Cold Contests

Liz, there remains a dairy in Campbell Hall, NY, just outside of Orange County's seat of Goshen (it's where the WSJ prints) and down the road from the county government complex, and a lovely, viewable herd of Golden Guernseys still resides there. Elsie, as you may or not remember (I'm sure you're too young) was supposed to be a Golden Guernsey.

Anyway, Golden Guernseys fell out of favor because they give milk "too high" in butterfat. (But as true ice cream fans know, there's no such thing as ice cream too high in that wonderful artery-filling beach obstacle known as butterfat, don't we?)

Anyway, there they make ice cream from their herd of Elsie's cousins, and ALL resulting flavors are my favorite. The vanilla alone is to die for. Literally, for a change.

Wash down a cone or cup with a quart of their milk, too. It is actually a very light gold in color (from the butterfat. sillies!), sort of like the earliest daffodils dappling the meadow alongside the "dairy barn."

Regrettably, Goshen is a bit of a ride. But racing fans can justify the arterosclerotically challenging trek by also visiting the Museum of Harness Racing there, and the Hall of Fame of the American Trotter, since the historic Goshen track (where they still do training races in the summer) is the first racetrack to be built in America. There are also a lot of impressive-looking Civil War-era, many-gabled houses with huge porches in the pokey town. It's all reminiscent of the small-town life Eugene O'Neill conjured up in his only "comedy," 'Ah, Wilderness.'

I'll submit it to GMA, but I also want to say it here, too, because it rarely gets the press of Applegate's or Holsten's:

The Magic Fountain on Broad St.

Holstens...my 3 favorites:
Cherry Vanilla,
Nutty Coconut
Chocolate
been going there since the 60's..
it's creamy and..you can taste the fruit and other flavors without it being overly sweet.

Two votes:
Denville Dairy (Denville)
Mark and Julie's (W. Orange)

My votes:

Mark and Julie's (LOVE the coffee chip yogurt!)
Holsten's

MM, my favorite at Mark and Julie's is the coffee chip ICE CREAM! The coffee-est coffee anywhere, imo.

Agreed! I treat myself to real ice cream once in awhile.

Hands down, its Coldstone Creamery for me (at least when i'm not making my own).

We love the Mint Chocolate Chip at Holsten's.

Ice cream has been a bore ever since I discovered gelato.

Favorite flavor = nocciola.

Favorite combo = nocciola + chocolate. Get a cup of that with one of those little spoons & join the passagiatta, one of life's pure pleasures.

Still haven't found great gelato on this side of the Atlantic, but I'm willing to keep trying. Next stop: Whippany.

Crank, there is a gelato location in Westfield that I like. I believe it goes by the name of The Chocolate Bar.

Yeah scruffy, we also love the Magic Fountain on Broad St.

Have you tried the gelato at Tartufo right down the block from Holstens- Broad & Watchung?

Applegates - chocolate peanutbutter (sugarless)

Holstens = mint chocolate chip

Nastas (Newark)- spumoni

Ritas = granita di cafe & chocolate granita

While this is not "ice cream" proper, I love the watermelon sherbert at Applegates and Rita's has the best mango sorbet - esepcially when you mix it with thier vanilla custard.

I like the key lime gelato at Whole Foods in WO.

I am not a big ice cream eater (years can go by...) but I do like the vanilla/peanut butter swirl at Applegates.

I always liked to get a shake made with cherry vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup from Woods. The peach ice cream was excellent. It was all sooo good, but alas,sniff sniff, no more.

Breyer's makes a pretty decent peach ice cream.

Hands down, The Juice Bar, on good old Nantucket.

Yes, the Magic Fountain on Broad across from The Nevada Diner is great. Applegate Farms was good a very long time ago.

Batchmakers

Another vote for Magic Fountain.

Circa 1961-1966: The soft vanilla ice cream from Louie's Dairy Bar on Wharf Road in Norway Bay, Quebec.

Walk down to the river while eating the cone at a leisurely pace greeting passersby with the easy grace that can only come from a delightful summer evening near the water.