Turkey Hill Southern Lemon Pie Ice Cream

[By Nick] After yesterday's apple pie surprise, it's finally time to bring Nick Week to an end with another kind of pie: Southern Lemon Pie. For some reason I thought Dubba had reviewed this flavor long ago but it seems like all he did was do a PSA about it and never actually had the flavor (see the post here). And this is why I'm here, to try flavors Dubba doesn't want to. At least I'm adding to my already commanding lead in our contest in the process (now 5-2).

Turkey Hill Southern Lemon Pie Ice Cream

Tangy lemon ice cream swirled with whipped marshmallow and shortbread pieces

Dairy Queen Apple Pie Blizzard The September 2014 DQ Blizzard of the Month

[New for 2014] Hello! we interrupt the final post of Nick week to let you know that Dairy Queen has gone and given us an early fall surprise this weekend. Remember how I always say that the new Grill 'n Chill is awesome about being on time with new blizzards? Well, we were going to wrap up our family Saturday stuff with the Chips Ahoy blizzard when my wife goes "APPLE PIE BLIZZARD!". Wait, WHAT?? Sure enough, I look over and in the window is the new Apple Pie Blizzard and get this, the excellent Pumpkin Pie blizzard is back already!! I'm usually the first to complain about fall flavors coming in to early but I'm so stoked right now. Do I try Chips Ahoy again or do I go Apple pie? Oh man, what to pick??

DQ Apple Pie Blizzard

Banana Split Friday Night Fight

[By Nick] After my disappointing experience with Edy's Limited Edition Banana Split, I was on the hunt to find a proper banana split in a prepackaged form. Actually, that's a lie and this throw down has been about two years in the making. The problem was I could never find either of the two flavors. Thankfully my dad found me a pint of Banana Split (still in its old packaging) and with Haagen-Dazs chaning their Banana Split to a limited edition flavor, it suddenly became a lot easier to track down. so let's get on with this Split errrrr showdown!

Haagen-Dazs Banana Split vs Ben & Jerry's Banana Split

Adirondack Creamery Kulfi-Pistachio Cardamom Ice Cream

[By Nick] Along with their Caramel Apple flavor, I also picked up Adirondack Creamery's Kulfi-Pistachio Cardamom ice cream during my last trip to Niskayuna Co-op. I've been meaning to try more flavors incorporating pistachios and this one sounded pretty unique. While I know what cardamom is, I'm not too sure if I've ever tasted it. As for kulfi, yeah I have no idea what that even is. According to Adirondack, Kulfi is a frozen dessert from India that includes a mix of spices, pistachios and condensed milk. And I've now learned something new today.

Adirondack Creamery Kulfi-Pistachio Cardamom Ice Cream

Ciao Bello Sorbetto : White Peach Sangria and Wild Italian Strawberry Limonata

[By Nick, New for 2014] ‎Next up for Nick week is a double shot of sorbets I got for free, courtesy of Ciao Bella. Summer is coming to an end but these two flavors sound like they'd be able to make it feel like summer all year long.

Let's start things off with the Whole Foods exclusive Ciao Bello Wild Italian Strawberry Limonata sorbetto. This one basically sounds like a fancier version of strawberry lemonade. I'm a fan of that drink so I'm excited to see how it plays out in frozen form.

Nick and Nerd Lunch Episode 146

[By Nick] Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope you're all enjoying Nick Week so far. Today we're going to take a break from reviewing in favor of having some lunch with some nerds. You remember CT, Pax, and Jeeg from Nerd Lunch, right? Well, they invited me onto their show and I graciously accepted. I mean I've yet to be on a podcast while Dubba's voice has been all over the internet. On the menu for the podcast was Pop Culture Food Stuffs in which each of us took turns creating our own food /drink lines based on you guessed it, pop culture references. Of course there's a twist though. While we were able to decide on what pop culture property and line of products we wanted to create, our fates were decided by one another in the later rounds.

or download the MP3 here

So get out your lunch boxes and give the show a listen. When you're all done, give me some feedback! How did you like my product lines? What would you have created? Is my voice as dreamy as Eric's of Junk Food Guy? Did I bash Dubba too much or not enough? Leave me a comment about anything! Who knows, maybe this will spark my appearance on other podcasts. *cough* The Nosh Show *cough*

Hood Old Orchard Beach Whoopie Pie Ice Cream

[By Nick] I don't believe we've ever talked about my feelings toward whoopie pies before on the site. To be blunt, I love them. I mean heck, Turkey Hill's seasonal version was one of the first ice creams Dubba and I ever talked about together. There's just something about that treat that makes them so magical. It still depresses me that I never got to try Ben & Jerry's Makin' Whoopie Pie and every time there's mention of a flavor being resurrected, I have hope that I'll be seeing that flavor returning to the shelves. With that said, when I saw Hood's new version I knew I had to grab it. Just look at the picture and read the description. The ice cream looks like it's an actual whoopie pie with the creme flavored middle ice cream. I feel like we might be seeing a trend here since Friendly's used the same approach with their Ice Cream Cake ice cream. I for one welcome this trend with open arms. Okay, enough with me rambling let's get straight to the ice cream.

Hood Old Orchard Beach Whoopie Pie Ice Cream

Chocolate and Crème Flavored Ice Cream Swirled with Cake Pieces

BANG!! Caffeinated Ice Cream

[By Nick] Welcome to Nick Week! I’m starting up college again and I thought this would be the perfect time to unload a bunch of backlogged reviews that I have before I lose my thoughts completely with business type knowledge. What better way to start off this week than with a BANG!! Well, BANG!! Ice Cream that is. Remember when I got that huge shipment from Chocolate Shoppe? Well they included their whole BANG!! line of flavors. I’ve been meaning to post this for a while but yeah, better late than never.

(click for larger image)

First off, how awesome is their packaging? It’s like a comic book for your ice cream! Everything about it is in your face and just so cool. I probably sound like a nerd (subliminal message?!?) but I just love the design so much. Okay, lets start things off with...

State of the New Freezer

I know I usually do these things at a minimum on May 8th (and sometimes on 8/8, 11/8, and 2/8), but well something happened last week that I mentioned on facebook and twitter but not on the blog yet because I was too busy cleaning up the mess of it all. See, sometime Thursday morning, the compressor stopped running on our fridge. I remember thinking something sounded funny as I grabbed my breakfast, but I'm not exactly the most awake person in the morning, so I went about my day like I always do. Oh if only I had been paying attention.

Just a sample of what was waiting for an official review....

Turkey Hill Deep Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

For those of you keeping track at home, the score is currently 1 to 4 in my battle with Nick to cover the most limited edition Turkey Hill flavors this year. I know, I know, I'm slacking, so let's make it 2 to 4 with a flavor that's been the limited edition August flavor since 2012 but this was the first year that I was actually able to easily pick up a carton of it.

Turkey Hill Deep Dark Chocolate Ice Cream

Robust dark chocolate ice cream with melt-in-your-mouth chocolaty slivers

Chips Ahoy! Ice Cream Cake

[By Nick] ‎If you don't know, I recently got my own apartment in an attempt to move closer to my new college. My mom thought it would only be appropriate to get me an ice cream cake as a going away present. While I was expecting her to grab one of those traditional friendlys / carvel cakes, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this Chips Ahoy! Ice Cream Cake in my freezer. I've been eyeing this one for about a year now but just couldn't find the right occasion to justify a purchase. Thankfully my mom knows me all too well.

Chips Ahoy! Ice Cream Cake

Creamy chocolate chip cookie flavored ice cream with CHIPS AHOY! cookie pieces

and chocolate chunks, topped with rich fudge and whipped icing &  chocolate chips!

Friendly's Ice Cream Cake Krunch Ice Cream Bars

[2018 Update] Apparently Friendly's tweaked the construction of these bars. I walked by them in Market Basket and something in the back of my brain went "something ain't right here". Looks like they've ditched the side by side tech and gone with the old school one flavor around the other tech (like an old school chocolate eclair ice cream bar). Original review is after the break but I did buy a box and they taste similar (aka still disappointing in the sense that they should be better).

Friendly's Ice Cream Cake Krunch Ice Cream Bars

Vanilla Flavored Ice Cream shell filled with a blue icing flavored ice cream core
and coated in chocolate flavored crunch

Baskin-Robbins Pralines n' Cream Ice Cream

[By Nick, new for 2014] It's been awhile since we've looked at these new grocery store Baskin-Robbin's faux pints so let's get the promising sounding Pralines n' Cream up next. You know the drill, I love caramel and I love pecans. So this should be an easy win for me right? Well there's only one way to find out!

Baskin-Robbins Pralines n' Cream Ice Cream

Vanilla flavored ice cream with praline-coated pecan pieces & caramel ribbon

Energy Drinks and the Nosh Show Episode 36

Hello! The Nosh Show episode #36 is now ready for your listening pleasure. We test drove a new liquefied segment which I summarily highjacked because I had already decided that I needed to become more familiar with the world of energy drinks. (Don't worry, we also talk about chips, candy, ice cream, cupcakes... you get the idea).

Yasso Peanut Butter Cup Frozen Greek Yogurt Bars

[New for 2014] I've been meaning to get Yasso on the blog for awhile now, but you guys know I always fear the Greek yogurt tang. Well, after the peanut butter enlightened review, you said I needed to try the new Yasso peanut butter bar, so, here we go!

Yasso Peanut Butter Cup Frozen Greek Yogurt Bars

peanut butter Greek frozen yogurt bars dipped in a dark chocolate flavored coating

Jeni's Goat Cheese with Red Cherries Ice Cream

[By Nick] After my tour of The Fresh Market a while back, I was given a bunch of coupons for $5 off my next shopping trip there. Seeing as I refuse to buy pints over $10 with my own money and Jeni's won't send me any samples no matter how much I beg (have you ever seen me tweet them? I'm pretty pathetic) I can't think of a better use than to use them on their pints. $6 per pint is still high in my book but that's the cheapest I'm likely be able to get them for. So armed with those coupons, I went in and scoped out my Fresh Market's selection.

Jeni's Goat Cheese with Red Cherries Ice Cream

Sweet/tart cherries balanced by the natural tang of pure goat cheese

Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter Ice Cream

[New for 2014] For those who don't know, my family is made up of cookie spread fans. We always have Biscoff cookies and Biscoff spread (with backups) in the cabinet. It has taken the place of peanut butter in our house and not more than a few days goes by before someone is enjoying a Biscoff filled sandwich (I always have mine with marshmallow fluff). I used it to spice up some boring cookie dough ice cream way back in 2011. I've even tried it on celery. It's just great stuff [Note: we don't do the Trader Joe's cookie butter because it's cross contaminated with nuts unfortunately].

Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter Ice Cream

Van Leeuwen Vegan Sicilian Pistachio A Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert

[By Nick] If you can recall, I was able to take home some pints with me from my Whole Foods tour. Well of course I had to pick up a couple of local brands that I honestly never heard of. The first of the two is Van Leeuwen who is based out of Brooklyn. There are a bunch of reasons why I picked this pint up. First, it was highly recommended by my tour guide. Second, the price tag is steep at almost $10 a pint which is Jeni's territory (wait, am I foreshadowing a future review?). Third, but probably the main reason, this is the first frozen dessert I've seen use cashew milk as their dairy substitute. Sure it's mixed with coconut milk, but still, I was very intrigued by this.

Van Leeuwen Vegan Sicilian Pistachio Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert

Wegmans Nutter Batter Ice Cream

[New for 2014] I had an hour to burn before Guardians of the Galaxy started up last week, so I decided to treat myself to some peanut butter ice cream. Rather than hitting a local scoop shop or cold stone or B&J's, I headed to Wegman's for a delightful sounding ice cream.

Wegmans Nutter Batter Ice Cream

Vanilla ice cream with peanut butter dough, caramel & peanut butter swirls

Turkey Hill Butter Pecan Light Cream

[By Nick, new limited edition for Jan-June] Time to extend my Turkey Hill sampling lead against Dubba with a double take of a couple new limited batch flavors. Both are from lines I've never tried before. Sure I've had no sugar added and greek froyo before, just not from Turkey Hill so this should be interesting. Since the Butter Pecan is technically no longer the current limited edition light/NSA flavor (it was the limited edition for January through June though I just finally found it), let's look at that one first.

Turkey Hill Butter Pecan Light Cream

Butter pecan flavored light ice cream with butter-roasted pecans (no sugar added)

Turkey Hill Raspberry Chokolata Greek Frozen Yogurt

[By Nick, limited edition for July-Sept 2014] Time to extend my Turkey Hill sampling lead against Dubba with a double take of a couple new limited batch flavors. Both are from lines I've never tried before. I just covered their light Butter Pecan, now onto the raspberry!

Turkey Hill Raspberry Chokolata Greek Frozen Yogurt

Raspberry Greek Frozen Yogurt swirled with melt-in-your-mouth chocolaty slivers

Trader Joe's Mini Mint Ice Cream Mouthfuls

So every so often I check on the Trader Joe's fearless flyer and see what's new at the store. There's usually something that catches my eye but I'm terrible about actually getting over there at lunch time. I mean I haven't been there since October! Well, I headed over today, but instead of grabbing the new "Hold the Cone!" mini ice cream cones, I picked up this old treat that somehow I've never noticed before.

Trader Joe's Mini Mint Ice Cream Mouthfuls

Mint Chip Ice Cream Between Chocolate Wafers

Edy's / Dreyer's Banana Split Slow Churned Ice Cream

[By Nick, New for 2014, back for 2015 & 2016] To say I was disappointed when Edy's finally announced their limited edition flavors for summer would be an understatement. None of them really stuck out to me as must tries. I can understand them bringing back a flavor from last year but I would've rather they have brought back the Salted Caramel Pretzel instead of German Chocolate Cake. We all know my feelings towards cheesecake so that was going to be left for Dubba to review. So that leaves me with....

Edy's / Dreyer's Fun 'n the Sun Banana Split Slow Churned Ice Cream

Banana light ice cream with fudge and "cherry-on-top" swirls

Dairy Queen Chips Ahoy! Blizzard the August 2014 Blizzard of the Month

[New for 2014] I've decided to start this post with a disclaimer. Yes, the disclaimer that your mileage will vary greatly with any and all DQ reviews. Mine was lacking, but maybe yours was better, I don't know. What I do know is that Chips Ahoy is celebrating their 50th birthday today, so what better day to head down to Dairy Queen and try the August blizzard of the month.

Dairy Queen Chips Ahoy! Blizzard

Chips Ahoy!® chocolate chip cookies, chocolaty topping, and choco chunks 

blended with creamy vanilla soft serve (official photo courtesy of DQ)

Monster Muscle Chocolate Energy Shake

Good morning evening everyone! A new Nosh Show is available now, episode 35, and yet again we talked about energy drinks for a little bit. I try to do a bit of mental show prep during my commutes and a thought ran through my mind: Why does no one make a caffeinated milk drink? I know of iced coffees and whatnot, but I mean a straight up chocolate milk with added caffeine.

Monster Muscle Chocolate Energy Shake

#Sundaes4Shelters at Saratoga Springs Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop

[By Nick] National Ice Cream Month might be over but I'm going to give you a reason to eat more ice cream sundaes if you live in my area. I've partnered up with the awesome folks over at the Ben & Jerry's in Saratoga Springs to raise money for a local charity. For the month of August, a portion of their proceeds from sundae sales will be going to Shelters of Saratoga. It's pretty simple, for each sundae sold, some of the proceeds will be going to help out Shelters of Saratoga. You don't have to mention it or anything (though of course I'll appreciate it if you say Nick or On Second Scoop sent you). So join #Sundaes4Shelters by heading over to 34 Phila Street in Saratoga Springs and getting your sundae fix. Not only will you be treating yourself, but you'll be doing good for others in the process. I know that not all of you will be able to participate in this but maybe it'll give you the initiative to talk with your local store to see if they can hold a fund-raiser for a charity that means something to you in your area.

While working out this promotion with the Saratoga Springs shop's owner Patrick, he offered me a banana boat of some of the new/limited batch flavors he had to offer. I haven't been in a scoop shop in years and there was no way I could turn down free ice cream. ‎So from left to right we have Salted Caramel Blondie, Gilly's Catastrophic Crunch, Lazy Sunday and Turtle Cheesecake.