A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

Remember when you used to go to birthday parties and you’d get a Hoodsie cup for dessert? I always ate the vanilla side first and then reluctantly ate the chocolate. And those wooden ‘spoons’? Yeah. Well, good news, there’s some new players in town that will make you say Hoodsie who? Ok, so maybe still get some for the little kids, but step it up a notch for the adults who are going to be there.

Little G Ice Cream is the product of Grace Connor, a 17 year old (yeah, just think about what YOU were doing at 17…). She makes “super premium” ice cream in small batches that are inspired by classic desserts. Oh, and Oprah’s a big fan. So what are her flavors (well they change, but there are always a ton of flavors to choose from)

• Hot Chocolate creamy chocolate ice cream + homemade marshmallow fluff swirl
• Triple Cookie Dough Vanilla bean ice cream + chocolate chip cookie dough chunks + double chocolate chip cookie dough chunks + sugar cookie dough chunks
• Snack Attack vanilla ice cream +a caramelized mixture of pretzels, potato chips, and Ritz crackesr + M&Ms + Peanut Butter Cups
• Chocolate Milk and Cookies chocolate ice cream + chocolate chip cookie dough chunks + chocolate sandwich cookie pieces
• Marshmallow Crispy Treat vanilla bean ice cream + homemade marshmallow crispy cereal treat chunks
• Coffee Toffee Caramel coffee ice cream + chocolate covered toffee chunks + salted caramel swirl
• Confetti Birthday Cake vanilla ice cream + yellow funfetti cake pieces + pink vanilla buttercream frosting swirl
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup chocolate ice cream + peanut butter caramel swirl + peanut butter cups
• Movie Night buttered popcorn ice cream with a mixture of the best chocolate, peanut butter, nougat and caramel candies
• Cowboy Cookie – brown butter brown sugar ice cream with oatmeal cookie dough, toasted coconut, mini chocolate chips, and peanut butter swirl
• Peanut Butter Cup Marshmallow – peanut butter ice cream with homemade marshmallow swirl and mini peanut butter cups
• Peanut Butter and Jelly – Peanut Butter ice cream with homemade raspberry jam swirl and honey roasted peanuts
• Maple Oatmeal Cookie Dough – maple ice cream with oatmeal cookie dough and candied walnuts

Let me tell you, there is no skimping on toppings here. You almost forget that you’re eating ice cream it is so jammed packed with goodies. You can order Little G online and have it shipped to your house or pick some up at places like Whole Foods, Brothers Marketplace, Brookline Grown, Formaggio Kitchen or Fells Market.

Next up, Vice Cream. Founder Dan Schorr, a cancer survivor, decided to pour himself into things that made him happy and worked on perfecting his new ice cream. These cleverly named ice creams are creamy and delicious. I love “afternoon delight” because to has all of my favorite goodies in it – cookie dough, caramel, and truffles! Good news, you can find Vice at most Star Markets. Not at your local shop, head over to their website and check out their “where to buy” section. Here are some of the flavors:

• MINTED
  YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A BALLER TO ENJOY OUR NEWEST FLAVOR. FEATURING STACKS ON STACKS OF MINT-CHOCOLATE COINS AND COOKIE CRUMBLES DECADENTLY MIXED WITH CREAMY MINT ICE CREAM. IT’S A WISE INVESTMENT
• TOFFEE WIFE
  RICH PEANUT BUTTER ICE CREAM MIXED WITH CHOPPED TOFFEE BARS, PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE DOUGH AND A TOFFEE RIPPLE.  OUR TOFFEE WIFE IS AS SWEET AS CAN BE, BUT MORE THAN A LITTLE NUTTY.
• L’ORANGE A TROIS
  BORED WITH YOUR TIRED, OLD VANILLA?  TRY EXPERIMENTING WITH A LITTLE L’ORANGE A TROIS.  RICH, CREAMY VANILLA ICE CREAM WITH ORANGE RIPPLE AND A HEDONISTIC THREE-WAY OF DARK, WHITE AND MILK CHOCOLATE CHUNKS. NO JUDGMENTS.
• AFTERNOON DELIGHT
  CLEAR YOUR SCHEDULE FOR ULTRA-CREAMY VANILLA ICE CREAM WITH CHUNKS OF CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH, SALTED CARAMEL TRUFFLES, AND THICK SWIRLS OF CHOCOLATE FUDGE AND CARAMEL. IT’S WHAT “DO NOT DISTURB” SIGNS WERE MEANT FOR.
• HIGHER GROUNDS
  DARK ROAST COFFEE ICE CREAM INTERLACED WITH SWIRLS OF MOCHA FUDGE, CRUNCHY CHOCOLATE COOKIE CRUMBLES AND PILLOWS OF SWEET ESPRESSO. OH, AND IT’S CURRENTLY LEGAL IN ALL 50 STATES.
• BOURBON MASH
  OUR BOURBON MASH IS AN INTOXICATING BLEND OF ULTRA-CREAMY VANILLA ICE CREAM AND HEARTY CHUNKS OF CHOCOLATE, ALL TOPPED OFF WITH A HEAVY POUR OF BOURBON-CARAMEL SAUCE. NOT ALL BOURBON HAS TO BE NEAT.
• CHOC OF SHAME
  RICH CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM WITH MOUTHFULS OF CHEWY BROWNIE DOUGH GENEROUSLY FLECKED WITH DARK CHOCOLATE SHAVINGS.  IT’S REALLY MORE OF A CHOCOLATE STRIDE OF PRIDE, BUT THAT NAME WOULDN’T FIT ON THE CONTAINER.
• BREAKFAST IN BED
  SAY GOOD MORNING TO SWEET MAPLE ICE CREAM WITH GENEROUS CHUNKS OF STICKY BUN DOUGH, PECAN PRALINE AND JUST A TOUCH OF CREAM CHEESE. JUST TRY NOT TO GET ANY ON THE SHEETS.

Love your local ice cream shop? Have them hand pack a pint for you. New City Microcreamery in Hudson is one of my favorite spots. They use liquid nitrogen to make their ice cream and their flavors rotate. So when I find a flavor that I love, I have them pack me a pint so I can keep the love affair going at home. Currently on my list of favorites is baklava and blackberry.

Tags: dessert, ice cream, party