This is a scoop I have been longing to get my hands on for some time!

Van Leeuwen ice cream is coming to MA and you heard it here FIRST!

Having started as a single ice cream truck that featured “French style” ice cream that is still made with more than double the amount of egg yolks as almost everywhere else, Van Leeuwen now has 30 scoop shops in New York and over 40 more from California to Connecticut and DC to Philly.

Not one to take things easy (or to take the easy way to make ice cream, such as by using pre-mixed bases or fillers and ingredients you can’t pronounce and may not be able to digest), Van Leeuwen’s is climbing to Chestnut Hill (where we recently lost Odd Fellows), spending Summer in the Seaport, and hitting Harvard in time for Head of the Charles.

No matter which shop you visit, however, you will be amazed by the freshness of the ice cream and the fresh ideas of the flavors, including their legendary vegan ice creams (including my personal fave – Peanut Butter Brownie Honeycomb) and their mashups with the likes of Hidden Valley Ranch, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and BIGFACE Coffee. Ice cream purists can be confident ordering what The New York Times says is the best vanilla ice cream, but when you also know that the pistachios come all the way from Mt Etna in Sicily and the marionberries from Stahlbush Island in Oregon, their other flavors are surely worth a try!

If you just can’t wait, Van Leeuwen’s also ships nationwide and is probably somewhere you will be visiting soon. As for me, I plan to camp out on The Street in Chestnut Hill so I can be the first to enjoy my favorite ice cream a bit closer to home.    

In the process of supporting Project Insulin in their efforts to develop a generic version of the life-saving medicine, I have had the privilege of meeting many other wonderful and community-minded people. Among these is Patrice Jean-Philippe, who also supports the health and well-being of her RI neighbors.

When not serving her community as an administrator, Jean-Philippe is serving cakes that she custom makes for clients and organizations as the head of P. Bon Bakery, a company that she operates with the help of her children, the eldest of whom is studying culinary arts.

Inspired (as so many of us were) by watching baking shows during the pandemic, Jean-Philippe quickly discovered that she had more than just a home-baker’s knack for crafting creative cakes that looked amazing and tasted even better. Since then, she has spent every moment she is not helping her family and her neighbors in the kitchen to make them happy in other ways.

Calling on her Haitian heritage, Jean-Philippe uses authentic island vanilla in a recipe that was handed down from her mother. She is also well known for her chocolate and carrot cakes. Each cake is made to order using her special buttercream recipe that gives each cake a unique flavor and texture and that will surely make any event or occasion at which they are served special as well!

As part of her effort to support others, Jean-Philippe recently launched Sweet Talkers, a program for young children with speech delays that encourages them to find their voice through baking. 

As with so many Matt’s Meals friends, Jean-Philippe is a dedicated foodmaker and family supporter who deserves our support as well!

As Matt’s Meals fans know, I am a chocolate fan and have had the pleasure of enjoying bars from around the world.

One of my foreign favorites is Tony’s Chocolonely from Amsterdam. In addition to offering a wide range of unique and customizable flavors, Tony also stays away from the slavery and child labor practices that plague so much of the industry and pays nearly twice as much as other companies in order to ensure that “fair trade” is not just a slogan.

Along those lines comes an African maker named Luji’s Chocolate who is also combining amazing unique flavor combinations with admirable practices and philosophies.

Based in West Africa, Luji’s not only sources their chocolate through a personal partnership with farmers from Nigeria but many of the other ingredients as well, including fresh ginger, plantains, and the chili and other spices that make authentic African Suya such an international taste sensation and that surely makes their chocolate stand out as well. 

In addition to allowing anyone from anywhere to experience these exciting flavors, buying Luji’s bars also supports the farmers who help craft them by paying for cocoa tree seedlings to replenish and expand their supplies and help the local economy and world environment, all while bringing more of the legendary flavors and of Africa to the rest of the world.

Each Luji’s sampler set includes one milk, one 70% dark, one ginger plantain, and one Suya bar, along with a tasting guide that can help make the delicious transition to authentic African chocolate even more enjoyable.

Africa was long known as the “dark” continent. Who knew they were talking about chocolate! 

As Matt’s Meals fans know, I Lovermont and especially love the food friends I have made there. As you also know, I m a big chocolate fan. It is no surprise, then, that one of my favorite chocolate spots in Lake Champlain Chocolates in Burlington.

No matter where else in the Green Mountain State I am traveling, I always make an effort to stop by their store to taste their latest mouth-watering wares.

And now they are rewarding my efforts and making it slightly easier to reach their store by expanding it!

LCC’s flagship store on Pine Street in Burlington recently added about 50% more space and have also expanded their menu of olfactory offerings with the addition a cocoa bar and a bakery that serves freshly made croissants, muffins, cookies, brownies, locally-sourced apple cider donuts, and their legendary Burlington Blackout Cake. Visitors can even look into their Innovation Kitchen to get an early glimpse of what is sure to be their next sweet favorite.

With so many chocolatey choices, the build-your-own-box station is a great place to start, as it allows and encourages guests to mix and match from among Lake Champlain’s amazing assortment of handmade truffles, caramels, and even their Five-Star bars and 40^th anniversary cocktail confection collection. If you need a more curated gift, special orders can also be placed right in the store!

As they are all handmade, mistakes are occasionally made, but buying the so-called “seconds” at the expanded store only means you are saving money on something you were going to eat before getting back in the car anyway!

So whether or not your travel plans call for Vermont, be sure to at least check out www.lakechamplainchocolates.com anytime you want to make your day and those of others a bit sweeter.