After a big bowl of vegetable soup - the best yet - we resist the temptation of a Dracula dessert (fruit ice cream and jam in a pancake) and walk out through the Wolf Room into the dying day.

BBC: Horsemeat scandal: Noble animal at centre of Romanian life

The closeups of fruit and ice cream look like pages from a medical atlas.

NEWYORKER: My Blueberry Nights

The combination of hot fruit and cold ice cream creates a lovely balance that tastes like summertime.

NPR: Grilling Your Dessert

So if your goal is to lose weight or stay healthy, your best bet is probably to have a small serving of regular ice cream, a serving -- no seconds -- of a low-fat and low-sugar ice cream, or better yet, a bowl of fresh fruit -- with a tablespoon or two of ice cream on top if you really love it!

CNN: Is no-sugar ice cream really a healthier alternative?

They're great with ice cream, fruit salad, mousses and puddings, too.

NPR: Holiday Sweets: On the Road (and in the Mail)

As long as they were low-fat, we could eat cookies and ice cream, chips, pasta and fruit roll-ups.

WSJ: The Experts: What role should government play in combatting obesity?

Corn, sweet potato sprinkled with cinnamon, rice and beans, garlic, avocado, and codfish all get whipped into ice cream, as well as what seems like almost every available seasonal fruit, including quenepa, which only exists on the island.

BBC: Unexpected tastes at Helader��a Lares