carmela ice cream cools down pasadena one spoonful at a time

perhaps you cool down by diving into a pool, but for fatties like me, i just eat ice cream...and lots of it....wearing my shorts....with my sandals on so i can get that thong strap tan on my feet that i sooooo love to top off my summer look. so naturally, when delicious sounding ice cream joints pop up on my radar such as cathy's post about carmela ice cream in pasadena, i was totally hooked in to try. i.want.that.salted.caramel.dangit.

the flavors they have are rather extensive and they do allow you to have a taste of their various offerings, but after the 3rd tiny spoonful, my asian guilt settled in and i stopped myself from tasting all eleven flavors. i also recommend that you go earlier rather than later because as you can see, the last thing you want is a bold mean line running across the flavor you craved. sucka.

they do sell other goodies...cake pops, ice cream sandwiches, and other cakey sweets....

but the real deal, the cold calling that lead me to pasadena was their handmade, organic dairy ice cream. i decided to get one scoop which they then allowed me to split into two flavors and got the salted caramel on the bottom and the brown sugar vanilla bean on top. and to take this sweet deal to the next level, they make this crazy delicious waffle cone/waffle in a cup that gives you a most buttery crunch when you bite it.

i really enjoyed spooning my ice cream from the bottom up, mixing the two flavors together. but the best bite of all was a piece of sweet waffle slightly softened by the melted ice cream with a bit of blended salted caramel and brown sugar vanilla bean still clinging to it. but i warn you, eat this delicious yet rich ice cream in moderation lest you want some engorged fat cells clinging to your chunky thighs as well. that is all.

Carmela Ice Cream
2495 E. Washington Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91104
(626) 797-1405

www.carmelaicecream.com

price: $
verdict: tasty, try it!

craving carvel

a couple of years ago, my friend introduced me to carvel cake that you can readily get at any ralphs. since then, i've been HOOKED. i like the fact that it's mostly ice cream and the crumbly bits of chocolate cake that you find in between the layers of ice cream are just enough to remind you that it is indeed still a cake. in their own right, these crumbly pieces of chocolate are quite delicious too and reminds me of intense brownie bits hardened by the freezer. even the plasticky tasting frosting with it's neon bright colors will not deter me from some carvel though that part is my least favorite.

here's a prefabbed carvel cake that you can get at ralphs. i always get this one when i feel the carvel crave. if i count up all the carvel birthday cakes i've picked up for myself at ralphs, i'd be about 60 by now.

mmmm, the best part! a slice of carvel cake! notice the delicious pockets of cakey cookie bits.

this is my typical carvel plate. i usually cut myself a first slice, but after a split second moment of greed, i will always cut a second SLIGHTLY smaller slice to stack on top. as you can see i kinda loves it.

i know there are about three carvel cake stores near me but have yet to seek them out (http://carvel.findlocation.com/results.aspx). most of the time, these ice cream cake buys are impulsive buys. they sure are yummy though...basic, delicious, and fun and i never regret the spoonfuls of carvel that i shove into my pie hole.

lactating at milk

Milk
7290 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 939-6455
http://www.themilkshop.com/

price: $
verdict: omg, i love it!

i must not be lactating enough because i found myself gorging on milk quite recently to maintain my jugs for future feeders. to me, milk means calcium, which means strong bones, which means healthy living and there is no better place that screams HEALTHY LIVING than milk.

my uber healthy meal started with a shared prosciutto and provolone pressed sandwich. i read somewhere (in a medical journal perhaps) that large amounts of salt is good for the body and i sure found that in this sammich! every bite of this prosciutto sammich was a salt lick. i only took a few bites before i gave up on it. their herb roasted chicken breast sammich that i had at another sitting is the tastier choice by far.

i then delved into the sugary side of this healthy lifestyle with a banana split chaser to my salt lick sammich. wowzers. this is perhaps one of the best renditions of an old school banana split i've had in a while. the ice cream (vanilla, chocolate, and banana) were full bodied and creamy, the fudge was warm and gooey, the freshly whipped cream was piled high on the dish which left soft kisses on your lips when you spooned the ice cream into your pie hole. the split was nutty and banana-y with the traditional cherry on top to remind you of its healthy aspects. this split was truly lip smacking.

it was also mandatory that we order a slice of their infamous blueberry blue velvet cake. just as i remembered, the ratio of moist cake to cream cheese frosting was perfect. the baked in blueberries gave a nice tartness to the surrounding sweetness. but true to form, when i went home that night, i pooped out some smurfs. i must admit, i was a bit disgusted by this second go at the porcelain throne and may not indulge myself in anymore future smurf cake. god knows it's not natural to have blue poop.

the heavy, yet healthy dinner was wrapped up with three ice cream bon bons at .50 cents a piece. i thought they were "ok" and was not impressed by them at all. i think as a self proclaimed ice cream whore, it is vital that i get more than just a bite. the only thing these bon bons did was make me desirous of their ice cream sammies....another excuse for me to go back i guess.

a sinfully decadent banana cream tart was brought home for enjoyment as well. the creamy banana center had fresh chunks of bananas. it was topped with freshly whipped cream and every bit of the gooeyness was held in with thick slabs of chocolate highly reminiscent of chocolate truffles. i COULD NOT eat more than a few bites of this as well at one sitting and the tart remained in my fridge for a few days, slowly enjoyed and cherished.

it is clear that if i want to live long, i have to patronize milk on a regular basis.

the ice cream hunt

Coolhaus Ice Cream
http://www.eatcoolhaus.com/

price: $
verdict: it's aight

ah yes. the hunter and gatherer roots we had back when food use to run away from us is so passe. the thought of chasing after my food never ever crosses my mind. when i'm hungry, i go to a restaurant. if i'm highly motivated, i might go to a grocery store, buy the right ingredients, and then cook my own meals. i have never been denied a full belly just because i can't outrun my meal and then kill it dead. the hunting days are long gone....or is it?

for the past few months, the hottest kinds of eats are those that i term the "twitter trucks." the procedure is as follow:

1) you twitter their location
2) you find that they will be in your area
3) you get kinda excited because you like hyped up anything and hyped up food is all the rage right now.
4) you find them..but sometimes they don't get to the said location on time or change locations last minute, HENCE twitter is CRITICAL for the timing of it all lest you want to beat your head in frustration.
5) then you stand in a line for an hour
6) only to be able to buy one taco because they ran out of food.

this was not my experience with kogi, but for some of yous, it was....sucka! i mean awww....

why are so many people nowadays hunting their food? why has it spawned so many copy cats? after hunting down kogi, perhaps you now want to hunt down your dessert? hello, meet coolhaus ice cream truck. the dude hanging by the truck window isn't one of the founders. i think he's one of the amigos.

this one is. her name is freya estreller, the co-founder. she likes to say "fuck" a lot.

the coolhaus "hook" is selling all natural, homemade ice cream sammiches. no tacos or hot dogs...just straight up ice cream sammiches. i found out they were at barnsdall so i drove there to check them out. once you've successfully hunted them down, you:

1) choose your cookie. the choices are sugar, chocolate, chocolate chip, ginger, and oatmeal cookies. i got the oatmeal cookies...mmm.
2) choose the ice cream. the choices are strawberry, mint chip, vanilla, lemon, and cinnamon. i got the mint chip one.
3) decide whether you want the edible rice wrapper. i did because i'm a sucka.

an ice cream sammich is $3. if you include the rice wrapper, it goes up a whopping 50 cents. due to lack of change on their part, i told them to keep my $4 so the rest went towards tip.

the cookies were good, but not extraordinary. sweet, chewy, with some crunchy parts. the mint chip ice cream was sweet and smooth and pretty yummy. definitely better quality than what you might pick up at ralphs, but it is by no means awesome. and the size of this sammich is slightly bigger than a slider at a (insert fast food chain name) restaurant. but for $3 and the legwork you have to do to get it, i would not hunt this ice cream truck again. ...

the ice cream trucks you're used to chasing down back in da days when it meant running up or down the street to buy your pac man ice cream with the bubblegum eyes might seem outdated, BUT i still think that kind of ice cream truck is far cooler than this one. don't get me wrong, the sammich was tasty, but the price tag and the hassle to get it was not worth the effort. if you chance upon it, do try it, but don't go on a hunt for it you silly wabbit!

cold pellets

Dippin' Dots

711 Cannery Row

Monterey, CA 93940

(831) 655-5080

http://www.dippindots.com/

price: $

verdict: tasty, try it!

the only animals that i can think of that eat their food in pellet form are bunnies, hamsters, turtles, koi fishes, and me apparently. i really LOVE me some dippin' dots! they are little pellets of expensive, creamy goodness. dippin' dots are fun to eat, they stick to the roof of your mouth, AND it really does taste like a medly of flavors depending on the blend you make. might i recommend mint chocolate chip mixed with banana and oreos flavored pellets? oishii desu!

it would have been great....if the place wasn't so dirty. not the pee on floor, smells like ass kind of dirty, but pretty gross if you consider eating there that is. they don't have a lot of tables to begin with, but when we were there, two seating areas had puddles of melted dippin' dots all over. did anyone come by to clean it up? noooooo....why? cuz i think out of the two employees there, only one of them actually cared about her job. i saw the other one staring at the mess and didn't do anything about it. when i left, the mess was still there.

oh, and check this out. i saw an advertisement for dippin' dots birthday cakes. i was like, "that sounds pretty cool, what is it?" i found out it's basically a cup of dippin' dots (the same one you get when you make a regular order) with a candle stuck in the middle. now THAT, is stupid.

a cup of cold pellets. do you dare?

rose garden in your mouth

Mashti Malone's
143 N Maryland Avenue
Glendale, CA 91206
(818) 662-0400
www.mashtimalone.com

price: $
verdict: tasty, try it!

i have a soft spot for ice cream....as a matter of fact, i have a soft ass from eating too many!

persian ice cream is no exception. i've tried other persian places that serve/sell rosewater ice cream and mashti malone's tastes the best by far. they even offer rosewater ice which is strangely yummay and strangely vietnamese-esque to me because of those rice strands (?) in the ice...minus the rose fragrance of course. and yes, all the descriptions you hear about eating lotion or perfume is pretty on the mark. you'd have to enjoy smelling roses and then stuffing them in your mouth, too. it definitely won't cure your bad breath, but it will make you think of roses in a whole new way.

having a blast during the summer

Baskin-Robbins 31 Ice Cream Stores
3516 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(323) 663-5627

price: $
verdict: omg, i love it!

there are a few simple rules in life: eat, drink, be happy. in my case, my simple rules in life are: eat, drink cappuccino blasts from baskin robbins during the summer, be happy.

my cappuccino blast addiction started many moons ago in high school. at one point, i was so enamored by this drink, i tried getting a job there in order to learn the "secret" cappuccino blast mixing formula. unfortunately, i was not hired, not because i couldn't use a blender, but because i could only work for the summer.

it's a great drink and this location has been here FOREVER. nice to see old fixtures in the neighborhood especially with the ever changing silverlake that i've grown up in. the staff is efficient and this location is clean with parking. as the days are getting a bit cooler, i will bid the cappuccino blast adieu. your faithful fan will come back next summer, as always.

this place has been here far longer than the dinosaurs!

2 scoops are definitely better than 1!

Scoops

712 N Heliotrope Dr

Los Angeles, CA 90029

(323) 906-2649

price: $

verdict: omg, i love it!

to all sugar junkies: GO TO SCOOPS NOW!

i've sampled many different flavors during this sweet relatioship with scoops and think this is one of the best places to get innovative ice cream flavors and mixes for cheaps. i've fallen in love with their pear reisling, drooled over their pistachio lemon, and any of their cappuccino mixes are always winners in my book. the ice cream texture is a bit on the icy side so you might have to get use that. it's definitely not a baskin robbins, ben and jerry's kind of milky creamy ice cream. the price tag is soooo miniscule too so that you would be foolish not to get more scoops!

overall, this little shop is worth a visit. come on now! you know you are a sugar junkie too and i predict you will become a scoops convert just like me!

not enough. let's get more!

gelato amore

Tutto Amore Gelato
247 Broadway St
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
(949) 715-9249
http://www.tuttoamoregelato.com/

price: $
verdict: tasty, try it!

after watching pageant of the masters, it was OBVIOUS to us that the stampede of human bodies speed walking to the parking lot would mean a horrific traffic jam. we decided to go get gelato to wait it out. we took a quick stroll to tutto amore "where love becomes flavor." hahaha cheesy.

you get 3 "free" samples to taste so i tried the watermelon, mango, and mint chocolate chip. i really wanted to see what other flavors were available on the farther side of the counter, but a human line blocked my view and didn't care to squeeze in between butt cheeks to take a look. i settled on mango (which tasted like fresh pureed mango) and mint chocolate chip (can anyone really ever eff this flavor up?). a small cup with two flavors set me back $3.99 and they were generous with their servings too since it was 2 minutes till closing. one of my friends got their hazelnut. oh yum!

nothing sweeter than discovering another gelato shop and spooning a mouthful of sweet gelato into the pie hole. and yes, the parking lot was cleared by the time we walked back to our cars.

clean and ready to close.

froyo # 9474930274661038345727

Orange Cream
1107 N Alvarado
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(213) 483-8899

price: $
verdict: tasty, try it!

froyo...mmmm...froyo.

orange cream-yo. another good addition to the the massive burst of froyo shops in this frozen yogurt crazed day and age. the formula is all the same right? name your shop after a fruit (red mango, pinkberry, cantaloop, etc...), have a ton of fruity toppings to select from, and have an "original" flavor froyo that tastes tart. the more tart the better!! and conversely, probably the ONLY time being tart is a good thing, but i digress. the decor inside stays true to the froyo shop formula too. lots of plastic furnitures and pops of color. the space is small though so sitting there and eating isn't exactly ideal. i suggest you get your order and then take a walk around echo park. lots of things in this hood for you to enjoy.

my first experience with orange cream was a good one. it's located on the corner of sunset and alvarado which makes it a convienent pit stop for me. after making an illegal turn and screeching my car into their parking lot, i got a regular sized, original flavor froyo with mango, strawberries, and blackberries. at first, the yogurt tasted funny to me, but about the third spoonful, the addiction settled in and i really, really dug it! there is this nutty creamy taste to it. hard to describe except that i plan to go back soon...er, you know, to figure out how to articulate this taste a bit better.

the employees are nice and they didn't make a big ole froyo hole in my order. thanks!

senor churro

Mr Churro's
15 Olvera St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 680-9036

price: $
verdict: tasty, try it!

i know why there's a "mr." in front of mr. churro. it's a sign of respect. show respect everybody and bow down to the best tasting churro on this side of l.a! seriously.

the churros are crispy on the outside but soft on the inside. they are then dredged in cinnamon and sugar to give it that signature churro coating. nothing special about that right? but au contraire my churro eating connoisseurs...mr. churro bumps it up a notch by pumping into the churro your choice of caramel, strawberry, or custard filling. i like the caramel filling the best, but don't hesitate to ask them to fill in two different flavors since they break your churro in half anyways so each half can have its own distinct filling.

they are a badass churro making mofo. after you take a bite of their crispy churro and have the wonderful filling gush into your mouth, you too will know what i'm talking about.

creamy ice cream, hubba hubba

Fosselman's Ice Cream Co
1824 W Main St
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 282-6533
www.fosselmans.com/

price: $
verdict: omg, i love it!

not too long ago, a friend brought a tub of fosselman's ice cream to our potluck...red bean ice cream. yum. it reminded me that fosselman was m.i.a from my life for a while now. perhaps it was time to go back for a little visit?

still remembering that creamy/ molasses-ish taste in my mouth, i went here last night with friends. how funny that the decor hasn't changed much but the menu has though with great additions of red bean, lychee, and taro ice cream! how strange, yet intriguing...my asian palate was ready for more interpretations! how about durian?! jack fruit? maybe not....

but alas, i got a scoop of pistachio nut, my all time favorite because i am a beast of habit. besides, they don't serve red bean ice cream as individual scoops. before the night was over though, i walked away with a tub of their red bean for $6.55. i forgot that they don't take credit cards and had to dig in my pockets for change (who carries cash anymore?).... good eats, so sweet. i like.

a grip on my sweet tooth

Crepe In the Grip
7 E Valley Boulevard
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 284-1237

price: $
verdict: omg, i love it!

i've been coming here for the past two years. you might miss it if you don't know what you're looking for, but it's on valley next to a starbucks. so look for starbucks and look to the right of it. got it? yeah, that's me waving! hi!

i really dig this place because their dessert crepes are great. can't really go wrong with a dessert that you build right? i typically pick nutella, strawberries, sometimes banana, the mandatory whip cream, and of course CHOCOLATE ice cream. though i haven't perfected the art of eating it genteel style, i don't mind the dribbly chocolate rivers coursing down my fingers...it just means i have to eat faster. the BEST part has got to be the last bite, when the nutella mixes in with the melted chocolate ice cream. this last bite is pretty important too because it sows the seed for your next crepe craving.

they have $1 off crepe skins on tuesday. they also have fries here too. might i recommend fries and a dessert crepe? i don't know about you, but i like eating salty fries with ice cream...in my world, salt and sweet always mixes.

in case one was just not enough.

an ice cream sammich

Diddy Riese Cookies
926 Broxton Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90024
(310) 208-0448
www.diddyriese.com

price: $
verdict: omg, i love it!

to me, diddy riese meant a late night sweet run when i was an undergrad at ucla. it also meant looking for loose change in my backpack and standing in outrageous lines waiting to pick up THE CHEAPEST dessert treat in town.

many, many years later, diddy riese meant getting a ticket for jay walking. it is still yummy, but watch out for those westwood cops. if you THINK you can just walk across the street from bj's, DON'T. your ass will get an ice cream sandwich AND a ticket.

what's that white powder on your nose?

Mikawaya
118 Japanese Village Plaza Mall
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 624-1681
www.mikawayausa.com

price: $
verdict: omg, i love it!

illegal drug activity? coke bust?

mikawaya has THE BEST mochi ice cream ever!! whenever i visit little tokyo, i make sure to drop in on the shop and grab two of them. mango and the newly acquired addictive chocolate flavor thanks to the availability of mikawaya mochi ice cream at trader joe's.

there really is an art to eating them though. since there's powder on the mochi, eating one results in white powder on your clothes. i tend to lean out when i eat so i can avoid that issue. don't forget to check your face too. the last time my friend ate it, she got powder on her nose.

the last bite is the best....brain freeze. powder on your face and clothes and writhing on the floor from ecstasy. looks like an overdose to me....