J.P. Licks - JP stands for "Jamaica Plain"!

J.P. Licks started in Jamaica Plain and I feel lucky to live so close to their very first location and flagship store on Centre Street in JP. It might not be the cheapest ice cream in the world but even for a poor student, it's an affordable treat. After going to Same Old Place for a pizza slice, JP Licks is the perfect place to go for dessert, as if the pizza didn't raise your cholesterol levels enough. If you're lactose intolerant, JP Licks actually has lactose-free ice cream and some sorbets. There are usually only a couple of lactose-free flavors and a couple of sorbets to choose from but it's better than nothing. They also have frozen yogurts (soft and hard types), which opens up more options for some lactose-intolerant people because those probably have a bit less lactose in them than regular ice cream. I especially like the peanut butter soft-serve frozen yogurt.



In addition to their ice creams and frozen yogurts, they also roast their own coffees and you can buy the beans too. Since I roast my own coffee, I don't buy their beans but sometimes have a cup there with my ice cream. Try putting a spoonful of vanilla ice cream (instead of cream and sugar) in the coffee. If you're there at the right time, the coffee roaster will be roasting the beans at the back of the store and you can watch the whole process. It smells good for a while but after about 5 minutes, it doesn't smell so good.

Recently, they have introduced some coconut milk ice creams. Um, yeah, I was making those at home last summer. I'm glad they finally figured it out though. :) If you're wondering how you can make your own coconut milk ice cream, check out my blog post from last year on making non-dairy ice creams.

Most recently (May 2012), they've released a few hemp ice cream flavors. I tried the one with peanut butter and it was a bit too sweet for my taste. I could definitely taste the hemp though. The pure hemp flavor was less sweet and pretty good. Maybe I'll try making my own hemp ice cream at home this summer. The thing about hemp products is they're more expensive than soy or coconut products. A quart of hemp milk is usually just under $4, compared to about $2 or $3 for a quart of soy milk or dairy milk. Still, you can make quite a bit of ice cream with a quart of hemp milk.

Scootin' in Boston - Bentley to Cleveland Circle

In this video, the Poor Student scoots from Bentley to Cleveland Circle (in Chestnut Hill), passing through Waltham, Newtonville, and Newton. To make your tour more interactive, the video has been annotated (as of July 7, 2013) so that you can click on annotated links within the video if you want to turn right onto the Hammond Parkway or Hammond Street. The new videos will open in new windows. This is the route (start from the top-left):

Start at Bentley University

The video starts with a brief tour of the Bentley campus and a trip to the gas station to pump gas. If you've ever wondered what pumping gas into a scooter looks like, check this video out! The Poor Student also shows you which roads are messed up and which ones are well-maintained. Enjoy the ride!

Scootin' in Boston

The Poor Student just got a Tachyon helmet camera and can't wait to scoot all over Boston with it! Below, the first two scootin' videos are posted. The first one is going from Jamaica Plain to Super 88 in Allston/Brighton and the second one is the return trip. Check 'em out!

This video series is intended be useful for new students coming to Boston, people who are curious about what Jamaica Plain and other places look like, tourists, people thinking of getting a scooter but don't know what it might feel like to ride one, people who used to live in Boston and would like to see how the place has changed, and anyone else who is too lazy to ride down the streets of Boston themselves. The map of the routes is posted under the videos below. The Poor Student points out various places on the streets too in the commentary.

Enjoy!

JP to Super 88

Super 88 to JP

Start at the bottom right for the trip to Super 88.
The second line is the difference in the return trip.

Shalimar - Cambridge, MA

Recently, I had to use up a groupon for $40 with of food and groceries at Shalimar, an Indian grocery store in Cambridge, MA. The last time I went there was over 5 years ago and I only bought a package of cardamom pods then. The store is actually quite impressive for its small size. Their spice selection includes quite a lot of different selections that you might not be able to find elsewhere. In addition to regular cardamom pods, they actually have dark cardamom pods, which smell a little smokey, so I'm guessing they're roasted. Another rare spice is dry mango ("Amchur") power, for $1.99 a box. I bought some but still not sure what I'm going to do with it! The others are spices, such as turmeric, coriander, fennel, cumin, etc., that you would find in a curry or other Indian dish.

It actually took me quite a while to choose $40 worth of goods for my groupon! I was tempted to get the snacks but I'm trying to shed a few pounds this summer and have too many Asian snack cakes in the house right now. So, most of my basket was filled with spices. I took pictures of everything I bought, so you can see what kinds of things Shalimar carries.

Sweets

Cadbury hot chocolate

Sweet almond treats

Indian Bread

Boil-in-the-bag meals
These are very good, by the way. I used to eat Japanese curry like this when I taught in Japan in the mid-1990's. These are very convenient products and not too expensive.

Boil-in-the-bag Palak Paneer

Boil-in-the-bag Korma

Spices

This is probably the main reason I would return to this store. Their selection is simply amazing (at least to a non-Indian). I'm sure there are spice shops in India that carry more but in the Boston area, you're not going to find this kind of selection in one place. One of the stores at haymarket has a pretty big selection but Shalimar might actually have more. I bought paprika, cumin seed, turmeric, and curry powder. Since the spices in bags have the Shalimar named on them, I'm guessing that they buy those in bulk and package them. I bet they're fresher too.

Turmeric, Curry Powder, Dried Mango Powder

Cumin seed and Paprika

Chicken Tikka spice

Rice

Arborio rice is probably not the most popular type of rice in India. I was actually surprised to find it at this store but got it because I wanted some sticky rice. They also carry basmati and other types of non-sticky rice, which are more typical in Indian cuisine.

Overall, this store has very reasonably priced items that you probably can't find elsewhere. If you're new to the Boston area or just want to add to your spice collection, check this place out! Also, it's one of the only places that carry Cadbury's hot chocolate powder. The Indian breads are also very good.

Orion Choco Pies and Pandan Cakes

Honestly, these are not my favorite Asian snack cakes. However, they're probably something kids might like to eat. The Choco pie has marshmallow in between the cake part and pandan cakes have green stuff in the middle. Kids love eating green things that aren't vegetables, right? I'm not sure what a pandan is but it seems to be a normal thing to put in cakes. I've seen other brands of pandan cake at C-Mart. Try 'em if you're in the mood for cake with green stuff in the middle or if you need a gift for a 4-year old...

Anyway, I'm not a fan of these but kids might like them. 'Nuff said. Here are some pictures.

Orion Choco-Pie and Pandan cake

Orion Choco-Pie and Pandan cake

Orion Choco-Pie and Pandan cake

More Asian Snacks

On a recent trip to C-Mart in Chinatown, I found some Asian snack cakes that I don't usually see at the Hong Kong Supermarket in Brighton. The first two snacks pictured below are from C-Mart and the last one (actually 2 different cookies but the same brand) is from Hong Kong Supermarket. These snacks are also from 3 different countries (Taiwan, Thailand, and Japan).

Green Tea Cakes

These cakes from Taiwan are actually quite small in volume but they are dense. They're not heavy but they're dense enough that you don't need a huge portion. This type of cake comes in different flavors and I think there are other brands too. I chose this one just because I hadn't had a green tea flavored cake in a long time. For $2.29, you get 8 cakes. The size of the box is misleading because a lot of it is filled with the plastic tray. Nice presentation though. It's worth a try but probably not something you'd load up the shopping cart with on a regular basis.

Green Tea Cakes from Taiwan

EURO Custard Cake

For $2.18, you get 6 individually-wrapped cakes. Actually most Asian snack cakes come packaged that way, for some reason. These are from Thailand. I chose these because I got hooked on those Korean Orion cakes and knew that they were about to sell out of those at Hong Kong supermarket! So, I wondered if these might be a good substitute. Honestly, the custard tastes more like custard in these EURO cakes. The Orion custard cakes have a filling that tastes more like cream, which is also good but not really custard. I really liked these and would get them if I can't find the Orion cakes. However, these are a bit pricier per cake than the Orion cakes, but not by a lot. 

EURO Custard Cake from Thailand

Japanese Cookies

The last snack selections are Japanese cookies, in Chocolate Cream and Tiramisu flavors. These were $1.99 a package of 8 cookies each, I think. The package is also misleading because there is a plastic tray inside that prevents the cookies from breaking. These are very easy to gobble up quickly because each cookie is actually quite small and very tasty. As the pictures on the packages would suggest, they go well with coffee or tea. However, the fillings are not runny, as the pictures might suggest. They're still tasty though. As with most Japanese sweets, they're very well made but very small. So, it's not the biggest bang for the buck but a tasty snack nonetheless.