Saturday, September 12, 2009

Dreaming of ice creams past on a rainy day weekend



The last days of summer are leaving us in New England. Fall is my favourite season of the year so it doesn't really make me that sad, but others are lamenting the short summers and the return of school daze. I guess I am a true supertastic nerd and should stay in academia forever because back to school often gets me a little excited. If I could feel justified in buying a new pencil case or lunch box I think I would be even more excited.

But today it's pouring rain and nasty outside, so it's given me the opportunity to catch up on some summer posts that I've been neglecting. Last time I was here, I mentioned we were making a road trip up to Canada, so here is the first leg of the trip from Boston to Vermont to the Ben and Jerry's factory!

I must say that the factory tour was very short and not super exciting, but considering it cost only $3 and we got to sample some ice cream at the end, I probably shouldn't have expected much.

Since it was a weekend, there wasn't any ice cream production going on, which was a bit disappointing, but I guess ice cream makers deserve weekends off too. The factory was surprisingly small and I wondered how it could possibly fill all of my ice cream needs, but I'm thinking that this original factory is more of a figure head factory at this point and not one of their main production points.

We were verboten from taking pictures inside, but the flavour graveyard and the B and J's bus were the coolest parts anyway.





Here are 3 flavours that I wish I had a chance to know...







Here is one flavour that offends my public health practitioner/research ethics side, so it's probably better off dead... because really, who wants to eat an ice cream that reminds them of syphilis?!!



Mmmmm... maybe I'll go have some of that Coffee Heath Bar Crunch for breakfast. Coffee is a morning beverage after all!!

8 comments:

The Massey Family said...

Yummmmm.....I love the B&J ice cream factory! It almost makes me wish I was back in New England....except that I am ecstatic that I don't have to face another Boston winter again!

nooschi said...

Random question: have you seen Booberry Cereal at your local grocery store? A friend of mine is looking hard for some and I'll be in Boston area soon, so thought I could pick some up if available.

Also, I'll be coming to Boston in a few weeks and will be staying downtown...any restos you recommend?

Jenny T. said...

Hi Nooschi! I can't say that I've seen any Booberry around here lately (I usually shop at Stop and Shop or Foodmaster, so you might try a Shaw's?) Another thing you could try is posting a thread on Chowhound in the Boston section and asking if anyone has seen it -- I bet you would get some answers that way.

Which part of downtown are you staying in? There are sort of two downtowns - the one near Chinatown/Financial District and the one called Copley/Back Bay... I know it's a tad bit confusing. Any particular types of food you are craving?

nooschi said...

thanks for your quick response! Good call on the Chowhound idea. I'll try that.

I'll be staying on school street. Does that help? Don't have anything specific in mind...just want to either try something interesting and different or something very bostonian if that is even a term?

Jenny T. said...

Hi Nooschi,

It sounds like you are staying near Boston Common, so you will have lots of options within walking distance. If you like Italian food, you should try the North End. I don't often go there, because the hubbie doesn't like that it's mobbed by the tourists, but you should try Neptune Oyster if you like seafood. Another popular seafood place in that area are Union Oyster House (near Faneuil Hall). Also in the North End are a couple of good pastry places - Mike's Pastry and Modern Pastry... you could do your own comparison as there is much ongoing discussion about which is better.

If you are staying where I think you are, you should also try Silvertone - yummy yummy mac and cheese.

If you walk the Freedom Trail and end up at the Bunker Hill monument in Charlestown (this is my 'hood), there is a pretty funky restaurant called Tangierino in Charlestown that has good Moroccan food. It comes complete with belly dancers and hookahs! Very tasty lamb dishes.

Let me know if there are other neighborhoods you were thinking of exploring because Boston is very "neighborhoody" and as you will discover everyone likes to identify themselves by the neighborhood they come from even though all of these places are in the same city!

nooschi said...

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm staying at the Omni Parker House so looking for something close by. Sounds like you had a few good options for sure. Won't be in Boston for long unfortunately.

Did you end up going to Sweetgrass in Ottawa?

Jenny T. said...

Oooh! The Omni Parker House! Some historical tidbits about the hotel - Ho Chi Minh worked there (some say he was a busboy, but I've also heard that he was a baker) and it is also the birthplace of Boston Cream Pie!

We did go to Sweetgrass, but I've been soooo lazy about posting lately. Hopefully I'll get around to it this weekend as it is a long weekend (Columbus Day for the US and Canadian Turksgiving for you!!)

nooschi said...

Very cool. Thanks for the info. Thanks again!!!