Commentary JENNIFER K. BAUER
LEWISTON — When it comes to dessert, Asparagus Ice Cream may sound like an unholy alliance, but for Clarkston’s Lana MacArthur it sparked a career.
This summer MacArthur, 29, is serving up scoops of uncommon frozen flavors at the Ice Dream Shoppe, a mobile food truck open weekly at Lewiston’s Saturday Farmers Market. Balsamic Strawberry and Cereal Milk were two of the more unusual flavors last week. Among the more conventional were Snickerdoodle, Chocolate Peanut Butter and Birthday Cake — vanilla ice cream blended with confetti cake batter ($2.25 single scoop, $3.55 double).
A few years ago MacArthur and her husband, Derek, were watching an episode of TV’s “Iron Chef,” which featured Asparagus Ice Cream. As a joke they bought an ice cream maker and created the concoction. To their surprise it tasted pretty good. Lana MacArthur continued to experiment and eventually friends encouraged her to open a storefront. In June, after a successful Kickstarter campaign, she opened the mobile unit to test that possibility.
MacArthur aims to make people’s ice cream dreams come true and her creations are inspired by their requests. She starts with a chocolate or vanilla base and then mixes in the rest. The weirdest combination she has ever made is Rib Eye Steak Ice Cream, she says. The person requested that it include actual rib eye steak.
“It’s been really interesting. It sounds bad, but it really wasn’t that bad,” MacArthur says.
Some experiments, like the Elvis Presley, banana ice cream mixed with peanut butter and real bacon pieces, are more successful than others. Her best seller is Lemon Cookies and Cream, lemon ice cream with lemon Oreo cookies, which sells out nearly every week, she says.
“I can honestly say I’ve only made one ice cream that wasn’t good,” MacArthur says. That was a request from a friend for Grape-Nuts and Raisins Ice Cream. “I don’t know if it is because it was hard and crunchy, it was just not good.”
MacArthur works full time as a communications specialist with the Lewiston Police Department. Possibly her side business is helped by the fact she is studying addiction as a full-time psychology student. She doesn’t have a favorite flavor.
“I love ice cream in general so I love all of it,” she says.
MacArthur accepts requests for Saturday’s flavors and takes custom orders for pints ($7) on the Ice Dream Shoppe’s Facebook page or by phone at (208) 305-3111. Orders are due by midnight Thursday. They can be picked up at the Lewiston Farmers Market open from 5-8 p.m. Saturdays through September 2014 in the D Street parking lot in downtown Lewiston.
Taste Tip: I found the Ice Dream Shoppe's ice cream to be very light and mild in taste, a safe bet for people with hesitant palates.
Periodically, 360 features an area restaurant’s specialty. Restaurants can nominate their unique dishes at jkbauer@inland360.com.
