Cathy2 wrote:
We drove up Green Bay Road to stop in at Homer's Ice Cream, where Al Capone liked his ice cream treats. We knew we wanted to sample their Prairie Berrie ice cream, which had won some professional Chef award. I saw an article with Carlos and Debbie Nieto touting the apple cinnamon ice cream. We ordered a double scoop cup with one of each flavor to share. While my friend was reluctant to try the cinnamon apple expecting no apple and too much cinnamon. All negative expectations were wrong, there was chunks of apple, some crunchy cinnamonny things and an overall light cinnamon flavor. We ended up liking the cinnamon apple ice cream more than the Prairie Berrie award winning ice cream.
And if you have not yet tried it, the Fresh Peach (really) ice cream at Homer's is truly their best of all. The problem is, it is not available until peaches are in season in July, and then only for a couple of months thereafter. Homer's peach ice cream is not heavy on the almond/peach pit flavor that many other peach ice creams have. Instead, the flavor of fruit itself dominates and the pieces of peach are almost tart.
Homer's also serves a very good hot fudge. This is a dark chocolate version; it's sweet, but with enough bitterness not to be cloying. And their nuts are salted, another bonus.
I had no idea about Homer's Capone connection, but every time I am in there, I see older people who are likely visiting for the tastes they remember. If only Homers had real dishes rather than disposable ones! To me, that is the hallmark of a great ice cream parlor. It just tastes better in a tulip-shaped glass dish. It's disrespectful to memorable ice cream to serve it in a plastic cup. It's ironic, too, as the forgettable plastic lasts eternally in the landfill.
Cathy2 wrote:In my own cockeyed way, I had a very nice Valentine's Day.
I'm glad that you had a nice Valentine's Day. As I have always maintained, the life of a food lover offers many consolations. And yesterday my need for consoling was great after an assignation gone awry: I was stood up by the entire staff of the State of Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles on Valentine's Day morning. The sign on the door, like the website, advised that they would be closed Friday for Lincoln's Birthday. But who knew what impulsive romantics those patronage bureaucrats can be? I'm not the only person they stood up to celebrate Valentine's Day. The parking lot was full of other romantics like me who erroneously believed that this was the day that they could score a vehicle registration, license plates, and other such love tokens. . . alas! My hopes dashed yet again!
Embittered, I drove aimlessly until I reached Hartford's West End. There, I visited some of my favorite finds: Aby's Bakery (Argentinian) and Delicacy Market. I purchased some delicious beet, plum, and walnut salad, and mushroom spread from the deli at Delicacy as well as Lithuanian and Armenian cheeses, German Ham (recommended), smoked sable, and a tiny bit of salmon caviar. Here is a picture of my dessert, one of Aby's alfajores.
But the very best part of my Valentine's Day was yet to come. A package from my daughter was waiting for me. What a surprise to find a handmade Valentine and some Pruneaux d'Agen and chocolates from Dean & DeLuca! I had been looking for several years for Pruneaux d'Agen in the Chicago area and had come up empty. What a sweetheart my daughter is to remember this! All thoughts of the DMV are washed away. In fact, after that pruneau and litchee mousse chocolate, all thoughts are banished. Love endures.
Delicacy Market
(Russian/Central Asian/Eastern European)
774 Farmington Avenue
West Hartford, CT
860 236-7100
http://www.delicacymarket.comMon.-Sat. 9 AM - 8PM
Sun. 10AM - 6PM
Aby's Bakery and Confectionery
(Argentinian)
765 Farmington Avenue
West Hartford, CT
(860) 231-7773
Hours: Mon 8AM-2PM, Tue-Sat 8AM-6PM, Sun 8AM-3PMAby's Bakery
Man : I can't understand how a poet like you can eat that stuff.
T. S. Eliot: Ah, but you're not a poet.