I met my friend Claire halfway around the world when we spent our summer studying abroad in Ireland, but her friendship was one of the best things I brought back with me. (If I had been able to smuggle back some donuts from the donut man, Claire would probably get demoted to second best, but she understands…) Aside from a shared residence in the library and a love of baking, Claire and I both love going on food adventures. When we were in Galway, we spent Saturday mornings perusing the myriad of organic vegetables and the mountains of cheeses at the Farmers Market (not to mention the Walter Special at the crepe truck…). She didn’t even judge me when I bought six donuts from the donut man and ate them in two days. We set an afternoon aside for a tea party with a tower of delicate cakes and sumptuous sweets. In Dingle, it was a trip to Murphy’s for ice cream affigato and Mexican hot chocolate. If there was good food to be found, we scoured the city, sought it out and savored every last bite.

Now that we’re back at school, I worried that things might change. That perhaps a love of food and our shared sarcasm wouldn’t be enough to keep our friendship together. I don’t know why I even worried. See, when we were ready to go home and compiling our lists of places to eat when we got back to the states, Claire happened to mention Handel’s. One of the perks about being friends with the locals is that they know all the best places to eat. Claire is from the area so we have an entire year to hit up all the amazing food places that the Philly area has to offer. I can’t wait.

So, yesterday we crossed off the first thing on our Philly-area to-eat list. Handel’s originated in Ohio, but I’m happy to have it 20 minutes down the road in Berwyn. I’ve driven by it before, but thought it nothing more than a generic Dairy Queen. Boy was I mistaken!

I have to say, they know their stuff. As I was eating, I discovered the sign that said that National Geographic voted them #1 in the World’s Best Ice Cream (WOW! – they beat out juggernauts Hagen Daaz and Coldstone Creamery. They’ve been at it since 1945 and I’m certain they’ll keep it going for years to come, just so long as they don’t change their recipe.

True to recent form, I opted for banana ice cream and peanut butter parfait. I hesitant to commit to banana given its textural difficulty to master. Then I was perplexed about what Buckeye ice cream consisted of and how it differed from peanut butter parfait. A few baby spoon samples later and I was set in my choices. I know I raved about Bassett’s banana ice cream, but Handel’sis top banana (I couldn’t resist). It has a much creamier consistency, but still packs a lot of banana flavor without adding a gummy texture. The peanut butter ice cream had a surprising texture–it was definitely not as dense as most ice cream (even half-the-fat double-churned varieties). I would love to find out how they churn their ice cream to get it so airy and light. It was almost the consistency of soft serve!

I’ve been feeling out of sync lately. I can’t quite put my finger on the cause. When I feel like this, I find the best thing to do is to go somewhere that makes me happy. Normally I spent my Saturdays at the Wayne Farmers Market strolling through the aisles, admiring all the produce, salivating over the cheeses and restraining myself from buying all the chocolates at the candy stand. No matter what kind of mood I’m in when I get there, I walk out feeling amazing. Because I was feeling particularly off yesterday, my timing couldn’t have been better for a trip into the city and a stop at Reading Terminal. I had been there before and though my senses were a bit overwhelmed at first, the experience left me feeling pretty euphoric.

I went by myself, giving me time to think and to gawk back at rose-colored red snappers eyeing me through the glass and to watch the men at the creperie wielding their crepe spreaders with ease, swirling circles over a hot skillet.  I walked in between mountains of vegetables on both sides of me, with mounds of lettuce stacked higher than my head to my left and piles of potatoes towering above me to the right. There were cannoli shells begging to be filled with sweet ricotta filling and cupcakes coated in sprinkles, inviting any child to beg their parents to buy one.

Honestly, it was hard to choose what to eat. I had indulged on cupcakes in the morning, so I thought I should have some “real food” (whatever that means). I walked by DiNic’s, where I had an amazing roast pork sandwich my first time at RTM, but I wasn’t in the mood for one. I did roughly two laps before I finally made up my mind to try Bassett’s Ice Cream. The business has been around since 1861, and after trying both the banana and peach flavored ice creams, it’s no wonder why they’ve been around so long. I’m used to eating half-the-fat ice cream, so Bassett’s rich, full-fat, slow-churned ice cream was like Christmas for my tastebuds (maybe not so much for my arteries or my thighs, but there’s always yoga…). If you’re in Reading Terminal, hop in line and try one (or two) of their flavors in a cup, waffle cone or milkshake. You can bet that I’ll be back in a few weeks for pumpkin ice cream :)

My ice cream: banana on top (top banana, get it?) and peach on the bottom. 

If you haven’t heard, Ben & Jerry’s in University City has a daily happy hour special from 4-7 pm. 3 hours. 3 scoops. 3 dollars. After walking around the city with the sun beating down on us, my friend Maddie and I sought refuge with the rich, creamy and creative flavors at Ben & Jerry’s.

Admittedly, I don’t buy Ben & Jerry’s that often because the flavors I love are some of the ones with the highest fat content and because I can never justify buying a pint of ice cream at the cost of a half gallon. However, ice cream happy hour’s three scoops won’t disappoint. For $3 you nearly get a pint of ice cream and you don’t have to commit to one flavor (that is, unless you want to). I chose peanut butter cookie dough, chunky monkey and oatmeal raisin cookie. If I had to do it all over again (and I’m sure I will), I would have done two scoops of chunky monkey with the peanut butter cookie dough in the middle, almost like a peanut butter and banana sandwich. The cinnamon of the oatmeal raisin cookie ice cream was too powerful for the other two flavors. Luckily, it was at the bottom and by that point I had a stomachache and waved my white flag.

Ben & Jerry’s
216 South 40th Street
Philadelphia, PA