Tag: travel

Ruby Jewel in Portland, OR

April 18, 2020Destination Ice Cream, Ice Cream, travel, , , , , , , Leave a comment

When I visited Ruby Jewel, the main purpose of my visit was to connect with a friend. Because I didn’t want her to think me the oddest of people, I didn’t take my usual 10-15 minutes to sample flavors and debate options.

Ruby Jewel, Portland, OR I In Search of a Scoop

Nevertheless, I got a nice glimpse of her favorite Portland-area ice cream spot. They have several locations to try, and their atmosphere is lovely, upscale but comfy and casual.

Here’s what I tried:

Nineteen27 Toasted Marshmallow – This was very tasty, but in the bit I tried, it was a little bit icy. A local company makes the marshmallows, and then they’re toasted and added to sweet cream ice cream. Definitely a fun concept!

Ruby Jewel, Portland, OR I In Search of a Scoop

Caramel with Salted Chocolate – I had this on two gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. Honestly, how could it be bad? It was super satisfying.

So, I really liked Ruby Jewel! I’ll have to go back to give them a more fair review. I did notice their gluten-free flavors were limited, but they still had some really nice options. I look forward to a future trip!

Hope you’re staying well and have some ice cream in your future, friends. (Visit Ruby Jewel’s website for tips on getting your fix while their stores are closed.) If any of you are struggling with working from home/staying put, I’m featured in a new course bundle. Mine is called “Navigating Relationships When You’re Both Working From Home”. The link above will give you a huge discount on the course. Stay well, and take care!

Ruby Jewel, Portland, OR I In Search of a Scoop

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I am truly grateful for your support of my blog! You can help keep the content coming regularly by doing any or all of the following:

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  • Make purchases via my Amazon website links. There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds can support our travels. Begin your Amazon search here.
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Tillamook Creamery, Tillamook, OR

April 11, 2020Destination Ice Cream, Grocery Store Staples, Ice Cream, travel, , , , , , , 3 Comments

Tillamook Creamery, unlike most of the ice cream places I visit, makes premium, not super premium, ice cream. So I was a little bit skeptical of how great their ice cream was – but when we were in Fort Collins, Colorado for a summer, we enjoyed their ice cream when it was on sale occasionally, and I can attest to their cheese and yogurt being excellent as well. Long story short? Their factory is definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area. They say their secret is more cream and less air. Could be!

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When you visit, be sure to check out the other area businesses too (like Blue Heron – their brie is incredible!), and of course a visit to the beach is highly recommended. That gorgeous Oregon coast….you should anticipate big crowds here. I recommend taking a tour (the exhibits are very well done, and you can sample cheese at the end), and they also have some mouthwatering meal options if you’d like a grilled cheese or lots of other deliciousness before your dessert. Depending on the time of day, they sometimes have an outdoor area just for ordering ice cream; at other times, you’ll order your ice cream in the food court and can sit inside or take it outdoors to enjoy.

Prices are very reasonable with big portions at $3.50 for one scoop, $5 for two scoops or $6.50 for three. They’ll let you try whatever you like first. And if you’d like one of their pre-selected flights, those will run you three flavors for $5.75.

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Here’s what I tried:

Pendleton Whiskey and Maple Custard – My bite was icy, but this was very tasty and the alcohol is very strong – they charge an extra dollar for this flavor!

Oregon Hazelnut Salted Caramel – This is a hazelnut base with chunks in it, and a salted caramel ripple. The hazelnut runs the show here, but the gentle salted caramel complements it well.

Mountain Huckleberry – This is a smooth and creamy base swirled with ample sweet and tart huckleberry. Very satisfying!

Chocolate Cherry Fudge – This was kind of a medicinal cherry, unfortunately. Not my thing.

Tillamook Mudslide – This is chocolate with chocolate chunks and a chocolate swirl. Yum!

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The ice cream here is super creamy, as mentioned, and though it won’t make my top five across the U.S., it’s a very satisfying option. Best of all is that when you’re in the Pacific Northwest, it’s very easy to find in the grocery stores. If we’re talking “grocery store” ice cream, this one is a top contender!

As of this writing, Tillamook Creamery is closed, so grab some at your local grocery store for now and plan a visit for the future. Stay well, and happy eating!

Supporting My Blog

I am truly grateful for your support of my blog! You can help keep the content coming regularly by doing any or all of the following:

  • Become a patron of my work!
  • Make purchases via my Amazon website links. There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds can support our travels. Begin your Amazon search here.
  • Make other purchases using my affiliate links. Signing up with Dosh or Capital One 360 is a great way for everyone with a smartphone to support me, and I also have options for aspiring virtual assistants as well as occasional and full-time RVers to save money. This link will take you to my other travel page with my husband – we’ll have one here soon!
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Hurry Back Ice Cream near Portland, OR

April 4, 2020Destination Ice Cream, Ice Cream, travel, , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Hurry Back Ice Cream focuses on handmade, small batch, eggless ice cream with simple ingredients. They offer classic and limited edition flavors as well as several non-dairy flavors made with coconut milk and coconut cream. (Note: photos by Hurry Back Ice Cream)

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Their hours are limited (not a late night joint) and they’re basically a food truck that hangs out with other food trucks, with a few tables nearby as well. They were happy to let me taste flavors, offered gluten-free cones and my combo of two flavors in one scoop was $4.50, so pretty reasonable for a city. Expect pretty traditional flavors and lots of vegan options if you come here.

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Here’s what I tried:

Ghirardelli Chocolate – This is a very tasty chocolate ice cream. Classic taste and I enjoyed it…it’s got a classic amount of smoothness, without being super creamy, and it’s very consistent.

Grasshopper – This is a very natural and light mint flavor. It’s fun! It’s a very nice and natural version of the classic.

Combining these two flavors is definitely fun. There’s a strong mint aftertaste that still shines through when paired with chocolate. Definitely recommend.

Follow them on Instagram for the latest updates on when they’ll be back scooping.

Thanks for the deliciousness. We’ll be sure to hurry back when we’re back in town!

Screenshot 2020-04-02 at 9.03.51 AM

Supporting My Blog

I am truly grateful for your support of my blog! You can help keep the content coming regularly by doing any or all of the following:

  • Become a patron of my work!
  • Make purchases via my Amazon website links. There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds can support our travels. Begin your Amazon search here.
  • Make other purchases using my affiliate links. Signing up with Dosh or Capital One 360 is a great way for everyone with a smartphone to support me, and I also have options for aspiring virtual assistants as well as occasional and full-time RVers to save money. This link will take you to my other travel page with my husband – we’ll have one here soon!
  • Listen to, subscribe and review my theater comedy podcast, Finishing The Season!
  • Subscribe to this as well as my other travel blog, RossAndJamieAdventure, and recommend our work to your friends and family.
  • Take music or theater lessons (group or private) from me and my husband, either in person or via Skype at TinyVillageMusic.com.

Your Virtual Tour of Wiz Bang Bar in Portland, OR

March 28, 2020Destination Ice Cream, Ice Cream, travel, , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Let’s take a journey to Portland, circa July 2019, shall we? 

After learning that I could get gluten-free cookies and cream ice cream in Portland, a visit to Wiz Bang Bar was a must. The setup is kind of a fancy, high-end food court, with a variety of vendors so you can get dinner at one place, send your partner to another and meet up at another location or two for dessert. If you’re familiar with Salt & Straw, this is their whimsical soft serve experiment, and in my opinion, it’s better than the hard stuff. 

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Need a distraction? Let’s talk chickpea ice cream!

March 21, 2020Destination Ice Cream, Ice Cream, travel, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Little Chickpea (formerly Little Bean) of Portland, Oregon is the most unique ice cream I’ve ever had. The ice cream is vegan and gluten-free, made from chickpeas, and they use the leftover parts of the chickpeas for making (gluten-free) waffle cones and (gluten-free) cookies, espresso and lattes with chickpea milk.

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What’s the Scoop, Portland, OR

March 14, 2020Destination Ice Cream, Ice Cream, travel, , , , , , , Leave a comment

What’s the Scoop? in Portland, Oregon may not be as well known as local celebrity Salt & Straw, but in my opinion it’s better! If you’re looking for a great ice cream experience with less of a line, consider What’s the Scoop.

what's the scoop

Photo courtesy of What’s the Scoop?

Ice cream is quite reasonably priced for a city, with a single for $4.50, a double for $6.50 and a sampler with four flavors and four toppings for $9.00. They’re especially well-known for their toppings and tell you what’s gluten-free and vegan from the get-go. They’ve also got super fun sundae options, a fortune cookie cone and something called “The Gorge” which is basically a giant sheet cake ice cream sandwich (made with a cookie or brownie base) to share with a big party.

This was my first ice cream stop in Portland, though definitely not my last (!), and it was a really fun experience. They serve ice cream with baby spoons like a gelato place – I love that. I went with the sampler, and here’s what I thought:

Blueberry Basil – This is the one flavor I tried but didn’t ultimately order. I found the flavors a bit too washed out for me, so I skipped it.

Rosemary with Roasted White Chocolate – I chose toasted marshmallow as my topping for this scoop. The flavor is heavy on the rosemary, and the roasted white chocolate is more subtle, but it’s a very nice pairing. I enjoyed it a lot, and the toasted marshmallow is amazing! I highly recommend it. The rosemary is so strong that you can cover it up a lot without losing it. I thought it was almost like chocolate pudding with a punch! It’s great to pair with toppings.

3D Chocolate – I chose hot fudge for this one. The 3D description is apt, and the hot fudge is pretty fabulous! This ice cream has more dimension than regular chocolate, with cool chunks and very tasty. It was a great pairing.

Peanut Butter Curry – For this one, I went with a honey caramel topping. The honey caramel itself is full of personality and delicious, and it paired well with this. However, I wish the curry was heavier, and had more bite afterwards. It’s great if you love peanuts and peanut butter though. The other bummer was the ice cream melted quickly and the caramel fell off fast.

Brown Butter Almond Brittle – I topped this one with magic dust, which is actually the dust of the brittle. This is a subtler flavor, and I loved the brittle and dust combo. It’s super fun. As someone that’s gluten-free, having a texture like the dust felt very indulgent and rare.

Ice cream here is SO creamy! The sampler is the perfect size for sharing with someone…of course I managed to eat it solo! What’s the Scoop? has very good ice cream and excellent toppings. As we’re considering a move out to Portland in the future, I’m sure I’ll be indulging here again!

Supporting My Blog

I am truly grateful for your support of my blog! You can help keep the content coming regularly by doing any or all of the following:

  • Become a patron of my work!
  • Make purchases via my Amazon website links. There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds can support our travels. Begin your Amazon search here.
  • Make other purchases using my affiliate links. Signing up with Dosh or Capital One 360 is a great way for everyone with a smartphone to support me, and I also have options for aspiring virtual assistants as well as occasional and full-time RVers to save money. This link will take you to my other travel page with my husband – we’ll have one here soon!
  • Listen to, subscribe and review my theater comedy podcast, Finishing The Season!
  • Subscribe to this as well as my other travel blog, RossAndJamieAdventure, and recommend our work to your friends and family.
  • Take music or theater lessons (group or private) from me and my husband, either in person or via Skype at TinyVillageMusic.com.

Old Town Churn, Fort Collins, CO

March 7, 2020Destination Ice Cream, Ice Cream, travel, , , , , , , , 2 Comments
Old Town Churn, Fort Collins, CO I In Search Of A Scoop

This week is almost a sequel to last week’s blog on Little Man Ice Cream. That’s because Old Town Churn is owned by the same company!

Old Town Churn, Fort Collins, CO I In Search Of A Scoop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Town Churn is a really adorable, relatively new addition to Fort Collins. It’s a part of a larger complex with eateries, places for drinks and of course the essential ice cream stop, with lots of outdoor seating and a wonderful location to visit when you’re downtown. (I highly recommend heading across the street for a cider at Scrumpy’s before you leave!)

My previous ice cream experiences in Fort Collins had been somewhat disappointing, particularly downtown, so I was eager to try a new place, especially given my fondness for Little Man in Denver.

I really enjoyed my visit to Old Town Church in July. My biggest disappointment was getting ice chunks in multiple flavors – which seemed especially odd in July. I hope they’ve worked that out. Besides that, the staff was friendly, the location is adorable (I couldn’t capture it well, but it’s a super cute stand that you can’t miss), and they have some fun with flavors too. They have lots of fun flavors, including nice vegan options.

Here’s what I tried:

Old Town Churn, Fort Collins, CO I In Search Of A Scoop

All Nighter – This is a vanilla espresso base with a chocolate fudge swirl. The espresso flavor is very forward, and the vanilla is there, but not as prominent. The fudge is well-integrated and really tasty. This is a delicious combination, and not too subtle (they’ve avoided the Fort Collins ice cream curse!), thank goodness. I did find an ice crystal. It’s a fabulous flavor, very well done, and it could make my top twenty for favorite flavors. Delicious.

Matcha Honey – This is a very forward matcha flavor, with nice sweetness from the honey. It’s super well-balanced and not too subtle. Unfortunately there were several ice crystals, but besides that, it’s a definite winner. It was excellent except for that.

The presentation is really well done, with a big bowl and side by side flavors as a nice and practical touch. It was $4.37 for a medium, which is a very reasonable price, though the sizes here seemed smaller to me than at Little Man. (Maybe I was hungry?) I appreciated seeing them use real bowls and spoons.

This location balances conventional flavors with unusual ones quite well, though they were all on the sweeter side. I’m thrilled to have a tasty (read: not subtle) ice cream option in Fort Collins, and the price is right too. They’re open year-round, though the exact days and hours are seasonal.

Have you visited Old Town Churn?

Supporting My Blog

I am truly grateful for your support of my blog! You can help keep the content coming regularly by doing any or all of the following:

  • Become a patron of my work!
  • Make purchases via my Amazon website links. There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds can support our travels. Begin your Amazon search here.
  • Make other purchases using my affiliate links. Signing up with Dosh or Capital One 360 is a great way for everyone with a smartphone to support me, and I also have options for aspiring virtual assistants as well as occasional and full-time RVers to save money. This link will take you to my other travel page with my husband – we’ll have one here soon!
  • Listen to, subscribe and review my theater comedy podcast, Finishing The Season!
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Little Man, Denver, CO

February 22, 2020Destination Ice Cream, Ice Cream, travel, , , , , , , , , off

I really enjoyed my visit to Little Man Ice Cream, not least because I visited them after 1 a.m.! After flying into the airport, I was craving an ice cream treat, and I was super delighted to try Little Man at that hour. The staff were friendly and playful and happy to let me try flavors. Here’s what I had:

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Frozen Matter, Denver, CO

February 15, 2020Destination Ice Cream, Ice Cream, travel, , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Frozen Matter is not your average ice cream place! A microcreamery with unusual flavors, ice pops and soda, it was within walking distance to a venue my husband and I were performing at in Denver, so a stop was essential. They also have their own speakeasy inside called Retrograde – so a return visit for a cocktail is a must!

Frozen Matter, Denver, CO | In Search of a Scoop

It’s an adorable space, with excellent service and a nice mix of indoor and outdoor space. Super cute and the hipster vintage lovers like me will eat this out of this world theme up.

Frozen Matter, Denver, CO | In Search of a Scoop

Here’s what I tried:

Space Junk – This has a bourbon butter base with nuts and other fun things in it. Fun, but alcoholic flavors are always tricky, and this didn’t win me over.

Black Magic – This is a chocolate base with black tea and black currants. I really enjoyed this flavor combination! It’s very unusual, but also pretty excellent. I’d definitely go for this again. (I can taste it now! Very memorable.)

Frozen Matter, Denver, CO | In Search of a Scoop

Lemon Blueberry – I loved the lemon flavor, in particular, but this ice cream didn’t quite win me as a favorite unfortunately.

Lavender Caramel – This is a tasty and very forward lavender flavor. It’s very good, bit life-changing, but if you enjoy lavender ice cream you’ll enjoy it.

I loved the creative flavors here. Besides Space Junk, which was really wacky and perhaps even excellent in its weirdness, none of these got into the realm of excellence. But they’re trying for big things with high quality ingredients. The double was $7.40 with very large portions, so the prices are pretty decent for a big city.

This isn’t my favorite in Denver, but I look forward to stopping by in the future to see what they’ve cooked up and check out the speakeasy. Thanks, Frozen Matter!

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Supporting My Blog

I am truly grateful for your support of my blog! You can help keep the content coming regularly by doing any or all of the following:

  • Become a patron of my work!
  • Make purchases via my Amazon website links. There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds can support our travels. Begin your Amazon search here.
  • Make other purchases using my affiliate links. Signing up with Dosh or Capital One 360 is a great way for everyone with a smartphone to support me, and I also have options for aspiring virtual assistants as well as occasional and full-time RVers to save money. This link will take you to my other travel page with my husband – we’ll have one here soon!
  • Listen to, subscribe and review my theater comedy podcast, Finishing The Season!
  • Subscribe to this as well as my other travel blog, RossAndJamieAdventure, and recommend our work to your friends and family.
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Ice Cream Update

February 8, 2020Ice Cream, , , , , , , Leave a comment

Well, I know what you’re thinking.

Did she really have ice cream for breakfast last Saturday?

You bet your ice cream scoop I did.

National Ice Cream For Breakfast Day, In Search of a ScoopNational Ice Cream For Breakfast Day, In Search of a Scoop

And you know what? It wasn’t gourmet, but it sure was delicious.

So if you’re feeling inspired, I highly recommend a pancakes and ice cream combination. (Make mine gluten-free.)

Tune in next time for your regularly scheduled ice cream update.

And if you celebrated, I’d love for you to share a photo with me on Facebook! You’ll find me here.

Have a wonderful week, and happy eating!

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Supporting My Blog

I am truly grateful for your support of my blog! You can help keep the content coming regularly by doing any or all of the following:

  • Become a patron of my work!
  • Make purchases via my Amazon website links. There is no additional cost to you, and a portion of the proceeds can support our travels. Begin your Amazon search here.
  • Make other purchases using my affiliate links. Signing up with Dosh or Capital One 360 is a great way for everyone with a smartphone to support me, and I also have options for aspiring virtual assistants as well as occasional and full-time RVers to save money. This link will take you to my other travel page with my husband – we’ll have one here soon!
  • Listen to, subscribe and review my theater comedy podcast, Finishing The Season!
  • Subscribe to this as well as my other travel blog, RossAndJamieAdventure, and recommend our work to your friends and family.
  • Take music or theater lessons (group or private) from me and my husband, either in person or via Skype at TinyVillageMusic.com.