Culinary Adventures with Camilla

For our Valentines' adventure, Penny Ice Creamery was Stop #4. We never get anywhere near Santa Cruz without swinging in there...no matter what time of year. I had fully planned to skip a scoop until I saw this - their Sundae Special... So many words there that just called my name: Rose. Pavlova. Rhubarb. I decided to go for it and just run a few extra miles. It was totally and completely worth it! Even my boys were intrigued. I did share. Rose pavlova topped with a scoop of pistachio ice cream, candied rhubarb, and a drizzle of white chocolate sauce! Makes me wonder: is it rhubarb season yet?!?!

  One of the best things about living in a mostly temperate climate: it's never too cold for ice cream! Okay, well that's probably not totally true...but we can eat ice cream almost all year-round. So, on our way back from a (pre) Halloween camping trip in the redwoods, we stopped by one of our favorite ice cream places in Santa Cruz; in fact, we never get near Santa Cruz, or Capitola, without making a stop at the Penny Ice Creamery . Flavors that we loved today: Lemon Verbena, Ginger Cake (with pieces of real cake in it!), Burnt Caramel, and Chocolate Sorbet. What do you think? Is it strange to eat ice cream at Halloween?

    We were introduced to the Penny Ice Creamery during the Santa Cruz Food Tour. We were enamoured immediately. But last night, when we decided to brave the chaos of the Independent Marketplace just to get some Penny Ice Creamery goodness, they cemented themselves in my mind as THE BEST ICE CREAM EVER.   Penny Ice Creamery is a combined effort between Chef Kendra Baker, an award-winning pastry chef, and her business partner Zachary Davis. Their open kitchen and production room invite the community to take a look behind the scenes into their daily production; they are the only ice cream shop in Santa Cruz making small batches of ice cream completely from scratch, in-house everyday. Their flavors change with the seasons and feature locally farmed and organic ingredients.     A comment on their wild flavors. I took a peek at the flavor board in t...