I know it's already the end of August, which means the close of the season for the quintessential summer dessert, ice cream, but let's be real here. Is there anyone who doesn't eat ice cream year round?

I didn't think so. Besides, I've always been a late bloomer, so ice cream on the patio starts now for me, especially since I got a brand new ice cream maker fairly recently.

While I have the ice cream maker, as well adorable bowls and spoons to serve the many flavors I have made thus far, I realized that I didn't have a proper scooper. I was scraping ice cream, gelato, and sorbet with a large dinner spoon and trying unsuccessfully to shape it into a perfect ball. I have now come to the conclusion that I need a proper ice cream scooper.

Thanks to the LA Times, which reviewed seven ice cream scoopers, I now know which one I should get. Though there were some fancy scoopers like the Deni electric scooper that's supposed to make it easier to scoop hard ice creams, and the Calphalon Three-Way that makes scoops into pretty floral shapes, I live the one that also got the highest rating - the KitchenArt scooper with the gel grip (the one pictured top row, middle).