Hometown Tourist: JP Licks

If the part of the country that you grew up in is anything like New England, summertime was always ice cream time. Almost every little town has an ice cream stand, or a farm stand that sells ice cream during the summer, usually with ice cream that's homemade or sourced from a local dairy. I was not the most adventurous eater as a child, in fact up until, let's be real, my 20s, I pretty much only ate chocolate ice cream in a dish with chocolate jimmies (that's those poo shaped sprinkles to the rest of the country. Tangent: I managed to make it to 9 years old and a visit to family friends in Rochester, NY, before I found out that not everyone called them that, this despite the fact that my dad is from Nebraska, and my mom moved all over as a kid). I hated those boxes with the vanilla and strawberry veins...gross! Fortunately, I've grown more adventurous as an adult and have tried other flavors, though chocolate is still a favorite, and I still think that vanilla ice cream is a condiment for molten chocolatey desserts.

After moving to the metro Boston area 4 1/2 years ago, I discovered JP Licks, a veritable den of deliciousness when it comes to frozen cream. Seriously, screw yogurt. Their ice cream is the perfect combination of not so heavy that you feel like you just chugged a pint of cream, yet very flavorful. They have lots of fun flavors, including different monthly ones, but my absolute favorite is, get this, IRISH COFFEE!!!! That's right, they make an ice cream each March that basically tastes like frozen Irish coffee. I think it is a grave mistake that they don't make that flavor all year round, but each March I have to buy at least a quart of it, along with a half pint of chocolate jimmies for topping!

So, since it's March, a couple weeks ago I finally made the walk to Harvard Square to purchase my favorite flavor of all time. If you're visiting the Boston area, check out their website, jplicks.com, since they are a local chain and have a number of locations. If you like ice cream, I highly recommend checking them out. And in case you're wondering, the JP stands for Jamaica Plain, the neighborhood in Boston where the first store opened.

Harvard Square location.

Happy cow in my freezer.

This is right before I dropped the spoon on my shirt.

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Do you have a favorite ice cream shop that I definitely need to check out if I ever visit your city? Or do you hate ice cream, and love froyo? Favorite summertime cool-off dessert? (I'm also partial to bomb pops).