Today was another beautiful and atypical Vancouver winter morning, so I took Stella to Trout Lake. It’s one of her favourite places, there are lots of dogs and people to say hi to. And I love it because it’s only a few minutes from the Woodland Smokehouse & Commissary, where Peckinpah (Carolina-style barbeque) smokes their meat, and where Cartem’s doughnuts, Earnest Ice Cream, and the Marked desserts are made – so much yummy in one place!

Today, chilly as it was, I had a massive craving for ice cream. I picked up three jars of Earnest Ice Cream – Oatmeal & Brown Sugar, Salted Caramel, and Maple Walnut, along with a few of my Cartem’s favourites: classic and earl grey. It’s crazy how much goodness is in each little jar. They make small batches of unique (and classic!) flavours using local seasonal ingredients. And if you haven’t yet had an Earnest ice cream sandwich, get on over to the winter farmer’s market at the Nat Bailey Stadium.  

My favourite thing to do is crumble some of the donuts into the salted caramel ice cream. The donuts’ cakey texture is perfect with the ice cream, especially when they freeze up a little. Heaven, seriously.