In Search of My Perfect Scoop...

I have ice cream on the brain. And it's not that headache you get from eating too much of the stuff, it's the feeling that everywhere I turn, there it is again. Symptoms include a combination of the publication of The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz and A Passion for Ice Cream by Emily Luchetti plus several newish places that have sprung up where you can get premium crack ice cream. I'm beginning to think ice cream is the new cupcake.

So what's a girl to do? I have no room in my packed freezer for a canister to make ice cream, I barely have room for a pint. The idea of an old-fashioned ice cream maker or even an electric version that uses rock salt and ice won't work for me. It's just not apartment friendly. I desperately want that Glace-A-Tron 6000 that Derrick keeps talking about. Speaking of which, cut it out, Derrick! Even on sale the monster costs over $200. The ice cream in David's book are really what have me itching to make it myself, especially the chic flavors like Roquefort-Honey, Prune-Armagnac and Orange-Szechuan pepper.

For now I'm stuck getting the fabulous fresh banana ice cream from the Original Swenson's (not affiliated with the Swenson's chain) just up the block from my house and ordering Bi-Rite Creamery ice cream when I happen to be somewhere that serves it like Gialina in Glen Park. When I find myself around Fourth Street in Berkeley there's a good chance I'll be at Sketch, my favorite Italian style ice cream shop. But if anyone wants to sell really top-notch ice cream in San Francisco, please come to my neighborhood. Swenson's could use the competition.

READ MORE Over at Bay Area Bites is my take on a new computer game called Chocolatier.