Warning: Problematic Treats Ahead

In the above photos, you'll see the most difficult treats to prepare in the world. Never mind that one consists of dipping an ice cream cone into cherry sauce, then chocolate, and the other is a matter of dropping a dollop of ice cream into a slushy. Don't be fooled by the seeming simplicity of the treats: they are virtually impossible to prepare correctly on your first try.

Complicated Treat #1: Double-dipped Ice Cream Cone. Tricky part: Dipping the cone in cherry, then chocolate.

Complicated Treat #2: Cherry Slushy with Dollop of Ice Cream. Tricky part: Dropping a blob of ice cream into a slushy.

Our trials and travails with the double-dipped cone go way back--back to a certain DQ in Scipio (or was it Fillmore? I can never remember which is which). An innocent-looking, strawberry-blond teenager was running the register that fateful day. Alicia and I were on our way to Las Vegas and thought we'd stop for a treat. We placed the order as we normally do:

"Can we get 2 small dipped cones? And can you dip them in cherry first, then chocolate?"

The girl looked at us like we were mob bosses asking her to "off someone" for us. She scratched her arm, looked at the coworkers busily working behind her. After finally consenting, she filled the first cone with vanilla like usual, then turned to us for reassurance before the dip of death.

"So cherry and chocolate?"

"Yep. Cherry first, then chocolate."

With our gentle coaxing, she got it right. The coworker who dipped the second cone got a little confused with the order--chocolate then cherry (but we let it slide as it was obviously a first for her). We could feel them eyeing us the whole time we enjoyed our cones.

On the way back from Vegas, the sweet tooth hit again. So, we stopped into the same DQ. For double-dipped cones, again. We placed our order with a different employee this time. As we said, "Yeah, but can you dip it in cherry, then chocolate," the strawberry-blond whipped her head around in shock (she was manning the fryalator--hoping to avoid troublesome guests like us). She took over from there--now experienced with this type of situation. Like the cold-blooded mob bosses we are, we watched to make sure the cones were correctly dipped.

These photos were taken after a recent jaunt to visit some sweet little baby goats. I mean, who doesn't have ice cream cravings after watching baby farm animals? The order went like this:

Ryan: "Can I get a cherry slushy with some vanilla ice cream in it?"

Alicia: "Can I get a dipped cone, but instead of just chocolate, can you dip it in cherry first, then chocolate?"

The girl at the register assured us this wouldn't be a problem, and after the 5 minutes is took her to enter it in the register, an employee emerged from the back with a plain cherry slushy and a dipped cone...in cherry only. Another 5 minutes of pure confusion later, they finally got it right, and made sure they charged an additional $1.00 for the scoop of vanilla ice cream in the slushy. The manager then came out with an order he assumed to be ours, but the 16-year-old employee at the register quickly corrected him. "That's mine," she said.

Are we wrong to ask for two dips--cherry then chocolate? Is it a difficult question to understand? I suppose it won't be a surprise when a new heading appears in the DQ training manual: "Dealing with Mob-boss Customers. You Don't Have to Double-dip." Until that happens, I'm going to continue ordering my troublesome cones. They're delicious, and should you decide to try one for yourself, just remember to gently walk the DQ employee through the process. "Yep, just twist that vanilla onto the cone like usual. Good. Now dip it into the cherry sauce. Good. Now the chocolate..."