Congratulations to Hill City in Fitchburg, where the slogan “Eat, Drink, and Putt” brings joy to the hearts of area residents. There’s a brilliant mini-golf course, home-made sandwiches, free cornhole, and delicious ice cream that’s super-dense and flavorful.
Just opened in late May by owners Rob and Courtney Lamoureaux, Hill City is becoming a favorite recreation destination for many folks. Some come for the Beer Garden, others for the ice cream, while groups ranging from those “on a first date to families with little kids” make a full afternoon.
Recently, the Family Recipe Box team headed over for a round of mini-golf, and as some of our party were new to the sport, we agreed that the winners could have the most and the least amount of points, so champions all around.
Of course, you celebrate victory with ice cream, and what a delightful surprise to have the equivalent of “French Pot” (small batch) ice cream that was dense and delicious. Rob explained that there was “less overrun” on the manufacturing process (which happens at a “creamery in Wisconsin,” which the Lamoureaux family found after much research).
Even a “kiddie” Hill City ice cream cone is dense and heavy — and perfectly delicious. And that density is no accident. Three gallons of ice cream weigh 25 lbs. — compare that to your skimpy brick of supermarket “dairy dessert.” Rob noted that his delivery people always remarked on the extreme weight of the bucket. Then he handed over a bucket for me to hold, which I might have held with two hands, and the help of my fellow mini golfers.
Ice cream enthusiasts will delight in the flavors — nearly two dozen to choose from, including recently added seasonal special: “Apple Cider Donut” (apple cider ice cream with apple cider donut pieces and cinnamon sugar swirl)
“I like that the flavors are different than flavors you find around this area,” notes Courtney. “Most ice cream starts with a vanilla or chocolate base, but our cookie dough ice cream starts with a cookie dough base, and then adds the cookie dough.”
I had the Zanzibar Chocolate (“chocolate ice cream w/three kinds of cocoa for a rich fudge brownie taste”), and the rest of Team Family Recipe Book dug into “This Just Got Serious” (salted caramel ice cream, rich sea salt fudge & salted cashews”) and the aforementioned Cookie Dough. On our next visit, “Exhausted Parent” (bourbon-spiked espresso ice cream swirled w/bittersweet chocolate chunks) is on the “to sample” list.
Hill City, 299 Lunenburg St., Fitchburg. Open: Monday-Thursday: 4-8 p.m.; Friday, 4-9 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. HillCityFitchburg.com. Open through late October.
FRB Quiz #1 – Fave ice cream, state by state
Tip O’Neill, the great statesman rightly claimed that “all politics are local,” and I will argue that that philosophy holds for ice cream, everyone’s favorite frozen dessert. Recently, “Tasting Table,” “an American digital media company focused on food and drink,” sifted through data from the International Dairy Foods Association to determine the favorite ice cream in every state.
Yes, plain old vanilla remains the top flavor in the country (38% of those surveyed giving it top marks), and hot fudge is the favorite topping (35%). But here in New England — what our neighbors love isn’t what we love. Is it what you love? Take our quiz and find out!
Match the state with the preferred ice cream
(answers at the end of the column)
New England states
1. Connecticut
2. Maine
3. Massachusetts
4. New Hampshire
5. Rhode Island
6. Vermont
Ice cream flavors
a) Pumpkin
b) Brickley’s Coffee Oreo
c) Blueberry
d) Coffee
e) Maple Creemee
f) Mystic Mud
Notes: I was amused that not one, not two, but three New England states chose coffee or a variant as their top pick. And what, you may ask, is a “Creemee?” Read on, dear reader!
Maple, maple sweet and able
Please check your quiz answers first, because we’re about to spill the beans — or the sap — on Maple Creemee, an ice cream flavor that was completely new to Family Recipe Box (although we happily consume maple in every possible version: sugar, syrup, candy, sprinkles, cream, cotton candy and more).
Maple Creemee is a fan favorite up and down the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. We recently had a lovely conversation with Dan Phelan the owner of Palmer Lane, Maple based in Jericho, Vermont, and he clued us in, as to what goes into a “Maple Creemee.”
The “Maple Creemee” is a sweet treat dusted with maple sugar. (COURTESY PALMER LANE MAPLE)
“We blend syrups of different grades to get the signature profile,” he explains. “Syrup is very different — like wine or beer — depending on the year, where the trees are, the producers, the climate. We get syrup and pick and choose and when we receive it we do different things with it. That’s what sets us apart.”
If you go to Palmer’s and order your Maple Creemee, it will come beautifully spiraled, and lightly dusted with maple sprinkles, a granularized version of maple sugar, which are delicious on their own merits.
Dan adds that Palmer Lane Maple was a business in which the “history is a little varied. It morphed from a maple candy-making business, and graduated gradually into doing Creemees.” The Maple Creemees have been a box office bonanza since 2012, with fans of all ages.
“The Maple Creemee is our signature,” says Dan. And when you consider how faithful New Englanders are to the nectar of the sugarbush, you can envision that the Maple Creemee will be beloved centuries from today, just as maple candy, syrup, and cream is.
Parker Lane Maple, 19 Old Pump Rd Jericho, VT. Open 7 days a week, noon to 8:30 pm. Visit: palmerlanemaple, also on Facebook. (802) 899-8199
Answers to Quiz: Mystic Mud (CT), Blueberry (ME), Coffee (MA), Brickley’s Coffee Oreo (RI), Pumpkin (NH), Maple Creemee (VT).
Sally Cragin would love to read your family recipes and stories. Write to: sallycragin@gmail.com.
Sally Cragin is an award-winning writer/journalist and Fitchburg City Councilor-at-Large. (CHERYL CUDDAHY)
Dining and Cooking