The lemon at Fran's remains the One True Ice Cream, but the burnt sugar caramel comes close. Jilli swears by the ginger lime with chocolate sauce on it, and I'll have to try that at some point.

Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Therapy is also excellent.

And I have a sick fondness for B&R Daquiri Ice.

In New England, you don't need Cold Stone. There's plenty of good native ice cream.

That's very true. There are more family owned private ice cream shops than chains, even. We have an excellent place in town, and when we're in York, we're really close to Brown's Ice Cream, which is always making the top 10 on all the New England Lists.

And you were right, it was Dipping Dots. I never did have them. Sigh.

Alaska has the highest per capita consumption of ice cream, or at least used to. But it seems we don't have nearly as many ice cream shops as other places. People just buy it at stores. They say that the consumption is high because the population is young. I think we don't have the stores because the population density is low.

I have to admit, I defected from B&J to Coldstones. We had B&J and it just wasn't the same.

Also, last night? We had steamed chicken ravioloi with oyster mushrooms and inoki in a mushroom sauce.

So good.

I think we don't have the stores because the population density is low.

Yeah, that makes sense.

They say that the consumption is high because the population is young.

Also, if you're ever attacked by a bear, you can just drop your ice cream to make your escape.

Don't think I haven't thought of that.

burnt sugar caramel

That sounds yum.

Where was the original Steve's, Jesse? I remember that place as my first introduction to mix-ins, which I thought was just BRILLIANT. And still do.

Jen, did you go to school here, or grow up, here?

I went to Georgetown in DC, so that's where I first went to Steve's - was it originally a Massachusetts thing?