THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 25, 1995 TAG: 9506220234
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA
LENGTH: Long : 115 lines
YOU'RE HANGING OUT at Kitty Hawk Connection across from Jockey's Ridge, taking in the East Coast's tallest sand dune. Maybe you're dreaming up a decent excuse to knock off work early.
Then you notice the girl next to you is struggling to control a huge glob of ice cream that smells like. . . banana rice pudding?!
Sniff! Sniff! There's another child licking into a brown cone that looks like chocolate but - sniff! - sure smells like root beer!
The olfactory senses go into overdrive, and your body drifts to the small shop providing all these exotic flavors. It's a deli and confectionary aptly named How Sweet It Is.
Last year, Bill and Teresa Watson made 4,000 gallons of their homemade ice cream - the only homemade ice cream on the Outer Banks, they say. That doesn't include the more than 600 ice cream cakes Watson prepared.
The round cakes, from 6 to 10 inches in diameter, are made with layers of cookie crunch and vanilla and chocolate ice creams covered with white frosting. Special orders are available, and decorating is free. Cakes cost $11.99 for the six-person size and up to $18.99 for three times as many eaters.
Watson personally prepares each week's 24 featured ice cream flavors from a recipe book with 80-plus flavors. Six to eight backup flavors are always on hand, too.
``So there's a good chance that if we don't have your favorite flavors out front, if you ask, we'll have it in the back,'' the owner said.
A single scoop in a dish or cone starts at $1.40. The portion is quite generous. Sugar cones cost 10 cents more, and ice cream served in a waffle cone runs about $1.65. Double scoops in regular cones are $2.05.
``And I have been known to put three scoops in a waffle cone for people who are really ambitious,'' Watson declared. That'll cost around $3.10.
The three children in our group selected single scoops of root beer, pistachio and chocolate chip, served in regular cones.
The root beer, I later learned, is prepared with a dash of pure vanilla to take off ``the edge.'' It tasted a lot like a root beer float, declared Laura, age 9.
The pistachio included chopped walnuts and, unlike other pistachio flavors I've seen, candied pineapples and shredded coconut dyed green. It made the dish as interesting to look at as it was to lick, 6-year-old Alex reported.
Elise has become somewhat of a chocolate chip connoisseur. ``I thought the chocolate chip ice cream was really good. The chips were really chocolately,'' said the 8-year-old. That's as good as her assessments get.
All three kids gave their treats a dripping thumbs-up.
Watson said his ice cream melts quicker if it's eaten outside on windy days. It's wise not to walk out without napkins.
``Yeah, ice cream is not a talkin' dessert. It's an eatin' dessert. You can't sit down and chew the fat,'' Watson said.
Speaking of chewing fat. . . Watson readily admits his homemade confections carry a heavy caloric weight.
Most store brands have about 10 percent butter fat; Watson's is 14 percent. ``That's what makes the ice cream so creamy and smooth,'' he said. ``Only gourmet ice creams, like Ben & Jerry's, Haagen Dasz and myself, play around with 14 percent or higher.''
Fat-free, sugar-free Columbo frozen yogurt is available for those watching their diets. Toppings, like rainbow sprinkles and M&M candies, are extra.
The shop also will make milkshakes in any flavor. If you're stumped on what to choose, they've got a dandy of a dessert: the Creamsicle Freeze.
The shake includes two scoops of vanilla and one of orange sherbet, blended with 7-Up soda. ``You'd swear you were biting into an old Dreamsicle,'' Watson said.
How Sweet It Is also serves sundaes made from the same homemade ice cream. I was tempted to try out the reigning favorite, Death by Chocolate ($3.89). It's described on a handmade sign as ``a chocolate brownie generously layered with chocolate ice cream, hot fudge, real whipped cream. . . ''
Instead, I was a weenie and got a regular-size sundae for $2.70. Still eager to live a little, I selected strawberry - rather than the standard vanilla - ice cream.
The rich strawberry syrup and walnuts were covered by a heaping dose of whipped cream and topped by the mandatory cherry.
How did I like it? Well, let's just say mine was the only dish devoured before it could melt.
My friend Annie got a hot butterscotch sundae, which she found enjoyable, although for her own personal tastes, it was soaked a little too thoroughly in butterscotch sauce.
The Watsons bought How Sweet It Is from a retiring couple in 1993. Prior to that, Watson worked 23 years in a Jif peanut butter laboratory in Portsmouth, Va.
``The plant closed, and I was offered a transfer,'' Watson said. ``And I said, 'No, I'll take the money because I'm going to the beach.' ''
Watson still is loyal to the product, using only Jif peanut butter in his PBJ sandwiches and peanut butter fudge ice cream that's a personal favorite of his daughter, 17-year-old Crystal Jones.
While most patrons leave How Sweet It Is with ice cream or candy in hand, the shop also makes deli sandwiches and salads.
Fresh sub rolls from a local Food Lion are stuffed with a variety of Boar's Head meats and cheeses. The house specialty is Teresa's Club, a combo of turkey-bacon, turkey-roast beef or turkey-ham on three slices of bread, a cheese of your choice and Thousand Island dressing. It sells for $4.35.
New this year is the Dagwood ($5.25), which uses four types of meat, two cheeses and a host of toppings.
Teresa Watson also makes all the shop's salads - pasta, egg, tuna, chicken and macaroni. A former employee of a nearby retail shop warned me the chicken salad can be addictive.
All sandwiches come with a salad side dish and a pickle.
Take-out orders are available, with special packaging for charter fishing trips to ensure all ingredients stay fresh. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON
Bill Watson, 44, shows Crystal Jones, 17, how to decorate one of the
ice cream cakes sold by How Sweet It Is. Last year, the shop sold
600 of the cakes.
by CNB