My craving for this childhood favorite is intense and I’ve found that others share my need. So I wasted no time locating some other child’s treasured Snoopy Snow Cone Maker online and it sits in grungy glory at our family cabin.

The packets that came with it, however, are fossilized bricks of Cherry and Blueberry and Orange. No longer able to be sprinkled to create the frozen delight.

Sure, we tried our own concoctions. Some of us even get fancy, inspired by the inferior Hawaiian Snow.

But the monster in my belly still grumbles for that cold, crunchy, mouth-numbing cherry-flavored creation that my 8 year-old self perfected.