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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Peanut Butter Cup

Last night I went into the store with FULL intentions of getting a flavor without chocolate. I read all the descriptions to each flavor and found this one that had no chocolate in the breakdown…. I was about 4 minutes from work this morning when I had a vision…PEANUT BUTTER CUPS HAVE CHOCLATE!!! I so failed in my mission. But the failures didn’t stop there.

Peanut Butter Cup Verdict:

You know when you have too much of something and you get sick of it after a while? Well that is this flavor in the first bite. I had fears that I would feel like a dog when you give them peanut butter…Licking, licking, licking. Damn, I was correct. Where’s my milk?

Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Peanut Butter Cups

I honestly wish I could blame someone on this flavor…where is Michelle and her bad recommendations when I need her? I love all things Reesee’s…the cups, the pieces and everything in between. This ice cream ISN’T one of them. It’s like the red headed stepchild in the family…you don’t really want to acknowledge it as part of the family, but you don’t have an option.

Where to start? UGH! First, the cups portions are too BIG. They literally took the mini cups, cut them in half and threw them in. While scooping the ice cream, well let me restate that, while attempting to scoop the ice cream I hit ever Gosh Darn cup and couldn’t scoop it. Now for future non-friendly scooping flavors: Don’t get between me and my ice cream, you’re red headed cousin almost got thrown across the kitchen. Okay, now they peanut butter ice cream…just WRONG! Stay in-between my PB&J sandwiches, my celery sticks and cookies…STAY OUT of my ice cream.

This week I have decided to include some commentary from my friend Roni. She eats the ice cream with me and manages my blog… “I guess I should give it a try even though I don’t like peanut butter. I mean this could make me like peanut butter.” * She takes a small bite * “Okay, I still don’t like peanut butter.” I died of laughter, I knew she didn’t like peanut butter, but give her an A for effort.

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Volun-Tirsmisu

From the moment I picked this flavor out of the frozen desserts section, I was unaware of the gem I had stumbled upon. When I went to cross this flavor off the list was when I realized one thing…IT WASN’T THERE. I didn’t know what to do. So my friend Veronica logged on the good ole’ Internet and got to the bottom of it. This is what she found, “Volun-Tiramisu and (mystery flavor for another week). Both are intended to promote volunteerism.” And are ONLY sold at Target. If I was paid in Ben & Jerry’s I will volunteer under most circumstances.

Volun-Tiramisu Verdict:

I am trying not to let all the excitement from finding this flavor impair my reviews. I get overly excited with the small things in life…ok, not all small things, but in this instance I am. I have to say that I am only fond of my families Tiramisu that comes from my grandparent’s kitchen…and some cousins. So I started with the normal interpretation of any Tiramisu…I smelt it. Yes, smell is a big factor. For me it allows me to estimate the amount of Rum and espresso. Too much Rum scares me because when I was 14 visiting family in Italy we had a rum soaked dessert. We thought it was just normal pastry. And since it was given to us (after multiple No Grazie) at the dinner table my cousin Phillip and I, 13 & 14 respectively, had no other choice then to attempt to finish it. Well we couldn’t. I literally was about to vomit all over the table…and after many pleas to our grandpa who wasn’t going to let us leave that table until it was done…he let us leave. We were even telling our grandpa that we would give them money for wasting food. He just kicked us out of the house and said, go, get out of here. We walked out with our head handing low and got the hell out of there before he changed his mind. And that memory will live with me forever…. as will all the memories on that trip.

Coffee Mascarpone Ice Cream with Coca Dusted Coffee Rum Lady Finger Pieces
Now the real tasting had to cross all those barriers before I could even think happy thoughts of it. Well I do have to say that I have had some B-A-D Tiramisu in my days. But luckily this was not one of them. Obviously they couldn’t give me the same texture that I so love, but they sure got the flavor. Some positive features where that they didn’t over soak the ladyfingers, and they WEREN’T soggy. I hate soggy ladyfingers…yuck! And the coffee flavor ice cream would have been great alone. I have to say, with the flavor, non-soggy ladyfingers and the message it brings I have to say, GOOD JOB!

I know for some it takes you out of your comfort zone by having to journey to a specific store to purchase this flavor…. but I say step outside the box and go to Target. You never know what the journey may bring you. And if you ever come across a rum soaked pastry, take my word, and RUN and run FAST!

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Cinnamon Buns

Earlier this week I stumbled across the Ben & Jerry’s Euphori-Lock…I have to say, it basically made my entire week. I no longer will have to worry about placing my pint in the freezer at home, because I can now safely lock it up and walk away. But my mom and sister told me, “Your lock can’t stop us…we’ll just go through the bottom of the carton”…Game on ladies.

Cinnamon Buns Verdict:

Zia Shawn recommended this weeks flavor to me and I wanted to say thank you from the get go. We spent A LOT of time over at her house growing up and have a lot of fond memories at their home… I have to say that one of my fondest memories with Zia Shawn would have to be when I was around 15-16. She took my cousin Krissy and I to the mall and I remember we were sitting in the back seat of their van driving through the parking lot when all off a sudden she rolled down her window. As we looked out across the parking lot we saw kids around our age walking with their pants sagging way too low for Zia Shawn’s liking. Out of the blue she yells out the window, “Hey boys, pull your pants up!” That’s all it took for me an Krissy to quickly slide down in our seats and pray we could just get out of there. Love you Zia Shawn!

Caramel Ice Cream with Cinnamon Bun Dough & a Cinnamon Streusel Swirl

I can only compare this to the mall phenomenon of the “bakery” known as CinnaBun. It’s difficult to walk by that place anytime I walk by the food court because the smell of the warm-gooey frosting, flowing down the sides of a cinnamon bun is heavenly.

After I ate more of the ice cream I was able to compare it to my favorite cereal growing up…Cinnamon Toast Crunch. My favorite was after I finished the cereal, I got to drink the milk that had all the cinnamon sugar that came off the squares. And when I want to indulge, I do still fancy myself a good ole bowl on Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Ok done going down memory lane, the final verdict.

I have to say, if you removed the Cinnamon Bun Dough this would be the perfect flavor. My one and only complaint about the bun dough would have to be the granulated sugar that got stuck between your teeth after eating it. I did enjoy it, but I feel like I need to go brush my teeth now because I know my dentist wouldn’t be happy. If you are not a big sugar person I would stay clear. For some it may be too sweet…and honestly, I will eat it again, but after just that one scoop I have a stomachache from all the sugar. But the Caramel Ice Cream with the Cinnamon Streusel Swirl is amazing on its own. Unlike the cookie dough, where that’s the highlight in Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, I would have to say that the Cinnamon dough doesn’t follow in its footsteps. I can manage to easily eating 3 at the most.

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Half Baked...

This morning was one of those mornings where I thought to myself…you know what, this is going to be a great day. I know, how giddy. So there I am standing in the checkout stand and the guy in front of me is asking about getting cash back. I heard $120.00, and thought he must have some good plans for tonight. Then after he gets his money back I hear the change machine drop change…I was a little confused… the cashier then preceded to hand him a dollar. This fool wanted a $1.20 back in cash. I was just speechless and dumbfounded. Now it’s my time to check out and the teller tells me, you’re the first to buy ice cream this early in the morning…. It was 7:20am and it was ice cream, not alcohol. I could have a worse addiction.

Half Baked Verdict:

Thinking back about the incident at the checkout stand, and eating this ice cream, I don’t think I was the only one “half baked” this morning.

Chocolate & Vanilla Ice Creams with Fudge Brownies & Gobs of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Half Baked puts a twist on the traditional Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough…Well I love the new twist of an outdated combination. I enjoyed CCCD, but I will officially be divorcing the “old” and be adapting to the new version of a classic. And I am not going to lie; I favor brownies in a lot of different desserts, and it’s necessary to include brownies with a name of Half Baked. And the cookie dough, it ACTUALLY tastes like the cookie dough that I use to eat out of the bowl when my mom made homemade cookies.

Once again, I find myself praising a great flavor. The one thing I have to say about Ben & Jerry’s is that they don’t skimp on any incidents. When they say brownies, they mean BROWNIES, and when they say cookie dough, they put chunks of cookie dough in there. After having ice cream that includes good-sized portions of incidents, I may never go back to that crap that makes you salvage through the ice cream looking for any form of chunks. This carton may find itself in my freezer when I am in times of need and stress.

Oh and before I forget…. this carton may NOT make it home tonight. I am not making any promises to my family members who wait patiently for me to bring home my newest flavor.

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Chunky Monkey

Well this week I had a mission when I walked into that grocery store…and it was my next victim of the Ben & Jerry’s family. This weeks flavor was recommended from my friend Veronica. And knowing Roni so well, I was a little surprised when she recommended this flavor. To know Roni you would know that she has amazing taste in food and desserts, but her likeness to Banana is VERY limited. Banana, Peanut Butter and lemon all have that love/hate relationship with her.

Chunky Monkey Verdict:

I like all the ingredients in this carton…I like bananas, fudge and walnuts…it’s kind of like an ice cream Sunday in a 1-pint jug. And who doesn’t love the All-American Sunday?

Banana Ice Cream with Fudge Chunks & Walnuts

First, and foremost, I can’t complain about this at ALL. The texture, flavoring and just simplicity of the whole idea was a home run. Banana can sometimes be extremely overwhelming, but the tone of the flavoring was kept to a minimum and it truly tasted like you were eating a banana. And once you added in the fudge chunk and the walnuts, it tasted just like you were eating banana nut bread. And I know banana nut bread; my mom makes amazing banana nut bread. We will sometimes let the bananas get too ripe to eat just so she has to make some. She is a smart woman, I am sure she has caught onto our schemes by now.

If you are looking for a refreshing cold treat on a hot summer night I would recommend going to your local grocery store, walking directly to the freezer section and picking up a carton. But do use caution, all those flavors may spark a little bit of curiosity and you may be walking out with multiple flavors.
Thanks Roni for a great selection this week. And I should have known not to be surprised when you suggested this flavor. After all, you have good taste. But then again, I wouldn’t expect anything less from an amazing baker. I have been fortunate enough to have MANY of her creations over the years, and lets just put it this way…THEY’RE AMAZING.

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