Cleaning the freezer out

The last of the Snickers ice cream, the last of the Stone Ridge Peanut Butter Cup, some 2% organic milk and just the right amount of Nesquik = an absolutely awesome afternoon milkshake.

Blue Bunny Bunny Tracks Personals

Ahhh, it's a good day to be an ice cream reviewer, you want to know why? Because I found a new little friend today! (sorry, DQ is on hold until at least tomorrow). The funny thing is, I was just talking to someone about how it's been a while since I've really been wowed by Blue Bunny.

Super Fudge Brownie started slow, and ended ok. Bunny Tracks is a whole nother story. The exact description is vanilla flavored ice cream with thick fudge and peanut butter caramel ribbons, chocolate covered peanuts and peanut butter filled chocolate bunnies. It does sound potentially good, but I've tried other flavors with similar descriptions only to be disappointed.

From the very first bite, you're going to realize Bunny Tracks is a special flavor that should please anyone who loves chocolate with their peanut butter. It's been awhile since it's happened, but this is one of those flavors where you take your first scoop and go "whoa, what was that? that's not what I expected". I was prepared for boring, bland or buttery, but instead I got bite. Oh yeah, when chocolate and peanut butter come knocking on the door, they better be prepared with that salty textured zest I crave. I had my first bite and immediately needed more.

Just look at the scattering of mix-ins. Within four or five bites, I was won over, and do you want to know why? This little bunny bowl reminds me of my love of Reese Peanut Butter Cup blizzards. As long as they aren't over-blended, PB cup Blizzards have that awesome melty yet ice cold creaminess mixed with the chunks of perfection known as Reese Peanut Butter cup bits. I love those blizzards with a passion and I'm really diggin' this treat right now.

With the Super Fudge Brownie, the brownie bits were small and just didnt make that big of an impact. Again, bunny tracks is the total opposite. There is some kind of tasty crunchy bit in every bite. Whether it's the cool little bunnies or the chocolate covered peanuts (or both), you get something in every bite. I really do need to stress that these aren't the mellow, saltless, textureless peanut butter cups like the ones in Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup. No, these bites are distinct and pleasantly crunchy. Yet again I'm remind of a tasty blizzard that hopefully has pb cup bits in every bite.

technical note: the pb bunnies are smaller than a penny here, while the bunnies in Alpine Strawberry were bigger than a penny. This isn't a problem, but when you first scoop one, your brain will go "hmmm, this bunny seems smaller than last time".

Overall, I am very pleased with this flavor and I was so sad to see it go. If I had bought two of this flavor, or if I had a bigger container, I totally would have gone in for a second bowl. It's just that good, go try some!

The only plausible complaint you might see below here is that the fat content is a little high, but this is peanut butter ice cream we're talking about, so you're going to get some added protein with that extra fat.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1/2 cup (75g)
Servings Per Container 2

Amount Per Serving
Calories 210from Fat 110
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 12g19%
- Sat Fat 7g33%
- Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 25mg9%
Sodium 85mg4%
Total Carbohydrate 22g7%
- Dietary Fiber <1g3%
- Sugars 19g
Protein 4g

Vitamin A 4%Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 10%Iron 0%

Everybody's snacking for the weekend!

Ok, the current plan is to head to the only DQ sanctuary I know of that is still open in New England ...the ones they've built inside New Hampshire malls. We had hoped to go the past two weekends (while they still had the turtle blizzard) but hey, I'm still pretty excited about trying a midnight truffle blizzard. So, come back for that review and hopefully one or two others. Peace!

Back in Business

It has been well over a year, but finally, I've got a camera phone back in my pocket (thanks work!)

My phone's first subject is the very fun to say "Choco Taco" (Hmmm, colors are a little off, but at least the image quality is decent). If you recall, I had such high hopes during the first choco taco review, but I was left feeling jipped out of my $2. Well, I was at Shaws last week, and Choco Tacos were half off! That means a mere 50 cents to give this treat one more try...

AND

...it's just awful!! The one I've picked up is disgustingly chewy. I was so hungry for ice cream that I kept trying to eat it, but man, this isn't even worth 50 cents. I could have poured chocolate syrup on some wet cardboard and had the exact same dining experience. Awful. Awful. Awful.

Beware!

Turkey Hill Light Recipe
Extreme Cookies n' Cream

In my Blue Bunny Personals review, I mentioned Market Basket had a respectable selection of Turkey Hill Ice Cream. At first I picked up an awesome container of Box of Chocolates, but then with the blog in mind, I put it back down and decided to go with something that hasn't been on the blog yet. Since I don't really have anything low fat in the freezer, right now, I decided to go with one of their light recipes.

Behold Turkey Hill's Extreme Cookies 'n Cream light recipe ice cream. Why is it extreme? Is this just another marketing ploy? Oh no, Turkey Hill has a secret weapon up it's sleeve: a crunchy chocolate cookie swirl!

Ok, those aren't exactly swirls now are they? I'm not complaining (much). I didn't really expect the swirl to hold together as well as it is shown on the label. That huge brown chunk you see in the middle of the image above is a chunk of swirl. It's got a decent thickness to it which means you also get some crunch with it, plus the flavor is pretty good. The dark brownish/blackish chunks are the cookie bits, complete with a bit of cream filling. These also have a nice crunch to them. It's easy enough to make a flavor with tiny bits or soggy bits, so I am definitely pleased with the crunch level here.

The low fat chocolate base isn't bad, but there is a hint of chewiness. Nothing awful, but the texture is a smidge off, but when can only complain with half the fat. Chocolate flavor is decent, and the whole thing comes together pretty well. My biggest thought while eating this was actually "hmmm, I wonder if this would make an awesome milkshake?"  I hope to answer that question with a second scoop soon.

On Second Scoop: I can admit that this flavor isn't doing a whole lot for me. It's not bad, it's just not super exciting. It's just one of those so-so/decent flavors, but I will admit that I was starting to have some fun as a I discovered several layers of cookie crunch close to each other in the center of the container. Hey, you take what excitement you can get and run with it!

On Third Scoop: Oh man, the third time was a charm on this flavor. I just dug into these huge chunks of crunchy cookie swirl layer and it was heavenly. It was like a thin layer of chocolate ice cream between two thinly sliced brownies (or like a regular Oreo cookie but with ice cream instead of cream). Oh man I wish every bite was like those several I just had. I know they can't be, but man, simply fantastic. Mmmmm, even leaves you with an awesome aftertaste.

troubled timetables tipping treats towards turbulent tastebuds

ok, that doesn't even make a lick of sense does it, I blame the dumb cold I have. It messed me up a little more than I wanted to yesterday. I did have a turkey hill treat, and I've got the pictures ready for the article, but it's 10:20pm and I really should lay my weary head to rest.

let's quick do some news coverage so you don't feel like your visit was in vein: cool, a "local" farm co-op is getting into the ice cream biz (read here). They picked 10 flavors to start with, I wonder if they would let me sample them? hehehe, I can be there in about an hour! Mooooooo!!

whoa whoa whoa: performance ice cream??? According to BevNET.com that's exactly what's coming at us, a "world's first" according to Pro Foods... HOLY COW BELLS, 40 grams of protein!! wait, it's actually 10g of protein per 1/2 cup serving. That is alot, but a respectable nut-based ice cream can have 5 grams, so that number isn't quite as crazy as it first seems. I'm willing to try anything, but I'm thinking this one is best saved for right before I mow or some other strenuous task.

Ok, time to rest, 'til tomorrow.

Hmmmm, what to eat this afternoon?

Hmmmm, so many choices, so little time, plus I have a cold which is slowing  me down a bit here, but no matter, the test tasting must go on! I can't decide between a new container of stone ridge creamery, some light turkey hill ice cream, some more blue bunny personals, or ....is that it, I think there are a few other things in the freezer (besides the half dozen open containers in there). Feel free to throw a vote out there if you want.

Have a good sunday everybody, I'll be back later today with a review.

PhillySwirl Original Italian Ice Swirls
Part 1 of a 2 part mini series

Let me ask a question: Is it fair to review something I tried some ...hold on, counting... some 6 weeks ago? Well, half tried anyway. 3 of them are still in the freezer. Let me show you what I'm talking about.

Here is the product in question: a 6 pack of original Italian ice swirls.Seemed like a great review opportunity really. 1 snack a night, a mere 92 calories per serving, no fat to speak of ...what could possibly go wrong??

I do enjoy sherbet from time to time, and I'm always on the lookout for something frozen and fat free to mix with my ice cream addiction, so these cups seemed like a natural fit into my routine. Even though I had six choices, it wasn't had to pick which one I wanted first. I started with the new bluesberry jam which is a black raspberry and blue raspberry swirl. Mmmm, sounds like it should be awesome right? WRONG. BORING. It tastes like the last few sips of those cheap ICEEs I get at BJs now and then. I ate the whole thing but it was very disappointing.

My wife then tried cotton candy. She was unamused.


I wasn't about to give up as I decided to try the one they call CherryMelon. It's a ...wait for it... cherry and watermelon swirl. It's been six week, so i have now forgotten if I didn't like the melon part or the cherry part, but either way, I was unamused. I'm not even sure I bothered to finish it. Oh I want to say it was the cherry that was annoying me.

So, that's my horribly unimpressive review, my apologies. All the words aren't there, but my feelings are right on. These may have a "new smoother texture", but I'm still horribly unimpressed.

Ben & Jerry's Flipped Out (Again!)

Some two and a half months ago, I finally brought home those nifty looking little sundae cups from Ben & Jerry's. In particular, I brought home the Peanut Butter Chocolate Flipped Out!. It did not go well at all. I was fairly convinced that somehow the chocolate coating had gone bad and wound up tossing it in the trash. Did I overreact? maybe, but remember, sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the greater good ...ok, that was just silly. Let's move on.


Ben & Jerry's did send a replacement coupon, and so here I am, finally trying it again. The bad news is that I'm trying this at work, so I'm going to have to eat this upside down since I don't have a plate to put it on. The good news is that this may be the trick to eating this since now I am greeted first by quality Ben & Jerry's ice cream rather than the chocolate coating.

Is the coating as bad as I remember? No. Call me prepared or call me crazy, but I don't have the urge to spit it out this time. HOWEVER, I still don't like it. I don't know what kind of sauce they are using, but I do not like it, plain and simple. It's unpleasant. It's not fowl and repulsive, but I don't like it. I wish I could be more descriptive. Is it missing an ingredient maybe? Are they trying to spice things up with a nice contrast? It bugs me when I can't quantify something like this, even after 20 months of blogging. It's the kind of thing were you taste it and go "do I just not have the palate to appreciate quality product?"

For me, flipped out brings nothing to the table. As a big B&J's fan, part of me feels obligated to try all three flavors, but why should I? I'd rather spend $3 on a pint I'll love rather than $3 on two little cups with some ill conceived sauce and extra brownie bits. Yes, I finished the treat this time, and no, my opinion doesn't cover everyone, but if you ask me, I'm going to tell you to save your money and go buy a regular pint.

New to Me! Blue Bunny gets Personal

My love of finding new ice cream treats finally has another destination to add to it's list of things deemed "local enough". That's right, I finally made it to a Market Basket which is a chain of over 60 groceries stores here in New England. They finally have one close enough for me to get their goods into my freezer before they melt. It's a chain with a storied history, but the real question is, what's it really like? I've heard horror stories about how busy they can be, but why is that? I finally got the chance to go in and find out.

The store is bright, very bright ....too bright actually. I spent most of my 45 minute trip squinting. What happened to new stores saving energy? It was also very busy, especially considering it was dinnertime on a Friday night, but I think a big part of the problem is that people were wandering just as much as they were shopping.

The aisles are fairly wide and quite tall. They are all jam-packed and constantly restocked by a large contingent of employees. The prices are definitely good but not unbeatable. The big thing that stands out to me is selection. While Wal-mart may carry one or two versions of a product (if you're lucky), and a regular grocery store might carry 3 or 4 versions, Market Basket will carry all 7 versions. Several times I caught myself standing there and thinking "Cool! I didn't even realize they made that flavor!".

In a unique twist, the ice cream section isn't in the freezer aisles. Oh no. Instead, you must traverse a fairly impressive produce section before reaching the frozen treat and cake section. At first glance I was faced with the Usual Suspects: Breyers, Edy's, store brand, and a surprisingly decent showing by our buddies at Turkey Hill. I continued my journey all the way 'til the end. There, in the individual serving section, I found these:


! Blue Bunny Personals ! A one cup (so two serving) dose of the most popular Blue Bunny flavors. I picked up one of each of the three flavors they had in stock. Now here is something weird: Walmart carries a decent selection of Blue Bunny containers and treats, but no Personals. Market Basket had the personals, but no regular containers. How odd. Now take that with the fact that I've never seen personals anywhere yet they have been around since at least 2005! I know this because I found several press releases about new Personals, I just couldn't find one talking about the initial release. In all, there are currently 7 regular flavors and 5 light flavors.


Ok, here is the Super Fudge Brownie personal up close, and well, personal. It's not quite as tempting looking as it is on the spoon on the label, but at least there are several brownie chunks to be seen. I know it's hard to judge size, but that big chunk in the top middle there is just a bit bigger than a plump pea. I tried that bite first ofcourse. It's ...It's ...well, it's kind of small so it doesn't really make any strong impressions. There's nothing particularly wrong with it, but it's not like one of those giant chewy chunks you might find in Ben & Jerry's.

To be honest, and a bit harsh, the very first thought that popped into my mind was "wow, this tastes cheap". I don't know how else to describe it. It just felt like some generic bite of some entry level brand ice cream. My original goal was to only eat half of this treat, and after that first bite, I figured that wouldn't be a problem, but then something happened. The first bite may not have been great, but it wasn't bad either, and the ice cream was already starting to get soft. I started digging for brownie bites and before I knew it, I was at the half way mark. With the little B&J or Haagen-Dasz cups, you are confined to this little container that is a constant reminder to go slow. Here, we have a nice long oval that's just begging for a big scoop, and then another, and then another. Yeah, I kept going until about 90% of the container was gone --- Seemed like a waste to just put 3 bites back in the freezer --- and then there were none.

The treat may have started a little rough, but the melty texture quickly hooked me in. It didn't help I was dieing for some chocolate. MMMMM. Am I fully satisfied? Well, I'm certainly full, but that could be explained by the two servings of ice cream I just had. So then, am I satisfied? for a dollar? even though there isn't enough brownies? sure, why not, I'm satisfied enough anyway, but I think this a victory when it could really be a knockout. Why not run these with more brownie bits than the standard stuff? Why buy 3 personals (6 servings) when I could have a whole container (14 servings)? Sure, it's convenient, but it could be outstanding. I think Blue Bunny needs to make these extra special, then crank up distribution to pharmacies, gas stations, you name it.


Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1/2 cup (72g)
Servings Per Container 2

Amount Per Serving
Calories 170
from Fat 70
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 8g
12%
- Sat Fat 4.5g
23%
- Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 25mg
9%
Sodium 85mg
3%
Total Carbohydrate 24g
8%
- Dietary Fiber 0g
0%
- Sugars 18g
Protein 2g

Vitamin A 4%
Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 6%
Iron 0%