Boston, eh? Professional Forays #15 (J.P. Licks) and #16 (Christina's)

The weekend of April 8-10, I was lucky enough to cover the National Conference for Media Reform in Boston, MA (read my report-back for Ms. here), and took that opportunity to sample a couple of Boston's more reputable ice cream joints.  In case you had trouble interpreting that first sentence, let me spell it out for you: The weekend of April 8-10, I used the NCMR as an elaborate, foxy ruse to sample a couple of...

Bye bye, Blue Marble, Hello Steve's

The Village Voice's Fork in the Road food blog (lots of fun, highly recommended) had a piece today on a soon-to-be-opened and highly-anticipated (in this camp) ice cream shop at the former site of what I thought was the none-too-spectacular Blue Marble ice cream shop. Steve's Steve's is from Boston, but its new outpost will feature lots of Brooklyn-y products: If ice cream can be said to have a terroir, the new Steve's...

Breast milk ice cream + bioethics

When the breast milk ice cream story broke, at least half a dozen thoughtful friends sent me links about, urging me to blog it.  I would, I thought, eventually, but the more I considered it, the more I realized it was more than a gimmick.  To me, it raised a number of disturbing sociological questions -- questions about adventure eating/foodie elitism, what it means that only a woman can provide this ingredient,...

Where does "brain freeze" come from? Or, why we get ice cream headaches.

A site called io9 explains that brain freeze is an evolutionary tactic. Blood rushing through the extremities cools down, and when it comes back to the body, it cools the rest of the system. The body has negotiate a way to keep blood flowing to the fingers, toes, and nose, while protecting itself..... Ice cream headaches don't usually happen in cold weather, but they are bound up with the body's response to it....

Warning: the Kellog's Ice Cream Sandwich Pop Tart is not an ice cream sandwich

Image from The Impulsive Buy That takes some chutzpah, doesn't it?  Calling yourself a "rainbow cookie ice cream sandwich" and harkening back to Ye Olde "Ice Cream Shoppe" when in fact you are nothing but a hot, toasty Pop Tart?  At first I got terribly excited.  Finally! Someone has taken Pop Tarts and married them with ice cream.  This long-overdue marriage has been consummated.  But...

Tomorrow is International Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day

I just found out about this holiday: International Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day.  I think the title explains a lot.  Please observe it - if you check the blog, you can find different places that are celebrating.  Here's a little about the history of the holiday, which began in 1997.  Molly Moon's, a homemade ice cream shop in Seattle, is offering fresh waffles or hot oatmeal with scoops of ice...

The Lick Me Everywhere Stimulus Plan

Last night's SOTU was not only kind of a snooze, it also missed the mark.  America doesn't need another Sputnik moment.  It needs more ice cream shops - ice cream shops that sell delicious flavors like Gingerbread Crumble, Burnt Cinnamon and Brown Sugar Oats and Walnut.  Ice cream shops that buy from local farmers, that employ local people, and that use American-made equipment.  That is how we will win the future! That's the message I took from Kendra Baker and Zach Davis, the founders of the Penny Ice...

Top Chef: Just Desserts finalist joins LA Creamery

She looks nice.  Photo courtesy of LA Eater. LA Eater reports that chef Danielle Keene is joining the artisan ice cream shop LA Creamery as Corporate Pastry Chef.  Here are some of the new flavors allegedly in the works: Hot Chocolate flavored with chili powder, cinnamon, vanilla bean and cocoa nibs; Milk Chocolate Chai flavored with black tea and seven spices; Sassafras flavored with sassafras bark;...

Cold Stone Creamery = Fancy Ice Cream?

I'm not sure what his go-to ice cream is, but Dow Jones newswriter Al Lewis sure threw me a curveball when it turned out the "fancy" ice cream he describes in a recent article was actually Cold Stone Creamery.  By "fancy," does he mean "expensive"?  Or "overpriced"?  Or maybe "gross"?  According to Lewis' article, Cold Stone's sales grew over 20% from 2005 to 2007, but then plunged over 11% in 2008. ...

Pint-sized Haagen Dazs pints

The Daily News reports today that as commodities prices rise, food companies are shrinking package sizes.  Not like the smaller cap on Poland Spring bottles that saves plastic, but actually quantitatively less food. Small children in America already grow up with our confusing non-metric, or customary, measurement system, and now to confuse them further, a gallon is 59 ounces, according to Tropicana, and a pint is...