Bar Harbor food faves opening in Portland

One of my summer pleasures is having dinner at Havana followed by a scoop or two of some outrageous flavor at Mount Desert Island Ice Cream. This summer, I won’t have to travel to Bar Harbor to do so. Both Havana and MDIC are opening outposts in Portland. According to MDIC’s Facebook page, it plans to open in May (according to Portland Food Map, it’s at 51 Exchange St.). Havana South is targeting a June opening for its Wharf Street location. Next thing you know, Acadia will opening a section of the park in the city (only kidding).

Free ice cream tomorrow (really!)

Family-owned Gifford’s Ice Cream kicks off its 30th-anniversary season, tomorrow, Friday, March 19, by offering free, small ice cream cones from 6-8 p.m. at its five Maine stands: Skowhegan, Farmington, Bangor, Waterville, and Auburn.

Of course, if that’s not enough, you can splurge on other tasty treats including old-fashioned ice cream sodas, brownie-n-cream sundaes, ice cream cakes, banana splits, sundaes, parfaits, frappes and freezes. And don’t forget your dog: Gifford’s has a special dog bone sundae.

Want to know why Gifford’s tastes so great? The company makes its ice cream from fresh, pasteurized, growth-hormone-free cream and milk that comes exclusively from independent family farms in Maine and it uses premium ingredients, such as real Maine maple syrup.

Since I’m a chocoholic, I’m opting for chocolate. Gifford’s twice has been recognized as “World’s Best Chocolate” at the World Dairy Expo.  And watch for this: Late last year, Gifford’s caught the attention of producers at Food Network’s “Unwrapped,” and the local favorite will be featured in an April 2010 episode titled “21st Century Chocolate.”

Lemon Zest Ice Cream

You must try this. You simply must. It’s so clean, crisp, creamy and–surprise–it’s made from the milk of Nigerian goats.

I first tasted Painted Pepper Farm’s Nigerian goat yogurt while staying at a B&B in Bar Harbor, and it zinged me tastebuds to attention with its fresh tang. Then I found it at the Bar Harbor Farmer’s Market, and of course purchased the plain. Later, I found maple cream and honey ginger flavors at Royal River in Yarmouth.

Finally, I made it to the farm itself, in Steuben. A tiny self-serve farm store is stocked with all the farm’s products: more yogurts, granola, maple syrup, maple-roasted nuts, organic preserves, chevre and the ice cream, in mocha cream and lemon zest flavors. But I had no way to keep it cold.

The next day, armed with a cooler and ice, I headed to the Bar Harbor Farmers’ Market and purchased the lemon zest flavor. And fresh strawberries. Together, well let’s just say I’m salivating as I write this and planning a return to purchase more. Now this stuff isn’t cheap–Painted Pepper is a small family farm, and the products are organic, and the goats are rare–but for a special splurge, it’s a treat.

Sign of summer: Ice cream soda

Honest, I had the best of intentions. I stopped at Royal River Natural Foods, in Yarmouth, intending to get some lunch fixings, but the store was out of what I wanted, and the prepared sandwiches and soups didn’t float my boat. So, I took that as a sign from God that I should have ice cream for lunch. A little less than an hour later, I was enjoying my all-time fave, a chocolate ice cream soda from Round Top Ice Cream, in Damariscotta. Only instead of just chocolate ice cream, I had the ice cream girl make it with both chocolate and ginger. Then I sat on the back deck, squinting in the unexpected sunshine. Heaven!

Ever since I was a little kid, and my grandmother used to make me ice cream sodas, I’ve loved the combo of ice cream and club soda and chocolate syrup with a dash of cream. It’s an old fashioned treat, and few ice cream stands know how to make one anymore. But Round Top does. Not only that, it makes a really, really good one.

Now, I had my heart set on the ice cream soda, but I noticed that Round Top has jumped on the gelatto trend. It’s making its own, and there was a nice selection of flavors in a separate cooler, just inside the front door. Check it out.

Anyway, I think it was a healthful lunch. I mean c’mon, ginger represents a plant group, right? It must count as something in the USDA pyramid. As for my major food group, it combined three of what I consider necessities of life: chocolate, sugar and ice cream. And everyone knows club soda has no calories!

I scream, you scream for Maine-made ice cream

A recent Chowhound discussion on Maine’s best ice cream got me thinking about when I worked for a trade publication called Gourmet News. I edited the new products section, and the president of a Massachusetts-based ice cream company called me about a new line of gourmet ice cream it was introducing. He asked where I was based, and when I said, Maine, he replied: “Oh, we don’t even bother to sell ice cream in Maine. There are so many great, locally made ice creams.”

And how. I later wrote an article on Maine-made ice creams–and traveled from Kittery to Fork Kent to find them. About two weeks and 10 pounds later, I finally settled in to write about my favorites. Problem was, they were all good, damn good. Many were standouts. One, which no longer exists, had me crazed.

Let’s face it, local ice cream will always taste better–it’s fresher. Mainers come up with some pretty interesting flavors, too (Jeff Shain of Shain’s of Maine has made jalapeno/cheddar cheese/salsa on nacho chips flavor).

And now that gelatto and sorbetto are the rage, we’re increasingly seeing those stands dotting the state. Most recently I stopped at Gelatto Fiasco, in Brunswick. Oh my! Simply deciding what to sample from the dozens of flavors was the first step–thank goodness it offered tastings. Another favorite gelatto/ice cream place is Morton’s, a hole in the wall tucked off Route 1, on School Street in downtown Ellsworth.

Last summer, I discovered Mt. Desert Ice Cream, in Bar Harbor; another master of flavors. On the other end of the coast is Fox’s, out by The Nubble, and, of course, The Goldenrod, in York Beach, and Big Daddy’s in Wells. Portland has Fuller’s and Beal’s, both on Wharf St.; Boothbay Harbor has The Ice Cream Factory and then there’s Round Top, in Damariscotta.

Inland, I never cruise up Route 26 without stopping at one of the two farms in Oxford, just south of Norway, Crestholm Farm Stand or Smedberg’s Crystal Spring Farm. Or up to Greenville without detouring to Butterfield’s, in Dover-Foxcroft. Or Augusta, without stopping at Webber’s, in Farmingdale. Of couse, there also are Smiley’s in Winslow and North Street Dairy Cone, in Waterville. The County has Houlton Farms. And…well, you get the point. Farm-made ice cream stands are everywhere in Maine.

And if you can’t find it at a farm stand, you can always find Gifford’s, Round Top or Shain’s at the local grocery.

Perhaps “Ice cream land” should replace “Vacationland” on the state license plates. People’s referendum, anyone?