New! YoCrunch Fruit Parfaits

I know, I know, it's a milk product and it's technically a treat BUT it's not frozen... but I just couldn't resist. Crunchy granola, real strawberries, the word NEW (plus it's still cold even though it's not freezing)

I really like the packaging. I was skimming the pudding section when they caught my eye. I should have just bought 1 to be safe, but I bought 2 of the 3 flavors they have out (peach is the third flavor). My daughter helped me unload the groceries and was happy to discover these new treats waiting for her (so the packaging works on the young ones too, at least the ones that love yogurt!).

More Housecleaning: Ice Cream Cakes!

Housecleaning #3: My wife took two cracks at making ice cream cakes this summer. She had taken our daughter to a birthday party (while I watched baby boy) and the kids got to dive into an ice cream sandwich cake. Since I wasn't there to try it, my wife made me one!

Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

So the recipe for this is that you lay down a layer of ice cream sandwiches, a layer of jell-o pudding (she used cookies & cream), another layer of ice cream sandwiches, a healthy coating of coolwhip, and then crushed Oreos on top. My only problem with it was the way the jell-o froze. I just don't like the way it freezes and crunches... it's unnatural or something and just kind of ruined the whole treat for me --- yes, I could let it sit and melt to get soft, but it's the middle layer so it's the last part to melt and I'm just not that patient.

Ice Cream Filled Cake

Ok, it's good old fashion combo time for cake #2. There's pretty much no end to how many combinations you can work out here. Our particular experiment is a layer of Friendly's Black Raspberry ice cream between layers of dark chocolate cake. The frosting is chocolate jell-o mixed into CoolWhip (note: i just saw limited edition chocolate coolwhip at the grocery store so that would save a step). If you've been reading the blog for a long time, you may remember I made some chocolate chocolate chip cookie black raspberry ice cream sandwiches so we had a feeling this was going to be a pretty good combo. I like how it turned out, but if we do it again I think I would try to find a way to add some crunch to it. The coolwhip is just fluff so if we could add some crunchy flat chocolate chips into the cake or frosting somehow i think the creamy raspberry + chocolate cake +  nice crunch would be just awesome.

This is why.....

Housecleaning #2: This is why I need to try harder when reviewing products

You might recognize these as the "NEW" Strawberry Milkshake Poptarts. I like to throw a box of poptarts into the cabinet now and then so I bought these back during an April shopping trip when I also bought the DQ Oreos. I thought it would be cool to do back to back, ice cream themed product posts. Unfortunately when I tried then back in April, the filling was this disgusting, liquidy stuff that I REALLY did not enjoy. I don't do slimy. I was so unamused that I left them in the cabinet and never posted anything.

Well, when I joked that these were so bad that they were "rotting" in the cabinet, I meant it. Now even though these are supposedly good 'til March of 2011, you can see they have gone bad. Whatever was making the filling liquidy has now been sucked up into the sugar frosting -  it's those dark red spots that didn't use to be there. The filling is now dry like a regular poptart. I didn't like them before and I'm sure not about to try them again now.

Walgreens Belgian Chocolate Chip Delight lowfat Ice Cream

[New? for 2010] I've said it before and I'll say it again: "Yes, Walgreens (the pharmacy) makes their own ice cream". In fact, they are now branching out with no sugar added and light ice creams (there was a fair sized sticker on the freezer pointing this fact out). Now I believe that they've started out with just two delight flavors: Vanilla and Belgian Chocolate Chip. Let's dig in!

Commence Live Blogging

Walgreens Belgian Chocolate Chip Delight

Lowfat Chocolate Ice Cream with Chocolate Flavored Chips

Blue Bunny Strawberry Sundae Crunch Bar

Housecleaning #1: Blue Bunny sent over a few coupons to get more of their stuff on the blog, and then they sent a few more for the blog's 2 year anniversary. I was more than happy to accept since over the last two years I've really come to aprpeciate the amount of effort that goes into blue bunny treats. This is one of those purchases.

(Sorry for the flash reflection) The Strawberry Sundae Crunch Bar is Strawberry Center in Vanilla Flavored Ice Cream with Crunch Topping. It's similar to the Strawberry Shortcake Bar from Good Humor.

Ben & Jerry's Phish Food Froyo

I'm not sure how I never noticed this before, but did you know there is a Phish Food froyo? It's been almost a year and a half since I tried light Phish food so I can't compare taste for taste, but thankfully I can read what I wrote.

Ben & Jerry's Phish Food Froyo is Chocolate Frozen Yogurt with (ooey) Gooey Marshmallow, a Caramel Swirl & Fudge Fish.

National Ice Cream Cone Day

September 22 is indeed National Ice Cream Cone Day which means it's a great day to get an ice cream cone at lunch! The funny thing is that we did a poll awhile back where only 6% of people said they prefer to eat from ice cream cones, but hey, this is a ice cream aisle based website, so it's not too shocking where our fan base lies.

Cone reviews:
Oreo Cones
Joy Waffle Cones
Waffle Bowls

Ice Cream Cone reviews:
Nestle Vanilla Caramel Drumstick
Blue Bunny Champ Variety Pack
Blue Bunny Hot Fudge Brownie Champ
Blue Bunny Camp Mini Swirls! Vanilla and Birthday Party
M&M Ice Cream Cone
Nestle Lil' Drums
Philly Swirl (epic fail) Cereal Conez
Skinny Cow Cone
Stone Ridge Creamery Mini Cones
Weight Watcher's Chocolate Cone
Weight Watches Double Caramel Swirl Ice Cream Cone

Ben & Jerry's Limited Edition Snickerdoodle Cookie Ice Cream

You know, you would think blogging about ice cream would be easy. Either you like it or you don't really... no,it's more than just that, plus there are outside factors. Today's outside factor? I was hungry, way too hungry. I inhaled my first serving before I had even formulated a half decent opinion.

Ok, as always: Here is Snickerdoodle Cookie from Ben & Jerry's. It's Buttery Cinnamon Ice Cream Loaded with Snickerdoodle Cookies. I think Buttery Cinnamon should be in ( )s, but more on that later.

Toppings: NEW Sweet Moments Bite Size Brownies

Remember how I said that Breyers Vanilla Caramel Brownie was kind of boring and in desperate need of more brownie bits? Well, I found the solution to my problem. Sure, it's a bit like using a sledge hammer to drive in small finishing nails, but at least it gets the job done.

These are the new " Decadent & Delicious", Sweet Moments Bite-size, Chocolate Fudge, Ready to Eat Brownies from Pillsbury. Wow, that was a mouthful. They also come in caramel, but my ice cream demands chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate.

Here they are upclose and personal. They aren't quite the same as the packaging, but close enough I guess. Now I didn't marr the thick outer shell, they just come that way.  Notice the thick, dark, fudgy strip in the middle. Then we have solid brownie layers above and below that. The whole thing is then covered with a thick, chocolaty shell. They aren't quite a full inch cube, but they are big enough that I was able to easily cut it multiple times to make 8 small cubes per brownie bite. Actually, let me put it this way. It says brownie bite, but it's a BIG bite. You'll be tempted to inhale the first one as a whole bite, but at 21% saturated fat for a serving of three, I'm guessing you'll be biting them in half after you try the first one.

Describing them is a little tough. Now you will find them in the refridgerated section of the grocery store and personally, I've never really eaten refridgerated brownies. I mean, I've had the cold brownies you find in DQ treats, but that's it. I leave my brownies out so they are room temp (well, if I haven't eaten them all when they are still warm and fresh from the oven). So my intial impression is that of a cold, somewhat dried out, brownie bite with a crackable shell. It's definitely not an ooey gooey, oily brownie, and it's not like eating a bite of fudge, though I guess fudge can be a little dry too depending on how it's made. Basically, the coldness and the somewhat dry texture make them seem like they aren't that fresh. Now all in all these bites aren't bad, but I'm certainly not head over heels for them. Maybe you can warm them up, but it said ready to eat, so I ate them!

And here's how they look on a sundae. Oh yeah, that Breyers is way more exciting now! So how does it taste? Well, remember that sledge hammer comment? These brownie bites, even when cut into little cubes, still pack a massive punch. You might try one and go "yeah, that's not bad, pretty chocolately", but the effect is cumulative and I found myself overwhelmed with chocolate flavor. Granted, I didn't dump enough ice cream in my bowl, but I wound up leaving several brownie chunks in my bowl when all was said and done. I was happy and full and my chocolate urge satisfied, so why push it by eating too much.

Conclusion: Sweet moments is something you'll pick up once to try, but I don't see repetitive purchases in my future. (I also have the big heatable version in my fridge, we'll review those soon)

Our Trip to Vermont

Greetings fellow ice cream lovers. Ever since my field trip to Ben & Jerry's, my wife has been wanting to make the trip herself. Sure it's a four hour voyage, but it's not like we get to travel much, in fact, we haven't really attempted a vacation since taking our daughter to Disney almost 3 years ago. It's Vermont, and it's not leaf peeping season or ski season, so we didnt plan on staying a week, we just wanted to see if we could take our first long weekend trip as a family of four.

Ok, maybe I'm not starting this story very well. I always have trouble when I have seventeen points to make and they all trying coming out at once. Let's recap the old fashion way to get started.

Friday:

We head up to VT. We stopped at the Real Good Toys Dollhouse outlet... it's not what you call a "big" place... "immensely tiny" might be more appropriate.

We headed back to Route 89 and stopped at that place of places, Ben & Jerry's Waterbury plant. The original plant that is the mecca for us ice cream addicts. Problem is, the tour wasn't quite the same as the blogger tour I took. More on this later because it involves a call to Ben & Jerry's PR group.

Looking for a happy way to wrap up our day, we zoomed up 89 and down Route 7 to the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory. We took the 4 o'clock tour with one other family. Unfortunately, production had already wrapped up for the week (it is late Friday afternoon after all). Our daughter had fun learning about the teddy bears and baby boy had fun wandering around making new friends with the few employees who were finishing up their days.

Saturday:

Now originally we were suppose to head up to Vermont on labor day weekend, but due to a production break, we postponed for one week. Lucky for us, that meant we came during this year's SEABA Art Hop. In particular, we checked out the Kid's art hop put on by Davis Studios. Our daughter had a great time so a big thanks to them for sponsoring this new part of the art hop.

Wanting to be responsible, educational parents, and hoping to give baby boy a new experience, we hit up ECHO Lake Aquarium and boy would I like my $30 back. We saw a few fish from Lake Champlain, a few frogs and turtles, a snake, oh, and an eel hiding under a branch. While the aquarium is modern and well kept, it was immensely boring. It's my own fault I guess for not reading up more closely. The highlight was probably the weather reporter exhibit.

Reeling from the aquarium but determined to enjoy a most beautiful day, we headed for Church Street marketplace. Basically four blocks of outdoor shopping, and do you know what's near the north end of the marketplace? Ben & Jerry's flagship store. Baby boy fell asleep in his stroller, so I kept him outside while my wife & daughter spent a literal 20 minutes getting us all some ice cream. The good news is that the Milk & Cookies milkshake was fantastic (imagine a chocolate, cookies & cream flavor to the milkshake) --- CMP also had activities this weekend. There was music, a magician, painted cow statues, and we even let our daughter pick up a small print for her room from a local artist.

Sunday:

Well, Sunday didn't go to well. Baby boy was pretty much awesome up 'til now but it looks like we wore him out. He must have reached a milestone because he's never as been so friendly and outgoing as he was this weekend. Unfortunately, he woke up super early Sunday morning, was super cranky, and kept going for the door and saying "go car". We decided to pack it up and head home early.

We will miss Vermont with it's fresh air, beautiful terrain, and less stressful atmosphere. Overall it was a good practice run for us. It was still tiring, and there were hiccups, but overall I think it went surprisingly well.

WAIT WAIT WAIT, what about Ben & Jerry's???

Oh yeah, now that I got all the fluff out of the way, I need to talk about what you really want to know. I think two things have been well established on this blog. First, I love snacking and in particular I LOVE ice cream. Second, I was deeply enamoured with Ben & Jerry's after they spoiled me for three days. I already loved them to begin with, but then to be spoiled by one of my favorite companies, well, how was I suppose to react?

Seeing all of my excitement and energy when I returned from the blogger bash, my wife has long wanted to take a trip to Waterbury. It's just one of those things you do. It wont change the world and it wont change you, but let's call it a bucket list item that needs to be done.

Now I contacted Ben & Jerry's PR group before heading up because I wanted to do the trip right. I discovered that production had been halted for the long labor day weekend, so we bumped our visit 'til the following friday. I mean, what's the point of driving four hours just to NOT see production.

Well, we got to the plant and bought four tickets for the 2:30 tour. It's not really expensive, it's just 3 dollars for adults and the kids are free (as it should be). Now keep in mind I am coming in as random anonymous daddy guy, not mr. fancy pants blogger guy.

As we stand there waiting, my wife hears that there is no production today. I tell her that they said there should be, but I never checked back in to verify (the room was booked and vacation days had been taken, it was too late to change). The tour begins and our tour guide starts with the jokes, but the jokes are a little, ummm, unexpected. Ahh, maybe he's just trying to break the ice because there is indeed no production today. Bummer, five months of waiting and production is down. Egg on my face... anyway, we watch the movie and then head onto the mezzanine to see the production floor being cleaned. There is a video that shows the floor when production is running and our tour guide is keeping the stories flowing, but something isn't right.

You see at first our tour guide just seemed to have a very dry, sarcastic sense of humor but we started to realize that he's not being silly, he's being serious. He's... dismayed shall we say because production isn't running for us to see. He's spent a huge part of his life making ice cream, and here he is giving a tour that just shows his fellow coworkers scrubbing everything down (at least it's nice and clean down there). He mentions that the newer, better, bigger, stronger, faster plant to the north is where all the cost-effective ice cream making action is. All in all, it's a bit depressing really. Part of it is because I feel like I've disappointed my family, and the other part is that I've disappointed myself. During my April visit when production was humming, everyone had a smile on their face. Now, I'm standing here confused. What has gone wrong?

Totally unsettled, I put an email into Ben & Jerry's and we arranged to have a meeting on the phone. I will honestly admit that there was part of me that didn't even want to bring up my trip, and that point was reinforced by my wife who started thinking "well, maybe he was having a bad day, we don't want anyone to lose his job".  I mean, it's totally possible that we just overreacted. 99.999% of people haven't been spoiled like I was, so maybe it's just that. Well, I'm a blogger so I need to tell my story, but before I begin, it's time to talk with PR and have them help put everything back into context.

Ok, let's see if we can put this conversation in a useful order.

First off, I have awful timing. We came when summer production has slowed down and before the fall tourist season has started up. Just like any other company, Ben & Jerry's has to forecast demand. There's a reason new england ice cream shoppes will be closing up for the season in the next several weeks and that's the same slowing demand Ben & Jerry's has to plan for. For future reference: beginning of fall and holidays are usually slow. Production should pick up at the beginning of the year when it's time to crank out new flavors....  maybe Hannah Teeter's Maple Blondie will make a comeback! (I did tell Jerry I would start an internet campaign to bring it back, I should probably work on that)

Second, it's important to keep in mind that these people have been making ice cream for a long time and it's what they love to do. We all want to be busy and do our part in life. I know I get frustrated when I can't do my job, so why shouldn't they be passionate about not doing theirs. Also, it helps to know these people are still employed and still getting their weekly paycheck regardless of whether production is running or not. Ben & Jerry's does their best to keep everyone as full time employees. When production is running six days a week, OVERTIME! When production is 4 days a week, well, they try to retask people as much as possible to keep them busy.

Third, there are conversations going on about how to keep Waterbury running and I'm going to encourage you to hound Ben & Jerry's to keep them focused on figuring out this issue. If you go to the plant and production is down and you're bummed, let them know. Send emails. Give them a sign and let them know how important it is to actually see our favorite stuff get made. It's funny to think about it from a business and efficiency angle, but you really do have to start thinking things like which flavors are most cost effective in waterbury, can they run at least one line at a time, can they pace themselves differently, all that stuff. We were there for about an hour and saw two tour buses come in. PR mentioned that 12-20 buses might stop in a day during peak (leaf peeping) tourist season. That's A LOT of people who are kind of counting on ice cream being made.

So, while I was pretty freaked out, Ben & Jerry's helped me put things back into perspective. They reminded me of something I had heard at the blogger bash: "if a business isn't growing, it's dieing". That really is the truth and just reinforces what I learned. As great as they may be, they are still just a company, a living, breathing, non-magical company that has good intentions but still needs to play by the rules of capitalism. Ben & Jerry's needs to grow and be competitive and sometimes that means I don't get to see ice cream being made. Yes, it's a shock. Yes, I'm still bummed. Will we head back again? Hopefully someday. Maybe if they are having a big event we can go back up and report back to everyone.

Now keep up the good fight Ben & Jerry! and please keep that Waterbury plant cranking!

Note: we actually had a few signals get crossed so I missed out reporting on the caring dairy event they had Saturday, so my apologies for that.

Quick Review: Lindy's Strawberry Italian Ice

I've had several of these on the blog, so I'll keep this quick.

here it is on the outside

and here's the inside (looks like frozen bubblegum)

If you can get past the odd color, you will find that this particular Lindy's flavor, well, it doesn't actually taste like the others. Instead of a strong, candy like flavor, it has a very mellow, almost natural, strawberry flavor. I was totally shocked (and pleasantly surprised). I guess not all flavors are created equal.

Turkey Hill Baked Apple Dumpling Ice Cream

I've probably said this before, but I always get a kick out of the availability of limited edition flavors. Case in point: my recent survey of Turkey Hill limited editions flavors. Sure, I can still pick up July's Chunky Peanut Butter which isn't that much of a stretch BUT along with the seasonal (August) Baked Apple Dumpling I could have also picked up April's Fried Ice Cream. Maybe Market Basket is just trying to mess with me this September. Whatever the deal, I decided Baked Apple Dumpling was the cinnamon ice cream I was more in the mood for.

Turkey Hill Baked Apple Dumpling Ice Cream

Cinnamon Ice Cream with Caramel Apple Swirl and Apple Dumpling Pieces

It's basically the same general idea as Edy's (chewy) Apple Pie... but I digress.

MELTDOWN from Eat This NY

Hey everybody, we just got back from Vermont.  Now 'til I get organized, I have a video for you. Fellow ice cream lover Brian produces a webseries about eating in New York. I just checked out episode #3. It's entitled "MELTDOWN" and it's about one man's search for the best ice cream in town. Go watch it because we all could use a laugh!

Purity Dairies Ice Cream

Question: Anyone ever had Purity Dairies ice cream?

Purity is the home of the Nutty Buddy (now in 1.5 quart form)

Their products currently can be found in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama. They are based in Nashville if you want a plant tour, or if you are like me, you'll have to settle for the Online Tour. (They are owned by Dean Foods)

You know, it really is scary to think about how many dairies there are out there making up the multi-billion dollar U.S. ice cream industry.... actually, it's not scary, it's more sad, sad as in I'll never get to experience them all!

Maybe I can pitch a new Food Network show: The Great American Ice Cream Road Trip

Mini DQ Blizzards ...mine was M&M

man, I just cant seem to catch a writing break these last several days....

Anyway, we headed to DQ saturday afternoon, but rather than get our usually smalls, we decided to go with the minis. Sure the size may be about half, but that doesnt mean the price is half (they were $2.59 a piece)

Sorry, I forgot to bring something to use as a size comparison, so I went with a 16.9fl oz water bottle... or just look at the size of the spoon compared to the size of the dessert.

Epic Fail: New PhillySwirl Cereal Conez

[Discontinued] I was pretty excited the week before last when I found the NEW PhillySwirl Cereal Conez. Sure they has an awful name, but I do love cereal, so how could I possibly resist? I mean, I've waited five long months since the impulsive buy's kayla first reviewed these and I couldn't wait to surprise my daughter with them last Saturday.

So here we go: A 4 pack of "cereal cone(s) with marshmallows from your favorite cereal". 2 are chocolate marshmallow swirl and 2 are vanilla. Unfortunately both come in nondescript white wrappings BUT if you look closely, you can see through the paper and see which is swirl and which is vanilla.