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Arts & Entertainment

Great Escape: Dip into the Cool

I scream, you scream, we all scream...

Anticipating a house full of guests and the mercury surpassing the century mark — oh, who am I kidding, I check Weather.com. I don’t even own a thermometer; I was searching for relief from the heat and a subject for this column.

I posted a status message on Facebook: “D.C.-area friends, tell me the cool ways you keep cool.” One friend suggested a strenuous mid-day hike in the Shenandoah mountains, followed by a cold shower. The window AC unit would feel wonderful in comparison, he assured me.

Another suggested popsicles and a third suggested an ice bath. Not much to build a column on.

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So I asked my fellow bus riders the same question last Thursday. Movies, museums, shopping malls and swimming pools came up. Yep, I knew all about those strategies. Someone suggested curling — a sport involving sweeping rocks across the ice with a broom, but you don’t wear skates; you wear regular shoes.

Hmmm, maybe I’ve got something to work with here. I looked up the Potomac Curling Club on the Internet. “We do not have curling ice in the summer,” the site informed me, “Check back in September.”

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Uh oh, getting a little desperate, I asked my fellow bus riders the same question again on Friday. And this time I was lucky — ice cream! An elegantly simple solution. And not only did my fellow passengers eat ice cream, they made it too. The topic of how to make ice cream made for a pleasant — and even almost cooling discussion, all the way to the Metro station.

Melissa Ehrenreich, a master ice cream maker, recommended that beginners read David Lebovitz’s beautifully written book, “The Perfect Scoop,” which is available on Amazon.com. Melissa described making ice cream as essentially the same process as making an egg custard.

With a little practice, you learn how to get the right consistency for optimal freezing. For example strawberry ice cream, because of the high sugar content, can be tricky. But adding alcohol to the mixture promotes freezing.

Jennifer Errick added that homemade coffee ice cream is a much richer and a more intense experience than any commercially purchased coffee ice cream.

But not everyone is into the “Do it yourself” ethos. And ice cream making — as I gathered from my bus pals —  though it is an elegantly simple endeavor for those who’ve mastered the techniques and worked out the kinks, is a tricky business for the rest of us.

Plus, this wouldn’t be a much of column if I didn’t suggest somewhere to get good homemade ice cream. So here’s the simple scoop on my favorite seller of frozen treats in a cone or cup — Simple Pleasures Ice Café. Greenbelters (and residents of Riverdale, Silver Spring/FDA White Oak, Olney, Cheverly and D.C./First and M Streets, NE) know them as a farmers market regular, but Simple Pleasures is also a Bowie-based, family-run business, with a delightful ice cream cafe.

While a steady stream of Greenbelt Farmers Market shoppers seeking cool refreshment came by their stand on Sunday, I spoke with Brittany and Rajah Russell about their family’s business, started by their grandmother and parents. The sisters told me that their secret is that they love to experiment and they love to eat!

They make all of the standards, chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, but their specialty is dessert flavored ice cream: baklava, sweet potato pie, red velvet cake and banana pudding. In the summer, the Russells try fresh fruit combinations: cherry, cantaloupe and black raspberry — and their fruit comes from other farmers market booths and local vendors.

The sisters relish being creative and inventive in discovering new flavors. Brittany also told me that her greatest pleasure is seeing people appreciate their handiwork, “especially grownups who act like kids.”  Rajah added that their creations are “done with a lot of love.”

After interviewing the Russell sisters at the Greenbelt Farmer’s Market, I took my visiting family to Simple Pleasures Ice Café, the Russell family’s Bowie ice cream café and tea shop in a restored historic Victorian mansion, the Fabian House. The Russells serve their homemade ice cream in the charming back room, which is decorated with vintage tins, a pie safe and old-time store fixtures.

One glass case displayed tempting miniature fruit tarts and flans from the Stone Hearth Bakery. Bottles of syrups and salad dressings from Shlagel Farms lined the counter. The vivid pastels in the tubs under the glass ice cream counter looked like swatches of color from Paul Klee’s paint tray. Too pretty to eat, I thought.

But that didn’t stop me from digging into a dish of raspberry rhubarb ice cream, made from Calvert Farm’s rhubarb and Pleitez Produce’s red raspberries. My dad sampled the biscotti, and proclaimed it “even better than butter pecan,” my father’s all-time favorite ice cream flavor! Simple Pleasures Ice Café serves its treats in the cozy middle room, which is decorated with shelves of pottery from a local artist.

After our ice cream, my niece and I explored the shops. Simple Pleasures shares its space with several antique vendors and local artists. Downstairs, the vendors offer handmade pottery, vintage-fabric handbags and hand carved wooden walking sticks. Bob the Bookman, a retired high school history teacher, also presents a carefully curated collection of fiction, art and history books.

Upstairs, furnished rooms showcase antique sofas, vintage kitchen items, jewelry, hats, quilts and many other items with a past. I spied a Deco milk glass butterfly pin and coveted an aqua McCoy vase. My niece admired some lovely vintage beaded handbags.

More antique shops are on both sides of the Fabian House, although these were closed on Sunday. Now I want to take another excursion to Bowie soon, since the shops and café would make a nice afternoon diversion.

If you can’t get enough of Simple Pleasures at your local farmers markets or in Bowie, they will be serving up their delicious frozen treats at a special Greenbelt Farmer’s Market ice cream social fundraiser at the Greenbelt Community Church on August 20. The fundraiser will also feature pastries, fruits from other market vendors and musical entertainment.

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