Ice, the Forgotten Food

Really - for weeks I've been walking by an old VHS tape on a bookshelf at work. Only the title, Ice, the Forgotten Food shows. Rather than take the trouble to watch it, I took the easy route and made up a story instead. Along the lines of, "How did you survive those five days in the car, buried under feet of snow with only a few french fries and gummy bears under the seats to sustain you?" Why, ice of course. The forgotten food. Some day scientists will find that ice contains micro-nutrients vital for health, like mushrooms (once considered nutritionally blank).

But it turns out the tape demonstrates how crucial it is for ice, like any commercially sold comestible, to be sanitary. As in, "I only drank bottled water in Mexico, but got turista when I forgot to order my refrescos sin hielo." Sure it makes sense - but what fun is it?

I'm forgetting this food and putting the sincere lesson on ice until the next time I travel abroad, or host a party big enough to require a run to the ice cooler at the corner store. And practicing selective amnesia when Italian ice season returns. Surely the fresh lemon and cherry syrup make it safe, any day the humidity passes 90 percent.