I haven’t had a float since…well forever ago. I think the last time was when I was a little kid sitting in a Sonic drive-in parking lot, my short legs dangling from our car’s backseat that was too tall to allow them to reach the floor. I probably had straight-across bangs and pigtails too if you want the whole picture.

My mom was pretty wise about not allowing too much trashy fast-food all the time, but on occasion she’d take us there for a quick lunch or treat. I think it was largely because we were good friends with the manager and most of the employees that worked there at the time so it was nice to support them at the same time (or maybe that’s just a clever excuse we used to feel better about those splurges (Anyone know what a Route 44 is?). It’s crazy how that can seem like a lifetime ago and like yesterday at the same time.

Sitting here now and looking back is making me realize how much my life has changed since then, done a 180 so to speak, or maybe more like a 360. Actually, let’s just say it’s been a rollercoaster ride that’s taken me all over the place with plenty of resulting whiplash. Hey, but I bet yours is the same way. Changes are just part of living.

I’ve had this recipe on my list for months now and I’ve been dying to share it before summer is over and I just couldn’t wait any longer. You can use fresh, frozen, or canned cherries but I'm obviously going to vote for the fresh.

Even more good news, you can switch out the fruit with other kinds like berries, peaches, pineapple, oranges….. Endless possibilities here. I could have chosen one of those fruits that currently is available to me fresh, but it was too late. I had already got it stuck in my mind that I had to have a big old, brilliantly red, wonderfully fizzy, and just a little bit (okay a lot a bit) messy, cherry vanilla float! I confess, this was purely stubbornness on my part, but really, look at this beauty! Can you blame me? I’ve always wanted to make my own pop and ice cream floats. I feel like together they just scream vintage Americana in the summertime.

Oh, and did you guys know that making soda pop at home is one of the easiest things ever? Really, pretty much all you do is make a syrup, add some gas water, and stick a straw in it! Then to take the next step and upgrade to a float, (which obviously needs to happen every time, duh!), you just drop in some generous scoops of vanilla ice cream and kick back to enjoy your work of artful and delicious genius!

Hopefully you’ve stuck around thus far to get this recipe. (opens tightly scrunched eyes to see who’s still here) Oh good, because it’s one that I’m extra, extra thrilled about!

As always, the recipe is available upon request. The first request gets an upvote.

ALL CONTENT IS MINE AND ORIGINAL! All of these food photos were taken with my Nikon D5300 and my favorite Lens, the Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G. You can find out more in my INTRO POST. And by the way, my intro post did a huge $0.21