Mud Pie

I am FULLY aware that I didn’t blog last Friday. I did have a regular flavor, but something was just off so I didn’t write my thoughts on that day. But in the near future we will have a Double Scoop Friday. We won’t be falling behind schedule, don’t worry. But with the “special” flavors I have come across, this journey will pass the original 52-week game plan. But don’t worry all the flavors will be tasted and reviewed.

Mud Pie Verdict:

The memory for this flavor is all too familiar; it’s called…DUBLIN MUDSLIDE!!!
Chocolate & Irish Coffee Liqueur Ice Creams with a Chocolate Cookie Swirl
Does this combination of flavors and ingredients sound familiar? It should and this is why: Irish Cream Liqueur Ice Cream with Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies & a Coffee Fudge Swirl. If you CAN’T find the MINOR differences I can’t help you. I am going to call Mud Pie the younger brother of the more exciting, experienced older brother Dublin Mudslide.

I am now removing myself from the “repeat” flavor and will unfortunately have to compare the two. Where Dublin Mudslide was focused more on the Liqueur, Mudslide is focused more on the Coffee. Not going to lie, I do like this flavor, but I feel like it’s a rip off. I did enjoy the chocolate flavor and the cookie swirl it incorporated, so this flavor wasn’t a complete bust. All together the flavors combination was a treat to my pallet. If you like chocolate, you’ll like this.
After hanging out with both of the brothers I prefer the more mature, experienced one. If you want a calm evening in the slow lane you want to hit up Mud Pie. But if you want a more exciting ride in the fast lane and all over the road I would definitely hit up Dublin Mudslide.

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Imagine Whirled Peace

Made the journey to the outside freezer once again this week to pick our flavor. I had my 11 month-old nephew with me to help. He was no help at all; he just looked at me like I was crazy. I know what he was thinking…. It’s 7am, why are you in the freezer looking at ice cream? Even though he completely judged me I still love him.

Imagine Whirled Peace Verdict:

Sadly this flavor doesn’t spark ANY type of memory for me. I didn’t grow up listening to the Beatles, so their music isn’t part of my childhood. I grew up on good ole country music. But I have to give Ben & Jerry’s and the creative team an A+ on the name resemblance of whirled and world.

Caramel & Sweet Cream Ice Creams Swirled with Fudge Peace Signs & Toffee Cookie Pieces

So the last two weeks theme has been, simplicity. Well this flavor is simple all right. It’s so simple that I think they forgot to put as much attention into the ingredients as they did with the name. This shows that sometimes you need more than packaging and a great idea to have a good flavor. The mixture of it all seemed promising, minus the peace signs. I just couldn’t figure out where they would come into play. And my suspicions were correct; they never really came into play properly. Everything with this flavor choice was mediocre. I am going to blame my nephew on the bad flavor, after all he was sending me those bad vibes when I was selecting.

On the up side of it all…we discovered there is a designed message on the inside of the carton. That gives my family incentive to finish the pint once I take it home tonight. Oh and Michelle, I didn’t blame you either. You’re moving on up.

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Boston Cream Pie

My stockpile in the freezer at home is still going strong. This morning as I was drinking my morning smoothie I excused myself from the kitchen and told my sister, I’ll be back I am going shopping. I walked to the garage freezer and stood there and analyzed each flavor and chose the one that most fit me today.

Boston Cream Pie Verdict:

I was fortunate enough to have been able to visit Boston this past June. I had intentions of staying 5 days. Well that turned into 7 days and I LOVED it. I had the GREATEST tour guide, my cousin Kim. The great thing about having a local as a tour guide is that you get to see everything and more. Plus you don’t get lost along the way. SCORE! I could go on for a few pages of how great the trip was, but I will keep it simple. I not only got to meet my cousin Kim for the first time when she picked me up at Logan International Airport, but I got to meet a few new friends along the way. Some I don’t talk to anymore (only facebook stalk now) and a few that I still communicate with. One of my most memorable appropriate memories of the trip was on the first day there. We went into the city to grab some coffee and Kim informed me that Bostonians are not the friendliest people, and wouldn’t talk to you. Well while on the patio drinking our drinks not only did I get our picture taken, but I also got tour advice from the so-called “unfriendly” Bostonians. Yes, I rubbed that one in as we walked away after finishing our drinks.

Boston Cream Pie Ice Cream with Yellow Cake Pieces, Fudge Flakes & Swirls of Pasty Cream

Even though I didn’t have Boston Cream Pie while in Boston, this flavor fueled the memories of the trip. Going along this journey I have found that I like ice cream that is easily scoop-able from the container. This is a sure winner; it came out like butter. Once again I am going to stress how sometimes simplicity is the best. The yellow cake pieces are perfect…when mixed with the ice cream it’s like you’re eating an ice cream cake. The fudge pieces and the swirls of pastry cream add the perfect amounts of sweetness. With some of the other flavors the ingredients were too dominant, to chunky and too difficult to scoop. Boston Cream Pie has the perfect combinations of everything. I have been spoiled two weeks in a row now; I don’t want to go back to those days of misfortune of bad flavors.

Michelle: I know you are anxiously awaiting this review for you own tasting later…but I am going to step out on a limb and say you will enjoy this flavor. Will you enjoy it as much as I did? I don’t know. But I don’t want to be verbally abused, or have to call my lawyer on behalf of deformation coming from you. You may be family, but we are both feisty Italians so use caution.

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Oatmeal Cookie Chunk

his weeks flavor sat in the freezer at work since last Friday because I found that flavor we won’t talk about EVER again at the grocery store on my way to work. And thank God it was still there when I opened the freezer today. If you know our office, you know sweets are found in no time and devoured even quicker.

Oatmeal Cookie Chunk Verdict:

Growing up my mom would always make homemade cookies…chocolate chip, oatmeal and many more. My mom makes amazing oatmeal cookies and I love them. MHHMMM good. We still have the same cookie jar that we have always had for as long as I can remember. When cookies were made, my dad would come home from work and crab a cup of milk and eat the cookies directly from the cookie jar. Coming home to a house after school that smelt like cinnamon from oatmeal cookies baking in the oven was a highlight of my youth. Okay, coming home to the house smelling AMAZINGLY was the highlight of my youth and current age. It’s one of the MANY memories that I have growing up.

Sweet Cream Cinnamon Ice Cream with Chunks of Oatmeal Cookies and Fudge

When they say simplicity is the best at times…. this flavor is the perfect example of that saying. Nothing about this flavor is overwhelming in my opinion, perfect combination of everything. When I took the first bite it truly tasked like I was eating an oatmeal cookie. But do make sure you get a piece of all the incidents to fully enjoy the taste that I am trying to describe. This flavor isn’t the best of flavors, or the worst of flavors. It’s the perfect medium to what I would call a perfect evening. It’s that calming flavor that reminds you that you don’t always have to be all balls to the wall or the hermit on a Friday night.

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Schweddy Balls

Disclaimer: Janna, please read this before you relay it onto mom this week. If you find it appropriate for her viewing pleasure then read it to her. ...If not, make something up. My sister reads the blog to my mom every week and they anticipate my arrival home Friday nights

Well this weeks challenge was that…a challenge. I went to TEN different grocery stores trying to find this holiday special. I’ve walked up and down so many different freezer sections I feel like I should enter some sort of rehab. But I did feel special as I entered the aisle every time because as I walked down the aisle all the lights in the freezers turned on. Every few steps lit up another section. It was like I was a celebrity, lights flashing everywhere.

Schweddy Balls Verdict:

I know a thing or two about balls…. And I am going to tell you from the get go… I’ve had better. I mean come on! This Saturday Night Live skit was built around inappropriateness and underlying humor. So when I heard of the new flavor, I couldn’t wait to get Pete Schweddy’s balls in my mouth. I expected more with his balls…but then again, I have been disappointed before.

Vanilla Ice Cream with a Hint of Rum & Loaded with Fudge Covered Rum & Malt Balls

Honestly feel like I drove all around God’s green earth for nothing. You know that empty feeling you have after you did something you shouldn’t had done…yeah, that’s how I feel right now. The vanilla was surprisingly strong and not what I expected. Then when you mix the ice cream and the malt ball together into one combination in your mouth, it tasted like you were eating a more solid form of eggnog. Don’t get me wrong, I like my seasonal eggnog addiction, but it shouldn’t be included in my ice cream.

The only logical way I can sum this up in one statement is…. You know when you see someone and think; DAMN they are going to be good in the sack! And then after your roll in they hay you think…. That was BELOW par. Yep, that’s Pete Schweddy’s Balls in a nutshell.

If you can’t find this limited batch don’t worry, you’re not missing much.

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Dublin Mudslide

This week was like Christmas in September. I went to the store and walked out with EIGHT different pints of ice cream. I want to do a post a day, but I will contain myself. Due to security measures at my house, I had to send a mass text out to ALL my family members. And it read; Dear Family…just a warning. There are a lot of Ben and Jerry’s ice creams in the outside freezer. They AREN’T yours…DON’T eat them. You can take our milk…. But don’t touch my ice cream. Thanks. Love you all.

Dublin Mudslide Verdict:

FIND THIS FLAOVR AND GET IT! Disclaimer: I may be drunk…just saying.

Irish Cream Liqueur Ice Cream with Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies & a Coffee Fudge Swirl.

If my memory serves me correctly, this will be the third flavor that I LOVE! First was Willie Nelson Country Peach Cobbler, Second was Half Baked and this marks the third. When I first opened the container I instantly smelt the Liqueur…and luckily the bad memory of soaked pastries didn’t rush to my memory. A more pleasing memory came to mind after the initial introduction.

In my teenage years one of my best friends at the time, and to this day Kristina, mom made homemade Kahlua. After a long week, because life was so difficult back then, we would go over to her house and have vanilla bean ice cream covered with Kahlua. Well sometimes covered and other times drizzled; it all depended on who put it together. I still enjoy going over for the same treat.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this Cookies-N-Cream with a kick. I have to say that it’s the perfect mix of everything in the description. Not one flavor stands out too much over the other…It’s the perfect marriage between Liqueur, cookies and coffee fudge. If you aren’t a fan of Kahlua, I would stay clear. But the Irish know what they are doing, and this tribute from Ben & Jerry’s was a homerun.

Side note…I am not drunk, but I was hoping I would be. It would have been the first time I was drunk at work…Hung over, not so much. But I was told from Veronica some great words of advice at work; you can come to work hung over, just don’t come drunk.

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Blueberry Cheesecake

I have once again stumbled upon an “Exclusive Flavor”…. The thing I have learned so far in the process is that there are exclusive flavors at different locations. Have I found a list of these flavors? No! Hence the reason I keep stumbling across them. This weeks flavor was found at Wal-Mart. I even found where not to buy Ben & Jerry’s, RALPHS! They are too damn expensive. Target is a good store as is Vons.

Blueberry Cheesecake Verdict:

I am not a fan of cheesecake, so this was one of those flavors where I wasn’t going to expect much. And luckily I kept my expectations low.

Blueberry & Cheesecake Ice Creams with a Thick Graham Cracker Swirl

As I sit here, trying to recall a time in my life where blueberry cheesecake came into play, I'm blank. It doesn’t exist in my world of memories. I have a memory of blueberry pancakes in Vermont, but that’s about as far as I can get. So I will give you that memory instead…it’s a fun one at that.

While in Vermont this past June I attended a family wedding where I enjoyably consumed what I am going to call a “personal” size bottle of Jack Daniels. Luckily for me, I don’t get hung over, but I was HUNGRY. After calling to the room across the hall to see if my cousin Kim and her boyfriend Andrew wanted to go get food, and getting no answer I took matters into my own hands…. I meet people all over the place, and I met a friend out there and we met up for breakfast at this little café down town. I stayed with the safe bet of an omelet and he got a side a blueberry pancakes. Well the pancakes looked DAMN good, so I stole some off his plate. MMMM good. So I know blueberry pancakes and blueberry cheesecake are COMPLETELY different, but whenever I see blueberries it brings back that memory. And I guess that’s what food is all about, bringing back the memories connected to a certain food or scent. And I can oddly remember the smell of those blueberry pancakes smothered in syrup.

Ok, so here is my final say. Stay clear of this carton. The blueberry was WAY overpowering and even though refreshing, it was just blah. Quick, simple and easy. Sorry to disappoint if you were looking for a better review, but with something as simple as this flavor there isn’t much to say except, DISLIKE!

Thank God my memory of blueberry pancakes was way better than this blueberry cheesecake flavor.

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