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.

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.

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%

 Ok, it wasn't very nice of me to try and make people guess what this was:

Having read the blog title, you now know that hiding inside that nondescript white plastic pouch is the baby brother of the regular Klondike bar - the Klondike 100 Calorie per bar ( formerly slim-a-bear ). I thought they came in a few flavors, but checking the website, Vanilla appears to be your only choice unless you want the sugar free Krunch version.

Unfortunately I don't have a regular Klondike bar to show the size difference, but it is considerable. I once said that a regular klondike bar is devoured in about 9 bites (3x3). Well, baby brother is much thinner and could easily be taken out in 4 bites (2x2).

Ok, I was having a little trouble writing this review ....so I decided to have another one (that's the third one this week). I'm a man of few words, so I think this past week has cost me at least a month's worth of talking. Thankfully, a frozen treat dislodged some thoughts from my memory and got me going again.

The 100cal version is about a half inch thick, and without doing a direct side by side comparison to a regular klondike, my overall feeling is that the ice cream to chocolate ratio has been thrown off. We all know that the Klondike shell has a unique flavor all to itself. Not just chocolate, but there is a little something mixed in, but a nice overall balance is struck between the shell and the ice cream inside. When you bite into this treat, it's the chocolate that is trying to be the major flavor. Klondike chocolate has always had this mild coffee/toffee/mocha vibe to it, but with less ice cream to balance it out, it seems to be more potent here ...or maybe it is just more potent in general. It's not awful or anything like that, but it's not what I was hoping for either. That vibe also permeates that aftertaste as I'm left with a funky chocolaty aftertaste rather than a typical and fairly balanced regular Klondike aftertaste.

It's not 100% obvious in the picture above, but the artificially flavored vanilla low fat ice cream is bright white, but when isn't faux vanilla bright white in any low cal treat? hmmmm, wonder why that is? Oh well, a "stimulating" debate for another day. I tried a chunk of the ice cream by itself. It has decent texture, but the flavor is, well, beyond mild. I know it was a small bite, but I had trouble detecting any hints of vanilla (though this could have been due in part to the residual chocolaty aftertaste).

One thing to keep in mind is that while the ice cream is low fat, the box explicitly states "Not a Low Fat Food. See Nutrition Information for Saturated Fat Content."(that's the writing at the bottom/center of the box there). Here in lies my final point. Klondike has managed to shave off some of the total fat content, but the saturated fat content is still fairly similar to a regular Klondike bar.

Now think about this: would you rather have this plain little 100 calorie version OR would you rather try to control yourself and crack a regular Klondike in half? The unique Klondike wrapping is specifically designed to allow you to have some of the treat and still be able to rewrap it and save some for later, so why not break one in half, attempt to eat it slowly, and save the rest for tomorrow? Ok, I'm not sure I could do it either, but at least you could enjoy the real thing.

Oh, I finally made my first trip to a Market Basket, got some extra goodies to devour over the weekend. Let's see how many posts I can pull off!

sorry, crazy busy here at work right now. The awesome news is that after three months of worrying, it looks like I get to keep my job! woohoo! My position is often recklessly regarded as non-essential and I've already been let go twice during acquistions this millenia, but our new owners are apparently much wiser than my previous ones and I should be good to go. I guess the third time really is the charm.

Now if the baby will keep up his trend of actually sleeping through the night, I'll be back at 100% blogginess.

If I can swing it, I'll try to get a review up tonight!

I am a hardcore snacker, no doubt about it. I love having a variety of food in the house. The snack cabinet is a double wide, 3 shelf section of our cabinet devoted to snacking goodness, but it doesn't end there. I love my cereals. How many cereals do you have in your cabinet? 2, 3. We technically have 13 at the moment. That's right, 13 flavors of cereals. Don't believe me?

We have:

1. raisin bran (only kellogg's will do)
   
2. frosted mini wheats - bite size
   
3. chocolate mini wheats (for my daughter)
4. trix (for my daughter)
5. honey kix (good late night snack)
6. frosted rice krispies
   
7. jumbo rice crispies (tried 'em, not a big fan)
8. apple jacks
9. some granola cereal (tried to be healthy)
10. maple & brown sugar life (had to try them, not bad)
11. corn pops (for my daughter, unopened)
    
12. honey nut cheerios (the classic, but I prefer multigrain)
13. BRANDY NEW chocolate cheerios.

 granted some of these are older than others, and one or two might have gone stale, I have to check, but I love cereal. I wasn't really sure what to think when I first saw the impulsive buy announce them but when I saw them on sale at the grocery store last night, I couldn't resist ($2.50 instead of $3.99). I've never been a huge fan of chocolate cereals, it just seems wrong, but it's cheerios which means it still has all of the usual redeeming value of eating cheerios.

I tried them last night and surprisingly enough I liked them. They don't have any nasty artificial or overpowering smell and the taste was surprisingly pleasant. They made a nice snack, though I don't know if I will actually eat these for breakfast. However, to be fair to the blog, I will be eating these as an ice cream topping (at least for today).

I tried it on Breyers Snickers ice cream first. Not bad, not sure how I like it with the caramel though. Next up was cheerios on Stone Ridge Peanut Butter Cup ice cream. Not bad, but I'm forgetting about the cheerios and going after the ice cream. Ok, one more try. I put them with some Turkey Hill Strawberries and Cream. Not bad, the chocolate makes the strawberry flavor stand out a bit more.

You know what? When I think about how these taste, it kind of reminds me of the excellent Oreo Ice Cream Cones we had awhile back. Go ahead and try these, with or without ice cream.

Coupon: There is a 50 cents off coupon on the Cheerios website right now.

Congrats to Sylvie for guessing the next flavor, I'm guessing she recognized the little circular peace signs found in Ben & Jerry's ( John Lennon ) Imagine Whirled Peace. I thought this flavor had been out for awhile, but the label still says "new!" so how could I resist? I can't, plain and simple, so here it is!

I don't know why I haven't tried this one sooner but it certainly has my attention now: Caramel & Sweet Cream Ice Creams Swirled with Fudge Peace Signs & Toffee Cookie Pieces. The only thing that I'm afraid of here is the fact we've gone over 10g of saturated fat per serving. I know it's Ben & Jerry's and this isn't unusual for them, I just hope the taste justifies the dietary cost.

Wow!  Talk about chuck full of tasty bites! Oh yeah, I'm excited! Now I know where all the fat is coming from - an excessive and most glorious over-serving of toffee and fudge bits! Did I say wow already? let me say it again: WOW! Must! dig! in! immediately!

I dig in and it's a nice pleasant flavor, not too strong but not too mellow either. If you look closely at the image above, you can just barely make out the swirls of white sweet cream ice cream inside the off-white caramel ice cream. If you've read the blog for awhile, you know I tend to appreciate a nice middle of the road flavor. I don't want to be bored by my choice, but I don't want to be cracked over the head with the baseball bat of flavor either. This base is nice, real nice, in regards to both flavor and texture.

The toffee cookie bits are unique, but like the base, they aren't overpowering. I guess that's the beauty of toffee cookie bits instead of toffee candy bits. They're somewhat mushy little chunks of mild toffee taste that accent the overall flavor. Even if you scoop just a bit with only a smidge of ice cream, you still won't be turned off by a strong toffee taste. I don't know if I'm over thinking it, but I want to say there is a bit of an oatmeal cookie vibe going on here.

Last, and by no means least, we have a nice plentiful collection of fudge peace signs. They aren't in every bite, but there is more than enough of these crunchy little treats. The peace signs are a little bit smaller than a dime, but are about 3/16" of an inch thick. I'd love to know how much effort went into these peace signs because they've tweaked the thickness and recipe just right so that they have this great crunch when you bite into them. Maybe it's not that hard to do, but it comes across as a unique add in, definite bonus points!

Do I love this new flavor? Is it the best B&J flavor ever? Not quiet, but it's up there. My only complaint is 11g of saturated fat which is going to make this tasty pint an occasional treat and not a regular treat. I know not every pint of Ben & Jerry's can be unique, but I really do appreciate a flavor like this one. A nice overall pleasant flavor with very distinct crunchy peace signs. Let's not forget the overall message of giving peace a chance! There is a link on the pint but it no longer works, but the container still has a special peace message for you. I'd say what it is, but it just seems wrong to ruin the surprise. You're going to just have to go buy a pint and find it for yourself.
On Second Scoop: Simple Recap: This is a nice flavor, I'll be sad when it's gone (which will be in about 5 minutes when my daughter finishes off the last of it)

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1/2 cup (100g) Servings Per Container 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories 270	from Fat 150
	% Daily Value*
Total Fat 16g	25%
- Sat Fat 11g	56%
- Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 65mg	22%
Sodium 105mg	4%
Total Carbohydrate 28g	9%
- Dietary Fiber 0g	1%
- Sugars 25g
Protein 4g
Vitamin A 10%	Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 10%	Iron 2%

It said new on the container, so I bought it. There is a tale tell clue in this picture, but it's hard to make it out. I'll try to post the review tomorrow morning, it's a tasty one!

I ran to BJs (wholesale club) at lunch, and what do they now have??

AMERICONE DREAM in a quart! Five dollars and 99 cents worth of tasty awesomeness.

Ohhhh, if only I didn't have to go back to work.

So the other day I was venting a bit about how way too often things posing as "snacks" even though they have high saturated fat content. Sure this is an ice cream blog and I'm probably being too picky, but I'm tired and I'm cranky, and only some awesome treats can bring me back from the brink of going just a little too crazy.

With this rash of blabbering in mind, I decided to put my money where my mouth is ...wait, money's pretty germy ...I decided to put my credit card where my mouth is and spied Weight Watchers Ice Cream sandwiches on sale this week. Usually a box of six is $5.29, but this week's price of $3.99 is a bit more tempting for my sampling needs. I'm not expecting much, but total fat and saturated fat clocks in at a very meager 3%, so how can I resist?

The grocery store is less than a mile from work, but that was more than enough time for me to polish off my first sandwich. I unwrapped the very tidy looking ice cream sandwich with it's bright white filling and took my first bite. Not bad actually. The wafer to filling ratio is big enough to leave you will a somewhat traditional chocolaty wafer taste in your mouth. Ice cream sandwiches are a marriage of two great tastes, but in my mind, the wafer should be the more prevalent taste.


I just did a quick search and the general consensus is people like these treats, and I understand why, but the reviews always seem to gloss over the fact of how dry the wafers are. I'm not sure if you can see just how dry (and almost flaky) those wafers are in the picture. I got stuck a few times as I was eating, but still, it's not as sticky as I remember the Skinny Cow ones being, plus, these taste better. They don't really taste artificial or have some super funky aftertaste and both of those facts are always greatly appreciated.

Final verdict: Not awesome, but at 3% fat, I could see squirming these little buggers into a new year's diet plan. I was actually going to have a second one, but decided that just seemed a bit wrong for a weight watchers product, though, that doesn't mean I can't have another one in a half hour or so.



On Third Scoop: Let it melt a little bit, it will help disguise the dryness a bit!

Ok, i know I've been babbling alot between reviews recently, but I've been trying to remember that when I started this blog, I meant to do more than just review ice cream. I had hoped not to just celebrate ice cream and find new flavors, but to celebrate the impact a new treat can have on one's mood. I don't know, maybe I still do that a bit, but I don't know if I do it enough.

Case in point, I received a Friendly's gift card after I had helped someone out in a pinch. It's a very appropriate gift for someone like me, but I've actually been hesitant to use it. You see, up until today, I've never been to Friendly's by myself. I've never worried while heading to DQ or a small place like Uhlman's, and I know I'm probably just over thinking it, but when you've spent a few decades ALWAYS going to a place with other people, it's really weird going by yourself.

Well, I went today, and it just wasn't the same. After waiting a few minutes for someone to finally be able to help me, I tried cheating by ordering a Friend-z (faux blizzard) with the plan of eating it in the car just like I do at DQ. That plan was quickly thwarted by a soft serve machine that had just been refilled and needed time to chill. I had to get back to work, so I decided to order a peanut butter sundae, one of my favorite things on the Friendly's menu. I forked over my $5.66 (off the gift card) and headed out.

Eating a sundae out of a styrofoam cup in my car just wasn't the same as sitting inside and slowly enjoying the treat before me. Not to be sappy, but I missed my wife and daughter. My wife would probably be having a big Chocolate Fribble while my daughter would have a giant smile on her face as she dug into the new Camp Friendly's Sundae (those are Oreo Brownie "logs" you see in the picture). Maybe my sundae just wasn't made that well, it did seem kind of weak, but the ambiance and company were definitely missing.

What's my point? I'm too tired to remember. I guess it's that tradition is a hard thing to break, especially after 20+ years. That, and sometimes there is more to ice cream than just the ice cream. Share the love!

(maybe Ebert can explain it better)

Ok, one of the the treats buried in my freezer (and my foggy memory) was a box of Eskimo Pie Nestle Butterfinger Crisp Flavored Bars & Nestle Crunch Crisp Flavored Bars. Now when I say buried, I mean I first opened this box a good 3 months ago at the beginning of October. The Eskimo Pie products always grab my attention, maybe because they've been "Pleasing Families Since 1921". The problem is whenever I go to grab a box, I flip it over and see the nutritional info. It's not pretty. Each bar weighs over just an ounce yet has 5g of saturated fat in it (8g total). Yes, just like those new Hood bars I was complaining about on Friday. I just don't get why a "snack" has to be this unhealthy. It's not like you can eat just one and go "yeah, I'm good". Seriously, do you ever eat the 2 cookie "serving" on a box of Oreos and go "yeah, I'm good"? No, you go back for a second serving (and when I was a kid, a third serving). Sorry, I'm venting, let's get to the treat.

Ok, here's a tough one: which is which? The Butterfinger is the one with the bits ....can't tell can you? it's OK! I know which is which because I just took the picture, but honestly, there is no discernible difference between the two on the outside. The Crunch is on the left, Butterfinger on the right. Here, let's make it more obvious.

Sorry about the image quality on the right, but as you can now guess, the brown Crunch is still on the left and the mildly orange Butterfinger is on the right. I guess I expected rice bits or something in my crunch, but no such luck. I guess in the end it wouldn't matter if the shell was a respectable facsimile of the candy bars they mimic.

Now my memory is a little fuzzy from October, so I thought I would try the ones I had left in the freezer but they weren't so good anymore ...ok, I sampled one of the Crunches (which kinda tasted like butterfinger) but the Butterfinger had turned quite funky and quickly "retired" to the trash can.

No worries, we'll go with what  I do remember, and what I remember is being unimpressed. The Butterfinger reminded me of the King Sized Butterfinger I had forever ago. Unfortunately, that is not a compliment. It's ok, it just doesn't wow me like I want it to. I'll stick to regular butterfingers ...or 5th avenues ...or ....Oh nevermind. The Crunch is also ok, but it's just so underwhelming. I like my candy flavored ice cream to remind me of eating my favorite treat, and that just doesn't happen here on either count.

To wrap up, I'll close with what might be a running theme on the blog. I'm OK with calories and fat content as long as the treat is awesome enough to justify said fat and calories. Is that too much to ask? am I being to picky? I have no problem snacking on Ben & Jerry's now and then because the taste is worth it.

Ok companies, time to either give me a healthier treat or a tastier treat. Now drop the partially hydrogenated oils and go build me a real treat. I'll be here waiting.

greetings, I'm still here, still eating interesting food, I'm just crazy tired from a long week and some early spring cleaning (not that I can see my desk yet, but hey, it's been a busy year).

I really really REALLY need to get the backlog of treat reviews out of my brain. They'll probably be a little short and to the point, but better to get them out there then lose them forever. I think there are 4 (or is it 5) wedged in my brain.

In the meantime, check out the list of limited flavors over at the Turkey Hill blog. I was going to do a post about it, but now I don't have to. You have to try Box of Chocolates when it comes out! Also, I may not be big into mocha and coffee, but man am I tempted by "Double Dunker". I'll have to keep my eyes open for that one.

...besides falling asleep before I can tell you what ticks me off. It's the abuse of the term "snack" or "snack size". I was very quickly perusing the freezer aisle when I saw the NEW! snack bars coming from the people over at Hood. I'm growing so tired of partially hydrogenated this, artificial that, and all those freaky chemicals they label with letters instead of words because no one can pronounce them. What happened to really trying to make a true "snack"? These little 100 calorie snack bars have 5 grams of saturated fat in them (that's 25%). Do they assume no one will read the nutrition label, instead taking the box at face (front) value?

It's Friday and I'm very ready for the weekend. I'm also ready to be chowing down on some fresh treats but I'm coming to the point where I refuse to buy junk like this. The sad thing is, (1) 100 calorie pop isn't a full serving, a serving is 2 pops.

I shouldn't put all the blame on Hood, Eskimo Pie and Weight Watchers aren't any better with their "snack size" offerings. I actually have the eskimo pies one in the review queue. At least Eskimo Pie doesn't claim to be healthy like Weight Watchers does. (some weight watchers product, many are healthy, but why aren't all of them healthy?)

Sorry, had to vent, I just wish companies cared more about us. My daughter shares my love of trying new foods and she knows I always fall for "daddy, we never had these before, can we try them?". She saw yogurt pretzels the other day. Wow, sounds healthy, possibly tasty. Nope, same problem as these "snack bars", full of saturated fat. Found another brand on the other side of the store ...same problem.

Maybe they're trying to kill all of us to make room for new customers.....

Hello? companies? anybody care anymore? Hello???

hey everybody, just wanted to let you know I've been chowing down on mini fudge pops during these last few crazy days. actually, i went through the whole box last week and had to buy more since technically they were suppose to be for my daughter. Hopefully I'll post some thoughts on them soon (or the other half dozen treats I have backed up in the freezer). These crazy integration meetings are slowing down my reviewing (but not my ability to reach in the drawer and eat way too many cookies ...doh! out of cookies).

Side note: Too funny. Someone just posted a comment that the older reviews aren't nearly as compelling as the newer ones and I couldn't agree more. It has definitely been a learning process and at some point I would like to revisit some of the older flavors (I also feel bad because I think if you land on one of the really old posts, you're first reaction can easily be "this site is awful" and just move on). It always amazes me that I didn't even think to take pictures of the ice cream when I started. It's a blog ...about how tasty things look ....with no pictures ...oh my ....I'm learning, slowly but surely, I'll get there.

Have a good day everybody

Since dieting and fitness are always a popular New Years Resolution, I was thinking I should start the new year off with a healthy review. This is a frozen dessert blog, so that does narrow our choices somewhat, but have no fear, it's frozen yogurt time!

Up today is another one of Edy's Slow Churned Rich & Creamy Yogurt Blends. I've been meaning to get back to Edy's Blends ever since I met the rather enjoyable Berry Granola Crunch.I don't expect much from Edy's nowadays, but I am hoping that Black Cherry (flavored) Vanilla Swirl is a winner ...even though they had to add "flavored" on the label title ...that's not usually a good sign.


Well it looks more like Black Raspberry swirl then Black Cherry swirl, but there is definitely no mistaking the very cherry smell to this freshly opened container. Actually, I'm a little afraid because frozen treats really shouldn't smell that powerful, it's just, well, it's never a good sign (that makes two if you are counting).

I took my first bite and the flavor matches the taste - very potent. I'd hate to taste the black cherry by itself because even when it's swirled with Vanilla it is still a force to be reckoned with. It's not awful, but be prepared.

Texture is decent. The usual chewiness has quite kicked in yet, or the cherry flavor may have been throwing me off a bit. Overall it's fairly smooth and avoids that frozen milk texture.

I finished my bowl in decent time. I'm not overly thrilled with my experience since I had hoped for something a bit more mild, but overall it's not a bad product, it's just not working for me at the moment.