Top Ten Most Popular Reviews of 2013

Based on bloggers built in tracking, these are the top ten eleven reviews that have picked up the most traffic. If you want, try to guess a few before clicking ahead.

#11 McDonald's Pralines & Cream McFlurry
McD's broke into the top ten... until I double checked my list and realized it's actually #11. Oops. Maybe next year one of the big fast food chains (besides DQ) can break in to our top ten list.

#10 Retiring Ben & Jerry's Creme Brulee
Man are people super upset about this flavor retiring. Traffic on this post beat out several of the new 2013 B&J flavors.

#9 DQ Lemon Meringue Pie Blizzard (July BotM)
I'm hoping everyone that read this post avoided this particular blizzard

Front Porch Happily Pineapply Ice Cream

[New for 2013] Ok, continuing with our end of year clear out, there is one Front Porch sample that I forgot to show you guys. Wait, quick refresher: Front Porch is the premium pint lineup from Mooresville Ice Cream out of North Carolina. They added four new flavors this year and sent them all over for review. They've all been tasty with my only minor compliant being that the other three pints where all light on the mix-ins.

Front Porch Happily Pineapply Ice Cream

cake ice cream with brown sugar pineapple swirl and cake pieces with red cherries

2013 Review Cleanup

Remember how I was going to do family friendly ice cream of the week? yeah, well, my family and I are out of sync a bit, and I've wound up with a mish-mash of partial reviews. So, rather than letting them suffer in the queue for all eternity, let's do a quick wrap up instead. Hopefully the freezer aisle will perk up soon. It seems like several stores aren't even bothering to restock right now.

Why waste time with four posts? Let's run through these quick!

Homemade Brand Santa's Cookies Ice Cream

[By Nick]
T’was the night before Christmas and heard all through the house,

was young Nicholas’ stomach rumbling, he needed ice cream in his mouth.

Nicholas went to satisfy that noisy hunger

but choosing a flavor was turning into a blunder.

No simple vanilla or chocolate would do, those flavors are so bogus.

Thankfully Nicholas was a good boy this year and the elves at Homemade Brand took notice.

See, the elves have been busy throughout the year

creating a flavor they knew would bring cheer.

It’s a well-known fact that Santa loves a good cookie,

but when it comes to ice cream, he’s also no rookie.

So the head elf said “Why don't we combine the two?

            Sugar cookie ice cream is well overdue!”

As the midnight hour grew near,

a bright red package did magically appear.

More Gelato Fiasco Sorbetto Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar & Dark Chocolate Noir

The best part about getting free samples from a company is that it gives me the chance to expand my horizons without denting my wallet. Case in point, I've had my eye on similar flavors from other companies for awhile now, but I just couldnt' get past the price hurdle. Well, Gelato Fiasco is here to show me the light on two flavors: balsamic vinegar in a frozen treat, and the curiousity that is chocolate sorbet.

Gelato Fiasco Strawberry Balsamic Sorbetto (discontinued)

Gelato Fiasco Dark Chocolate Noir Sorbetto

My First Smashburger Shake ! Nutter Butter !!

So there I was Thursday night, waiting in the crazy long line to get in to the mall. The light was red, I was looking around... and that's when something new caught my eye. Smashburger? That wasn't there before! The light turns green, I pull into the mall, and quickly grab my phone to check their menu... oh yeah! Haagen-Daz premium shakes! Oreo! Butterfinger?! NUTTER BUTTER?!?!?! Forget Five Guys, I know where I'm going for lunch tomorrow.

The best part of my meal was easily this Nutter Butter Shake. It was perfect, literally just perfect. I wouldn't change it at all... except to say I wish there had been two of them. So tasty!

Walgreen's Good & Delish Ice Cream Mint Chocolate Chip & Chocolate Chunk

[By Nick] Time to look at the other pint of Good & Delish Homestyle ice cream I picked up. Unlike Banana Split, Mint Chocolate Chip wasn’t a part of the original Walgreen’s flavors so this one is in fact “new”. To be honest, I’m not too sure why they didn’t originally offer a mint flavor seeing as its pretty standard fare.

Described as “mint ice cream with chocolate chips” It’s pretty much just your basic mint chip flavor, nothing more and nothing less. That shouldn’t be all that shocking seeing as it’s a store brand ice cream and all though the picture on the pint does show a white base so if anything it is kind of straying from the norm and not being the token green mint products seem to be associated with.

Ciao Bella montebianco gelato

[2013 Seasonal Batch] Dear ice cream nation, let me steal a page from Junk Food Guy's playbook and bring you a public service announcement during this busy time of year. I know we all have way too many expectations of what needs to happen, but this doesn't give you the right to park 3 inches from my car door and force me to climb in the other side, nor should you cut me off in the checkout lane because somehow your items are more important than mine. Be nice.... until it is time to not be nice. Anway, Ciao Bella has a few limited edition items at Whole Foods this year, and while I shied away due to pumpkin overload on the first flavor, I think it's time to try one of the other two. (Did I mention they were on sale for $4.59?)

Ciao Bella montebianco gelato

Delicate chestnut cream laced with organic dark chocolate

The Nosh Show - Episode 19

Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas Season to all, and to all a good Nosh Show! That's right, episode 19 is ready and waiting for you. Oh sure I was tired beyond belief, but hopefully most of the nonsensical stuff is on the cutting room floor. You know, like when it sounds like I've never had sugar cookies (as opposed to never having sugar cookie peeps), or how I didn't have any followup, but I really did, and then had some more followup on top of that. Oh yeah, I am the master of babbling! (What can I say, my daughter's fractured ankle has kind of thrown a wrench into our holiday season. At least the doc says she is doing well!)

Ok, so we made this our holiday themed episode, so I figured I'd throw up this snickerdoodle snowman ice cream sandwich I made this weekend. Yeah, sometimes I think I try to hard. See, way back during episode 13 we talked about Carl's Jr test marketing a snickerdoodle ice cream sandwich so I thought I would be sneaky and make them myself... that was until I lost the cookies in the back of the cabinet. It's now a month past the "Best By" date, but I gave it a whirl anyway. Ahhh, it was still fun, though in hindsight I should have rolled this bad boys in mini chocolate chips for good measure.

Anyway, enjoy the show. Nosh or not is there, our picks of the week (mine here), our fun holiday question section, and as always, there are more download/listening options on the nosh show website. Everybody have a great holiday and we'll see you back here in two weeks for our end of year wrap-up!

Spoonable Sundae Sunday Brooklyn's Saucy Caramel

Alright, time for another sponsored Sundae Sunday, this time by our new buds at Spoonable. You may remember Junk Food Guy's review of several of their sauces at the beginning of October. Afterwards, I was joking on twitter that they lost me at spicy, and then what happens? Well, they contacted me and offered to send over their entire lineup of flavors for testing.

Free fancy caramel sauce samples? Yeah, I'm game, but where to start?

Steve’s Salty Caramel Ice Cream #34

[By Nick] I must have been good this year because I received an early Christmas present from the folks over at Steve’s Ice Cream (founded 1973). For those who don’t know, Steve’s is basically the New York version of Jeni’s with the price tag to boot. Steve’s is all about making small batch ice cream with only the highest of quality of ingredients. They also source ingredients from local artisans such as Pies & Thighs to make their ice cream a true representation of the City in which it was crafted. I truly enjoy companies like this. It’s all about the ice cream for them and they take such pride in what they produce. It’s quite remarkable as well as respectable if you ask me.

Now seeing as everyone has been putting out a salted caramel product as of late, let’s start with the free sample of Steve’s Salty Caramel ice cream. It's "Sweet Caramel Ice Cream Rounded Out by a Savory, Sea Salted Caramel Swirl".

Friendly's Vanilla Alpine Bar

[New for 2013, short lived] Ok, these have been hanging out in the basement freezer awhile now because I was very much afraid that they would be as terrible as the new Hood (fake-klondike) bars. Thankfully, they are not.

Friendly's Vanilla Alpine Bar

Vanilla Ice Cream with a Chocolate Coating

(notice the sealed plastic wrapper)

Magnum White Ice Cream Bar

Alright, this is going to be a quick review of something we've been meaning to get on the blog.

Magnum White Ice Cream Bars

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream dipped in Belgian White Chocolate

Gelato Fiasco Maine Wild Blueberry Crisp Gelato

Ok, time to introduce Gelato Fiasco to everyone. Founded in 2007, they are a Maine based company that is already spreading throughout New England and into New York City. The founders, Bruno Tropeano and Joshua Davis, were just 24 years old when they started, yet claim to have over a thousand flavors in their "recipe vault". That creativity is teamed with their embrace of social media. Just consider the fact that they've got over 12,000 Facebook fans just waiting to catch a glimpse of the day's special. I know I'm excited, and now they've sent over a half dozen sample pints to help celebrate their new (recyclable) packaging design which also goes along with their pints switching to certified Maine organic milk and cream.

Maine inspired flavor from a Maine company - seems like the appropriate first sample

Gelato Fiasco Maine Wild Blueberry Crisp Gelato

Vanilla gelato, blueberries from Maine's coast, and original oat streusel

Blue Bunny Butter Pecan Ice Cream

[By Nick] Recently, I came across a gas station that carries pints of Blue Bunny ice cream. You have no idea how happy I was when I saw this. As you guys might have noticed, I don’t buy large containers of ice cream often and tend to leave those to Dubba to review. It’s not that I don’t like the more mainstream ice creams, it’s just I like a lot of variety and seeing as I’m the only one in my house who eats ice cream it takes a while for me to finish off one of those container.

Blue Bunny Butter Pecan Ice Cream

Go nuts with rich and creamy ice cream touched with a buttery essence

and loaded with lots of pecans... and a litte bit of attitude

Gifford's Flyfishing Fudge Ice Cream

Alright, it's been a really long time since we had Gifford's on the blog. So long in fact that since the last review, Gifford's (of Maine) bought Gifford's (of Maryland) to really take their operation up a notch. Now they do have several fun new flavors this year that I've been meaning to try, but I had no particular intentions of trying them today until I saw that Gifford's ice cream quarts were undergoing a rare sale for $2.99 a piece. That's too good a deal to pass up. Now to pick a flavor....

Gifford's Flyfishing Fudge Ice Cream

M&Ms, cookie dough, and chocolate chunks jump in and out

of a fudge river flowing through vanilla ice cream

The Nosh Show Episode 18

Hello! Hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend (my apologies if you didn't get one). We've got a very... well, you see, we suffered through one of the worst skype calls ever, everyone was constantly breaking up and yet we pulled off a fairly normal episode of the show somehow. Apparently we're getting pretty good at this!

So, episode 18 is now available (links and download options here). Several topics are discussed like my complete and utter disregard for products that I should have tried ages ago, the tasty new IHOP raspberry white chocolate pancakes, Ben & Jerry's Mississippi Mud Pie, and all kinds of fun fictional foods. Oh, and my nosh of the week is pumpkin pie, because, well, I adore pumpkin pie in any form. I had a neat pumpkin pie with graham cracker crust last weekend, my mom made a traditional pumpkin pie (just not the same if we don't have that!), and then my in-laws spiced up the mix by ordering a squash pie. Now this was my first time with a squash pie and though I can be picky, I thought it was pretty cool. In terms of flavor, it's more subdued than a pumpkin pie, but this particular treat had a thick consistency that really reminded me of a cheesecake... I also had an excellent apple pie this week. It was a good week!

Edy's Key Lime Pie Yogurt Blend

The great thing about today's review is that I had totally forgotten about this product. Part of me thinks I've seen it on a rare occasion (aka years ago), another part of me thinks I've never seen it. Maybe it's more popular in your area, maybe you see it all the time, but for me in my area, this pint of green "live culture frozen dessert" just seemed too unique to pass up.

Edy's / Dreyer's Slow Churned Key Lime Pie Yogurt Blend

graham swirl in key lime pie flavored live culture frozen dessert

Chocolate Shoppe Blue Moon Ice Cream

[By Nick] Along with their standard Chocolate and Vanilla bases, Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream also sent free samples of two very non-traditional base only flavors : Black Licorice and Blue Moon. I’m not a fan of Black Licorice at all. Thankfully Dubba reviewed* that one awhile back so I was able to give that pint away to someone I knew would truly appreciate it.

Now Chocolate Shoppe Blue Moon ice cream on the other hand, I’m very excited to try. I’ve been craving that flavor ever since my experience with the Cedar Crest Blue Moon ice cream sandwiches. Ice cream that basically tastes like one of my favorite cereals growing up is always awesome and that blue color can’t help but make the child in you smile. Hopefully Chocolate Shoppe’s version will be able to invoke such emotions again.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I don't always remember to say it, usually because I'm busy watching the parade with my kids or eating glorious food with my extended family, but I'm remembering today. Life is short, and we should enjoy shared days like today. I've always said that I was born bitter and jaded, so you would think I would despise the complications that can arise on holidays (and as a kid, yeah, I did sometimes), but as the years pass, I like to think these days have become more special as I realize you can never have today back, so make the most of it so you remember it forever.

Now I really wanted to have this ready BEFORE today. See, I've been trying to get back to making ice cream for a long time now, since it's been over three years since I've posted one of my attempts. I had gathered (most of) the ingredients to create Scoop Adventures Cranberry Ice Cream, plus I've got some white chocolate chips to mix in, but I just started it this morning so I'm not sure I'm going to have the energy to finish it when we get back later today. If I do, I'll add pics, if not, then relax, enjoy some great food, and do you best not to stress. Bury the hatchet, give an extra hug, and give thanks that people care about you!

Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Update #1: Good news! My Cuisinart ICE-20 still works! The bad news is that I think this recipe is a smidge too big for a 1.5 quart ice cream maker. Anyway, so far so good, but it'll be awhile before this one is scoop ready. We did sample some before packing it up and it is indeed a potent flavor and not in my typical realm of what I pick out. That said, I have to admit this has been fun because it's neat to know this one started as a bag of fresh cranberries. The cinnamon has been tricking my brain into thinking I'm eating some kind of cherry pie filling, so I can wait to see how this one tastes when it's finally frozen solid.... I'm thinking breakfast sundae maybe tomorrow!

Update #2: You know, I still don't know how to make ice cream. Oh sure it looks right enough, but I still think I'm doing something wrong in terms of texture, and that's on top of the fact that this one is too strong for me. It's more of a complimentary ice cream I would eat with something else rather than something I would eat directly. Maybe less cranberries (and maybe some vanilla extract) next time.

Ben & Jerry's Mississippi Mud Pie Ice Cream

[New for 2013] Look, I'll admit it, even I'm confused as to why a new limited batch is coming out so late in the year. I mean, in a month I would say it's an early 2014 surprise, or if it was holiday themed, that would make sense too, but this seems so out of the blue. I mean, Walmart already has the exclusive flavors of Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup (review) and Cotton Candy (review), so yeah, them getting Mississippi Mud Pie as a third exclusive flavor in one year is kind of a big deal.

Ben & Jerry's Mississippi Mud Pie Ice Cream

Chocolate Ice Cream & Vanilla Ice Cream 

with Chocolate Cake Pieces & a Chocolate Mousse Swirl

Blue Bell Christmas Cookies Ice Cream

“Christmas Cookies”

[By CT] If there are two words that bring me a greater mixed reaction when it comes to edible treats, I don’t know what they are. On the one hand, I think of the awesome sugar cookies that my family received from Nancy McEntire every year. The cookies were the perfect consistency and had the right amount of decorative icing on them. On the other hand, it seems some people go nuts with Christmas cookies every year and try to find ways to include as many ingredients as possible. Does a cookie need to have coconut, almonds, marmalade and raisins to be Christmasy? Stop treating cookies like fruitcake.

All that said, when Dubba asked if I’d scope my area for Blue Bell’s Christmas Cookies holiday flavor, I felt that internal mixed reaction all over again. However, once I read the description, my mind was put at ease. My fear of having to eat pecan-topped, cranberry-stuffed, gingerbread cookies in a peppermint swirl were gone.

"Christmas Cookies Ice Cream combines your favorite holiday cookies – chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, and sugar – in a tasty sugar cookie ice cream with red candy cane shaped sprinkles and a green icing swirl throughout."

Friendly's Fudge Berry Swirl Frozen Yogurt

As we continue our quest to find interesting flavors that we've overlooked, I decided to pick up some Friendly's frozen yogurt. What can I say, you can't eat super premium all the time. It's nice to look at a bowl of the frozen stuff and go "yeah, one more scoop won't hurt me".

Friendly's Fudge Berry Swirl Frozen Yogurt

Vanilla Frozen Yogurt with Raspberry & Fudge Swirls & Chocolate Flavored Chunks

Rice Dream Mint Pie Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert

[By Nick] Long ago after my second rice dream pie review, one of my friends whose parents happen to own the health store in town informed me that they also carried the Rice Dream pies in a mint flavor. If memory serves me correctly, she even went as far as to say she “loves them”. Not having the best of luck with these products and semi-terrified to see how the oatmeal cookies would work with the mint rice dream, I put off stopping in their store to pick one up. Well I finally got curious enough to try one of these pies so here we go folks.

Rice Dream Mint Pie

Mint Rice Dream with 2 oatmeal cookies dipped in chocolate

Stone Ridge Creamery Cheesecake Flavors Caramel and Double Berry Review

Ok, it's been a almost a year since I've shown you guys anything from Stone Ridge Creamery, the inhouse brand of ice creams from SuperValu owned grocery stores. The maestro behind these flavors does a lot with these "budget" flavors, and there seem to be several new flavors in my area this year, so let's see if we can figure out which ones everyone should try.

Stone Ridge Creamery Double Berry Cheesecake ice cream

Cheesecake Ice Cream with Strawberry & Blackberry Swirls & Graham Cracker Crust Pieces

Nestle Raspberry & Cream Bar

Good morning ice cream fans! It's Nosh Show Monday and that means episode 17 is ready for your listening pleasure. Now we decided to try to be a bit more spontaneous and free flowing on this episode, so hopefully you will dig the added silliness and energy that comes from our experiment. (FYI my audio/skype crashed 30 minutes into recording, so that messed things up a little and occasionally it sounds like I'm talking over people... which ofcourse I already do on my own, I didn't need any help!)

Nosh or not is still there, we go off-topic and more in depth a few times, we try out a new mailbag segment, and then to tie it all together, we do our Not of the week. We've done this once before where we cover things that we would NOT nosh again. My pick is the treat you see below.

Nestle Raspberry & Cream Bar

Rasberry filled with cream

Naturally Smart Frozen Dessert

Alright, time for something new, and when I say new, I mean like it's only been on the market for a few weeks. Now I've been talking with Mark Patterson of Naturally Smart (website) for awhile now and I know it's been a long road for him to get here, but he kept with it and now his Jacksonville company is cranking out the first two flavors of a high protein, all natural, frozen dessert.

Naturally Smart Vanilla and Chocolate Frozen Dessert

Coffee, Coconut and Green Tea flavors will come later (TV interview here)

Cumberland Farms Cappuccino Craving Ice Cream

[By Nick] Dubba and I have been meaning to get Cumberland Farms (aka Cumby’s) on the blog for awhile now but we just haven’t gotten around to it. With the current lack of many new enticing products on the shelves, why not finally give their ice cream a shot? For those who don’t know, Cumberland Farms is a chain of convenience stores/gas stations primarily throughout the Northeast. I know what you’re saying “Ice cream from a convenience store?” Don’t forget Stewart’s is basically doing the same thing and has won quite its share of awards at the World Dairy Expo. Cumby’s was doing a 2/$6 deal last time I was there so I decided to take advantage of that deal and grabbed their Cappuccino Craving along with another flavor that will be covered in the future.

Cumberland Farms Cappuccino Craving Ice Cream

Farmhouse Blend Coffee ice cream with barista-perfect whipped cream swirl

 and espresso chocolate pieces

Ben & Jerry's Scotchy Scotch Scotch Ice Cream

[Limited edition for 2013] Just three weeks after announcing this flavor, Ben & Jerry's latest creation is in my possession and ready for review. $5.69 is an awful lot to pay for a lunchtime pint (from a grocery store no less), so let's hope it's worth it!

Ben & Jerry's Scotchy Scotch Scotch Ice Cream

Butterscotch Ice Cream with Butterscotch Swirls

Southern Craft Creamery Salty Caramel Ice Cream

[By CT] Hey there, On Second Scoop readers. I'm CT from the Nerd Lunch blog and podcast. I live in Tallahassee, Florida and recently discovered a local ice cream company that I thought I'd try for Dubba. I first heard about this in 850 Business Magazine that did a story about the company. Now in the interest of full disclosure, I actually work for the company that produces that magazine, but still... not every article grabs my attention like this one did.

The ice cream is manufactured in Marianna, Florida which is about an hour away from where I live. They profess to using only local ingredients including milk right from their own farm. In fact, the blurb on the carton sums it up best:

"Our ice cream is handcrafted using milk from our farm, local ingredients, and a passion for creating flavors that showcase those ingredients. In addition to the creamery, we own and operate a dairy farm where we provide our cows with special attention and care. In return, they provide us with delicious, high-quality milk for our ice cream. Thank you for sharing our passion for local farms and handcrafted ice cream. Want to learn more? Follow us at facebook.com/SouthernCraftCreamery"

I wouldn't say no to.... Blue Bunny Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Continuing our adventure in family friendly purchases, sometimes I like to pick something simple like plain vanilla or black raspberry. I know alot of us have come to abhor the simplicity of just vanilla, but it can be a great canvas for sundaes.

Blue Bunny Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

The vanilla wafers are a tip off of what's inside,
though it's hard to know what exactly to expect

Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream Old Fashion Vanilla and Zanzibar Chocolate

[By Nick] Normally when a company offers to send me some of their products to try, I expect to receive anywhere from 4-8 pints. Well the folks over at Chocolate Shoppe had a completely different idea because they sent me 20 pints of their ice cream, including their whole line of Bang!! Caffeinated Ice Cream flavors. That’s a lot of ice cream for me to cover by myself, so let’s get started with two of their base only flavors.

Chocolate Shoppe Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream

First off, I really like their logo. I mean, how can you not smile at a cow eating an ice cream cone? Their slogan “You want nutrition, eat carrots” is amusing as well. This is a company that really knows how important marketing is. Okay, ice cream time!

Friendly's Caramel Cream Sundae Cup

Ok, Nick spied this "limited edition" Friendly's sundae cup awhile ago, but they just happened to be on sale for a buck a piece this morning so I decided to finally give in and try it.

Friendly's Caramel Cream Sundae Cup

Our premium vanilla ice cream, topped with caramel, whipped topping and chocolate chips

Vanilla Dove Bar

Way back when dove sponsored a national ice cream month post, they also included 3 of their tasty dove bars for me to try. For months and months I've stared at these things wondering what flavors could be inside, and on this fine Fall day, it's time to find out.

Here are our three samples.... oh I wish they were labeled so I knew which was which. So, I've decided to unwrap all three at the same time and share them with my family. Let's see who's going to get what.

Stonyfield Minty Chocolate Chip Frozen Yogurt

[By Nick] Today we discover the product that opened my eyes to the full potential that mint and chocolate could have together.

Stonyfield Minty Chocolate Chip

Minty chocolate low fat frozen yogurt with dark chocolate chips

Talenti Peppermint Bark Gelato #23

So you guys know by now that I'm a huge Talenti Gelato fan boy, but I don't always have access to all of their flavors. In particular, I was pretty bummed to miss their limited edition Peppermint Bark gelato last year. Well, guess who got lucky at lunch today? wait, strike that, guess who found a grocery store with an early supply of seasonal talenti on sale?   >> this guy <<

Talenti Peppermint Bark Gelato #23

(peppermint gelato with chocolate chips)

I wouldn't say no to a.... Klondike Classic Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich

Let's be honest here. If you offer me an ice cream sandwich, I'm not going to say no. If you offer me a box of ice cream sandwiches, I may or may not drool on myself. See, I work for a small company, and once a week this very nice coworker goes out at lunchtime and does our shopping for us. She gets the usual office stuff: coffee, tea, milk, hot chocolate, plus any rogue requests that pop up, like say a giant bag of jolly ranchers. Now before she leaves, she always asks one more time if anyone needs anything, and for whatever reason, I threw out "ice cream sandwiches!". Well as a fellow fan of ice cream, she decided to bring us back a big box of....

Klondike Classic Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwiches

(wait, am I the only one who had one yesterday?)

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Ice Cream

Or should I say Pilgrim Joe's Pumpkin Ice Cream? It comes out once a year and despite an overload of pumpkin products this year, I'm going to give this super premium ice cream a shot.

Pilgrim Joe's Pumpkin Ice Cream

"Made with nearly 30% pumpkin puree"

Ben & Jerry's Vanilla Heath Bar Crunch Ice Cream

[By Nick] Looking over the Ben & Jerry’s flavors the other day at the store I had a revelation. I’ve never had their Vanilla Heath Bar Crunch. I’ve mentioned my love for heath bars on multiple occasions so you’d think this would’ve been a flavor I tried ages ago. Maybe because it’s such a simple flavor I’ve just overlooked it. Whatever the case may be, I checked through our archive to see if Dubba covered it already. Seeing as he didn’t, I thought it was a prime opportunity to try another Ben & Jerry’s flavor while also working to review all of the Ben & Jerry’s flavors on the market.

This flavor is a basic as Ben & Jerry’s flavors come. It’s just their vanilla ice cream with heath bars thrown into the mix. That’s not necessarily a bad thing seeing as I do enjoy their Coffee Heath Bar Crunch (Why haven’t I reviewed this yet?) and it’s essentially the same thing just a change in base flavors. I do remember reading somewhere that Jerry would throw cases of Heath bars off of a ladder to turn them into chunks. Yeah, I’m running out of things to say so let’s just move onto the actual product.

Turkey Hill Lady Liberty Mint Ice Cream

[Discontinued???] Next up is something that I've always had my eye on, but I have hesitated on because... well, I mean the only excuse I have is the container is a very bright green copper color. I know it's dumb, but it made me hesitate. I mean it's cool and all for Lady Liberty to have her own ice cream flavor, but the packaging just doesn't hook me in... ofcourse, that was until I read the description, and I realized I had made a terrible, terrible mistake by waiting.

Turkey Hill Lady Liberty Mint Ice Cream

Mint ice cream with chocolate cake crunchies and crunchy chocolate cookie swirl

Flavor Watch: Ben & Jerry's Ron Burgundy's Scotchy Scotch Scotch Ice Cream

Update: For my actual review, go here

For the last few days, Ben & Jerry's has been teasing a new flavor. I'll admit that the squirrel didn't make much sense at first, but if you paid attention to all the clues (and if you've seen Anchorman), then you may have guessed the new flavor is....

photo from Ben & Jerry's

Ben & Jerry's Ron Burgundy's Scotchy Scotch Scotch Ice Cream

Butterscotch Ice Cream with Butterscotch Swirls

(Nick notes this matches a scoop shop only flavor from last year)

photo from Ben & Jerry's

This was the first clue from Ben & Jerry's facebook page on 10/22. I think everyone's general thought was that there had to be some kind of nut in here because 1) squirrel! and 2) it looks like some kind of nut cluster thing inside the pint. The squirrel is really a reference to the skiing swirl seen in anchorman. All I can say is.... well played Ben & Jerry.

Anyway, the clues piled in but it wasn't until the last photo that I realized what was going on. I did some digging to double check my answer and everything seemed to be lining up. So, we had some fun over on our facebook page as we counted down to the 5 pm announcement.

Before I go, can I nitpick for a sec? Why aren't there three butterscotch components to match the three scotches in the name. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Ben & Jerry's has given this a silly name, I just don't know why they didn't bother to add some kind of butterscotch cookie, chunk, or chip  to really seal the deal.

Anyway, stay tuned while Nick and I search high and low to bring you guys this new flavor.

Cedar Crest Caramel Collision Ice Cream

[By Nick] Last up from the trio of Cedar Crest pints I ordered from Ice Cream Source is Cedar Crest Caramel Collision ice cream.

This one is made up of caramel ice cream, a caramel swirl and chocolate covered caramel cups. I’m not going to lie, after my lackluster experience with the caramel in their Turtle Sundae, I was a bit hesitant in trying this one. I couldn’t taste the caramel at all in that flavor and every component of this one involves caramel.

Hood Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Review

Ok, time for a real another quick review (because this one disappeared pretty quickly).

Hood Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream

Strawberry Ice Cream with Strawberry Swirl and Shortcake Pieces

I'll wouldn't say no to a bowl of.... Edy's Cookie Dough Grand Ice Cream

Ok, time to try a new feature here on the blog. People tend to ask me "what's your favorite this" or "what's your favorite that?", but another way to look at it is, what do I pick up for my family when I'm not discovering new pints to share with all of you. These ice creams tend to be main stream, possibly on sale, and have a minimum safe flavor factor. They may not be the best of the best, but their reliable. In other words, I wouldn't say no to a bowl of....

Edy's (Dreyer's) Cookie Dough - Grand Ice Cream

Vanilla ice cream with cookie dough pieces and chocolate Toll House morsels

Einstein Bros Frozen Pumpkin Pie Drink

[New for 2013] Yesterday, it was time to make my first second third trip to Einstein Bros Bagels. Now our buddy Adam from theimpulsivebuy.com sent me an email about a month ago saying that Einstein Bros had unleashed a bunch of fall products, including the very tempting sounding Frozen Pumpkin Pie. Ok, I know I should have went sooner, but the socially anxious side of me hates going in this particular store because the cashier has to make the drink, meaning all the hungry people behind me have to wait like two minutes while he stops what he is doing to make it for me. I know that sounds dumb, but it's nerve racking for some of us. Anyway....

So here's my lunch. Ham and cheese on a potato bagel, the Sun Chips version of Doritios, and my well-blended drink. The official description for Frozen Pumpkin Pie is "An indulgent blended frozen drink that tastes just like a pumpkin pie. It is topped with whipped cream pumpkin and sauce drizzle." There's nothing pretty on top like the advertised pictured, but whatever, taste is my concern today.

Taco Bell Dessert Kits Cinnamon Nachos & Chocolate Taco

[New for 2013, short lived] Today, October 14th, is National Dessert Day, and ever since we recorded episode 11 of the Nosh Show, I've been searching high and low for these new Taco Bell dessert kits. Between my love of all things cinnamon and my fascination with chocolate choco tacos, I had nothing but high hopes for these treats. Ok, technically I knew my hopes were probably unrealistic even before reading all the so-so reviews, but hey, you have to hope for a winner anyway right?

Taco Bell Chocolate Taco Dessert Kit

Chocolate Sauce, 6 Chocolate Taco Shells & Sprinkles

(just add ice cream & whip cream)

Taco Bell Cinnamon Nachos Dessert Kit

Cinnamon Tortilla Chips, Caramel Sauce & Toffee-flavored bits

(just add ice cream)

Clemmy's All Natural Coffee Ice Cream

[By Nick, discontinued / out of business]
You guys asked for more sugar-free ice cream reviews, so here you go!

Clemmy’s seems to be the top tier company when it comes to making sugar-free products. I've yet to find a flavor that really disappointed me so here’s hoping we continue that streak with their coffee ice cream.