My Summer Classic

I grew up in Connecticut on a main street (actually, Main Street) and while we had a nice sized yard, it wasn't huge by any means, but what we always had was a garden and a very large patch of raspberries. (This season alone, my parents have picked 59 quarts to date.)

When I was younger, I don't think I appreciated the raspberries we had, in all their varied presentations. We had raspberry shortcake, crisp, muffins...yes, it did feel a bit like Forrest Gump, except with raspberries.

In all seriousness though, living two hours away from where I grew up, I realize what a special thing these raspberry plants (and my parents) are!

What brings me home during the summer, even when I can't be in the same state as my parents, is the common summer treat of vanilla ice cream with sugared raspberries (to bring out the juices). To me, there is nothing that says summer more than this.

In honor of mom's birthday (yesterday) and dad's birthday today (and to a lovely visit these past few days), here's a shout-out to a summertime tradition and a family treat...

Brigham's Wins Me Over With French Vanilla Ice Cream

I am coming on years here in Boston, and now I can say I am about 1/3 a Boston Girl, and 2/3 a Connecticut Girl -- I have spent a third of my life up in the Boston area. That being said, it's time for me to admit my leaning towards all things Boston (Growing up in Central Connecticut, we had to decide Yankees versus Sox, Giants versus Pats, and Knicks versus Celtics -- not being much of a sports fan, I never really chose.) However, I have to say, I am truly a Boston Girl (that's right, Pushstars, that song just might be about me. I find myself caring about how the Sox or the Celtics are doing. I can't say so much for the Pats, as (the horror) I have never understood football. I ♥ hockey though, so I do have to say the Bruins are second only to Hartford's one and only (and now defunct) pro team, the Hartford Whalers (once a Connecticutian, always a Connecticutian).

But I digress.

Back on topic. Now that I am a Boston Girl (or 1/3 anyway) another thing I ♥ that "I can call my own" (another Pushstars' Boston Girl reference) is Brigham's Ice Cream. I once wrote Brigham's in my sadness over the death of their Fluffernutter Ice Cream. So sad, in fact, that I had to make my own recipe for it. Yes, which I should post, and I will, I promise (though, long story short -- vanilla base, with peanut butter and Fluff -- along with the Somerville Illuminations Tour, Fluff is one of the best things to come out of Somerville -- swirled in).

Last month, we were supposed to have the lovely Clint, Stacey, and Ivy over for dinner. At the last minute, Ivy got sick, and our plans got canceled. Good news is, she seems to better, bad news is, we never rescheduled, and I found a new obsession. I had intended to bake (because I love to) but time ran short and I picked up a Vermont Mystic Pie Company pie (by the way, these are so much less expensive at Costco than the grocery store -- when I saw the reciept, I realized a fresh bakery pie would have been the way to go -- but alas, now we have a frozen pie that is actually quite good once cooked in the oven for a surprise visitor) and a container of Brigham's French Vanilla Ice Cream.

A few days after the canceled visitors, in a moment of sweet tooth weakness, I made the huge error of opening the carton. I dipped my spoon in and...WOW. On first bite, I knew this would be a problem. This ice cream was so rich, so creamy...it was the treu definition of frozen custard. It literally was creme brulee without the brulee, poured into an ice cream machine and churned. Oh. My. God. I love custard based ice cream (made with eggs as opposed to the Philadelphia style which has no eggs) so naturally I was in heaven, but to me, this was so much more. It was just the right amount of sweetness and egginess (I don't know if this sounds like such a great way to describe ice cream, but if you like custard based ice cream, you will know what I mean).

Anyway, long story short: I am a fan of Brigham's. Especially this French Vanilla. It alone makes living in the Boston area well worth it.

Stay tuned for an upcoming list of why the Boston area is a great place for ice cream lovers.

Author's note: I usually write my posts and then go back in and throw in the links. I did this with this post, went to link to the French Vanilla, and found no listing for it on their site. Oh, no, I thought. This did not have the same fate as my Fluffernutter, did it? I emailed Brigham's and this is the reply I received: "We no longer have that flavor available, it was only made in prepackaged quart containers, never in bulk for our scoop shops." Bum-mer. I am beginning to think maybe I shouldn't get Brigham's ice cream anymore. Everytime I fall passionately in love with a flavor, they stop making it. This is so true with Trader Joe's too: their black lentils, their orange cardamom cookies, and their vanilla bean paste...

The Great Staple.... Basic Vanilla Ice Cream

Happy National Vanilla Ice Cream Day...Enjoy!!

What You'll Need...
2 cup heavy cream
1 cup half & half
5 egg yolks
3/4 cups sugar
1 vanilla bean
1/4 tsp vanilla extract



Place 5 egg yolks in a bowl, whisk together, and set aside. Place heavy cream in a large bowl and set aside.

Heat the milk, salt, and sugar over med heat. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the milk mixture and throw in the scraped out bean too. Heat thoroughly but do not boil.

Slowly add the warmed milk mixture to the egg yolks, stirring constantly. Pour the warmed milk/yolk mixture back into the saucepan. (bean pod should remain in the mix) .

Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until the custard base coats the back of a spatula. Strain this hot custard base into the heavy cream and add vanilla extract. Place in refrigerator for at least four hours. Remove the vanilla bean and freeze according to the manufacturers instructions.


Enjoy!

[Scoopalicious is celebrating National Ice Cream month with a Post-A-Day throughout the month of July!]