Shake Week Continues

While grocery shopping, our daughter reminded my wife that it would be easier to buy some chocolate ice cream for milkshakes rather than constantly trying to make our own chocolate shakes. So, they bought a couple of fresh containers and headed home with the rest of the groceries.


Before we get to the chocolate shake, I decided to have a little extra blender fun. What you see before you is some very finely chopped Oreo Fudge Rings. If you haven't seen them, they are basically the standard Oreo wafer with the creme drizzled on the top. They don't taste quite like Oreos, they have a bit more of an artificial tang to them, but it's what I have (and I really need to use them up before they go stale)


So lots of fresh Breyers Chocolate ice cream, a healthy dose of cookie crumbs, and some milk. I did some blending and I thought it looked a little too chunky. I was wrong, but I didn't realize it until after I put in more milk. The result was a shake that was too much like chocolate milk, and while the cookies did start the cookies n' creme vibe going, the artificial cream taste was still floating about and raining on the parade.

Topping of the Week: So the question is....

So the question is: Can you put Strawberry syrup on Sherbet?


I ask because I ate all of the Raspberry sherbet, and that leaves me with just orange and lemon. While I may enjoy them to some degree, well, I miss some sort of berry in the mix. I put half lemon and half orange in the bowl and then poured on the strawberry syrup. Taking a few bites, it's actually not too bad, a little potent, but not bad. Now, what I really want to know is, what happens when I smush it all together?

Wow, that sure is pink. I'd post the picture, but to be perfectly honest, I can't crop the image without it looking really odd. Ok, time for the taste test. Hmmmm, actually, it's pretty good. There's a berry sweetness mixed with that orange and lemon tang, maybe just a bit too much strawberry though. I really can't help myself, I need to blend and hope for the best. It's got a real sweet aftertaste too from the syrup, and as I sit here, I realize that I need a drink of water to wash it down.

I'm sure there's a better ingredient ratio to be had, but at least it was something different...

Chocolaty Peanut Butter Fudge Milkshakes

See, I knew we would wind up making more milkshakes, they were just too tasty yesterday not too. With the Black Raspberry all gone, I needed a new guinea pig, and Breyers Peanut Butter Fudge seemed like the best candidate (mainly because it doesn't have any add-ins to get in the way). With Nesquik in hand, I blended up a batch of Chocolaty Peanut Butter Fudge milkshakes, and boy was that a mistake. It wasn't a huge mistake, just a little one. The peanut butter just comes across way too heavy for a milkshake. With yesterday's shake, I just wanted more. Today, I had trouble finishing it, as did my daughter. It's not that it tasted bad, it just didn't go down easy. I'm glad I tried it so that at least I know better for next time.

Chocolaty Black Raspberry Milkshake

No new flavor reviews today, just having fun with what's in the freezer. We finally used our little Cuisinart blender to make milkshakes, and when all was said and done, everyone wanted more!

For my wife, I tried making a Breyers Strawberry shake. It was tasty, but I think I used a bit too much milk. For myself and my daughter, we finished off the Turkey Hill Black Raspberry. To spice thinks up, I dumped in a bunch of Nesquik and gave our shakes a great chocolate intro with a smooth black raspberry finish. Mmmmm, good stuff.

Yeah, we'll probably be making milkshakes tomorrow too (I love vacation)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you and yours at this most joyous time of year! hehehe, sorry, a local DJ always likes to say that. Well, the day is over and the belly is full of tasty treats. I did the sample thing today, well, I tried anyway. Sample of this dessert, sample of that one. Mmmmm, I love
holiday food.

I did have a little fun with the cookies we made for Santa. Nothing fancy, just those Pillsbury premade ones you just throw in the oven. I reheated a pair in the microwave last night and then threw some Breyers Strawberry in the middle, but it didn't really work for me. I don't know if the Strawberry was too strong or the cookies were to weak. You know, I wonder if the more mild Breyers Cherry Vanilla would have tasted better. I definitely prefer my first attempt.

Edy's Girlscouts Tagalongs Frozen Dairy Dessert

I did a late night grocery run last night, though the place was still jam packed with Christmas shoppers. As always, I finished in the freezer section. I wasn't really sure what I wanted, and then I saw them. Not 1 ...not 2 ...but *3* Girl scout cookie flavored ice creams! I know I've seen Samoa before, and I think I've seen thin mint before, but I don't think I've ever seen Tagalongs flavor before. I was so excited, I wished I had a spoon!

Now, if by chance you've never had a Tagalong, well, they are very tasty (if not horribly unhealthy). If you love chocolate and peanut butter, then you've probably had one before. They are by far my favorite of all the girl scout cookies. Actually, they are pretty much one of my favorite cookies in general.

So today after lunch, it was time to review. The problem with a flavor like Tagalong is that your expectations are going to be set really high. It's unfortunate, but also unavoidable. I started scooping and noticed that strange Edy's rubbery texture. I checked the cover and my suspicions were right: "Frozen Dairy Dessert". Grrrrrrr. As a "Fun Flavor", I should have known this wouldn't be true ice cream. To bring my spirits back up, I was greeted with some very interesting streaks of peanut butter. Cool, there's still hope!



Overall, the taste is decent, and it's strong enough to make you (mostly) forget about the texture. I had several bites trying to figure out if it tastes like a Tagalong. Thing is, I'm distracted because this ice cream tastes just like a kandy kake (made by Tastykake). It's uncanny really, especially when you consider that Turkey Hill makes a kandy kake flavored ice cream. Hmmm, guess I'll just have to dig deeper in the second scoop.

On Second Scoop: Wow, still feel the same way. Texture isn't perfect, but by no means awful. Flavor is decent, not fantastic, but pretty good. So, overall, a fair rating, but don't make a special trip for it.

Turkey Hill Gertrude Hawk Box of Chocolates Ice Cream Review

Turkey Hill Gertrude Hawk® Box of Chocolates Ice Cream is the limited edition January flavor of the month (and  ...so I guess we'll call this a preemptive strike. It's kind of funny considering that Massachusetts is usually 2-3 months behind the cycle, yet here we are well ahead of it.

I ate ice cream!!!

Yeehaa!! It's been nine long days but I finally had some ice cream!! Tasted fantastic too! That smooth, creamy, simple black raspberry was just what the stomach ordered. Strange, I had some trouble yesterday, but when I woke up, my appetite was finally back!

My scoop is no match....

...for a stomach bug. It'll be a few more days before I start going in the freezer. I think the airport salad I had with my tasty oreo shake was bad, but I have no proof. oh well. back to the crackers.

Back from Business in Baltimore

Greetings! It's good to be home. I wasn't gone long, just Tuesday morning to Wednesday night, but it felt super short yet like forever at the same time. I ate awfully (Tuesday was hot dogs for lunch and a burger for dinner), but I did manage to sneak in one tasty cold treat at the airport. There is a Silver Diner in the Southwest terminal. It's got that 50's style to it and you can get breakfast all day, but what grabbed my attention was their "To Go" menu with giant pictures of milkshakes. I tried the "Deluxe" Oreo shake and it was fantastic. And to make it just a little bit sweeter? Oh yeah, it's going on the expense report.

Dubba's Simply Sprinkles Ice Cream

Hard to believe it's been 3 weeks since we've made ice cream. I think for the most part I missed it, but there was a lazy part of me that just wanted to grab a container from the freezer and make more sundaes.

My daughter has started to get the hang of the whole mix-in thing, well, in her own treat loving way. She was very excited when she came up with the idea for Stackerz ice cream. They're like fruit roll-ups, but in various shapes. I was hesitant, but I figured it couldn't hurt to try. As the base was mixing, I did a few sample bites and the Stackerz were just way too chewy. My daughter did wind up making her own Stackerz ice cream, but she did it in her own bowl.

Dubba's Simply Sprinkles Ice Cream Recipe

1.5 Cups of light cream

1.5 Cups of 2% milk

1.5 teaspoons of Vanilla extract

1/2 Cup of Sugar

Lots of sprinkles

1 teaspoon of Gelatin (I will explain)

So, pretty much just mix all the ingredients together, but you are probably wondering ...Gelatin? I was wandering the internet one night and I found this university website talking about how gelatin can help absorb the excess water and give you a nicer texture. Well, after sticking everything in the Ice-20, now I know what Gelatin really does. It looked and tasted fairly normal at first, but then all of a sudden the volume of ice cream started increasing. I thought it might overflow actually. We were left with a very airy concoction. Interesting ...very intestering.

Oh yeah, the sprinkles went in near the end of the freezing process, as did the blue food dye. You know what's really funny? I know it was probably the air and the gelatin, but as the ice cream turned blue, my brain kept telling me it tasted different. Has to be the air ...right? Must be. hehehe, it is, but still, it was weird and messes with your mind.

Another Topping of the Week: Cool Whip

The Turkey Day Trifle left us with some extra Cool Whip, and it would be a -terrible- shame to let it go to waste. Actually, I'm amazed I've gone this long without digging into it.

I like to think my sundaes came out pretty tasty looking. I really had forgotten how much I like cool whip, or just whip cream in general. Starting with the always welcome waffle bowl, I scooped in some Just Jimmies, scooped on some cool whip, and then poured on a small helping of Nesquik. Wait, there is still something missing, that little extra something you add just for fun... sprinkles!

As always, I ate mine way too quickly. I figured that I wouldn't waste any time biting into the waffle cone, but I was enjoying the cool whip so much that I really wasn't sure what to do. I really did enjoy it, and now that my taste buds have been reminded of what they have been missing, that extra cool whip in the fridge will be gone in no time.

...must....resist....urge........to make.......another....

Smucker's Caramel Flavored Topping Review

This week's topping was chosen for a couple of reasons. Now one reason is for an honest recap. After reviewing Smucker's Caramel Sundae Syrup, I had an epiphany ...well, not so much an epiphany as a stomach ache. Nothing bad, I actually blew it off, but a few days later I was flipping through a magazine when I realized that the syrup I had eaten ...was a year old. I had bought it to make a turtle pie for LAST Thanksgiving. Ooops. It does explain why it tastied a bit off, though when i mixed it with the ice cream, it wasn't that obvious.


Ok, the second reason is more exciting. When I went to Shaw's last night, I realized something. The tasty Twix Ice Cream in the freezer was lacking something: CARAMEL! Mmmmmm, I wondered how close to the real thing I could get. Only one way to find out!


Having finished my bowl, I can honestly say that...I don't really know how much it helped. The caramel gets you closer to the Twix taste, but there simply aren't enough cookie pieces to trick your mind into thinking your eating a Twix. I do like it, and I appreciate the taste of a decent caramel, but it's no show stopper. Plus, it seems to have killed the urge to go back for a second scoop. Next time I grab a bowl of Twix ice cream, I don't really know if it will have caramel on top.

Nutrition: 130/0/0/0

Treat of the Week: Part 3 Finishing the Fudgy triFecta

The final funked up fudgy specimen of PhillySwirl Fudge Stix is the caramel/fudge stick. Now on the box, it shows a distinctly orange/creme colored stick, but like the other two, that's not what you get. in fact, it looks just like the vanilla/fudge pop.

Taste results? well, this one actually has a taste! it's astonishing that a flavored pop has flavor! hehehe. Ok, don't get too exciting. The overall boring/plastic taste is still present, though the caramel does it's best to cover it up. I guess it's ok, a bit more exciting than the others, but still nothing to write home about.

Treat of the Week: Part 2 Fudge/Fudge Swirl Stix

Here we go again! Yeah, the PhillySwirl Fudge Stix fudge/fudge stick has the same non-swirl look that the vanilla/fudge stick had, not that the marble look is awful. I'm really curious to see how they taste, but to be fair, this time I had two of them back to back (at 57 calories, why not?). I thought maybe one would get the old taste buds coated and then the second one would really let me get into the flavor. Well... it didn't help. Besides being fairly bland, there is a bizarre taste on top of that. Not sure it's a freezer burn taste or maybe some strange flavor from the clear plastic wrap they use, but I really don't appreciate it. It seems that Skinny Cow are the only people who can make a decent chocolate pop.