3 Scoops, Brighton

Like I've said, I'm a true Boston girl, which includes loving ice cream year-round. So when I heard about an ice cream shop right in Brighton that was seasonal (all the other seasonal shops I know are way out in the 'burbs), I was surprised. Surely Brighton center could sustain a year-round need for ice cream, right? Also, the fact that 3 Scoops escaped my attention during the years when I lived just up the street astounds me.

Of course, when I was invited to try 3 Scoops, which has just opened for their season, I was happy to oblige. When I walked in, there was just one customer and Raul, the scooper, and as I sampled a variety of flavors, the three of us got into a deep and meaningful conversation about graduate school and, basically, how to do something you love with your life. I'm not sure I got any answers out of the conversation, but I'm pretty sure Raul and I managed to help out the customer a bit. This sort of conversation continued throughout the hour or so that I hung out in the shop, and the environment seems very welcoming to sitting and chatting, much like a coffee shop.

Raul happily plied me with tastes of lots of flavors, including a black raspberry swirl that was sweet and tart and pretty near perfect. Coconut tasted like the real thing, and the mud pie was filled with tasty chunks of chocolate and cookies. My favorite was the mint chip (I'm a sucker for mint ice cream of any ilk), which tasted more like a peppermint patty than other mint chips I've had in the past. Most of the ice cream comes from Coop's, which many people may recognize as Herrell's. Other flavors, especially the special diet flavors - vegan, allergen-free - are made by Raul, who learned to make ice cream while living in Paris.

Raul asked if he could make me a sundae or a frappe, and then he said the magic words: ice cream sandwich with fresh chocolate chip cookies. He started packing more mint chip (my choice) onto a cookie that was about the size of my hand (fingers spread!), then he pushed another cookie on top. This thing was seriously huge, and it would have taken two hungry people to finish it off. The ice cream sandwich is not technically on the menu, but here's hoping that they'll put it on there soon (in two sizes - one cookie or two - preferably).

Of course, 3 Scoops is new to me, although I've spent plenty of time wandering around Brighton Center in the past. I am unclear whether there is new ownership or a change in direction for the store, because none of the Yelp (etc) reviews I read online of the place seem to jive with what I saw. While chatting with Raul, he mentioned that they are discussing whether to do away with the seasonal thing all together, which indicates that the store is trying new things.

As I was driving away, I noticed a new ice cream shop (actually new, as opposed to new for the year), Abbott's, with a big misleading sign that read "Since 1902". I would have stopped in if I had not been full of the previously mention ice cream sandwich. I haven't tried Abbott's custard before, but as far as Brighton Center goes, I'm rooting for 3 Scoops, which serves locally-made ice cream, as opposed to a chain from New York.

Full Disclosure note: The ice cream was provided to me for free by 3 Scoops.

Friday I'm in Love... with Ben & Jerry's Late Night Snack

Like any good Boston girl, I love my ice cream. It's not uncommon around here to find people lined up for ice cream on a cold winter's night. I also love desserts that are both salty and sweet, so when I heard that Ben & Jerry's had come out with a flavor in honor of Jimmy Fallon's Late Night Show that involved potato chips and salted caramel, I searched high and low to find it.

(Truth be told, I'm more of a Craig Ferguson fan than Jimmy, but Craig doesn't have his own ice cream flavor...yet. This is my favorite clip from the Late Late Show.)

Supermarket after supermarket didn't have Late Night Snack on the shelves, but I eventually found some and dug right in. The ice cream base itself is a premium vanilla, flecked with Fair Trade vanilla beans, and is sweet and smooth. The caramel runs in ribbons throughout, and its saltiness is more pronounced when eaten with only a small amount of the ice cream. And the chocolate-covered potato chip clusters? Crispy and salty (although the caramel is saltier), but not all-together what I was expecting.

These clusters are more like rice crispies - airy and crackly - than like real potato chips. So after a slight disappointment in not finding real chips, I started to get into the texture of these clusters.

Final verdict? I'm hoping this flavor doesn't go away anytime soon. Much like its sibling, Chubby Hubby (vanilla malt ice cream with fudge and peanut butter and chocolate-covered peanut butter-filled pretzels), Late Night Snack appeals to those of us who like a little savory with the sweet. Unlike Chubby Hubby, where the pretzels are a bite in themselves, Late Night Snack's potato chip clusters are just the right size to enjoy in conjunction with the rest of the ingredients.

Eat Drink and Be Fair Cook-Off

Last night was part two of Green Mountain Coffee's celebration of Fair Trade Month with their Eat Drink and Be Fair event. Instead of a sit down dinner like last week, this was billed as a "Top Chef Masters"-style cook off between some amazing chefs. Besides one dish from each competitor, there were also a range of appetizers focused on Fair Trade and local ingredients. And since Green Mountain was the host, there were a lot of other great companies from Vermont showing off their wares - Cabot Creamery, Long Trail Brewery, Ben & Jerry's - it was like going back to Vermont for an evening. My favorite appetizer was simple, and it's something that I think I'll be making at home - local apples and brie in puff pastry bites.

Since I've been telling people about these events, I've had questions about what Fair Trade is. Prior to these dinners, I had the vaguest sense of a definition, but I have a much firmer grasp on the term now. Basically, Fair Trade provides a fair price to farmers for their harvest. Prices can fluctuate wildly, so this makes sure they get a minimum price for their goods. It also creates networks for farmers, meaning they can work together to strengthen their communities (through schools, roads, etc). Fair Trade also allows companies like Green Mountain to get products out of difficult-to-reach regions and cutting out the middleman. Fair Trade can apply to a huge variety of products, including coffee, chocolate, vanilla, fruits like bananas, and even products like cotton. You can learn more about Fair Trade here.

As part of the event, Green Mountain flew some of the coffee producers from Guatamala up to New England to tour the facilities in Vermont and to join us at this dinner. Domingo, the president of their farmers association, spoke for a bit through a translator. One of the farmers had a video camera glued to his hand all night, taking in every bit of the event, and he had the biggest smile on his face the whole time.

OK, onto the food. I've been thinking about this sea urchin cappuccino from Chef Richard Garcia of Tastings Wine Bar & Bistro since I had it last week. This week's iteration was a little different, but probably because they were making a much bigger batch. The coffee, used in place of broth, was a stronger component. I like the idea of using coffee in this way, and it works especially well with the creamy and slightly sweet parsnips. During the Top Chef portion of the evening, Chef Garcia showed off by opening a bunch of sea urchins at such a fast pace that I couldn't even get a photo of him in action. This dish was also the most unique, I think, because it varied from the others, which were all protein over puree, and used the Fair Trade ingredients (coffee and vanilla) in the most unusual way.

Next up was a bacon and coffee crusted pork tenderloin with sweet potato puree, presented by Chef Jay Silva of Bambara. My friend thought the coffee in the crust (the black ring in the photo above) was too strong, but I really liked it. The pork was perfectly tender, thanks to the bacon, and the sweet potato was a fitting pairing, making the whole dish taste like fall.


Then we headed for the tea-smoked beef sirloin with banana squash puree and a coffee and sunchoke gravy, presented by Chef Will Gilson of Garden at the Cellar. This was probably my least favorite of the dishes, but only because the piece of meat I got was pretty grisly and hard to chew. The flavors were all really good, though, and I loved the use of cacao nibs as garnish. I still haven't been to Garden at the Cellar, and now I'm looking forward to it even more (if only because I want to see what Chef Gilson can do with a dish that I can actually chew). ;)

The last dish was coffee-marinated duck breast with parsnip puree, pickled pumpkin, gala apple, and an espresso-vanilla chimichurri, presented by Chef Peter McCarthy of EVOO and Za. This was pronounced the winner by the judges, and for good reason. The duck was cooked very well (appparently I like duck now, because this is the second time I've had it in a week and I loved both dishes), but the best part was the pickled pumpkin. I don't know how it's done, but it's something I want to make at home now!

After dinner, I grabbed a cup of coffee (Rainforest nut, which I haven't had for ages, and I loved it all over again) and enjoyed the balmy weather by sitting in the courtyard (can you believe it was snowing just a few days ago?!).

Oh, and did I mention Ben & Jerry's was there? They have a variety of Fair Trade flavors, but my favorite was the Chocolate Macadamia (Fair Trade vanilla and chocolate ice cream with fudge-covered sustainable-sourced macadamia nuts). Soooo good!

The First (Annual? Please?) Ice Cream Showdown

This past Saturday, Sugarbomber, Eat Boston, and Grand hosted the Ice Cream Showdown, a Scooper Bowl of local proportions. Seven local ice cream companies got together in a hot and humid parking lot in Union Square to dole out over 1500 samples to about 500 hungry people. I tasted 6 of the 7 companies (and was only a mere moments from trying the last, b.good, when they ran out of smoothies). I loved trying different flavors, and it really felt like a community event. The whole thing was a benefit to support the Juniper Fund.

The participants were:

b.good - They were blending up what looked like mango smoothies, but they were also the last place we hit, and they ran out with only about 5 people in front of me. Sad.

Chilly Cow - Pronounced the winner of the showdown, thanks to votes from attendees, Chilly Cow served up their delicious custard. It's not easy to find frozen custard around (we used to serve it when I worked at Emack and Bolio's), and Chilly Cow's is fantastic - thick and creamy and absolutely heavenly.

Christina's - Serving up the biggest scoops of the day, Christina's mocha explosion was interesting, but I'm not sure I would order it again. There were too many bits of stuff, so the ice cream to stuff ratio was way off. I do love how creative they are in general with their flavors, though. Any place that makes fresh rose ice cream is ok in my book.

Coop's Microcreamery - I had never heard of Coop's before until I realized that Marc Cooper, the owner, used to make ice cream for Herrell's. I was pretty blown away by their mango sorbet - it tasted like I had just taken a bite out of a super-ripe, super-cold fruit, and I kept expecting to run into chunks (although I'm happier that it was nice and smooth). Coop's ice cream is available at the Allston Cafe.

JP Licks - I'm a huge fan of JP Licks and their ever-changing flavors (I may be the only person who enjoyed their pad thai ice cream). They served up fresh mint and oreo cake batter, both of which had tremendous flavor. The cake batter was better for eating a whole scoop of, but the fresh mint was light and seasonal and gave me ideas of what to do with the huge mint plant in my yard.

Toscanini's - I've never been a big fan of Toscanini's, and to tell the truth, the whole taxes debacle last year and this insulting piece by Gus Rancatore about stupid customers (the same people who bailed him out of the tax problem) have all made me dislike the place more. Their Coffee Ice Cream Sandwich flavor was fine, but it didn't blow me away.

Wheeler's - I was pretty full by the time we reached Wheeler's, but I still wanted to try their vegan ice "cream." The salted chocolate was a nice balance of sweet and salty, but the texture was not quite right for me. If I were a vegan, this would be a great option, but I like real ice cream a little too much.

Graduation Dinner at No. 9 Park

I have been dying to try No. 9 Park for ages - I look in the windows longingly when I walk past and I've checked out their menu online once or twice. So what better way to celebrate the completion of my Master's degree (and the end of this crazy semester that has resulted in severely limited blogging time) than with a meal at No. 9 Park?

From the moment we walked in until the moment we left, the service was impeccable. Our waiter, John, was the perfect level of attentiveness - it was easy to get his attention, he came over to check in on us numerous times without seeming obtrusive, and his descriptions and recommendations were spot on. When I asked where the restroom was to another server who had cleared some plates, she led me across the restaurant instead of just pointing me in the general direction.

As much as we were intrigued by the 7-course Chef's Tasting menu, we opted for the 3-course prix fixe instead. Three seemed like a more reasonable number, although based on how much we all enjoyed our meals, we may have to go back for the tasting menu sometime.

For an appetizer, I opted for the artichoke ravioli, with fontina fonduta, fried artichoke hearts, and a shaved artichoke salad. The mix of textures and cooked/raw ingredients was perfect - each bite was an example of how great an artichoke can be. I had a hard time deciding between the ravioli and the much-lauded prune-stuffed gnocchi with foie gras. I've never liked foie, based on what I've tried before, though. Luckily, I did snag a bite off my brother's plate, and I can no longer say I hate foie - clearly whatever I've eaten before has been subpar and ill-prepared because this was completely different - creamy, with a crispy sear, and unctuous without feeling overly fatty.

The entrees were a tough choice - I could have ordered almost any of them and been happy. I ended up ordering the lamb, served two ways (steak and braised) with cooked vegetables and what they called bagna cauda (but was more like pureed olives with olive oil). I don't think there was a single drop of the bagna cauda left on my plate by the end of the meal - it was as well suited to the perfectly cooked lamb as it was to the less exciting cooked vegetables (although I love that they included fennel in the mix). Again, I snagged a bite of my brother's dish - grilled pork belly with spiced peanuts and a sweet pea puree - and I think his meal was my favorite. The pork belly was creamy and salty, not at all stiff like other pork bellies that I've had before. The peanuts added texture, spice, and more salt. The whole thing was sinfully rich but not overly heavy.

Desserts were an even harder choice. I was undecided until our waiter described almost every single dish in detail - he won me over with a made-to-order hazelnut cake with a black olive caramel and Thai basil ice cream. The cake was small and shaped like a canele. The interior was like a more subtly flavored nutella, and the edges were not overly cooked, which can happen so often with molten chocolate cakes. The olive caramel was salty and sweet, and it was very easy to pinpoint the olive flavor. And Thai basil ice cream? That made me want to bust out the ice cream maker and start experimenting. My mother's dessert came with Szechuan peppercorn ice cream, and that was another one that had me itching to start cooking - it was floral and elegant, with just a little kick of spice at the end.

After this meal, I'm pretty sure that No, 9 Park will be my new special occasion restaurant. I don't think I've ever had a meal like this before - we ooo'd over every single bite, from first to last.

Retro Chocolate Plate at Finale

Most people who really know food understand that holidays (especially ones like Valentine's Day) are not always the best time to go out to eat. It seems, though, that this won't be such a problem this year - Valentine's is a Saturday, and the following Monday is a holiday, meaning that the entire weekend is open for Valentine's-themed meals.

Finale has taken this into account, and is offering a special menu for the entire weekend, all focused around their Retro Chocolate Tasting Plate. They got in touch with me to come try it out, and who am I to say no?

I've had Finale's savory food before and enjoyed it, and I've had their sweets (although as take-out, not plated in the restaurant). The idea of a restaurant that focuses on dessert makes me think of absolute decadence, and the Retro Tasting Plate is exactly that (and isn't decadence a good thing for Valentine's Day?).

The plate is HUGE, and each of the six offerings is definitely decadent. And it's definitely retro, filled with old-school favorites like peanut butter and jelly, s'mores, and malted milk balls. With so many different things on one plate, you'd think all the flavors would get muddled, but the through-line of chocolate ties everything together.

To start, let me say that I'm not a fan of either bananas or the combination of peanut butter and jelly. That's why I was so surprised when I genuinely enjoyed both the milk chocolate banana pyramid and the peanut butter and jelly truffles. In the pyramid, the flavor of the sweetened banana puree was mild enough not to be offensive but flavorful enough to evoke the fruit - if all bananas actually tasted like this, I'd eat them all the time. And PB&J is apparently more pleasing to my palate in truffle form.

Also included on the plate are chocolate-covered pretzels, a molten chocolate cake with orange sauce, a giant s'more with a Tahitian vanilla marshmallow and salted graham crackers, and a white chocolate Florentine "love boat" filled with Ciao Bella malted milk ball gelato. This is a serious amount of chocolate, and I couldn't stop eating it. The low point, if there was one, was the molten chocolate cake - it has become such a common dessert at almost every restaurant that everything else stood out in their uniqueness.

So if you're still looking for someplace to eat for Valentine's Day, try giving Finale a call - the Retro Chocolate Plate is something you'll want to savor with your loved one.

- Downtown Boston
- Harvard Square
- Coolidge Corner

Mmmm Ciao Bella

God, what a gorgeous day! It was the perfect day for wandering around Harvard Square and free ice cream!

I finally managed to stop by the Ciao Bella truck in Harvard Square on their final day in town. They were giving out scoops of five different flavors - vanilla gelato, pistachio gelato, maple ginger snap gelato, blood orange sorbetto, and blackberry cabernet sorbetto. I snagged tastes of both the pistachio and the blackberry cabernet and was blown away by both. I shouldn't have been surprised - the blood orange (the only flavor I've purchased before) is unbelievably, intensely flavorful, and these flavors were no slouches, either. The pistachio actually tasted like the nut (and thankfully, was not bright green), and the pistachios in the mix were still crunchy! The blackberry cabernet started out with a rich wine-taste, and the berry intensity grew over time.

One thing I particularly like about Ciao Bella (especially the sorbet) is that the quality is amazing, and it actually helps with portion control. I know, sounds weird, but hear me out - with such intense flavors, I feel so satisfied with a good scoop (and not the whole pint). This is truly a dessert worth savoring.

Blood orange is still my favorite... but I guess that means I'll just have to keep trying more flavors.

Free Ciao Bella Gelato This Weekend!

Free ice cream? Yes please! Ciao Bella will be in Harvard Square this weekend giving out scoops of their incredible gelato and sorbetto on one of the last stops of their Discover-Savor-Share tour. I love their blood orange sorbet - it really captures the essence of the fruit, which only appears for a few weeks in the winter. Can't wait to try some other flavors!

The bright pink and orange Ciao Bella truck will be on JFK Street in front of Staples on Friday, September 19 from 5-8pm, Saturday, September 20 from 12-5pm, and Sunday, September 21 from 3-7pm. Ciao Bella products can be found at Whole Foods and other, smaller retailers around Boston.

Ice Cream Cakes from JP Licks

My friend Nathaniel, a fellow August baby, also shares a fondness for ice cream birthday cakes. So, to celebrate his birthday this year, what could be better than an ice cream cake from JP Licks?

We went for a medium Oreo cake - two layers of well-packed oreo ice cream with a layer of fudge between, crushed oreos on the sides, and oreo halves decorating the top. The medium is an 8-inch round - six of us ended up eating half of it, so there's plenty left for the birthday boy to graze on over the next week. The ice cream itself was, as usual, fantastic, and the layer of fudge - pure chocolate - was a much tastier alternative to that waxy frosting that is on so many other ice cream cakes.

JP Licks keeps other flavors of ice cream cakes in stock as well, or they will make a custom cake with 48 hours notice.

My Favorite Ice Cream

You may have noticed that I like ice cream. It's a major food group for me, and there's never a family get-together that doesn't end with ice cream. I'm usually a Brigham's girl (which is why I was so upset to hear that they had been sold to Hood), but my all-time favorite ice cream is from Kimball Farm. I usually go to the one in Carlisle, but their location in Westford is much bigger (and includes mini golf and bumper boats!). Sadly, it's kind of far from the city, so I only go once in a while, but when I do, man do I enjoy it.

Oh, and that amazing (but melty) peppermint stick ice cream you see there, measuring over 2 full cups? That's a kiddie size and cost about $3. It also has a fantastically creamy base and is loaded with tons of both red and green peppermint stick flakes. Maybe it's a good thing this isn't closer to the city, or I'd be eating there all the time.

Scooper Bowl 2008!

It's that time again - time for all-you-can-eat ice cream, served in the sweltering heat! The 26th Annual Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl, a fundraiser for cancer research and treatments at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, opened today, and I hit it up with a fellow Bostonist writer to scope out the scene (and eat all the ice cream, of course). It was packed, as to be expected, and the ice cream was melting faster than we could eat it. That doesn't mean we didn't get to try almost half of all the offerings on hand...

My favorites:

Brigham's Xtreme Razberry - Brigham's will always hold a dear place in my heart, as it was a big part of my upbringing and my family eats it every time we get together. Peppermint Stick is my all-time favorite, and lately I've really been into Just Jimmies. But this new flavor may have usurped the others, at least for a little while. It consists of a rich raspberry ice cream, with a fudge swirl and tons of mini raspberry cups (like peanut butter cups, but filled with raspberry goo). The name makes it sound stupid, but the taste... oh, the taste makes you forget all about the ridiculous name.

Doriti Gelati's Mango gelato - This is, by far, not the best gelato you can get around Boston, but the rich mango flavor, with just a hint of coconut, was pleasing and refreshing.

Ben & Jerry's One Cheesecake Brownie - I'm not a fan of cheesecake, but this stuff was awesome and tasted just like the real thing. The cheesecake ice cream was filled with big chunks of fudge-y brownie. We also tried the Cake Batter, which tasted just like cake batter, leaving me to comment "And the snozzberries taste like snozzberries!" I'll take any chance I can get to quote Willy Wonka...

Breyers' Mint Chocolate Chip - I'm also not a big fan of Breyer's... at least, I wasn't until I tasted this flavor. There's still too much air in the ice cream for my taste, but the mint flavor was fantastic, and it was packed with tons of huge chocolate chunks - a very good ratio between mint and chocolate. Hell, I might even buy this at the market some time...

What was your favorite flavor from the Scooper Bowl?

Root for the Red Sox with Free Ice Cream

To celebrate Opening Day at Fenway, JP Licks, local purveyors of some tasty ice cream (and wacky flavors), is offering free scoops at all their locations today. You can order any of their unique ice creams or yogurts, but why not use the chance to try one of the Red Sox-themed flavors?

-- Rice Dice Kream -- This tastes a lot like a frozen rice pudding, with short grain rice, lots of vanilla, and just a hint of nutmeg.

-- Green Monster Tea -- Just like the name says, this is a strong green tea-flavored ice cream.

-- Manny's Mocha Chip -- Chocolate coffee ice cream shares the batter's box with big chunks of chocolate.

-- One Sweet World Series -- Bostonist's favorite, and not just because of the name. This one features a really strong coffee ice cream with swirls of caramel and chunks of heath bar for crunch.

-- Cherry Garciaparra Ortiz -- This one is clearly not new, but just like Big Papi, cherries and chocolate are always magic.

Bostonist thinks a few more Red Sox flavors should be added to the board. How about some BoysenBeckett, or Coco's Choco Crisp (chocolate ice cream with chunks of Crunch bars)? And of course, Cherry Ortiz should be renamed Cherry Remy, since that's just a name that rolls off the tongue of any local sports fan.

And if the ice cream doesn't fill you up, visit any of the local Chipotle Mexican Grills for free chips and guacamole throughout the day as well!

Originally posted at Bostonist. Victoria Welch and Jocelyn Noyes contributed.

A New Battle Cry

The Tick has a culinary battle cry (although I was always a little more partial to Arthur's). Why shouldn't I have one of my own?

I was at a friend's house for dinner, and she suggested trying profiteroles for dessert. She had never made them before, and it's probably been 10 years or more since the last time I made them, so it sounded like a fun challenge. A quick search found Thomas Keller's recipe, and I fell to work.

Now, I know there are a lot of words in that recipe, and usually, lengthy recipes turn me off. But this recipe works beautifully, forming choux dough with little work. The hardest part was scooping the ice cream to fill them with.

So where do battle cries fit into the recipe? The word "profiterole" is similar to "profiteor," Latin for "to profess or declare publicly." (More likely, profiteroles derive from the French for "to profit.") Just say the word "profiteroles" out loud (a booming voice helps). Shake your fist a little if that gets you into the mood. Isn't it just a great battle cry?

I know it will be my battle cry the next time I'm fighting to open a jar or I'm angry at my oven.

Blogging by Mail Meme

Blogging by Mail is a program in which food bloggers send small gifts to fellow bloggers as a way to create community amongst people who will probably never meet. I'm very excited to be taking part, but I'm still trying to figure out what I'll be putting in my package.

This afternoon, Antonia from Food, Glorious Food! tagged me in a meme - she will be sending me a package from sunny ol' England. She thought this would be a good way to get to know me a little (I've already gotten to know her a little too), so I thought it would be fun. I'll go ahead and tag Michelle from Culinography, to whom I'll be sending my package. Hi Michelle!

My five favorite foods: Greek-style pizza (this is a Boston thing, I think), napoleons, popcorn with lots of salt and butter, pomegranates (the fruit, not the juice), and anything chocolate-mint.

My five least favorite foods: Mushrooms (although I'm beginning to like the more gourmet varieties), smoked fish, eggs (by themselves - I don't care if they're in something), sushi, and peaches (I like the flavor, but just can't get over the fuzziness).

Something I've never cooked, but really should have: Pilaf. My aunt gave my cousins "pilaf tests," and she can't believe I've never made a batch. My mother was going to remedy this last summer, but it just never happened.

What I ate today: a honey stick for my sore throat, a handful of small Reese's peanut butter cups, peppermint tea, a couple glasses of orange juice, a rice and bean burrito, a blood orange, and drink (lots of different martinis) and food (crispy shrimp, tender pork ribs, braised veal) samples from a new restaurant called Persephone.

My last meal on Earth: For pure sentimentality, I'd have to go with some of the Armenian goodies I grew up with - su boreg made with my mom, cheese boreg (my sister-in-law, who's not even Armenian, makes awesome ones), string cheese, lamejun, choreg with lots of mahleb, and cream kadayif. And Brigham's peppermint ice cream, because I'm from Boston, and we have the highest per capita ice cream consumption in the US.

Thai ice cream - Sounds good, right?

As I've said before, when I'm issued a glove-across-the-face challenge, I like to meet it head on. So when I heard that JP Licks had 4 new Thai-inspired flavors in their October rotation, I heard the trumpet blare and saw the flag wave - off to JP Licks!

The flavors are Sweet & Sour sorbet, Pad Thai ice cream, Thai Iced Tea ice cream, and Coconut Curry ice cream.

I think the scoopers thought I was crazy when I ordered 4 kiddie cups - one of each flavor. In fact, when they were ringing me up, they told me they wouldn't charge me for the Pad Thai if I actually liked it.



Sweet & Sour sorbet - The first bite was the worst. After a few more, it began to grow on me, much to the horror of my friends. One friend, after taking a taste, declared that she was "mad at it" and that it "packs a punch - in the gut." Basically, if you're a huge fan of soy sauce, this might be up your alley. It was just way too salty. The only redeeming quality were the flecks of chili pepper, which added a more pleasing depth of flavor every few bites.



Pad Thai - Yes, this is just like the real thing. The ice cream is filled with short noodles, slices of green onion, chunks of peanut, and specks of cilantro. Is that a hint of garlic as well? This ended up being my favorite of the bunch because of how well it pulled off the unique combination of ingredients. I would never order this as a dessert, but for a savory snack, it was pretty tasty. After a while, though, the hint of lime got a little strange - I definitely couldn't eat more than a kiddie-size.



Thai Iced Tea - This tasted just like the real thing also. The most innocuous of the flavors, it's thick and creamy, with just a hint of spice. I wasn't crazy about this one, as it was a tad too thick to be thoroughly enjoyable.



Coconut Curry - Surprisingly tasty, but not my thing. The part I didn't like was that there was way too much coconut, and thus, too much chewing involved. The curry was very even and smooth, not spicy or overpowering at all. With less actual coconut and more coconut flavor, I think this one could be really good.

Has anyone else tried these? I'm dying to hear the opinion of others...

Scooperbowl 2007!

Today was the last day of Scooperbowl 2007, a fundraiser to benefit the Jimmy Fund. When the Scooperbowl started 25 years ago, there were only 4 vendors serving to about 1000 people. The participating creameries were smaller and more local, something that I think the event is sorely lacking today (How about Kimball's? Or Toscanini's? Christina's? Herrell's? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?)

Basically, for $7, you get all the ice cream you can eat, doled out in roughly 1/4 cup servings. You only get one spoon, though, so if you throw that away, you're screwed.

I managed 10 samples which was fewer than many people out on the plaza, but more than my coworkers (I think they averaged 7 or 8). Yes, I was double-fisting it, just to try the flavors. I didn't finish all my cups, though... some of them were a little too gross.

My hits and misses:

Cinnamon Buns from Ben & Jerry's - Awesome! It was like Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, minus the chocolate, plus a ton of cinnamon. Good stuff, and the dough was nice and chewy.

Baseball Nut from Baskin-Robbins - Gross. It was vanilla ice cream with swirls of raspberry jam and peanuts. Blech.

Oreo from Baskin-Robbins - Pretty decent. I like larger chunks of cookie (Emack & Bolio's, JP Licks and Ben & Jerry's have spoiled me), but this had a good cookie flavor.

Dulce de Leche from Breyers - Too sweet and airy. Who can eat this stuff? Ice cream needs some heft, it shouldn't feel like a marshmallow is dissolving in my mouth.

Dice-Kream from Brigham's - Meh. It's just Curse Reversed (or going way back now) Reverse the Curse, repackaged for the current wunderkind.

Chronicle Coffee Crunch from Brigham's - Also meh. Brigham's was a disappointment. I really liked the crunchy bits (chocolate-covered rice krispies?) but the coffee flavor lacked any depth.

Shock-A-Cone from Coldstone Creamery - Yum! I hate Coldstone, but this was great. It tasted like the perfect bite of a Drumstick cone.

Founder's Favorite from Coldstone Creamery - Meh. This had something to do with chocolate and pecans, but it was too sweety and sticky for me.

Lobster Tracks from Garelick Farms - Blah. It's Moose Tracks under a different name, but the caramel cups are covered in red chocolate instead of brown. This flavor has gotten a little boring because almost every shop offers their variation of it now.

Mint Chip from Haagen-Dazs - Good, but not great. I was surprised that this was the only mint offering of the day, but I was happy that I had it last to cleanse the palate. The mint was too subdued, though. I would much rather have Brigham's Mint Chip or Ben & Jerry's Mint Oreo.

Did anyone else go? What were your hits and misses?

And what are they Reserving this for?

After reading this thread on Chowhound, I was intrigued by all the new Reserve flavors from Haagen-Dazs. Many people on the thread where asking where they could find them, so I assumed, as the name implies, that they were hard to get. Imagine my surprise when I found the whole array at a local market.

Now I’m a little bit of a pomegranate freak. I love the fruit, and there’s nothing like the first pomegranate of the winter to signal the approach of the holidays. Most people lament the hard work involved in enjoying the fruit and are happy with all the new pomegranate products on the market. Being a real fan of the fruit itself, however, I don’t think any of those products actually taste like they should. Tangentially, the only exception I’ve found to this is Polar’s Pomegranate Seltzer. The biggest problem with this rash of new products is that the relatively small crop of fruit are all being juiced. I had a very hard time finding the whole fruit this winter in the market, when the year before, they were everywhere. The ones that did materialize where small and anemic, hardly worth the effort. Pomegranates are the John Mayers and Howie Days of the fruit world – they were better before they became popular and famous… now they just suck.

So vainly, I picked the Pomegranate Chip from the freezer. I would have been much better off trying one of the other flavors, one that wouldn’t disappoint me so completely. The Hawaiian Lehua Honey and Sweet Cream sounds really interesting and is probably the best of the bunch, so if I see that again, I might give it a try, although $5 is a little steep for a pint of prepackaged supermarket ice cream.

And what were my impressions of the Pomegranate Chip? Meh. M-E-H, meh. It tasted like a strange raspberry chip ice cream, nowhere near as good as the raspberry chip yogurt that I devoured when I worked at Emack & Bolio’s. I was expecting some hint of tart-y goodness, something to suggest that, indeed, a pomegranate had even been near the ice cream at some point. I guess it’s just one more product to hold in contempt of taking away my precious fruit.

Free coffee all summer?!

In the past few months here in Boston, there have been lots of opportunities for free goodies -- first there was free iced coffee from Dunkin' Donuts (you know I hit that up about 5 times that day), free ice cream at Ben & Jerry's, and free ice cream (on Fenway opening day, nonetheless) at JP Licks. Now JP Licks has done it again, with free iced coffee, not just today, but every day this summer that the temp goes over 81 degrees! All you need to do is flash a little card that they'll give you today and voila, free coffee.

And the coffee is really good... they roast it themselves in their JP branch. I've never had their coffee before because, well hey, they're an ice cream store. But I'm a fan now. It's less watery than Dunkin's, and has a richer flavor than what I get from Bruegger's (Bruegger's will still be my regular coffee supplier, though, since I've invested in my amazing $120 mug).

JP Licks is also my favorite ice cream purveyor near my office. If there were a Brigham's nearby, it would be in second place, but alas... This is a big change for me. When I was in college and JP Licks took over Denise's in Davis Square, we were all devestated. I think I boycotted for a while... I wasn't crazy about their ice cream (different textures take time to get used to) and their prices were higher too. But over time, I've grown to enjoy their wild flavors (Hibiscus Lemon Sorbet, Fresh Banana Peanut Butter Ripple ice cream) and local pride (Cherry Garciaparra Ortiz). Today I had soft red raspberry yogurt to go along with my coffee -- it was luscious and creamy; I don't often order soft yogurt, but this was a winner.

Edit 7/2/07: Apparently the little card they give you is only good once. It was never handed back to me after I got my free cup the other day...