ice cream — pleasure in simple things

Tag: ice cream

jeni’s ice cream

October

I have eaten a lot of ice cream in my day and I thought I had a couple favorite spots that couldn’t be beat. That is, until my recent trip to Ohio!

I found the ice cream by which all other ice creams should be measured! This super flavorful and perfectly textured dessert is sold at Jeni’s scoop shops throughout Ohio (and select other states). OMG. It is truly amazing!

I was visiting the motherland…all Jeni’s ice creams are handcrafted in the production kitchen in Columbus, Ohio. Talking to locals about the ice cream, we actually even found someone who planned their wedding colors around a Jeni’s ice cream flavor! (If you are curious, that flavor was brambleberry crisp.)

What flavors did I try? On my visits to Jeni’s while in Columbus, I ordered a ‘flight’ of half scoops – 3 half scoops served in a dish. This way I could try 3 different flavors per visit.

On one of my two trips to Jeni’s while in Ohio, cream puff was my favorite flavor of the three!

Cream puff is a salty-sweet custard vanilla reminiscent of the filling inside old world cream puffs. Jeni was inspired by the massive cream puffs served in the 100 year old Ohio restaurant, Schmidts when she created this yummy flavor!

My second flavor choice was salted peanut butter with chocolate flecks. This is the perfect flavor for anyone that loves peanut butter and chocolate together. Originally named ‘The Buckeye State,’ this regular flavor is made with salted ground roasted peanuts and rich chopped dark chocolate.

My third flavor choice was brown butter almond brittle. Made with a sticky almond toffee candy crushed into butter cream ice-cream, this flavor is inspired by Krokan – a Norwegian toffee-like treat.

In flight number 2, on my second visit to Jeni’s, the sweet cream biscuits and peach jam was my favorite flavor! Buttermilk ice-cream, crumbled shortcake biscuits and swirls of sweet-tart jam made from Georgia peaches made this flavor over-the-top delicious!

I also tried wild berry lavender – a berry flavor of pulverized black currants scented with sweet orange and lavender essential oils. Because of my love for lavender, I found this flavor very unique and tasty!

Lastly, I tried sun-popped corn. This flavor is made with organic popcorn kernels popped by the sun in kettles in the New York Hudson Valley. It truly tastes like a bowl of freshly popped popcorn!

Jeni’s is consistently adding new flavors – both temporary and standards, so there are always interesting flavors to try – like sweet potato éclair or super moon (blue violet and vanilla marshmallow swirled together)!

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams was founded in 2002 by Jeni Britton Bauer using whole ingredients with dairy from grass pastured cows and no synthetic flavorings or dyes. Jeni is a James Beard Award-winning author of two cookbooks and her New York Times best-seller Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams has been dubbed the “homemade-ice-cream making Bible” by the Wall Street Journal with more than 100,000 copies in print!

sample spoons at Jenis ice cream in Ohio

Used sample tasting spoons at Jeni’s scoop shop in Columbus, Ohio

Guess what? If your mouth is watering and you wish you could try Jeni’s ice cream – you can! Jeni’s is available online as well as in select markets! If you don’t have a shop near you, I strongly recommend you order some at least once in your life – especially if you are an ice cream lover!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope I have inspired you to make or try a new flavor of ice cream!

Have a wonderful weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Comments Off on jeni’s ice cream | field trips, food & festivities, travel

making old school ice cream sandwiches

April

Not since Alton Brown made his candy corn recipe public, have I been so excited about trying out an old school recipe! And, even more important than the recipe, I found a pan that bakes the cookie layers with the appropriate design of imprinted holes! (It is just not the same without the holes!)

The recipe and the baking pan (a genius 3 piece creation) come together in a set. The set makes baking the cookie pieces, as well as assembling the sandwiches, super easy.

Since I wanted to make some special ice-cream sandwiches for my daughter’s birthday as my first use of the set, I chose to use her favorite ice-cream – Halo Top. My plan was to use birthday cake ice-cream and garnish the sides of the sandwiches with multi-colored sprinkles! Adorable, right?

When I got to the grocery store, I couldn’t find Halo Top in birthday cake flavor, so I purchased two alternate flavors, and decided to make two ice-cream sandwiches in each flavor. The ice cream sandwiches might look old school, but I have replaced the standard vanilla ice cream with mint chip and peanut butter cup – I don’t ever remember these flavors as options back in the day. ;)

The instructions provided with the pan were very easy to follow. The only part of the process that took a little time was smoothing out the batter for the cookies in the pan, but even that was pretty painless. Measuring out an exact 1 tablespoon of batter for each mold created a perfect result!

I was happy with the ice cream sandwiches I made on my first attempt! I can’t wait to try making some using home churned ice-cream this summer!

If you are interested in making your own, I found the ice cream sandwich making set at Sur La Table. You can purchase one through their website. Currently, the set to make 4 sandwiches is on sale for under $10!

A word of advice: The set makes 4 ice cream sandwiches. If you choose to make only four, do not make the entire recipe of cookie batter. You will only use 8 tablespoons of batter to create the cookies for 4 sandwiches and the batter from the recipe provided probably makes enough for 50! Cut the recipe way down if you only plan to make four! Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to take pleasure in simple things – like enjoying an old school ice-cream sandwich on a warm afternoon!
xo Jackie

2 comments » | diy, food & festivities, inspiration

a visit to ben & jerry’s

October

A trip to Stowe, Vermont wouldn’t be complete without a tour of Ben & Jerry’s! A recent trip to attend a wedding gave me the perfect opportunity to be a real tourist and check it out! I am sharing today on Friday field trip!

The 30 minute tour started with a short video about how the ice cream phenomenon called Ben & Jerry’s got started and some history on its growth over the decades. Started by two guys in 1978 after they took an ice cream making course at Penn State, the first Ben & Jerry’s shop opened in Burlington, Vermont in a renovated gas station.

My favorite fact? Putting cookie dough in Ben & Jerry’s ice cream was started after an anonymous tip was received from a customer in 1984!

Guests to the Ben & Jerry’s facility are asked not to take photos of the actual manufacturing room, so I am sorry I can’t share that part of the tour with you.

From there, the tour took me to the Tasting Lab. A flavor called Caramel Apple was in process for the employee Halloween party…sounds yummy! Fun fact: Employees can take home free pints every day! Of course, some tasting went on in the Tasting Lab…for me, Strawberry Cheesecake!

My favorite flavor has always been Phish Food, so I was surprised to find out the number one seller isn’t Phish Food but Half Baked!

Over time, I switched my Ben & Jerry’s purchases to the yogurt, then Greek yogurt flavors when those became available. Now I may need to decide which non-dairy flavor I like best – there are currently four available.

Surprisingly, the tasting was not my favorite part of my visit. The best part of my visit to Ben & Jerry’s was actually outside the factory – a walk through the Flavor Graveyard looking through the retired ice cream flavors!

I hope I have inspired you to make a visit to Ben & Jerry’s next time you are in Vermont! Or, maybe just to try a new flavor of Ben & Jerry’s from your local market!

Have a wonderful weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Comments Off on a visit to ben & jerry’s | field trips, food & festivities, travel

ice cream & liquid nitrogen!

May

A new ice cream shop called Milkcraft opened last Monday in Fairfield’s Brick Walk in the center of Fairfield, Connecticut. An ice cream shop may not sound all that exciting, but there was quite a buzz going on about this place. I really wanted to see first-hand what made the place unique, so I made a trip over and I am sharing with you on today’s Friday field trip. I knew there would be a long line, so I planned my trip on a rainy evening figuring an ice cream shop would not be as crowded on a rainy night…poor assumption on my part! Indeed, the line was long! But, since I went with a friend and we were busy talking – mostly about the amazing popularity of Milkcraft – the line seemed to go pretty quickly! Most of the line was occupied by teens and it was apparent why – social media! The owner of the shop did a great job of using social media to get the hype going about the place.

The unique part of the store was the use of liquid nitrogen to freeze each customer’s made-to-order ice cream batch in a mixer. This process creates a super creamy texture to the product by eliminating any formation of ice crystals. It is also really fun to watch!

Milkcraft boasts the use of locally sourced ingredients and fresh milk base from local farms. The menu, which is said to be updated seasonally, features sustainable and organic ingredients and delectable flavors such as roasted banana PBJ, Vietnamese coffee, cookie butter Speculoos and strawberry balsamic. I have to admit though, I did have trouble figuring out what organic ingredient created the brilliant green and blue colors on some of the ice cream I saw served!

The ice cream is served in two ways. The most popular seemed to be the Bubblecone. This is a Lego-like patterned bubble-waffle cone. The Milkcraft website lists addresses in California and in Shanghai, China, so I have to think the origination of the concept must come from one of these two locales. And, the Bubblecones are definitely inspired by similar ones found in Hong Kong.

The second way the ice cream is served is called Creameebun. This is a glazed donut used as a bun and the ice cream is tucked inside.

I chose the Bubblecone option and split a strawberry balsamic with my friend – she got the short end of the split! I also tried the cookie butter Speculoos (the bright green one). Both were really good with a wonderful texture. They were very creamy and dense.

A fun trip! If you decide to visit, I would chose a time during the day when the teen set is still in school!

It is interesting to note that the owner of Milkcraft is also the past owner of one of Fairfield’s former Brick Walk restaurants – Spazzi – one of my favorite places to eat back in the 1990’s!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend! Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Comments Off on ice cream & liquid nitrogen! | field trips, food & festivities

you scream, i scream

July

We have been making a lot of homemade ice cream at my house this year with our old hand crank ice cream maker…the last batch was my favorite…Turkish cherries and dark chocolate in a country vanilla base. Yum! So, I haven’t really been motivated to visit my favorite ice cream shop. But, this week I did end up going for ice cream, just not to my usual spot.

One of my friends had never visited The Creamery at Ferris Acres Farm in Newtown, so I took it upon myself to introduce her to The Creamery and I am sharing the visit with you on today’s Friday field trip .

Ferris Acres is the last working diary farm in Fairfield County and it certainly is a beautiful location to enjoy some good quality ice cream. Something about a farm and cows just seems to make the ice cream taste all that much better. And, flavors? Yeah, they got ’em…the flavors in these photos are not even the complete list of offerings…

I really enjoy a creative name for an ice cream flavor…it’s almost as good as a great nail polish color name or paint color name. They have a few good ones, don’t you think? I had a scoop of coconut chocolate chunk…not one of the more creative names on the list, but a delicious ice cream!

I also had a scoop of Salty Cow…delicious!

As you can see, my friend certainly made her first visit count…waffle cone and all! I have a strong feeling she will be back for a visit!

How could I resist snapping a photo of this happy customer..yes, life is good with an ice cream cone in hand on a hot day!

Can’t imagine why this customer didn’t convince his parents to take the “The Creamery Challenge!”

Hope you enjoyed our visit to Ferris Acres Creamery in Newtown, Connecticut…if you find yourself in the neighborhood, be sure to stop by Sugar Street! Yes, that is the name of the street!

Have a really great weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Sharing at The Tablescaper.

7 comments » | field trips, food & festivities

ice cream nostalgia

May

field trip friday

Yes, I do love ice-cream. And while so many others post photos of crocuses to show the change of season, I gauge its coming by when Dairy Queen opens its windows. In the same way, while others look forward to a green bagel or green beer to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day every year, I can’t wait to have the celebratory Shamrock Shake. Summer for me is marked by the moment I step foot into our local Baskin and Robbins each year. The young boy I know that works there starts preparing the scoop of bubblegum in a cup before I even attempt to place my order.

When I look back on why I enjoy these ice-cream moments, I realize it is not as much the taste of the ice-cream, as the memories of these three places. Dairy Queen was a place I would walk to with my grandmother as a very young girl. My grandmother didn’t drive and we would walk to the Dairy Queen on the main road a few blocks away – all the while she would hold my hand in a death grip. The Shamrock Shake came later….I worked at a McDonald’s when I was 16 and was so proficient at the register I was proud to attain the coveted ‘highest cashier of the hour’ award. This meant you had the most sales of any cashier for a specific hour. In essence, it meant that you were able to work the register and pack the food faster than anyone else. (I won’t say how long ago that was, but prices from that time are etched into my brain, and I know the hamburgers were 30 cents back then) It was at this job that I was introduced to the Shamrock Shake, and even if it didn’t taste all the wonderful, it held the significance of being part of my whole employment experience…… Baskin & Robbins bubblegum ice-cream was my treat when I was a kid for completing the 15 mile bike ride from my home to the closest Baskin & Robbins store. We did not have a Baskin & Robbins in our town, so I would make the ride to the town my grandmother lived in to purchase the limited edition bubblegum flavor. It was only sold for a short time in the summer, so in my mind, it quickly became associated with summer.

The nostalgia, not the taste, is what really drives these ice cream purchases. Truth be known, I am actually very much an ice-cream snob. Other than the few nostalgically motivated choices I mentioned, my ice-cream selections are pretty much exclusive to the natural variety. My favorite being handmade and served from a little shop located in a small neighborhood by the shore. The best flavor? Lavender & fig. Hard to believe the same person that would eat a Shamrock shake could truly appreciate the subtlety of lavender and fig, but it is certainly the case.

Walnut Beach Creamery’s ‘sandi annie’ ice-cream – blue vanilla, graham cracker sand, and chocolate covered pretzel goldfish

The International Ice Cream Association has vanilla, chocolate, and butter pecan as the top three ice-cream flavors – with vanilla way out in front. This would not be true in the little shoreline community where Walnut Beach Creamery operates. The current bestseller is cupcake. What is your favorite ice cream flavor to celebrate the season?