ALTON – Dairy free? That's fine at Ketchum's Corner Kreem.
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The beloved ice cream and frozen yogurt stop at the intersection of Alby and Elm Streets in Alton was bought by Frank Ketchum in 2004 for whom it was named. His son, Derrick Ketchum, currently owns and manages the establishment since his father retired in 2010. He operates it with day-to-day manager Kerri Jackson. This year, the corner creamery has added a new sorbet soft-serve machine, totaling five machines in total churning out soft-serve ice cream, frozen yogurt and now dairy-free sorbet.
Those words “dairy-free” are important to Jackson, who was working at the establishment Wednesday afternoon.
“A lot of people would come up here with their kids and say they couldn't have dairy, so they said 'I guess we'll get a slushie,'” Jackson said. “Well now they can have a treat of their very own, and it even fits on a cone.”
Flavors of soft-serve sorbet vary by availability. Wednesday Ketchum's Corner Kreem was serving up strawberry-banana-flavored sorbet. Samples given to two reporters from Riverbender.com (who are both well-established frozen concoction aficionados) were surprisingly creamy for a frozen delight void of lactose. Jackson said the sorbet is made with fruit and sugar and the machine processes it into a soft-serve delight.
Other people with sugar-sensitive conditions, such as diabetes, are also welcome to enjoy frozen delicious delights at Ketchum's Corner Kreem. Jackson said frozen yogurt served there can be ordered sugar-free as well. Outside traditional flavors of chocolate and vanilla, Jackson said a third flavor varies by availability. On Wednesday, they were serving caramel apple, which she said was a popular flavor, as was orange and vanilla twist, commonly called “dreamsicle.”
Jackson said the creamery also sells its products by the pint and quart at low rates. Over the Memorial Day weekend, she said quarts of the sugar-free yogurt were on sale for as low as $2 due to a surplus. She said they went quickly.
Ketchum's Corner Kreem can be found at 33 East Elm Street in Alton. It is open daily from 2-9 p.m. More information can be found at (618) 468-1088 or on its Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Ketchum-Corner-Kreem-146643985355500/.
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