Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
September 07, 2004
Split Decision
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A few weeks ago, my friends at Fenway had an important question about chocolate-vanilla twist ice cream cones. Today, Lynne Cassimeris sends some photos that shed some light on the process.
Chocolate-Vanilla twist ice cream cone.
(Thanks to Lynne's mom. The photos are from her store, The Peanut Principle on RT 9 in Latham, NY. Click on the picture for a larger image.)

As you can see in the pictures, the tube of ice cream is much thinner than the cone, so the operator has to employ a twisting motion to get the chocolate and vanilla on the outside on opposite sides of the cone. But also notice that there is a jagged border between the two flavors; at Fenway, it's a straight line.

Last Friday I bought another Fenway cone and observed how it was poured. The ice cream tube is much wider, as wide as the cone. So more ice cream comes out at once, and no twisting is needed. The mixed ice cream just falls straight into the cone. The operator moves the cone back and forth perpendicularly to the machine, so the ice cream looks like it's been twirled. The main advantage of this method is that you can pour a cone very quickly, which is a great when you have a long line.

Posted by StatsGuru at 02:07 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (2)
August 18, 2004
Twisted Thinking
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The ice cream a young child had at the park last night:

Chocolate-Vanilla twist ice cream cone.

made Doug Baker and Dave Spiro of Yale-New Haven Hospital wonder the following

(Download movie.)

If the chocolate and vanilla are being twisted together, how do you get one side of the cone to be one flavor? I have no clue.

Posted by StatsGuru at 02:54 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
May 09, 2004
More Screaming
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On my last trip to Bethlehem, I wrote that I had found the best ice cream I had ever tasted at the Heavenly Hedgehog. One of the Bethlehem residents commented that the best ice cream was at another parlor on Linden St., Nuts About Ice Cream. As one who is always in search of great ice cream, I was excited to return to Bethlehem and try out this competitor.

I got there mid-afternoon and had Joshi, the owner pretty much to myself. I told him of my experience with Hedgehog and the reader recomendation. He told me how he started the company; how he makes everything by hand using the best ingredients. He's very proud of his ethnic flavors; you can tour the world in his freezer. I settled on a scoop of Raspberry Chocolate Truffle and a scoop of Fig. The Fig ice cream was very subtle; it had the fruitiness of the figs without the overwhelming sweetness. The Truffle was stupendous. Smooth chocolate ice cream with little explosions of raspberry has you bite into the truffles. Extremely well done.

Joshi then took me on a taste tour of his freezer. Saffron Pistachio was out of this world. His Sweet Cream takes like cannoli filling (I'm not a big plain ice cream person, but that's something I'm going to take home). He supplies most of the Thai resturants down and into Philadelphia with his Ginger Ice Cream. He pretty much has a flavor that represents any part of the world you love.

While I was busy enjoying my dessert, a woman walked in to pick up shakes for her and her husband. She told me how she has to try to take a different route home from work so she's not tempted to stop at Nuts About Ice Cream. That's a huge endorsement.

So which do I like better? I'm not saying yet. There are many more samples to try. I do know that when I leave town, I'm going to be packing multiple quarts from both merchants into my cooler. Who would have guessed that the ice cream center of the universe was in Bethlemhem, PA?

Posted by StatsGuru at 12:08 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
April 17, 2004
I Scream, You Scream
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I'm a bit of an ice cream snob. When I was in college, we were lucky to have about 1 ice cream parlor for every 10 students (okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it sure seemed like that). If you started at the southern end of Harvard Square, there was the traditional Baskin Robbins (whose flavor of the month happens to be Baseball Nut). As you walked up Massachusetts Avenue north, you came to Belgium Fudge, which later became Emac and Bollios (that may not be the right spelling). Both were specialty ice cream stores that served unusual flavors.

Continuing up the the street, as you came to the square proper (where the subway station stands), was Brigham's. Brigham's was a Boston version of Friendly's. The ice cream was the poorest in the square, but still pretty good. If you turned left at Harvard Coop instead, you'd head up Brattle Street to Bailey's. Bailey's was an old fashioned ice cream palor, with small marble tables, food and ice cream on one side of the store, and chocolates on the other. It was a perfect place to go after a movie for a frozen treat.

If you were in good shape, you could continue up Massachusetts avenue to Somerville (the subway didn't go there yet) to Steve's. Steve's was a blast. The line wound around inside the store, out the door and down the block. I don't think I ever went to Steve's when there wasn't a line. It was always a half hour wait. You were rewarded with ice cream that was made in the window (he seldom had more than three flavors on hand). And Steve would mix in up to three items; nuts, candies, dried fruit. The staff would grab giant scoops from the freezer with a pair of flat spatulas, form a depression in the middle, add your mixins, then fold until the ice cream and candy were blended. It was heaven.

Eventually, Steve expanded and opened a store in Harvard Square. He sold out to a large corporation, and later opened Herrell's. The corporate Steve's is gone, but the Herrell's still thrives in the square, and lucky for me, Northampton, MA. The Herrell's in Cambridge is located in an old bank. You can sit in the vault to eat your ice cream. Herrell's had the best ice cream I ever tasted. Until now.

I've been working out of the home office in Bethlehem, PA this week. Downtown Bethlehem is neat. There are a number of specialty shops, resturants and historic sites. I've been exploring when I've had the chance, and today I stopped by The Heavenly Hedgehog Ice Cream Company for a bit of frozen fun. I ordered a raspberry sundae with banana cream ice cream, whipped cream, almonds and a cherry. The second the spoon brought the first bite to my tongue I knew I had found something special. The ice cream was smooth, the flavors subtle and the raspberry sauce was to die for. It is simply the best ice cream dessert I've ever tried. Barbara Garrison, the owner was there, and I started asking her questions about the store and her confection. She supplies a number of resturants in the area, and is thinking of selling via the internet (although that is going to be very expensive). Next time I'm down, I'm going to bring a cooler and stock up.

If you are anywhere near Bethlehem, stop by. Drive up from Philly. If you are in western NJ, make the trip. If you are five or six hours away, and are looking for something to do, make the trip. If you love ice cream like I do, you won't be disappointed.

Correction I did misspell Emack and Bolio's. They still exist, just not in Harvard Square.

Posted by StatsGuru at 11:29 PM | Comments (12) | TrackBack (0)