Big Papi-mint.

I've generally shied away from naming flavors with punny or goofy names, like Cherry Garciaparra and such, for a couple of reasons. Number one, if you name it after a local celebrity, they could be traded like Nomah, or just be unrecognizable to a customer who may like peanut butter in their ice cream but has no idea who Teddi Bruschi(-nut Butter) is. Secondly, I don't want someone to pass by a flavor because they're afraid to say 'Pretty in Pink Mint' or 'Almond-califragilistic!' It's just not right.

Finally and probably most importantly, the less a flavor name sounds like what's in it, the more you'll need to explain to customers what actually is in that batch of 'Nonotuck 'n Nuts'. I already know all about that with my Deer Trax flavor. The one positive of that flavor, however, when someone asks 'what's in the Deer trax', they've inevitably identified themselves as a first-time visitor to Mt. Tom's, which is good information. If there's time, I can chat them up, ask how they found the place, and if they live around the corner, why it took them so long to finally come in for a cone. But I digress.

I've mentioned in the past that names definitely can affect the sales of a particular flavor, so it's important to give it at least a little thought before reaching for the chalk. Case in point, Devil's Food Cake sales skyrocketed when I renamed it Chocolate Cake Batter.

Having said all that, sometimes, like today, I just can't help myself.

So I give you, Big Papi-mint Paddy. Mint base with pieces of real peppermint and wintergreen paddies from the gourmet chocolate cabinet. With a rich, dark fudge swirl thrown in for good measure. If this batch (and the Sox in the series) go well, perhaps I'll come up with another. Hmmm. Papelbon Pecan? Beckett Raspberry? Anyone?

Go Sox!

Leaf Peeping Underway.

Seems the green pond is my favorite early Fall foliage subject. The colors are starting to pop. Stay tuned...

The Cell Project.

Right around this time of year, I get a bunch of kids who come into the shop looking for candy. This group isn't the usual 'fill a bag with all your favorites...gummy teeth, lego blox, airheads, and Pop Rocks' type. Seems there's a local schoolteacher who has come up with an interesting way to teach her class what's in a cell. Their assignment - build a model of a cell using edible products (I don't know if the teacher specifically says 'candy', but one rule is it must last three days unrefridgerated). So for a couple days every year, I see a number of kids in the shop, assignment tucked under their arm, dilligently hunting through the jars for all the essential elements of their model cell. It's fun to watch. I don't want to give away too much, in case there are kids out there still coming up with their incredible edible cells, but I will say that the giant jawbreakers have been a big seller this week. Why didn't I get cool projects like this when I was a kid? All we ever did was boil stuff with bunsen burners...

Bears and Shakers.

I had a day off yesterday. I know that may sound somewhat unremarkable for a 'normal' person, but as a small biz owner who makes almost all his hay between May and October, it's a big deal. That first day off after a long stretch of long days of ice cream making, scooping, and all the rest that goes with it, is always a very welcomed guest. Sometimes it's hard for me to let go and to shut it all off for that first day off. Guilt creeps in. What if someone wants ice cream or gummy bears today. How many people will be disappointed when they peer into my darkened shop? Luckily, the cool Fall weather has finally arrived and although it was bright and sunny most of the day, I felt no remorse whatsoever yesterday. Especially after my first Octoberfest at the Bistro in Great Barrington.

Among the cool stops on my day off o'fun was one of my favorite photo opps, Chapelbrook Falls...

Even got a glimpse of a big black bear in a tree. Well, actually it was an overstuffed porcupine in a tree, but a pretty cool wildlife sighting nonetheless. Usually, it's just squirrels and the occasional chipmunk.

From there, it was off to Hancock Shaker Village, which was actually pretty cool too. That stop is worthy of a dedicated blog entry. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, here's one more shot from the road. Looking forward to lots of foliage shots as the leaves turn. Still a little early here, but won't be long before the leaves are in full techicolor.

Hope you're enjoying this fine Fall weather.

Mt. Tom's Top 10 in September

1. Vanilla
2. Chocolate
3. Pumpkin Pie
4. Mint Chocolate Chip
5. Cake Batter
6. Cookie Dough
7. Coffee
8. Maple Walnut
9. Strawberry
10. Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

I think the pumpkin will give chocolate a scare in October....stay tuned...

Green Pond Explained.

You might remember this shot from a few weeks ago...


From Today's story over at the Channel 22 News site...

The water in Rubber Thread Pond at John Bator Park looks just like pea soup. At first glance you might think the pond is full of algae, but what is actually causing the water to turn green is a very tiny free floating plant called watermeal....

Intriguing.

The Tag Sale

In the spirit of what is certainly prime tag sale season right now, I dug up an old piece I wrote during that first lonely winter here. A lot has happened since then, so it was cool to re-read this one. It was printed in the local Gazette a few years ago. Thought you might enjoy...

The Tag Sale

Why is it so difficult to drive by a tag sale without stopping? Let’s face it, a tag sale is really just the result of someone saying, ‘Let’s throw all our old junk into the front yard and see if anyone will buy it.’ A dilapidated old desk, one Nordic track turned coat rack, a stack of dog-eared paperbacks, and three-hundred fourteen other personally obsolete trivia. Just extra ballast jettisoned from a family’s lives. Or at least that’s what I used to think.

Like many these days, I’m unemployed. This past year of joblessness has given me the time to reflect on where I want my life to go from here. Yet, despite all the unhurried contemplation, I was still unable to choose a direction.

Then my parents decided to have a tag sale.

Within minutes of Mom’s proclamation, boxes began appearing throughout the house. Dad was tasked with assessing every rusty tool and retired sporting good. He served as judge and jury, passing judgment upon each item – keep, sell, live, die.

Our own archeological dig was underway. Family artifacts rediscovered in remote places like beyond that giant box of Christmas decorations in the attic and deep within the mysterious space underneath the stairs. Our entire family history was excavated, dusted off with toothbrushes, and put on trial. Amid this chaos, I sought solace in my journals as I wrote endlessly about ‘what I want to do with the rest of my life’ and daydreamed about a new life with an exciting new job.

The tag sale would arrive well before the new job. As I sat on the front steps and gazed across our land of misfit toys, I played spectator to the spectacle of this American institution - the simple uniqueness being the junk strangers and neighbors were rummaging through was ours. And so it was in this moment when it all became clear, like I’d come out of a blinding snowstorm into a warm, sunny day. The answers that had eluded me for so long, delivered right to my front door.

Tag sales are about pulling out the past, sorting through it, and then letting it go. What to keep, what to sell. Each box from the attic represents a set of memories. In one box, an old Sea Monkeys kit reminds you of the loophole you found in Mom’s ‘no pets’ rule growing up. A bumper sticker proclaiming, ‘This car climbed Mount Washington’, invites memories of the family trip that mercifully did in that station wagon with the walnut veneer siding. Each item offers the opportunity to relive a specific moment in time, like reading an old journal long buried in the back of a little-used bureau.

This heartwarming and sometimes heartbreaking process of sifting through the past doesn’t come often but seems to appear when we most need it. When we clean out a shed or an attic, we make room for something else. Selling that relic push lawn mower for twelve dollars isn’t about the money. Tag sales are an opportunity to lighten our loads. To set free what we couldn’t part with when its time truly was up. By unloading en mass, somehow it seems easier. Less personal. Like laying off 500 people instead of just Mary and Bob.

The time I spent sifting through my pile of ‘history’ was a chance to relive my own past. It was also a chance for me to let go of that past. Among my history I found a box of old love letters from my college sweetheart. As I read the letters, it was as if she was with me again. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the heartbreak that returned. Instead, reading those letters filled me with happiness as I relived the playful spirit of the moment, the innocence, dabbling in love for the first time, reaching for that hot stove before I knew it could burn me. After wallowing in those feelings for a while, I swooped up the letters and tossed them into the fireplace. I lit a match and threw it in. As I watched a piece of my past burn, I felt a weight I had carried around for too long melt away like fallen snow in the rain. I had made room for the new, and it felt good.

Losing my job and losing my way were tests, meant to make me stronger. That tag sale became the turning point. I had been stuck. My past kept pulling me back and tempting me to repeat the patterns such as returning to the career my résumé best fits yet the same one that denies me fulfillment. It wasn’t until that morning, sitting on my folks’ steps, as I watched my past being sold for grocery money, that I figured it out. The past is just that, the past. It’s meant to be savored and to provide wisdom. But only by letting go of it can you truly make room for a new and compelling future. I look forward to that future and the new experiences awaiting me.

Jim Ingram
10/8/03



Jim is an ex-engineer who recently traded his cubicle for an ice cream parlor. He just opened Mt. Tom’s Homemade Ice Cream and Candy Shoppe (formally Sunrise Sweeties), 34 Cottage Street in downtown Easthampton, Massachusetts.

R.I.M.

As you've probably heard, Cottage Street, Easthampton, and the Pioneer Valley lost one of its greats this past week. Frank Lucchesi, luthier extraordinaire and owner of Lucchesi Vintage Instruments, passed away suddenly this past Saturday. He was 56. Many heartfelt words have been written about Frank as the news of his untimely passing has spread throughout the community. A tribute night of music is planned for this week's ArtWalkEasthampton.

I didn't know him well, but from the few times I got to hang out with him over a beer and his wife Fran's amazing cooking, it's easy to understand why he was so beloved by family, friends, and even customers. He was the storyteller. Those who have written about him all say you couldn't just drop-off or pick-up your instrument. Going into his shop meant a visit and a conversation with Frank. He was a wealth of knowledge and stories. He was just one of those people, five minutes after meeting him, you felt like you've known him your whole life.

During one of those dinners at his home, he gave us a tour of his gardens, fruit trees, and blueberry bushes. I remember being particularly impressed with the giant blueberry bushes, all draped in netting to protect them from their predators. To which Frank said, 'Take as many as you want. Come back with buckets.' It was a small gesture, but gave me a clear first impression of the man. A good guy who'd give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. He will be sorely missed by all who were lucky to know him.

Rest in Music, Frank.

I urge you to stop by his shop this coming Saturday, 5 -8pm.

Can you call it Indian Summer?

If you haven't had any cool Fall weather yet?

I thought September was crazy good for ice cream weather. How about Mid-80's for the first week of October?! If I had to choose between global warming and the next ice age, I'd have to go with this heat. But being an ice cream shop owner, I suppose I'm a little biased.

Even the pumpkins are sweating today...

The E stands for Eat!

I got a chance to check out the Eastern States Exposition (better known as 'The Big E') last week. I've been here four years and never made time to go. I don't remember going when I was at Umass a few...years back either. I'm sure anyone who lives west of Springfield has been at least once. Figures in today's Gazette say over 1.2 million people passed through the gates during the 17 day run of this year's fair. All I know is I was there on a Monday morning and it was packed. I don't think I'd even like it on a crazy Saturday. In any event, there's lots of cool stuff to do. You can eat...

Homemade apple pie with a big hunk of cheddar cheese from the little old ladies slaving away in the Vermont building. Mmmm.

Or you can ride the rides in the midway...

And after a few rides on the scrambler or the giant ferris wheel, it's time for another bite. I highly recommend the baked potato from the Maine statehouse building. It's one tasty spud, jammed packed with butter, bacon, chives, and sour cream. Mmm.

Now that you've got your strength back with some carbo loading, it's time to see some livestock! It's off to the 4H buildings. Cows, chicks, sheep, whatever turns you on. Er, you know what I mean.

One of my favorite overheard lines that day was 'there's nothing cuter than a baby pig.' Can't argue with that. Well, I guess you could, but...

Speaking of tasty fried foods, a trip to the Big E wouldn't be complete without a savory plate of cheese curds. They're basically just fried soft cheese. I must admit they were pretty yummy, although I'm fairly certain I shaved about a year off my life by consuming five of them.

Like any good country fair, there's lots to see. Great people watching. Trinkets to win along the midway. Velvet Elvis's and the latest 'As seen on TV' miracle product to clean grease off your shoelaces and every booth in between in the 'Better Living' building.

And lest I forget to mention, they had a milk truck made completely out of butter. What more could you ask for?

Ok, well, maybe just one more cheese curd...

The Big E is good fun. Thanks to Bre for bringing me along, and for the photos of me stuffing my face with fried fair faire. Now at least I don't have to respond to the question, 'Have you ever been to the Big E?', by saying 'Not since I marched in a parade there when I was in the high school band.'


Not that there's anything wrong with that.

All I want to know is where do the vendors get those fancy pants carts? I want one!

Sweet ride.

Abba Zaba Do.

Chewy taffy-peanut butter center. According to Winkipedia, they're 'Found almost exclusively in California.' Not any more. Someone asked for them, turns out my supplier carries them. Before you can say, 'next Tuesday delivery', they're on the shelf. To be honest, I'd never heard of this one. My candy distributor order person called it one of those 'nostalgia items'. I'm all about the nostalgia items. One of my favorite reactions in the shop is when someone says, 'I used to love these as a kid!' Those are the kind of candy items I seek out to stock.

I remember the first new candy I brought in after I took over what was once 'Sunrise Sweeties', formally 'Sweet Expectations' in Northampton for all you local candy trivia buffs. It was satellite wafers. Remember these?











Another recent add was Chick-o-sticks. Crunchy peanut butter wrapped in toasted coconut. I must admit, the name is much less tempting then the description.





Then there's the holiday special candy. How about some Gummy Skeletons?

Or my nephew Wil's favorite, the gummy horror bag....scary...

These bad boys go fast. Don't worry, Will, I saved one for you.

So it's 93 degrees and humid today, and the shop is bustling. Can't complain about that for late September in New England! I could ramble on about candy for pages, but must go back to help scoop. If this didn't wet your sweet tooth enough, try this.

If you have any candy suggestions, nostalgic, scary, or otherwise, no need to wait for the suggestion jar here in the shop. Just drop me a line... jim@mttoms.com

Stay cool.

Fudge Ripple.

One of the classics. This batch is fresh out of the batch freezer today. I don't make it that often. My diehard Fudge Ripple customers would argue I don't make it nearly enough. It sells and quick. It's simply vanilla with a fudge swirl. Customers complain how hard it is to find. I guess sometimes simple is what people want. We've become surrounded by complicated things - 8 gig I-phones and PDA's, TIVO's to record eighteen shows at once, hybrid cars that run on either gas or electicity depending on their mood and the weather.

Perhaps people just crave something simple once in a while. And so I give you, fudge ripple. No smoosh-ins or broken up peanut butter cups. No salted, roasted nuts. No sugar gem squares. Just vanilla and a ripple of rich, dark chocolate. Mmmm.

Life is short.
Eat ice cream.

Farewell Summer, You've been great.

Sure doesn't feel like it here today, but today is officially the first day of Autumn. Happy Fall to you and yours.

The Green Pond

As I patiently wait for the Fall foliage to color the local landscape, there are still a few picture-worthy spots in town to capture. Shot this a few mornings ago in that little red gazebo park next to the big pond. A flock of Canadian geese don't seem to mind the film of green algae that blankets this mini-pond.

My portfolio

There's a scene in one of my favorite movies, Doc Hollywood (ok, call me a dork and get it over with), where the old doctor is sitting in his small and simple office, dispensing wisdom on the new hotshot doc, played by Michael J. Fox, a young guy fresh out of med school and destined for the big bucks of plastic surgery in California. He wants no part of the small town, small paycheck life his unlikely mentor is selling.

The old doctor then opens up a set of cabinet doors to reveal an overflowing collection of more than 700 photographs tacked inside. As the young Doc looks at the images of old doc delivering babies, saving lives, repairing broken arms, and bandaging up cat scratches, the old doc describes how his life has been made full by playing a part in the lives of nearly every person in this small southern town. He glances at the giant collage of his life and says, 'This is pretty much my portfolio, Doc. I live in an old house, and drive an old car. And I wouldn't trade any of them for gold.' Granted, serving up ice cream and gummy bears may not be saving lives, but I like to think it does make people smile from time to time. And you just can't put a price on that...

The World According to Ben.

I came across a Peter Pauper Press copy of Poor Richard's Almanack in the gift shop in Old Deerfield a few weeks ago. Being always on the lookout for the next metaphor or pearl of wisdom, I knew I wasn't leaving the store without my own copy.

If you haven't seen it or been forced to read it in some high school English class, it's basically a collection of 'observations' on life, as recorded by a guy you may have heard of, Benjamin Franklin. There's a disclaimer on the first page that clearly states that 'Ben Franklin did not orginate all the sayings in Poor Richard's'. Ben himself calls the collection 'Wisdom of many ages and Nations.' It' s quite a collection.

Some are a bit dated, 'A penny saved is two pence clear. A pin a-day is a groat a year. Save and have.' Others show Ben to be a bit of a pessimist. 'Love your neighbor; yet don't pull down your hedge.' Many read like fortune cookies- 'The cat in gloves catches no mice'. But there are some good nuggets in there. Let me give you a few sample spoons. Perhaps I'll drop in a few more when the mood strikes me or I can't think of anything else. Let me start it off with a few that jumped out at me on my first pass...

"Fish and Visitors stink after 3 days."

"There are no ugly loves, nor handsome prisons."

"Necessity never made a good bargain."

"The discontented man finds no easy chair."

"Wealth and content are not always bedfellows."

"Think of three things - whence you came, where you are going, and to whom you must account."

Indeed.

Fall is in the air.

It's barely 60 degrees today here in western MA. The sky is a deep blue, that darkness of blue rarely seen during the hot summer months. People are wearing sweatshirts. And on my little morning bike ride today, I noticed another first sign of Fall, a few early leaves starting to show off their colors. Won't be long now. That's ok, I'm ready for a slower pace. And let's face it. There's no place more beautiful this time of year than New England during foliage season. Bring it on!

You're only as good as your crew.

With all due respect to the new Fall crew, I miss The Lauren and Katie. They say you don't appreciate what you have until it's gone, but every day of the summer when they were working I knew I had it good when one of them was in the trenches. They're smart, hard working, consciencious, personable, and just had a sense of all that had to be kept track of here on an hour-by-hour basis. We never ran out of hot fudge in the warmer or syrup in the shake pumps. The candy was always stocked, and the cups never ran out when we were deep in the weeds. I was even able to leave them alone to run the shop while I snuck away to do things that normal people do when they're not working.

So they've gone back to school now, and while the new crew is still scooping up the learning curve, I'm left wondering how much tougher this summer would have been without my 'A-team'. They've set the bar extremely high for scoopers to follow. Maybe that's why my expectations are so high for my new crew members. What's the moral of this entry? I guess it's something to the effect of this - when you find a great employee, empower them, appreciate them, and enjoy the freedom they afford you. And also realize that not everyone is an ace, so while high expectations make better performers, it can also lead to frustrations. Sometimes expectations need to be adjusted to fit the strengths and weaknesses of the person. This shouldn't let that person off the hook, but may call for extra coaching and require you to lead them in the direction of their strengths. Adjusting expectations, I find, can save you suffering daily frustrations from dashed ones.

This rant may not have made any sense at all, but it was a little theraputic for me.

As always, thanks for listening.

Sacks, Lies, and Videotapes.

I'm sure I'm not the first to make up that headline about this unfortunate sports scandal involving one of our favorite local teams, but I did think this logo was pretty funny. They're still a great, well coached team, and since this is really just a blog about ice cream, small town life, and all things happy, I won't try to defend or denounce. Let's face it, there are more important things to get riled up about.

Nashawannuck Monster?

Actually, it was a guy swimming laps in the pond a few weeks ago. He was so relaxed, he might as well have been in his backyard pool, not in a snapping turtle rich, mucky bottom, and not polluted but not potable either, body of water. I'm not sure if he was from out of town, drunk, or just a little crazy. I've been here four years now and I've only seen someone in past their waders maybe once, and that guy was definitely very intoxicated. Even my neigbor's dog seemed curious...

How I start my day.

There's always a ton of stuff to do before I open up shop every day - sweep, put out the chairs and tables, take the covers off the ice cream, turn on all the warmers, clean the bathroom (yes, being CEO of your own little corporation isn't all glitze and glamour), and a host of other 'chores'. Most of them I do without even thinking about them, like scratching an itch. There is one check on the setup checklist, though, that does require me to actually flip on my brain. It's when I search for a 'quote of the day' for the little whiteboard behind the cash register. I don't know how many people actually read it or appreciate it, once in a while someone will thank me for doing it. It's just become one of those little morning exercises that pushes me past all those doomy headlines into more positive territory. Like a good run, a jazzercise class, or a bowl of grapenut ice cream, it's just a better way to start the day than reading about how frightening Britney Spears was on the VMA's the night before. It can be a little tricky to find a quote short enough to fit on the board, but that just means more time wading around in affirmations and positive thoughts from famous, infamous, and influential people. Hard to complain about that.

Silver Swimmers rock.

Talk about your crazy customers. During last night's ArtWalk Easthampton, the Silver Swimmers wandered into the shop for an impromptu performance. Part mimers, part Blue Moon group (on mute and in silver not blue), but mostly just cool street performers, the SS swam around the shop for about fifteen minutes, entertaining a full house of ice cream eatin', intrigued, and some just perplexed patrons.

Taryn and Abby, the Saturday night crew, were a bit intimidated at first by the silver four, but seemed to relax once they realized slow-motion mute mimes are actually quite harmless.

The Swimmers were part of this month's ArtWalk Easthampton festivities. They spent the Walk swimming and performing odd and interesting dances on the sidewalks and in ArtWalk shops. I must admit, they were pretty cool.

A bit of silver paint cleanup this morning was a small price to pay for a taste of big city street performance art in the New City. If you ever get a chance to check them out, I highly recommend it. Just be careful if you let them climb on you. There's a pretty good chance you will end up with your own silver coating...

Limo ride - Kids' Style

I suppose if you were 3 and could have anything you wanted, I might guess a ride on a cool wagon with all your buddies and a stop for your favorite ice cream (at Mt. Tom's) would be pretty high on the list...

Catnip Ice Cream anyone?

A customer recently suggested a new flavor. Are you ready for this one.... Catnip Ice Cream. She was completely serious. Now I know cats like catnip. From what I've seen, it's like speed for felines. The only stumbling block is none of my customers are actually cats. I suppose I have a few stray cat customers here and there, but they get their ice cream from the big overflowing dumpster in the back parking lot. Be that as it may, in the interest of science and the betterment of Mt. Tom's, I employed my cat, Chubs, to confirm my theory on Catnip Ice Cream. First, I scooped up a little vanilla and fed it to her. She was totally into it.

Then I sprinkled a little catnip on it. I may as well have sprinkled it with dog breath. She wanted no part of it...
Now I know Chubs has never been a big fan of the nip, but she's also the same cat that once ate a wasabi pea out of my hand. She doesn't have opposable thumbs, so she can't actually write a cool review like my chocolate ice cream friend a few days ago (below), but I think the gist of it would be 'just give me a vanilla straight up -big bowl, no spoon, with a side of cat food, thanks.'

Misty cubicle colored memories

I was rummaging through some boxes the other day and came across this little artifact from my previous working life. It's the ten year service anniversary gift I got during my old corporate dayz. I remember rifling through the catalog of 10 year gifts I was eligible for from what once was one corporate goliath, AT&T. It's actually a pretty nice clock, still works. Definitely better than most of the other gifts in that catalog. A mongrammed garden hose. A timex with AT&T shining brightly on the face. A sporty AT&T insulated vest with built-in pocket protector. I guess I shouldn't complain. In these days of jobsharing and cost cutting and do more with less business mantras, I'm guessing most, when they hit a decade, don't get more than a slice of cake from their office mates. Come to think of it, does anyone work for a single employer for that long anymore?

In any event, this clock was just one of those occassional little reminders of my days 'workin' for the man'. Pushing 6 years now and still no regrets for leaving the 7:30 to 5. There may have been a few moments during the past weekend, for example, when I was beaten senseless from endless hours of scooping double duty (with the green crew, not in an energy efficient way, but a don't know where the buttons on the cash register are yet way) and ice cream making all hours into the night, but at the end of the day (I hate that saying, it just came out, couldn't be stopped), it's so much more satisfying to have created something that brings people pleasure, including me. It's a fun environment to hang out in every day. No one tells me what to do. And I get to be creative whenever I feel like it. As I always say, owning your own gig is a ton of work and time, but it's immensly satisfying and interesting and challenging and exhausting and fun and rewarding, so if you have dreams of hanging up your own shingle, I say go for it. As long as it's not homemade ice cream in Easthampton.

Chocolate Ice Cream

I recently wrote about my suggestion jar and sometimes needing thick skin to process different people's tastes. Well, once in a while I get the suggestion 'your chocolate needs to be chocolatey-er'. I was taught by Dad to be a purest when it comes to making chocolate ice cream. This means no chocolate ice cream base. It means doing what few ice cream makers still do, cooking up chocolate base from scratch in a big caudron.

Dutch cocoa, sugar, salt, water, heat, and a big spatula.

It's a ton of extra work and mess (it does give the shop a nice chocolate aroma while it's cooking though), but what results is a smooth and complex chocolate flavor base for ice cream. It's not overly strong or sweet, so if you're used to just plain chocolate ice cream, perhaps you might not fully appreciate my version.

One of my local buddies/regulars is really into my chocolate ice cream. In fact, it's all he ever gets. I recently tried a different approach to making chocolate ice cream in hopes of getting a darker version. It did come out perhaps chocolatey-er, but I still needed some customer feedback before I even considered a switch. In the interest of science and the betterment of Mt. Tom's homemade, my buddy was willing to test drive the new chocolate. After a cone's worth of careful consideration, here's his review:

"Your new double chocolate is good. It's definitely the full-bodied, expected, creamy chocolate experience, and is arguably "more chocolatey" than your original "olde tyme" recipe. But honestly, I would miss your original version if you were to discontinue it (but I would understand if market pressures force your hand). When I first tasted your "classic" style chocolate ice cream I thought there was something wrong with it. There was something inscrutable and "wine-y" about it, like a complex Sumatran coffee versus an espresso roast. But that flavor has grown on me (obviously... how often do I order anything else?), and now I find myself thinking about it when I'm away from it, like a far-away love. It's bewitching. "

I've gotten some other opinions, and all have led me to not abandoning the 'purist approach', even though the thought of not having to setup, cook, reheat, clean out, burn myself on hot chocolate magma had started to get pretty tempting. I think I will make the chocolate fudge brownie with the new darker chocolate, so if you're curious, check that one out. And as always, do let me know what you think. Thanks a lot.

Happy Labor Day to you and yours.

What better way to commemorate Labor Day and usher in the shiny new school year than with a cute kiddo in a rooster costume. My buddy Mark's daughter Mallory. I hope you're having a great weekend. Some stellar weather here in New England for sure.