The Baked Bear - and a good memory

Here you are reading the blog mmm-yoso!!! It's where Kirk, ed(from Yuma) and Cathy (as well as a few others) share posts with an underlying subject of food. Today, Cathy is sharing.

One afternoon last week, The Mister and I drove West and found a place to park near The Crystal Pier, a public pier (where you can fish) as well as a hotel at the end of Garnet Avenue, in the Pacific Ocean.

It's quite a walk down and back the 872 foot long wooden pier, quiet and beautiful.

We left the pier, walked straight ahead, past a few restaurants, took a left on Mission Boulevard and saw this building and sign next to the Fatburger.

Well, I had never heard of this place...and we had just had a nice walk, justifying an ice cream sandwich. Had to...

{It turns out The Baked Bear opened just last week, Kirbie has already posted on it}

Spacious, clean and not crowded. A nice young lady at the counter asked us if we had been there before. She then told us a common ordering method-pick a cookie flavor or two different ones, then pick an ice cream flavor...and I started to read the flavor choices on the menu board-

The first and second main sandwich choices: Cookies, brownies OR waffles!!!

When I was growing up in Detroit, one special treat my brother and I would sometimes get was a waffle ice cream sandwich at the counter at Kresge's, a Five and Dime store.  (Here's a photo). Oh, I knew what I wanted. 

The cookies were freshly baked, and the waffles (under the cover to the right of the cones) were already made...but...well, you'll see.  Cones and cups were also available...for people who are here for the ice cream and not a sandwich.

The selection of 12 ice cream flavors.  Premium ice creams, from different companies; a very nice detail.  We chose butter pecan.

The soft, fresh waffle had one side already crispy toasted. That side had the ice cream placed on it and then the waffle was folded over the ice cream, then it was placed on the flat toaster (above; like a panini maker without the ridges), to get the exterior of the waffle warm and a bit crispy...and perfect.

I know people are buying the cookie sandwiches -the cookie selection was tempting- but the waffle is absolutely my idea of an ice cream sandwich.

The waffle was just enough crispy to not turn soggy and the ice cream was a very good quality of butter pecan- salty and not too sweet with crispy pecans.  The waffle stayed intact and we were able to share the sandwich without a sticky meltdown.  It really was perfect.

Fond memory #2: I sent my brother the above photo attached to a text message...with no words... and he immediately texted back "Kresge's!!!" Yes, he also remembered our special snack outings.  

The Baked Bear 4516 Mission Blvd San Diego 92109 (858) 886-7433 website

The rest of the story (3rd memory)-

I call Mom daily. When I told her about The Baked Bear ice cream waffle, she immediately relayed a story about the horse drawn waffle cart that used to show up on Fridays in the Detroit neighborhood where she, my dad and my brother and I grew up. She told me the man would yell from the cart "Rzecz naleśnik", which is "pancakes" in Polish. She said the cart also had ice cream.

After some research, I found This Blog Post with a photo of a New York horse drawn waffle cart.  It was a memory she hadn't ever shared before. I realized Food carts are not a new invention, nor are waffle ice cream sandwiches.

Happy Mother's Day.

Comments

[Soo]

Looks great! What kind of ice cream do they use?

[Cathy]

I saw at least 4 different labels, Soo- Blue Bunny, Dreyers, Humboldt and one that started with a "G"(Graeters maybe). Which was kind of interesting. Suppliers may change I suppose, in any case, it was excellent ice cream.

[Faye]

I've never seen ice cream presented in a true waffle before (vs a waffle cone). Did they place the ice cream INSIDE the waffle and THEN put it in the panini press? Didn't that melt the ice cream? Happy belated Mother's Day!

[Cathy]

Exactly, Faye: It was a one piece double waffle, already baked and then toasted on the grill-one side only- and cooled. Ice cream placed onto the toasted side (so it would not get soggy easily), folded and then placed onto the grill so the sandwich exterior toasted a bit and was warm..the whole waffle was toasted but only slightly warm. Since it was a fresh waffle, the slight warmth with toastiness and then ice cream made it perfect (and just the right amount of sweet).

[caninecologne]

Yay, a new place to visit(with the added benefit of having a free parking lot too!)! i just read kirbie's post then got your text photo of the waffle ice cream sandwich! great minds think alike, eh!

I enjoyed reading about your nostalgic memories of your waffle/ice cream treat.

About the last photo, is that you? :)

[Cathy]

We really hadn't heard about The Baked Bear and just saw it when walking-how I find most places, cc. It was really good and did hit some of the best family memories. Yep-that's Mom and me.

[Scott B]

Hi Cathy,
Going through some old posts I missed. I grew up in Detroit, too! We lived at Grand River and Greenfield, walking distance from a Kresge and I have great memories of eating sweets at the counter there. Thanks for the great post!

[Cathy]

Small world, Scott! Livernois and Michigan-walking distance to Kresge's also. I could ride my bike to Tiger Stadium, pay $2 for a bleacher seat and the bike would be there when the game ended. You are one of very few who would understand when I say Eastern Market is a real Farmers Market...and would not think the words "Mexican Town" were odd. Plus, when you say Detroit, you don't mean a suburb...