Jim's Ice Cream Barn (Salem NH)

This last day before they closed (What a shame, especially since across the street, Jay Gee's ice cream is staying open till December), I decided to squeeze some time in for a swirl at this so-called "barn", and have a try at their ice cream.  This doesn't look like a barn at all, but actually a building, despite calling this a "barn", where it's more like a yellow building with a wierd looking diagnal thing on it, from the ice cream entrance to another store on the upper floor.

Now, I would call this a "yellow house", so Jim could rename this to the "Jim's Yellow Ice Cream House", and this would be more of an appropriate thing, since it's a yellow house.  However, I do say that this yellow house fits in with the ice cream theme, and does makes an apperence.  The inside does have it's yellow chairs and tables, which quite interestly, matched the color of WeAllScreamForIceCream's ice cream, which his was a coffee cake ice cream.  My ice cream was a large sundae with three scoops of ice cream, with black magic cheesecake, dinosaur crunch, and peanut butter fudge.  The ice cream was good, though more like Jay Gee's, as it's not as good as Kimball's ice cream.  Speaking of flavers, they were out of half of them as they were taped off by blue tape.

The dinosaur crunch had a blue vanilla flaver in it, with chocolate crunch piece in it, while the peanut butter fudge was self explanitory.  The black magic cheesecake was a cheesecake based ice cream with cookie swirls in it.

Now, I also talked to Jim about the situation since Jay Gee's ice cream went in business actoss the street, and they said that it didn't effect him as of yet.  However, I feel that this may not be the case within a year or two, when new people that come into Salem, NH, and may more likely stop at Jay Gee's then Jim's ice cream barn at the place, simply because this would be the first thing they see as they drive up route 28, which is a more major road, and that this ice cream barn would be more hidden from view, unless they drive up this road that leads up to the barn.

Furthermore, some people may be swayed to try out the other ice cream place after they come out, because every time they leave Jim's ice cream barn, they can see Jay Gee's" ice cream on their way out.  Furthermore, because Jay Gee's across the street would continue to sell ice cream, Jim may change it's mind if Jim see's Jay Gee's ice cream continue to sell ice cream very well while his ice cream place is closed during October, November, and December.  That's three months's worth of lost potential.

Yup, that's Jay Gee's ice cream right from the view facing away from Jim's ice cream place, clearly visible just behind the gas station, potentially making Jim embarrest after he sees that ice cream place open while his ice cream closed in the fall.  I'm not sure why Jim decided to close this place down this early, but that was a really bad idea of doing so.  Maybe Jim may keep this place open till December next year once he realized that ice cream is still sellable during the winter months.

As far as Kimball's farm is concerned, Yes, one of the employees there tried to convince Peter and Mike Kimball to sell ice cream during the winter, but I say, keep buzzing Mike and Peter to continue ice cream service throughout the winter.  Maybe they will learn if Jay Gee's extended ice cream season is successful.

Jim's Ice Cream barn is open from April till September.

BREAKING NEWS: Jay Gee's to extend the ice cream until December

(At least in the Salem, NH location)

A sign that may convince others to extend the ice cream season till later, and to reinforce my demand on Kimball Farm to sell ice cream year round, Jay Gee's has announced that they are keeping the Salem, NH store open till after Thanksgiving weekend.

According to facebook page, Jay Gee's states this message:
"5 short weeks and our Methuen store will close to complete our 30th season, however our SALEM NH store will stay open until closer to christmas!!
BE SURE TO VISIT US THERE!!" at the Facebook page.

Now, if you look at the Jay Gee's NH location, it's clearly an ice cream window service.  Now, they are still a season, but now they don't close till DECEMBER!  Now, if Kimball's start to consider extending their ice cream, that place will be more of a hit, as well as creating new oppertunities, and new ideas as far as flavers.

Now, I think that if Kimball takes note of this, then perhaps they COULD at least extend the ice cream season for another month or two, if Jay Gee's extended season goes well.

However, for now, the Methuin area will still close down on October 30th.  But Jay Gee's could extend the ice cream for that area if the Salem extension proves successful.

Tips on Stocking up for the winter

Now we are heading the end of september and into october, ice cream stands are starting to close down.  Now, the first tip that I covered is that on some ice cream stands they just simply get their ice cream from another place.  Of the five places, Rota Springs, Richardsons, Kimballs, Jay Gee's, and Bedford Farms, the most definite place to stock up is Kimballs and Jay Gee's, simply because they close earlier then other places, while Richardson's and Bedford Farms are open basically year round.  So, before you stock up on your favorite flavers to get you through the winter, do some research and make sure that your ice cream stand makes the ice cream on the premise, or it is made from the same company.

So, here's a few tips when it comes to stocking up.

For more popular flavers that are seasonal, stock those up about a week or two prior to closing.  Ice cream can last for months in the freezer, so there's no waiting till the last minute before you stock.  Some places have sales on the last day, but chances are, you will not find the flaver you want.  So, it still be on the safe side to stock up about a week or so prior.  As far as pumpkin and gingersnap molassis from Kimballs, I already stocked up on them.  Hopefully, they will have indian pudding one more time before they shutter for the season.

Always ask the people in there to not overflow the containers.  Chances are, the ice cream will melt over, and as a result, a mess that took me lots of times and a lot of paper towels and water to clean up.  Make sure that they are able to snugly put the lid on the containers before you go.

It's Time for Kimball Farm to start year-round ice cream serving.

OK.  Only a week and a half before they shutter the ice cream stand down for the winter, or at least stop producing ice cream.  I've been there in September, and noticed that there were still long lines at the stand.  But soon, it will turn october, and come Columbus Day, they will stop producing ice cream, close down the Lancaster, Carlisle, and Jaffery locations, and sell out and eventually close down the stand in Westford.

I understand the Bates farm in Carlisle, since that place is an ice cream stand-only place, and the window service at Westford.  But here's the problem.

The country store at the Westford Location (and Lancaster) is a sandwich cafe selling coffee, sandwiches and some more stuff, and tables inside for you to eat your food at.  Now, if Kimball makes their own ice cream in the back room, and if there's a cafe in the country store, then why don't they continue to make ice cream (but on a lower scale, and serve it in the country store once the weather gets too cold for window service?)  Now they do continue to sell half gallons for a while, but why don't they just open these boxes and sell the customers a sundae indoors?  Certainly, after my horse ride, I would like to go in the country store cafe and have a nice brownie sundae with cookies and cream ice cream there.

To take into further route, the weather is still perfect in october into early november to have window service.  It doesn't have to be every day, maybe do window service on Friday Afternoons, Saturdays, and Sundays, but still serve ice cream inside during the weekdays.  Not to mention that the Silo saying: "KIMBALL FARM ICE CREAM" mocks me every time I go to the country store and they don't sell sundaes in there in the cafe.

Now, let's compare the closings to other places.  Rota Springs Farms IS seasonal, but they don't close until the second weekend of NOVEMBER!  Richards ice cream is open year round, in both locations.  They only time they close during the winter is Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Bedford Farms is open year round.

So, if Kimball Farms has a cafe in the country store that's open year round, and they produce ice cream on the premise, and they sell ice cream very well on Columbus Day weekend, then they SHOULD think about continue to sell ice cream throughout the winter.

My flavers would be the basic five flavers (Choc, Strawberry, Vanilla, Coffee, Black Raspberry), top five other flavers on the regular menu, rotate three other flavers, and serve seasonal/specialty three other flavers.  If other places are serving ice cream very well like Bedford and Richardson's beyond Columbus Day, then Kinballs could make a ton more money selling ice cream in the winter.

And yea, I checked the facebook page, and I'm not alone.  People miss the ice cream, especially those who haven't stocked up yet.

So, for Kimball Fans out there, here's what you can do to get Kimball to start selling ice cream in the Winter:

1) Go to the country store and ask how you can give Kimball suggestins on what they do.
2) Suggest Kimball DEMANDING them to try to sell ice cream in the country store during the winter (or if the weather's good, do window service)
3) As for right now, stock up.  I suggest stocking up about a week before they close, to have more of a chance to get the flavers you want.
4) After the season's over, keep petitioning for year round ice cream service!

And as for me, this is how I feel after they stop selling Ice Cream.

So, all I have to say is: Petition, Enjoy the last few days, and STOCK UP!

Canterbury Kitchen

Located in King Richard's and Queen Ann's Faire, this ice cream place doesn't serve much, just chocolate and vanilla ice cream, and a few variations of sundaes, which is Royal Sundae, and the Brownie Sundae.  Next window, however, is an apple crisp with vanilla ice cream.

It's two windows, next to each other, with the left one serving ice cream cones and sundaes, and the right one serving slushies.  The ice cream is soft serve, with two Taylor machines basically only serving chocolate and vanilla ice cream.

The Sunday I ordered was a brownie sundae with a twist and some toppings and cool whip.  It costs about 15 tickets (Yea, you have to buy food tickets at this place to get the food here.)

Well, it's just a short review, since that's basically just faire food here.  Well, anyways, enjoy your stay at King Richard's (and Queen Ann's) Faire!

The Ice Cream Lady - Douglas MA

Located at The Family Convenience Center next to the convenience store with a gas station and a Dunkin Donuts, the No-name Ice Cream Store in Douglas, MA is what I call, Ice Cream Lady, simply because of the statue when I drive to Douglas State Forest.  Not that this place isn't my best, but that it's just that, a statue figure when I go down there.

I mentiened this place briefly, simply because I just skipped out on the ice cream because I went to Rota Springs instead.  But thanks to this place closing down for the season this weekend, I went to order a Sundae.

The menu is that.  24 flavors of hard scooped ice cream (Black Raspberry, Butter Pecan, Bubble Gum, Cake Batter, Chocolate, Chocolate Chip, Coffee, Coffee Kahula Brownie, Cookie Dough, Cotton Candy, Death By Chocolate, Maple Walnut, Milky Way, Mint Chocolate Chip, Mocha Chip, Moose Tracks, Peppermint Stick, Pistachio, Raspberry Chocolate Chip, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, Rum Raisin, Strawberry, Strawberry Cheesecake, Vanilla), Low-fat options (Black Raspberry, Coffee, Purple Cow), an Oreo Yogurt, an orange or watermellon sherbert, and just two soft serve choc-vanilla flavers.  Furthermore, these ice creams comes from Richardsons, so this place closing down isn't a big deal for me.  So, the pints and quarts of ice cream is just for convenience type thing if you want to get some ice cream.  Otherwise, you may find an ice cream place around here that could be open year round.  So unless you can't drive far, and unable to reach Richardson's ice cream in Middleborough, this place closing down isn't that big of a deal.  Now, if someone else takes over this place, and actually MAKES ice cream here, then it would be a big deal.

Anyways, I ordered a brownie sundae with Death By Chocolate, Cake Batter, Strawberry Cheesecake, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.  The brownie sundae wan't anything too fancy, and the place called Rota Springs had a better sundae there, though, you are restricted to two flavers.

Well, if you are feeling about this place, then maybe one day, you can take over, and start serving ice cream year round.  Oh, Yea, You can order Ice Cream from the inside too.  So to have this end SO early in September is no excuse.  Just close the window, but don't close the business down as a hole.

To Stock up or not to stock up. What's the best choice?

Let's face it.  We are nearing the end of september, and ice cream places are starting to close for the season.  The good new is, unless the ice cream stand is going out of business and the most dreaded words are: "Once this season's over, we may never sell ice cream again", the ice cream stands open in the end of winter to mid spring, some late spring.

So, during the week before they close, the decision, if you have multiple favorites, like me, who has Kimballs, Bedfords, Rota Springs, Jay Gee's, and Great Brook Farms; is, should you stock up on that place, or not.  The decision depends on the following:

-The Ice cream at the place is made on the premise or is a small chain and where the ice cream came from is not far from here and is from the same company.
-The source of the ice cream is seasonal.
-The cows the cream they got it from is either raised themselves, or raised from a local dairy farm.

Now, the run down.  On my choice on the following ice cream stands: should you stock up?

BEDFORD FARMS: No.  Although the bedford store is season, the concord is open year round.
(UPDATE: Bedford shop is now open year round)
KIMBALL FARMS: Yes*.  They close in october, though, in a select few flavers, they serve half gallons through January.  However, I would play it safe and stock up on your favorite flaver.
ROTA SPRINGS FARM: Yes.
GREAT BROOK FARM: No.  Their ice cream comes from Bliss Bros. Dairy.
SPRINKLES: No.  They are open year round, and their ice cream comes from Richardsons.
MAD WILLIE'S: No.  They are open year round, and their ice cream comes from Richardsons.
RICHARDSONS: No.  They are open year round.
MAD MAGGIE'S: No*.  They are open year round, though, closed on weekdays in the winter.
TROMBETTA'S Farm: No*.  They are open year round, though, closed on weekdays in the winter.
JAY GEE'S: No*.  An update now is that Jay Gee's ice cream in Salem is now year round.

Well. that's my list of places and my suggestions on whether you should stock up.

Oh, remember, if it's hand packed, be sure to tell them not to overflow it past the brim, because some time they did and it made a hell of a mess.

Kimballs at Jaffery NH

First of all, all you Kimbal fans out there, start petitioning to sell ice cream in the country store in Westford (on a limited bases throughout the winter), because the thing is: only three weeks remain.  Petition, enjoy as much ice cream from there as you can, and think about what you want your flavers when you stock up for the winter.

Anyways, on this beautiful Sunday on my trip to Monadnock St. Park, I stop by here for lunch, at this Jaffery NH Kimballs.  Unlike the other places, with the exception of the Bates farm in Carlisle, this is a full blown casual restaurant with indoor-outdoor seating (something that Kimballs should consider doing to the Westford and Lancaster locations).  Because it's just a few minutes away from Mt. Monadnock, you can take your food to the summit and eat there.  Maybe even ice cream (if you can bring your personal cooler with ice in it, so you can have a sundae at the top of the mountain.

Quite frankly, if you look on the right side, you can see Mt. Monadnock, which is like a "Nature's Picture" for this place that you can stare at, when you eat your meal and ice cream.  But what's unique about this place, you can try out the ranchburger, which consists of two patties.  But if you want to take Kimballs with you to the mountain, then I suggest you get something that doesn't spoil, like a ham and cheese sandwich.  Make sure you bring bags with you to pack up the potato salad or whatever you are bringing with you.

 

The country store in this place just sells it's usual fashions, like jams and jellies and candy.  But because of the full blown restaurant, this country store doesn't sell breakfast foods.  So you have to either stop by at the westford or lancaster location to get the breakfast food before you set off here.

 

Needless to say, I got the ranchburger, and this sundae, which consists of pumpkin, gingersnap molassis, and indian pudding (one of the best flavers of the fall), though, on my next apple crisp, I will order pumpkin next time.  It's a large sundae after eating a ranch burger, but certainly, the calories are needed to climb the mountain.

Now, I tell you, that's some fall treat there.  Pumpkin, Gingersnap, and Indian Pudding.  That's all three flavers in this Tripledae.  Yes, I call it a tripledae, because it's three scoops and three toppings plus whip cream and nuts.  But the final sundae, which I may order on Columbus day, will contain my flavers for the year before this close.  But as far as stocking up, I am problably going to do four flavers: Pumpkin, Gingersnap Molassis, Indian Pudding, and the Chocolate Truffle sundae.  I say only one other one, because there are ice creams that are open year round.  Furthermore, I may not eat these fall flavers till after October when my vacation is up.

Well, anyways, the last photo is my view of the summit.  It's not perfect since I left my main camera in the car, but thankfully, my iPod has a camera on it, so it's not the best picture.

Well, again, if you are a fan of Kimball's ice cream, here are three things you can do: Tell Josh Kimball demanding them to keep selling ice cream, at least a few flavers in the country store at least in the Westford Location during the winter, enjoy as MUCH ice cream as you can before the season ends, and on Columbas Day, STOCK UP, STOCK UP, STOCK UP! (And perhaps purchase some Savaday trays and scoops to create your Tripledae at home!

 

Anyways, the ice cream stands I may be visiting next month are Jim's Ice Cream barn, Richardson's, The Frosty Dog, and perhaps Crescent Dairy

Banana Splitsomania Quickies 1

Lately, I've been concentrating the happenings at Kimballs, Jay Gees, etc.  But since then, I've left out some ice cream shops to quickly review.  Here's a few quickies this Saturday.

NONA's HOMEMADE: Hingham
This ice cream is located near a corner on Hingham Street. Their brownie sunday is fudgy, and rich. It's got lots of flavers, but only 25 of them are available at a time, rotating. I ordered the sludge, which is a chocolate river ice cream. They covered this on Youtube once in two parts on how to make it. Certainly, it's not quite worth the trip from far away, but it's certainly worth trying if you live near this area.

HAPPY CHOCOLATIER: Westford
Located in Naggog Mall, right near Bobby's Ranch, it's a chocolate shop that also sells ice cream.  Sorry, they don't serve banana splits, and only serves about 14 flavers.  Since Kimballs is only about 10 minutes away (turn right after you exit, and then turn right on route 110, you will come across 50 flavers of ice cream there, plus you can order a large size brownie sundae or a banana split.

SPRINKLES: Boston at Quincy Market
Located at the east end of quincy market, this ice cream chain seems good at first, and the ice cream is pretty good, as the brownie itself is thick and the hot fudge is thick and hot itself.  But it blows it away when this thing is extremily expensive at 10 bucks, something that you can get way better elsewhere, like Kimballs only costs 6.25, and you get more ice cream (although restricted to one flaver), and more brownie.
Not to mention, it's not locally made and it's from richardsons (which is another ice cream stand to explore).  At least it's not from hood.

ERIKSON'S ICE CREAM: Carver MA
This ice cream place is in a brilliant location, especially during September, since I can drop by on my way home from King Rhichard's Faire.  This thing has lots of flavers, and I do believe it's made from the same company, though, in a different location.  Now, speaking of September, that's as far as they opened.  Blaah.  Maybe if they have opened a month longer, this place would have sold more ice cream.  Coupled the fact that The Frosty Man is nearby, and that's opened year round.  That's erickson's potential loss, since they closed a month too early, they could made more money that way had they've been open a month longer.

THE ICE CREAM LADY: Douglass
Located near Dunkin Donuts, this place ends the season off with free ice cream of your choice, with one per customer.  I don't believe it's home made though, but what's attracting is the ice cream statue.  This place doesn't actually have a name for it, but I call this place "Ice Cream Lady", because of the statue.

Well, I still have lots more ice cream stands to cover, within next month in October.

Well, What do you know. Indian Pudding at Kimballs!

Maybe it's just me in luck when I went to Bates farm, or something.  But whenever I posted something earlier that the apple crisp would look good with indian pudding, it was just a major coincidence that they just introduced the new Indian Pudding.  I just become crazy about it when I origionally was about to order a gingersnap flaver because I had pumpkin the last time I had my apple crisp, when I saw the sign: "NEW! Indian Pudding"  That's when I decided to dump the gingersnap and ordered the indian pudding.

 

For those who don't know, Kimballs is actually in four locations, which is this one, Bates farm in Carlisle, the second one, which everybody knows about which is in Westford, the third one is in Jaffery, which is near Mount Monadnock, and the fourth one is in Lancaster.

 

Anyways, I came up to the window and ordered the Apple Crisp with Indian Pudding.  To my amazement, they did three scoops of ice cream on the apple crisp.  Normally, they do one scoop with the whip cream on top.  They did this similer to the one did on a brownie sundae, a special, or a banana split, which is the center scoop on top of two other scoop.

 

As I get into my sundae, the combination of indian pudding ice cream with the apple crisp does blend very well.  However, I found out that the indian pudding isn't as nearly textered as the one at Rota Springs, but it's still good.

 

But yea, only three weeks left after this weekend.  After Columbus day, if you haven't stack up on Kimballs ice cream, which I may on the Saturday before they close, the only way you can enjoy Kimballs is just to droll on these pictures and wish that they open year round.  But since there's still time right now, let's eat all the Kimball ice cream you can, and then stack up on a few quarts of ice cream, particaly, one quart of Indian Pudding, one quart of pumpkin, and one quart of...maybe another favorate flaver...  Maybe I can buy some Kimball Farm cups (if they let me), and pretend that I'm at Kimballs in December eating ice cream.

 

Well, just as I wished.  Combine the apple crisp with indian pudding.  Oh, but wait.  Rota Springs is open for another month, and we've still got Bedford farms.  Maybe if I can order a pound of apple crisp that I can heat up later on, maybe I can enjoy Kimball's apple crisp.  Now, I just have to order a few Savaday fiber trays and a scooper.  And the worst thing is, that these days, it's seemed just yesterday that Kimball's opened up back in March.  So at least in February, we can start counting down the days till when the ice cream stands open up.

Jay Gee's Ice Cream, Salem, New Hampshire

It's Jay Gee's version of their 30th anniversary of the new opening, their version of Kimball Farms Lancaster.  Unlike the Lancaster location, in which it's located in a more rural area, it's located in a more thickly settled area, right near Jim's Ice Cream barn, setting up some competition; which, ironically, is our next tour.  This decision from Jay Gee's gives kids a tough decision to where he or she wants Ice Cream.  One kid can fight over another kid, especially one kid likes Jim's Ice Cream, while another one likes Jay Gee's.

The plus side to this location unlike the other location is that there's a burger place right next door in the same building.  The downside is that the burgers aren't as great as the Grill and Seafood shack, because it's a chain-based burger place.  So, I didn't really include any photos of the burger, but it was a good way to have a sandwich before the ice cream.

Now, on to the ice cream.  This time, I took on the challenge of eating the Mt. Washington Sundae.  I actually was telling: "I wander what Kimball Farm's reaction when they see this sundae".  Let me tell you, it's ginormous!  It was so big, that if I would have gone to Kimballs, get the banana split or a Kimball's special, then ordered the Mt. Washington sundae, and then put them side by side, the Banana Split from Kimballs would look like a kiddie size compared to this one.

One thing's for sure, they do put a sign on the top of the mountain called "Mt. Washington".  Now, if Jay Gee's opens a new location several hundred miles north of here, then the Mt. Washington sundae would have sold more sundaes to the customer.  Indeed, this sundae is for die hard ice cream lovers only.  Since I'm a die-hard ice cream lover, I ordered it for a challenge, much like I said on one of my previous blogs.

--SIREN--SIREN--

Yo!  Behold!  The Ziggy Pig--ahem--the Mt. Washington Sundae!  The Greatest Ice Cream Spectacle Known To Man!  (eat the pig, eat the pig, Ziggy Ziggy Ziggy Pig!)

 

Anyways, the flavers I ordered is Strawberry Cheesecake, Chocolate Overload, Peanut Butter Fix, Banana Creme, Cake Batter, Confetti Cake Batter, Pumpkin, Apple Crisp, and Egg Nog.  Sure enough, the three fall flavers were the last scoops they put in.  As they were prepairing the sundae, I saw through the window that it was huge.  This sundae also has a brownie and a banana in it, as well as whipped creme, and blue sprinkles to make it look like the Mount Washington sundae.  And, well, I couldn't finish this thing, as I ate about half the ice cream, and then my stomach started to get full.

 

Now, I wander if Kimball will have an answer to this when it comes to the 75 year anniversery.  Maybe they will have the new "Kimball SuperSpecial", which could include 14 gigantic scoops of ice cream.  But let's see how Kimball Farms would react when they see this sundae.

Sone Eggnog at Rota Springs...

First off, god bless for those who perished on September 11th, 2001, and those who risk their lives fighting the enemy and defending this country.

Anyways, my trip to Rota Springs, which is a nice relaxing place to sit down and reflect what has happened back on 9-11, as it was a perfect day to do so, was a usual day there after a walk at Douglas State Forest.

The only thing striking there is that the pumpkins are out and the coloums are decorated with straw, hay, or whatever it is.  But in a sense, I decided not to buy a pumpkin at this time, because it was simply too early to buy one since halloween is about one and a half months away.  If I would buy a pumpkin at this place at this time, it would be rotten by the time it was halloween. 
Well, anyways, as usual, I ordered a meatball sub.  Maybe if WeAllScreamForIceCream made another trip here (perhaps once more this fall, or when spring springs up), he should try the sub.  It's that good!  Maybe they should expand and serve meatball spaghetti!

Oh, yea, of corse, maybe expand the building and have indoor seating, and serve lunch and ice cream year-round.  But the best thing if you are a fan of Rota Springs (of course WeAllScream and I are), is purchase a quart of Indian Pudding, Apple Pie, and Egg Nog ice cream on the last weekend they are open, which is the second weekend of november.

Speaking of EggNog, since I ate lots of ice cream again, I opted again for just a cone.  So it's Egg Nog, and my usual, Indian Pudding.

Now, The Indian Pudding...Yea, we all know how good the indian pudding.  It's a good ice cream...bla bla bla... But Now let's talk about the egg-nog ice cream, which is on the bottom scoop of the cone.  It's got quite a rich flaver with a light yellow color to it, and has a fresh sweet egg creamy flaver in it, enhanced to the fact that not only the ice cream is homemade, it's actually made from the milk of the cows that you see in the field.  Maybe the eggs beaten could come from chickens near here.

Well, the hours are counting down.  9pm this month, then 8pm for October and Early November before we have to say goodbye.  Well, we still got Bedford Farms, which remains open at the Bedford location till early december, and year round at the Concord location.

Now the questions is, will I include EggNog in every sunday for now on?  Well, naa.  But I may include that in my later 6-scoop banana split which I will do again late next month.

The Dark times of fall...

Make no mistake, I like the fall, with crisp cool nights, room temperture days, no humidity, and often, periods of sunshine, with the yellowish tint, only to be enhanced by the gold, yellow, and red colors of the leaves.

Ice cream stands also serve apple crisp.  Rota Springs Farm serves apple crisp, with Indian Pudding enhancing the flavers of all.  So as Kimball Farms, with either pumpkin or gingersnap molassis ice cream and cool whip.  I go there once or twice a week, ordering that gold old apple crisp.  But still once a week, I go to Kimball for that special, combining the pumpkin and gingersnap molassis ice cream with another flaver, sometimes butter pecan or maple walnut.

(Apple Crisp w/ Indian Pudding from Rota Springs)

 

(Apple Crisp w/ Pumpkin Ice Cream from Kimball Farms)

 

It's a perfect combination of pumpkin ice cream with apple crisp.  However, it just reminds me that ice cream season is nearing it's end, the days are getting shorter, and winter is on the horizen.

 

As of now, there's only 4 weeks left, till it closes on Columbas Day, at least I can still go to the country store for a breakfast sandwich, though, they could sell ice cream on limited flavers in the country store during the winter months.  But on the bright spot, there are some ice cream stores that are open year round, like Bedford Farms (Concord location only), and even Tasty Treat, which I haven't covered yet.

 

So, all I have to say is: prepare to stack up on the last day, and enjoy your apple crisp.

Great Brook Farm State Park

This ice cream stand I heard about since the place was shut down by the Department of Conservation and Recreation back in May for unauthorized construction for about a week.  That's when I got a shot at this place.  Low and behold, there are some flavers worth checking out, including the Red Velvet Cake flaver.  This is my second time, actually, the first being earlier this year a couple of weeks after it was closed by the state with that "closed until further notice" sign on the door.

Listed as one of the five top ice cream stands in the state (the others being Kimball Farms, Rota Springs Farm, Bedford Farms and Jay Gee's Ice Cream), this place includes hiking trails for me to burn off these calories aten at this ice cream stand.  The trails here are actually a big circle with smaller loops along the way.  There's a trail in nearby residents that they can take that connects to the Great Brook Farm that's worth taking, although they are closed during the winter ski season.

To the left of the ice cream stand, they are cows and other animals to look at, as a cage of rabbits on the way into the ice cream stand.  They also offer tours on how the farm is run, including seeing the cows and how they milk them.  They now have tables inside as well as a big screen TV showing farm videos on it.

There's another place down there that's a pavillian, which I believe can hold birthday parties and private events down there.  Ironically, if you want to head to the rest room after you eat ice cream there, you have to walk from the stand to the pavillion.  There's also a field that you can relax at and places where you can jump your horses (though, I'm not skilled enough at that), that are numbered here.

The ice cream I ordered included my key flaver, red velvet cake; as well as pumpkin and coconut cheesecake brownie.  This red velvet cake ice cream actually has red velvet chunks in it, while the cheesecake brownie combination make this flaver bold out.  The pumpkin ice cream is there for the fall, so that's what I ordered.

Now, I didn't pay attention to the toppings, but they should have red velvet chips and coconut toppings that could go together well with the coconut flavers here.  But since they are so many flavers here, maybe I can come back here in a few weeks (perhaps after Kimball closes it's ice cream stand for the winter (Lame, Kimball, You have a country store, why don't you just narrow the flavers down to the best selling flavers of the season and sell it during the winter).  But on the other hand, this place also closes down in october.  Man, you have indoor seating.  Why can't you sell ice cream during the winter?...

Well, anyways, within the next few weeks, I've got Jim's ice cream barn to try and Jay Gee's ice cream to challange the Mt. Washington sundae.

Sweet Spot Frozen Yogurt

This new place, which just opened up, is another line in a long string of frozen yogurt places that has sprouted out all over the place.  Located on Route 9, near Framingham Center, this new place serves up 10 rotating flavers of frozen yogurt, along with plenty of toppings.  The back row of toppings was a hard one to reach at, but it's got more frozen yogurt choices then Frozen Yogurt Innovations.

Pardon of the blurryness of the photo, but apperently, my camera isn't acting right sometimes.  Anyways, it's a block or two away from another ice cream place nearby, which is Mad Willie's, which makes this place more of a choice of ice cream vs frozen yogurt.  But the way the sign reads, it makes this place a healthy frozen yogurt place.

I go inside, and the walls are still a bit blank, but I understand that, because it's a place that has just opened up.  The owners had to go through all the paperwork and permits just to open this place up.  But the more choices then Frozen Yogurt Innovations, which FYI had 8 while this has 10, can make this more of an attraction to frozen yogurt fans on this side of town.  Certainly, Framingham State Collage studants will find this place as more places to go out for a dessert.

Anyways, this yogurt place has two sizes, small and large, but like the other place, you still pay by the ounce.  The one thing they have here that FYI doesn't is whipped cream!  But they don't have a razzle where I can dispense the yogurt and toppings and they mix it up.  But I'm sure they will have one soon.

As far as my yogurt, I got the large, and then had some red velvet cake, batter, chocolate, cappachino, and cookies and cream, along with toppings, whipped cream, and a cherry on top.

Now maybe in the future, I could get this in razzle form someday.  But happy days of yogurt.  Don't worry, summer may not be over yet.  We still have some weekends left.  But what I would love for them to have is actually Ginger and Pumpkin, maybe even Indian Pudding!

Jay Gee's Ice Cream

Another place where WeAllScreamForIceCream has never mentiened about it yet, it's a place located off Route 93, just a couple of exits north of route 495.  Could this potentially rival Kimball Farm?  Well, certainly, history of this place is very similer to that of Kimballs, except that this place was only around since 1982, unlike Kimballs, which was around since 1939.

Certainly, this place has a very similer concept as Kimballs, as this, like Kimballs is an entertainment place with the central attraction being the ice cream stand.  Like Kimballs, I can just go here just for a late night ice cream, or perhaps spend a day here having fun.  Speaking of ice cream, this place serves a mammoth sundae called the Mt. Washington sundae.  I didn't have it today, but I will challenge that sundae later on.  I do believe that the mammoth sundae could rival that of the Ziggy Piggy ice cream that was eaten at Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.

There ARE similarities once you go out back to where the activities are.  There's the mini golf course,  there are the batting cages, and there is the arcades.  The mini golf course, however, is only 18 holes, compared to 36 course played at Kimballs, in which it's actually two 18-hole course blended together.

Now for something that's very different then the one at Kimballs.  The arcade place is quite a bit more updated, and they have a cool bumper cars located in the arcade room.  Basically, it's a little like bumper boats, but instead of water, you are riding on a concrete floor, and is driven by pulling the lever forward or backwards.  I'm sure that if Kimball sees it, they would finally update the arcade place and add the bumper cars in it.  On the outside, they also have go-cart tracks, one of which it's a normal drive along tracks, and the other one, is the slick track, which is smaller, but you slide all over the place.  The wait is long, though, so be prepared to wait in line for some time before taking a drive on the tracks.  The things that Jay Gee's doesn't have, however, is a country store, a grill shack, and a driving range/pitch and putt course, as well as animal adventures.  But on the other hand, it has limited space, and a Salem location has opened up, so who knows what expansion Salem will have.

Now, getting back to the ice cream.  This place has 57 hard-scooped flavers, one sherbet, which is watermelon, 3 no-sugar ice creams, and 8 rotating seasonal flavers.  Currently, three of them, eggnog, pumpkin, and apple crisp, is currently in use.  I ordered the brownie sundae this time, with pumpkin and apple crisp ice cream.  This sundae LOOKS big, but as I bite in to it, I noticed that this thing is like 50 percent cool whip.

Not only that, I was FIGHTING the cool whip before it melted off and fell all over.  As I finally reached the ice cream, after eating a pound of cool whip, I noticed a wierd orange ice cream.  I was like, hmmmm, is this apple crisp or pumpkin.  It must be pumpkin, since the second ice cream had a bit of a crunch in it.  So I don't remember the pumpkin being THAT orange.  But the taste wasn't that bad, like it wasn't like just ice colored water.

But comparing this place, there are things I like Kimballs better, as I can go there for lunch and even buy some stuff at the country store.  However, this place does has more fast-pased entertainment, and more variety of flavers of ice cream.  Thankfully, Kimballs and Jay Gee's is about a half an hour apart, so if you are traveling up from I-495, then you can stop by at Kimballs for a hamburger before heading up here.  Otherwise, you may have to stop at a burger place or order out something.  Let's hope that they do allow people to bring outside food into the premise.  Maybe in the future, they can start adding luncheon foods to the place.  But Jay Gee's ice cream could possibly compete with Kimballs.

The Apple Crisp arrives at Rota Springs Farm!

Take my Indian Pudding and place it in Apple Crisp.  Hmmmm, Now This is two worlds come together for a fall Ice Cream, perfect for a Labor Day thing.  Yea, another terrible dieting weekend, but hey, it's the holiday.  Again, on Tuesday, it's back to healthy eating.

Anyways, from Douglas State Forest, walking to the try-state mark, I decided to take another trip to Rota Springs, one of the four (maybe 5) of my top rated ice cream places, and see what's going on.

It was indeed a perfect weather for this...in the 70s and sunny weather.  But every time I go here and look at the goats, I feel like that this place really needs a mini-golf place and some place to lounge and just take my time to eat my ice cream here.

I first ordered my meatball sub here with American cheese...Yea, they do serve great meatball subs here.  How about if they expand the menu in the years to come to serve some pizza, and perhaps pasta with meatballs, even expanding the side order menus to include salads and even frest fruit, because I don't eat potato chips on the menu.

But of course, what can you do wrong with a meatball sub anyways.  Of course it can get messy, so I had to use a fork and knife to cut some of the sub in order to eat it.  But this can be better if they start having spaghetti and sauce, and perhaps extend the lunch servings till about an hour before closing.  Heck, maybe they can add some "cafe" in the store.  But anyways, again, this is a young ice cream stand and with demand, they could make this a year-round ice cream/luncheon stand!

Next comes the lunch dessert, which is the apple crisp.  Since on my last blog, I stated that "Now if I can get some indian pudding ice cream on top of the apple crisp".  Well, that's what I ordered...Apple Crisp with Indian Pudding.  That's my rule.  When you come to Rota Springs, Indian Pudding is always on my order.  Now if they would have allowed more then one flaver, my second flaver would have been Apple Pie or Pumpkin.  But again, later this month, I plan on having another 6-scoop banana split.  Of course, Indian Pudding is one of the flavers, but the rest is the fall flavers and if I ran out of the flavers, then the other flavers on the regular menu that goes together with the fall flavers, which is perferrably, butter pecan (or any butter-based) ice cream, and Maple Walnut.

Indeed, that's excatly what I hoped!  They have great Apple Crisp (maybe rivaling Kimball's apple crisp), and the Indian Pudding goes very well with the Apple Crisp on it.  Maybe Rota Springs could start serving Indian Pudding (not the Ice Cream) itself, and I could order Indian Pudding Ice Cream on it, with whipped cream.  But the blend of Apple Crisp with Indian Pudding really enhances the flavers, just as great as chocolate and coconut.  And being that this place doesn't close till November means that my full time on my october vacation can be enjoyed here, unlike Kimballs and Great Brook.