Checkin' up on Cold Stone Creamery

Well, well, well, what do we have here but a rogue day off. It's been a long time since I tried to recharge the old batteries, and to be honest, I had a hard time deciding between chores and having fun today. However, after much debate, I decided on a movie and some ice cream (followed by a few chores, hehehe). I would have loved ice cream first, but cold stone doesn't open 'til noon [how silly].

Being a Monday, I managed to have the whole movie theater to myself as I sat and watched an early showing of Thor. I was never interested in Thor as a kid and this includes never reading the comics, but I still really liked this movie. It's got a lot of heart, it has action spaced throughout, and it never gets dirty or grimy. Not every movie needs to be dark and visceral. It's just a fairly straightforward, fun, quality movie in the same vain as Iron Man. It doesn't need foul language or questionable clothing to keep your attention. No movie is perfect, but I liked it alot. Kudos to director Kenneth Branagh and a excellent job by actor Chris Hemsworth.

After staying for the S.H.I.E.L.D. scene after the credits, I headed over to the now open Cold Stone Creamery. Now we've had Cold Stone on the blog before, but get ready for this shocker: I've never actually been inside a Cold Stone Creamery! Crazy, isn't it? I remember the first time we went to cold stone. Our baby daughter had fallen asleep in the car so my wife went in while I waited in the car. I had the cold stone version of a cookies and cream milkshake. Mmmmm, man it was good. Since then, my wife always seems to be the one picking me up treats from Cold Stone. Well, it's time I go in myself.

First impressions? Wow, this place is small! Freezers on the right, giant counter on the left, and not a ton of space in between. The good news is that I'm the only one here, which means no waiting, YAY!  The bad news is that I'm the only one here, which means no time to decide, AHHHH!!!  Oh the pressure!

Now I had every intention of being a good blogger and ordering up a hearty helping of the Gold Cone Collection Flavor for June : Chocolate Hazelnut. I even went so far as to have a sample spoonful of the stuff, but that's where I stopped in my tracks. Man o' man is this stuff strong. The conversation went something like this.

Dubba: "Can I try the chocolate hazelnut?"
Server: "Sure"
Dubba: "Whoa"
Server: "Yeah, it's really hazelnutty"

That may not have been exactly how it went, but you get the idea. This stuff is super potent and I hereby declare that you have been warned. I greatly appreciate that the server let me "try" it when what I really meant was "can I have a bowl of chocolate hazelnut?". Thank goodness for semantics.

With CH off the list, that left me with 11 other choices, but if I've going to blow a Lincoln on some ice cream, it needs to be different. Hmmmm, cookie batter? oh yeah, now we're talking! I need a mix in. Hmmmm again. Graham cracker crust?? Oh yeah!!!! Throw in some M&Ms for good measure and I present to you:

 

one tasty bowl of ice cream

This is my small "LIKE IT" size bowl of Cold Stone Creamery's mild cookie batter flavored ice cream with a most excellent and fresh swirl of graham cracker mixed in. I'm not sure M&Ms were the right choice, but overall they blended in pretty well - note: I think it helps they are mixing in room temperature M&Ms so they aren't nearly as hard and annoying as they could me. My only complaint is that I didn't have anyone to look over at and go "Man this is good!"

So, I have seen the tasty light and must now resist going back every single day for fresh ice cream. The funny thing is, the small seemed to be large enough, but about an hour later, I totally wanted another bowl.

Verdict?  Very Tasty
Buy Again?  Expensive, but you know I'll be back

Nutritional Info: Just the base cookie batter ice cream is approx 142 grams of 360 calories, 180 from fat. 20 grams of fat, 12 of them saturated. Hmmm, 4 grams of protein, see, it's healthy! Add in the graham crackers and a handful of M&Ms, and we're... ahhh, forget it, it's a treat, live it up!