Scooped Ice Cream, West Chester, PA

I've been a bit preoccupied with thoughts of ice cream as of late.  With the warmer weather I was reminded that finally, finally, we have a kitchen with amble counter and storage space to comfortably operate and store a homemade ice cream machine.  I've been wanting one for years but the size of our old apartment's kitchen shattered my dreams of cool, creamy homemade ice cream confections.  

These thoughts were only strengthened when Dan's sister and her daughter took us to a delicious little ice cream parlor in West Chester, Pennsylvania a few Saturday's ago.  I snapped a few shots of the quaint shop to share with you all.

Scooped Ice Cream is a small ice cream parlor that offers housemade ice cream and gelato at their two locations in downtown West Chester and in Chester Springs, where the ice cream is made.  The shop's use of local ingredients (including cream, fruits and chocolate) sourced from a certified free-range and organic farm in Lancaster, Pa is evident in the quality of the ice cream.  My two scoops of Mint Chip were so creamy and absolutely delicious they left me craving another visit in the near future.

Scooped offers an exciting and somewhat unusual variety of flavors that change daily and seasonally. When we visited, there seemed to be the traditional varieties available and less of the more exotic flavors, but all seemed enticing.  I tasted a few, including a raspberry chocolate chip, but settled on the tried and true mint chocolate chip.  

Other flavors that the shop has made are Candied Bacon in Maple ice cream, Bailey's Irish Cream, and Cookie Monster.  Dan's sister raved about their Cantaloupe ice cream offered in the warmer summer months.  Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be any gelato offered when I was there.  I suppose that only means that I need to go back for another visit!  According to Scoops twitter account, which posts updates on the changing flavors, Coconut Macaroon, Chocolate Hazelnut and Espresso are amongst their gelato flavors.  According to a commenter on FourSquare, Scooped also makes a Chocolate Caramel Sea Salt ice cream.  In all honesty, I might actually stalk a business for a taste of that ice cream!

The West Chester location was perfectly quaint and everything you'd expect and hope an ice cream parlor to look like.  According to this article, the location is said to have once been a speakeasy. Even better.

So even though I don't have the capabilities of making my own ice creams and gelati yet, I find comfort knowing that Scooped is there for me when I am in need.  

Address and info on both Scooped locations:

Simpson House Tea Room, Chester Springs, Pennsylvania

This past weekend, Dan and I were fortunate to have my parents visit us over the Easter holiday weekend.  On Saturday my mom and I visited the Simpson House Tea Room in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania while Dan and our fathers went golfing.  The visit to the tea room for a traditional English tea was a first for both of us and we really had such a wonderful time.  

The Simpson House Tea Room is located in a restored farmhouse that dates back to the 1890s in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania.  The decor is bright and airy without being too overly sentimental.  It recalled, what I would imagine, as an English cottage.  We enjoyed a traditional full afternoon tea, or "low tea", that consisted of a mixture of savory and sweet finger sandwiches, scones, and sweet confections.

Simpson House offers an assortment of over 100 loose teas ranging from Black teas, to Rooibos to a variety of Green teas.  

Our "Royal Tea", as it was described, included a pot of tea for each of us.  We both ordered from the Easter specialty menu which included approximately 6 or so seasonal teas.  My mom enjoyed a Black tea infused with white chocolate chunks and I chose a caramel Rooibos tea that was divine.  The caramel flavor seemed to develop throughout my meal- I really wish I had inquired about the possibility of purchasing the tea to take home!  My mom really enjoyed hers as well and it smelled delicious.  Our individual pots included an ample amount of tea that carried us through the meal and remained warm until the very last sip.

The meal began with a choice of three house made soups.  I chose a tomato basil soup and my mom went with a Pennsylvania Dutch Chicken Corn soup that appeared to be lighter than the typical chicken corn soups I am used to seeing.  The soups were paired with salads composed of fresh greens with what I believed was a raspberry vinaigrette.

Coca Cafe, Pittsburgh, PA

Dan and I just returned from a long weekend in Pittsburgh, where we jaunted all over the city- visiting family; exploring breweries; eating delicious pirogies, kolski, and gumbo; visiting the Andy Warhol Museum; and we even squeezed in a little consignment store shopping.  It was such a great trip that I wanted to share with you all some of the wonderful places that we visited.  

First up is Coca Cafe, in the Lawrenceville section of the city.  Dan spotted this little gem amongst the many other cafes in the neighborhood.  We started with a simple latte.  While drinking this latte, it occurred to me that I could not remember the last time I sat at a cafe and enjoyed a deliciously, frothy latte straight out of a mug rather than in a cardboard cup racing around the city.  It was a sad realization and I've vowed to myself to make some room for more quite cafe time with a good book or good company.  Also, that latte was delicious.  

For lunch, we each ordered a sandwich.  Dan got the Club Panini - Turkey, ham, turkey bacon, cheddar, Jarlsberg & tomato grilled on country white bread - with a side of black beans and rice.  He said it was delicious and he gobbled it all up.  Even the rice and beans.  I snuck a bit of those and can attest that they too, were delicious.  (Please excuse the excessive use of the word "delicious".)