Doug, the MOST die-hard chocoholic I have EVER met, and I (more of a cheese & salt kind of person) have one very important thing in common: our favorite dessert!  Though it is neither cheese-y nor chocolate-y, it surpasses all in taste and satisfaction. PatbingSoo is a really popular summertime dessert that I first discovered in Korea when I was about sixteen.  Back when Doug and I lived in our first postage stamp sized studio, sans internet, we would hit the too-trendy PC Cafe in Allston, MA to check our email.  I saw it on the menu, got excited, but we had NO IDEA it would be the MOTHER of ALL patbingsoos.  Topped with french vanilla ice cream, we spent many times hacking our spoons into the sweet azuki beans (paht),  bits of watermelon, kiwi fruit, strawberries, rice cake (dduk), bananas, and chewy jelly, over a bed of shaved ice.  As it melts, it becomes like a tornado of sweet snow and tropical dreams in your taste buds….

Then there was this one that we recently found at Cafe Expresso Experience in Berkeley, CA…