Wednesday, August 26, 2009

We're going nuts over it

Ice cream and chocolate — two of life’s most decadent pleasures. Now you can enjoy both at the same time with SPOKANDY’s new line of ice cream. The almost century-old chocolatier is teaming up with Mary Lou’s Homemade Ice Cream of Spokane Valley to offer eight flavors of ice cream with Spokandy’s goodies mixed in.

Spokandy recently remodeled its downtown location to include a larger retail area and room for the ice cream. “It’s something we’d talked about over the years,” says manager Natalie Vlasaty. They are also remodeling the wholesale area next door to allow customers to view the candy-making operations.

If you’re feeling a little nutty, then the vanilla ice cream with peanut brittle, macadamia nuts, coconut and white chocolate is just the answer. Or how about a scoop of coffee-flavored ice cream flecked with Spokandy’s dark chocolate? Grandma’s Maple Nut Cream features whole maple buttercreme candies mixed into maple ice cream. Peppermint Rainbow, one of the store’s bestsellers, features mint candy chunks in mint-flavored ice cream.

A generous scoop in a large waffle cone will cost you $3.50; two scoops, $5.50. A child-sized scoop is $2.50. If you’d prefer to indulge at home, pick up a half-gallon ($9) and one of Spokandy’s new dessert toppings: You can choose from caramel, butterscotch or chocolate truffle.

The seating area consists of two large sofas, minus any frills like tables, restrooms or a water fountain. But, hey, when you’re enjoying deliciously creamy, locally made ice cream with chunks of gooey goodness, surrounded by displays of fudge, almond bark and dark chocolate truffles, it’s hard to complain.

If you’re a coffee lover, you’ll be pleased to hear that Spokandy is working with Spokane coffee roaster Thomas Hammer on a new chocolate-flavored coffee to be sold by the pound, available sometime in September.

It’s nice to see local businesses working together, especially when they are combining all of my favorite things. — KIRSTEN HARRINGTON

Spokandy, at 1412 W. Third Ave., is open Mon-Fri 9 am-6 pm, Sat 10 am-6 pm and Sun 11 am-5 pm. Call 624-1969.

No comments: