The Sweetest Thing

Sometimes, when I am lucky enough, I volunteer with 18 Reasons, which is a community space in the Mission that strives to engage the neighborhood through art and food. There is always an awesome exhibition of local art up on the walls, and each week sees a variety of events ranging from wine tastings to dinners with local farmers and even ice cream socials! This blog will be about the last item on that list, because it was one of the top 100 nights of my life, but when you are finished reading this amazing piece of editorial work, you should def go check out the 18 Reasons website and event calendar.

Ok, so, each Thursday, 18 Reasons holds an 18th Hour, which is a regular event that is usually completely different than the last. But the 18th Hour is generally inexpensive and a great way to get a feel for the people and style of 18 Reasons. Oh, there I go advertising again. What I meant to type was LAST THURSDAY THERE WAS AN HONEST-TO-GOD ICE CREAM SOCIAL. And I was a volunteer. A-ma-zing. Sadly, I was too busy to remember that I had my camera until the end, but I think I managed to capture the basic energy of the 87th best night of my life.

The premise was that this was an all-you-can-eat deal - $5 for members of 18 Reasons, $10 for non-members and free if you brought some ice cream or a topping. I was a little skeptical as we set up shop, with only 2 quarts of Bi-Rite's (ambrosial) salted caramel and vanilla ice cream and a smattering of toppings that I picked up from Bi-Rite, but I should not have been worried at all. The event was a hit and I ate so much amazing ice cream that I'm a little embarrassed to write this post. Here is some of what we were dealing with, topping-wise:

As peeps came, they filled out those little, yellow cards to tell everyone about what they brought. The burnt sugar and salted caramel sauce tasted like how I want everything to taste in Heaven. And, in the back there, you will see an Earl Grey date sauce that was incredible! Everything else in this pic was provided by Bi-Rite/18 Reasons. And some of you are all, 'Ewww. Is that olive oil and salt?' And, yes, yes it is. It is amazing and you should try it. Use a fruity olive oil and some quality salt (like Maldon) - so good. It's how Sam Mogannam (of Bi-Rite fame) makes his famous sundae.

People brought other toppings, too:

Yeah. That pear sauce was amazing. And then these showed up and I almost died:

That's right. Strawberry balsamic brownies. That, my friends, is what it looks like when puppies smile. With lightening speed, the pastry box that runneth over was demolished. See:

No matter what they tell you, I didn't do it. I did not get pics of all the toppings, but, rest assured, there was white chocolate popcorn, locally foraged blackberry compotes and some Christmas sprinkles.

Now, onto the part where I get tears in my eyes. Check this out, yo:

Yup. That's right. Those are homemade ice creams. That people made. And I ate. Other people ate them, too, but I ate more. Ice cream wimps. How can you NOT go back for seconds of double butterscotch goat's milk ice cream?! Or:

Double ginger ice cream, anyone? It was perfect with the pear sauce! We also had a bevy of other flavors:

That last one was the only semi-pro ice cream out there. Made with raw milk and cream! I had to find out why the rawness, and the makers of this icy delight insisted that it is so much creamier and all-around tastier with the raw milk. Then I had to find out why they were so cute, but they wouldn't give up their secrets to staying young and fabulous! Look at 'em:

Hmmm. I'm gonna go get me some raw milk now. Maybe then I will finally grow some straight, blond hair, find that perfect leather belt and snag me a boyfriend who will make ice cream with me! You can find out more about purchasing their ice cream, Jilli, here. And it's named Jilli because their names are Jacky and Willi, which is so cute that I just squealed.

There was so much more ice cream that melted before I could photograph it, and some many more amazing people at the event, but I didn't want to write an entire book on it. Hmmm. Or maybe I do. Some torrid novel about love and ice cream. We'll see what develops.

On that note, I'm out. Hope to see you at 18 Reasons soon!