Buck’s Turns 20!

Most of the ice cream that we focus on is from New England since that is our primary base of operations, but for my extended collegiate tenure, I was in Columbia, Missouri. As a freshman at Mizzou, I lived in a dorm that had one of the most amazing amenities in the cafeteria. We had a freezer full of ice cream from the on campus ice cream shop, Buck’s Ice Cream. This past Friday they celebrated the 20th anniversary of their resurrection.

Buck’s is actually a part of the Agriculture School and there are real courses in ice cream science for those who want to learn. Professor Wendell Sherwood Arbuckle published a dissertation in 1940 that marked the start of ice cream research and an endowment that he left the university helped shift the focus of dairy research to ice cream. Buck’s is named for him, and that little shoppe tucked in the corner of campus was always one of the real highlights.

For a great photo/audio essay on the anniversary check this out: http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2009/10/16/bucks-ice-cream-celebrates-20th-anniversary/

Fire Destroys Millbury’s Ice Cream Barn

There aren’t many things quite so devastating as fire. In a world of ice cream heat is always a nemesis, but on Friday evening, the Ice Cream Barn in Millbury burnt down. Fire officials at the scene saw no suspicious signs in how the fire was started.

The shoppe had been in operation for the past 31 years. On Friday, owner Ray Lemieux left work as usual around 6p, but fire crews arrived at 7:12p to find the building at 56 Canal St in Millbury already ablaze. Unfortunately, this is a destination that we hadn’t yet made it to, and now it enters the realm of mythical scoops.

For a full report on the blaze check this story from the Worcester Telegram.

Indian Pudding is Back! Rota Springs Eternal!

Since my last trip to Rota Spring Farm in Sterling was just over a month ago, I probably shouldn’t write it up this time around. However, my nephew Tommy was in town this weekend and I had long promised that I would take him here when he wasn’t  in Chicago and it was open. That long promise isn’t quite so long since he does only turn four this month.

With our current extended daylight savings hours, by the time I got to my parents’ house, thing were already getting dark, and after rallying the troops, it was a night drive. Luckily, we left in time as Rota’s fall hours are reduced from their regular schedule and things there are now closing at 8p. (Daily 11:30a-8p from September 27 until closing in mid-November)

While Tommy has yet to get adventurous with his flavor selections, he liked the chocolate ice cream as much as he liked the goats behind the stand. The real beacon on the menu board was the return of Indian Pudding and Pumpkin. While I could indulge myself in gallons of Indian pudding alone, I paired the two scoops on a single sugar cone.

The pumpkin as the top scoop was a refreshing flavor that wasn’t as dominated by nutmeg and allspice as this flavor often is, instead allowing the fruit itself to carry much of the taste. The bottom scoop was thus left to Indian pudding, and the first taste of that sent me back into a spiral of bliss. I may have eaten hundreds of scoops of ice cream since we started this blog, but if I had to do a desert island selection, this would be my first choice. The molasses and corn meal and spices are in a near perfect solution here. With strong flavors, a divine taste, and the creamy freshness that only comes from nearby cows, this is why I eat ice cream.

For most people, Sterling is out of the loop. Some things are worth the extra effort. Despite the fact that my exhortations may make it more difficult for me to fill up on quarts on the last day of the season, I implore you to make this a road trip destination. If you are a real fan of ice cream, you owe it to yourself to get out here before things close up for the winter. If you don’t make it, I’m going to give the same proclamation on their opening weekend.

Other trips here: http://weallscreamforicecream.wordpress.com/2009/03/14/sprung-rota-spring-farm-sterling-ma/

http://weallscreamforicecream.wordpress.com/2008/06/28/rota-spring-farm-sterling-ma/

Cone – kiddie $2.43 small $3.10 large $4.05

Sundae – 1scoop $3.81 2scoop $4.52 3scoop $5.24

Frappe $4.05 extra thick $4.52

Rota Spring Farm

117 Chace Hill Road, Sterling MA 01564

978-365-9710

Open from March to mid-November

Open daily from 11:30a-9:30p

http://rotaspringfarm.com

2009 New England Dessert Showcase

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from a showcase of local dessert makers. It didn’t help any that I went to the wrong Marriott first, but Long Wharf and Custom House aren’t two blocks away from each other so the fact that I had just filled a parking meter with quarters was ok. My wariness escalated however when I spied the Cholives booth between the two check-in tables.

I started by taking a tour of the entire floor and figuring out what was here. Mostly it was cupcakes. It seems as though the craze from New York has finally made its way up the coast. There were a few chocolatiers and some people who had devoted themselves to singular items. The first thing I tasted was a Bean Pie that drew nice parallels with sweet potato pie. There was even a demonstration on a makeshift stage where they made brownies, but it seemed like the only people watching all had cameras.

Despite what I’d been hoping, the only dessert that included ice cream was at the booth for the Chart House, a restaurant that shares Long Wharf with this hotel. Their Hot Chocolate Lava Cake usually takes thirty minutes to prepare as the chocolate cake has a molten Godiva Chocolate Liqueur center, but here we were shown miniatures that were microwaved for a minute. The dessert is topped with Dreyer’s vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and Heath bar crunch. I’m always surprised that a place that takes such care with the cake just accepts whatever ice cream Sysco brings, even the executive chef who was describing the dessert swallowed his words when he realized that I was more interested in the ice cream than the way it was displayed. As a little treat this was a nice cake, and it would be nice to taste it on a full scale.

But really, it was the cupcakes that dominated the proceedings. There seemed to be cameramen everywhere I turned, and every time they pushed me backwards in order to get a shot, I seemed to stumble over small Asian women and had to catch them to keep them from falling over like dominoes. There were a few local bakers there with nice cookies, and the Godiva chocolates were insanely decadent but in less than an hour I had sampled something from every booth and it wasn’t yet lunchtime.

With another hour on my meter, I wandered around to take a survey of other ice cream joints near Long Wharf. The most obvious is the Dippin’ Dots stand right in front of the Aquarium. Unfortunately, there was no one manning it and that leads me to assume they are done there for the year if no one was working at noon on a Saturday. Plus there’s the entire question of just how I’m supposed to classify those frozen treats.

On the wharf itself, there is an ice cream window that is part of the gift shop attached to the Boston Harbor Cruises building. Harborside Gifts is mostly there for folks to buy hats and t-shirts and plastic lobsters. The two girls working were both wholly engrossed in their books as I went by, and with the line of people getting ready to board a boat, I just shrugged and walked by. It was pretty apparent that they weren’t making their own ice cream here anyhow.

Just around the corner is an Emack & Bolio’s and while the doors were swung open, I didn’t see any employees inside. This is the only place around who makes their own ice cream locally, but  I haven’t always had the best luck at any of the shoppes in this chain. I did get a Passion Fruit sorbet at the Brookline location a few weeks ago that really was pretty great, so I won’t malign them entirely, but at this time of day I was far more inclined to a sandwich, I had enough sugar still coursing through my veins from the 2009 New England Dessert Showcase.

Dessert Showcase Comes To Boston

While we certainly have declared our favorite after dinner food over and over again here at this blog, by no means does that mean that we disparage anyone whose efforts go into cakes or pies or truffles or tarts or any other dessert option. Thankfully some people were thinking have brought together all of the best dessertiers from around New England for the 2009 New England Dessert Showcase this Saturday, September 26 at the Long Wharf Marriott.

Advance tickets for the event are available for $25 ($35 day of), and it offers up desserts from all around the region. There’s no list yet of who will be attending, but we’re hoping that at least a few of them will be featuring frozen treats as we’re going to be sending some correspondents to see how completely we can indulge ourselves. If you sign up in advance there is an opening night party at the Greatest Bar as well, but if this event is as good as advertised, it may be worth fasting the night before.

Harvard Square Herrell’s Closing

Word spread like wildfire when Jeffrey Stanett announced that he was closing down Herrell’s in Harvard Square by November. A number of factors played into the decision, and the recent addition of a JP Licks closer to the Harvard campus didn’t help at all. Stanett plans to retain the location and put a new restaurant in place by the Spring.

The decision to close down this store comes on the heels of the announcement by Allston Cafe this past summer that they were leaving the Herrell’s family and going independent and being supplied by Coop’s Microcreamery. Herrell’s has been trying to establish its franchise potential after opening a store on Long Island last year, but the measures taken have alienated their Boston base in trying to switch from handshake agreements to contractual obligations and ice cream royalties.

More in the Harvard Crimson

More on Boston.com

Letter from Toscanini’s Gus Rancatore

Showdown in Somerville

The Scooper Bowl this year was full of tables of major ice cream conglomerates, and aside from Spasso there wasn’t anything representing Boston’s small ice cream stores. Union Square in Somerville is providing a location for a ice cream bonanza featuring contributions from Christina’s Homemade Ice Cream, Toscanini’s, J.P. Licks, Chilly Cow, b.good, Wheeler’s, and more.

Ice Cream Showdown takes place Saturday August 22 in the parking lot next to Grand in Union Square. $2 admission donation benefits the Juniper Fund, a scholarship established in memory of musician John Hall of the Addison Groove Project. 3-6 p.m. at 374 Somerville Ave, Somerville. The rain date is Sunday, August 23.

Our review is here

Cones Across the Berkshires

It’s amazing when I look at the amount of ice cream that I’ve eaten in Massachusetts. What amazes me more is when I look at a map and realize how many places I haven’t been. I’ve really only taken one trip out to Western Mass and didn’t get past Easthampton that time. In this weeks Advocate, Kelly Bevan takes us all the way west.

I need to go check out the Tanglewood calendar to see if I can find a good excuse to get out this way. It’s been a long time since I made it out to see Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire. The only other times I’ve stopped out here are usually lunch breaks on a return from Poughkeepsie or Ithaca.

25 Years of National Ice Cream Day

Everyone knows July is National Ice Cream Month (don’t they?). Well, this the third Sunday of the month is even more special, as it is National Ice Cream Day. That means there is something wrong with you if you’re reading this and don’t have a scoop in your mouth or one in mind.

Normally more known for his love of jelly beans, it was Ronald Reagan who in 1984 decreed that this was a day to celebrate ice cream. I’m on my way to do just that.

Cape Cod Creameries

One of my bandmates lives in Falmouth, and yet I haven’t been on the Cape in way too long. Since there are plenty of you out there searching for a Dunkin’ Donuts with a wi-fi signal in Orleans in an effort to learn which ice cream is best, the newspaper Cape Cod Day has been on top of all of the most important ice cream news lately.

The best place to start is Anthony Basile’s overview of locally-owned shops across Cape Cod this past Tuesday. In the same edition, Laurie Balliett provided a profile on Four Seas’ 75th Anniversary. Rich Eldred scooped about the relocation of Brewster Scoop. One story mentioned Pal’s Ice Cream back in the 1950s, while another reminisced on shoppes in the East Dennis area. Someone even thinks that running a business card online will get people to check them out.