Magnum Gold?! Ice Cream Bar Review

[New for 2013, renamed to "Sea Salt Caramel" and lost the coloring in 2016]
Well I just had an awesome lunchtime dessert because I've found the brandy new (to the U.S.) Magnum Gold Ice Cream Bars and all I can really say is "Oh my bloody word are these things good".

I was psyched to see this box staring at me, and on sale for $3.49 no less (at Stop & Shop). Magnum Gold?! is Vanilla Bean ice cream with a sea salt caramel swirl dipped in a golden chocolate coating. Is the gold a flavor? a gimmick? I don't really care because it looks super fancy and I need to open the box now.

Homemade Brand Sea Salt Caramel Ice Cream Review

[By Nick] Along with their Limited Edition Pumpkin Pie ice cream, Homemade Brand also sent over a container of their Limited Edition Sea Salt Caramel. Looking over their website, Homemade Brand currently has 10 limited edition flavors. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s pretty impressive. Hey folks over at Homemade, if you ever need to add another limited edition flavor, I’m totally willing to collaborate on something with you! The world needs a white chocolate cookies and cream ice cream. Okay, enough sidetracking let’s talk about the ice cream.

I feel like everyone has jumped on the sea salt caramel bandwagon. It’s the flavor equivalent of the greek yogurt trend. Still it’s an amazing combination so I’m in no way complaining about the saturation in the freezer aisle. Homemade Brand’s version utilizes sweet cream ice cream with sea salt caramel swirls as well as chocolate covered caramel truffles. I haven’t had sweet cream ice cream in a while, so this is a welcomed change of pace.

New Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Ice Cream Review

[2013-2016] You've waited patiently since the new year's eve ball fell and 2013 began. You knew Ben & Jerry's flavors where coming, you just didn't know when. Oh the agony of waiting..... well wait no more.

Behold Ben & Jerry's newest full time flavor: Chocolate Peppermint Crunch! Big thanks to Nick for tipping me off that Price Chopper had started to carry these (look for his upcoming review of Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz!). I love opening the first new B&J's flavor of the year!

Pancake Ice Cream Sandwiches with Turkey Hill All Natural Vanilla Ice Cream

I never know how he finds these things, but a few days before National Pancake day, Nick sent me a link to an Icy Pancake Review. It seemed like an intriguing idea which I decided to save up for today, for you see, today is smack dab in the middle of National Pancake Week (yes, I'm sorry, but such a thing does exist).

Now I don't have any strawberry ice cream, but I did pick up this lovely container of the freshly rebranded Turkey Hill All Natural Vanilla Ice Cream. I've always been a big fan of their all natural line, so it's good to see it get some attention and some new branding. Always dig a mix of classic and modern looks. Can you guess my favorite part of the packaging? It's the five ingredient list under the name of the ice cream (even listed in the proper order like they would be in the ingredients list). Granted, Haagen-Dazs did the same thing, but it's one of those little touches that helps sell an ice cream like this.

Babcock Hall Butter Pecan Ice Cream Review

[By Nick] So as we make our way through my Ice Cream Source order, we find ourselves back at a brand that had me considering transferring colleges just for their ice cream. I knew when making this order that I had to pick up a couple more of their flavors so the first one is a flavor I hold near and dear to my heart: Butter Pecan.

I’ve spoken about my love of Butter Pecan enough on this blog for you guys to know that I take it very seriously. I’m not much of a fan of deviating from the normal buttery base let alone the use of plain vanilla ice cream. Babcock Hall has a trick up their sleeve though, instead of going either of those two routes they thought to shakes things up completely and possibly go straight for my heart. They decided to make the base butterscotch ice cream. Just let that set in for a second…good? Okay. I’m a card carrying member of the “Butterscotch Is Underrated Club” so seeing it used as the base of my favorite ice cream has to be one of the greatest ideas ever. I’m sort of drooling as I type this introduction up so let’s cut the chitchat and move on to the ice cream.

Taking off the lid, I was surprised at how reminiscent of coffee ice cream it looked. The color is not exactly like I had imagined it to be. When I think of butterscotch I think of a rich golden color. Looking at this, all I see is a very dull tan hue. Taking my first spoonful and that dull look translates to the taste. The butterscotch flavor is so mild that the base just tastes bland. All I’m getting is notes of sweet cream and none of the promised butterscotch.

The pecans on the other hand live up to their billing. Though they’re not as plentiful as I would like, when you run into one you’re in for a treat. The majority of them are pretty large half pecans. I managed to find this beast as well. While I do appreciate the size of the nuts (quit laughing!), I would’ve much rather had them chopped up so I’d be able to get some in each bite.

With Babcock Hall's approach, you’re left eating a few scoops of the dull base before you run into one of the butter roasted pecans. It’s a shame too because their taste almost makes up for the base’s short comings.

My hopes were so high for this one and now they have come crashing down. If you’re going to deviate from the norm you have to be sure your product lives up to the hype. This one didn’t just fall short, it fell before it even started the race. Now if they were to transfer those pecans to a normal buttered base and chop them up a bit I could see Babcock Hall having a winner on their hands. The way things are now, this injustice to butterscotch doesn't deserve the name Butter Pecan.

Verdict?  Where’s the butterscotch?
Buy Again?  Not even if it was readily available to me

Friendly's Mint Madness Limited Edition Ice Cream Review

Did you know that February 19th is one of those foolish food holidays? That's right, apparently it's National Chocolate Mint day. Good thing I have just the right treat for the occasion today.

This is Friendlys MINT MADNESS and you would think there would be some kind of copyright violation here somewhere, especially with the strong basketball theming of the container, but whatever, it's the flavor that we are after.

Nestle Drumstick Pretzel Dipped Review

[New for 2012, Discontinued by 2014?] Now Nestle released a handful of new drumstick and bar products last year, and the ones that really got my attention were the two treats involving pretzels. Now I try not to read ice cream reviews before trying a product myself, but I did read that Brand Eating was rather unimpressed with the caramel pretzel ice cream bar. His biggest complaint (and my worst fear) was that the treat really didn't bring the pretzel flavor. Well, let's see what happens here.

So here is a box of Pretzel Dipped Nestle Drumsticks which is pretzel dipped artificially flavored vanilla frozen dairy dessert... wait, what? GRRRRRRRRR Nestle has put frozen dairy dessert in my beloved drumsticks? Ok, looking back to the 2009 review of Lil' Drums, this indeed has been the case for a long time. Apparently it's been too long since I've had a drumstick. Let's proceed.

2nd St. Creamery Limerick Cherry Chocolate Ice Cream Review

[New for 2012, 2nd St has closed up shop before the 2015 ice cream season] Now you may remember my first 2nd St Creamery review back in October. It was a mixed bag of results. It was an awesome looking ice cream, but we had technical difficulties that may or may not have been my fault. We kind of got a 50/50 in the comment section of people who loved this new lineup versus people who had the exact same problem I did. 50%, while not an overwhelming majority, is enough to convince me that these guys need another shot, especially when "these guys" means the fine folks over at Wells Enterprises (Blue Bunny)... oh, and it was on sale for half off, that helped too.

This is Limerick Cherry Chocolate Super Premium Ice Cream and while I don't know what limerick has to do with anything, I do know that the description of "dark sweet cherry ice cream with cherries and chocolate chunks" sure sounds a lot like my wife's beloved Cherry Garcia. Let's get this puppy opened up.

TCBY Supreme Cookies & Cream Frozen Yogurt

[By Nick, New for 2012] After a recommendation on my TCBY Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough review, I’ve been on the lookout for their Supreme Cookies & Cream flavor. After a long search, I finally found myself a pint behind a bunch of other TCBY flavors. The commenter said that this product was amazing and similar to an Oreo Blizzard from DQ. Seeing as I live nowhere near a DQ, I’ve never had one before. I guess I’ll just have to take their word for it and just use my childhood memories of a Oreo Mcflurry as a reference.

TCBY describes this one by bluntly stating that this pint includes “chocolate sandwich cookie pieces throughout rich low fat vanilla frozen yogurt.” Nothing too shocking for a cookies and cream flavor but what exactly makes it supreme? This thing better have tons of cookies in it to live up to its name. That or the chunks need to be gigantic. I guess we’ll just have to find out then.

New Orleans Ice Cream Company Afternoon Snack Cajun Rum Raisin and Peach Melba

So with all the hub bub of wrapping up 2012 with the big holiday season, I forgot to finish up this post on the last two New Orleans ice cream flavors shipped to me last year. New Orleans ICC makes some epic flavors so you are probably thinking "Dubba, that's terrible of you to wait so long!" Well, you're right, but let's read the description on this first pint and then you'll understand.

This is Cajun Rum Raisin and if you are like me, that Cajun part has you a little afraid. "Ragin' Cajun" is the first thing comes to my mind and I don't think my gut is that far off. "Plump Raisins soaked in Old New Orleans Cajun Spice Rum & A Unique Cayenne Kick Make This Unique Flavor A Creamy, Spicy Delight".

G.S. Tuscan Tiramisu Gelato Review

[By Nick] After seeing how well G.S. Gelato does sorbetto, I was more than excited to try out one of their gelato flavors. I mean come on; gelato is in their name so it has to be amazing at it as well. I've got two choices, but since I’m in more of a coffee mood, I decided to go with their Tuscan Tiramisu.

Being Italian, it shames me to say that my experience with tiramisu is limited. I have had it a few times and really liked it but I’m not sure why I haven’t actually had it all that much. I guess the opportunities have just been few and far between. Thankfully G.S. has me covered by turning the classic dessert into a gelato. One thing to note before we go any further is that G.S. does not use any mix-ins in their gelato. I was informed that they do use them in their private label products but this one is just a smooth base so there will be no lady fingers or a mascarpone swirl. Okay with that out of the way, let's open up this pint.

Skinny Cow Snickerdoodle Sandwiches A Low Fat Treat Review

[New/Limited for 2013, Full time in 2015] So deep down I'm always looking to fill the void created my beloved blue bunny sedona sandwiches. Could this surprise limited edition flavor from Skinny Cow do it? It's rare to see an oatmeal wafer, and then they are mixing it with a cinnamon light ice cream? Sure it's low fat, but I gotta say, I'm excited.

original limited edition packaging (circa 2013)

new full time packaging (circa 2015)

State of the Freezer Address Snowmaggadon 2013 Edition

Greetings from the snow covered northeast!

This shot deceptively unimpressive because this storm has only just begun

Let's start with the upstairs freezer. Notice anything funny in this picture? look closely....  yeah, there's no ice cream in this picture. Between the year end purge, the weekly eating, and the impending blizzard, there is almost nothing going on at the moment upstairs except for the healthy choice greek froyo who's review should be up shortly (I just tried it last night). We better head downstairs.

Well, what can I say, apparently 2013 is going to be a very efficient year as there's not a ton going on down here either (unless you recognize what might be in that box in the top middle of the picture). One of the goals for this year is to really balance things out in terms of brands, flavors, styles, everything. I want everyone to feel like their favorites are getting the attention they deserve.

Now I wasn't really sure what to post today for a review but then I realized I could do my store brand cookie dough showdown as part of this post. See, I've been keeping my family at bay with random brands of cookie dough and cookies and cream, but that doesn't always make for the most exciting posts... so, we'll keep this short and sweet.

Hannaford ( Food Lion ) has their own line of Frozen Dairy Dessert and it takes a page from the old Breyers and Edy's moniker of "OVERLOAD". This line isn't new, it's just the first time I ever noticed that Hannaford's had different styles of ice cream from premium to regular to overloaded (frozen dairy dessert). What can I say, I don't shop there often.

So here's the patient and while it looks ok (complete with giant frozen dairy dessert air ripples), it was just so-so in my book. Edible, cheap, but nothing to write home about. I mean, I just had this last week and I've already completely spaced on how it tasted. I remember being bored, oh so bored. I thought Target did a nice job with their in house cookie dough so I thought maybe lightning would strike twice. Not so much. It's got a soft frozen dairy dessert texture but it wasn't real gummy. No, it was the base flavor that was boring me.....  and the boring chips.... maybe even boring cookie dough.... but, I shouldn't give up.

The other store brand we have is some Stop & Shop Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream. Now some of you might be going "Ummm, Dubba, Why doesn't it say Stop & Shop?" but then there's another group of you going "Ummm, Dubba, that's not S&S, that's Giant brand". Well, both groups are right. Both grocery stores are owned by Ahold. Wait, you don't care do you? Ahhh, that's ok, but I feel better knowing why there's no S&S branding on this itty bitty 48 fluid ounce treat (What happened to 56 oz??)

I grab a giant bite that has four cookie dough bits in it (because I'm crazy) and my gut reaction is "wow, that's some cheap, dry cookie dough", but let's not panic. Let see if the base is really cookie dough flavored... hmmm, hard to tell actually.

There are plenty of cookie dough bites, but like I said, they have this funky dry texture to them. The cookie dough flavor is alright, but it's not nearly as fun as many other cookie dough bits that might be sweeter or have better texture. The tiny chocolate chips are a giant non-factor. They are too small to add serious crunch or add any flavor. I'd almost rather have them not here at all.

You know what I do like? The texture. It almost reminds me of some nice old school Breyer's, plus there is something sweet about the base. I can't say I taste cookie dough, but it just has this subtle swagger that blends well with the texture of the base. It's mild, but it's that bit of effort that says "hey, I'm trying here".

So, not a total loss, especially at $3.19 a container. It's definitely a positive experience for my first Stop & Shop purchase. I've got some of their greek froyo to try next, so watch out for that.

On Second Scoop: Just a quick note to down a couple of cookie dough bits before having a bowl of this one. It will trick your taste buds into thinking the base is more flavored than it is

(un)official 2013 Snowmageddon Sundae

Update: Well, the sun is out, and I need a little fuel before I go power through two feet of snow. First we've got a fresh from the over "supreme" brownie, you know, the one with cookie dough mixed in. Then we've got the Stop & Shop cookie dough ice cream slowly melting on top of that. A sundae isn't a sundae without some (all natural) whip cream. Now, you need to sprinkle on some kind of final visual element if you really want to win people over, so in this case it's brownie brittle crumbs and I gotta say I love how it looks. Actually, maybe I should say it tastes even better then it looks.

So Delicious Turtle Trails Review

[By Nick] Curiosity can get the best of us sometimes. I know I've said I hate coconut before but yet here I am with a pint of coconut milk ice cream sitting in front of me. To be honest, I've always been curious about the brand but my hatred towards all things coconut stopped me from ever making a purchase. That all changed the other day when I happened to see that they were clearancing some of Turtle Mountain’s line of So Delicious pints (I believe they were making room for their new almond milk brethren).

With pretty much nothing to lose, I grab the pint that interested me the most. Turtle Trails is basically Turtle Mountain’s take on your standard turtle sundae. Described as “A gooey non-dairy caramel sauce and chocolate-coated praline pecans swimming in a sea of creamy, coconut milk based vanilla non-dairy frozen dessert.” it really does sound pretty good when I try to mentally phase out the coconut part of it.

Dairy Queen Choco Covered Strawberry Blizzard of the Month Review

So who's ready for the blizzard of the month? I know I am!

So I did a little searching because I don't remember ever seeing the Choco Covered Strawberry Blizzard before, but it's pretty straight forward and seems like something they would have done before. Well, it was on the list of the 25 blizzards for the 25th anniversary celebration, so it definitely existed. Digging further, I suspect it was also the blizzard of the month in December of 2010 (when I had no access to DQ which explains why I missed it).  Now I've enjoyed both the strawberry golden oreo blizzard and the strawberry cheesequake blizzard, so I have no reason to assume that this won't be excellent. Let's find out!

SONIC’s Chocolate Cherry Sweetheart Shake Contest

Welcome to February everyone! We all know what that means right? 13 shopping days left to disappoint spoil your significant other! Woot! Well, Sonic wants to give you something tasty to bring home this month on top of whatever else you have planned. Check out the official announcement:

SONIC’s limited time Chocolate Cherry Sweetheart Shake

Available only in February, the Valentine’s Day-inspired treat is made with SONIC’s cherry-flavored creamy Real Ice Cream, blended with rich chocolate shavings and finished with whipped topping, more chocolate shavings and a cherry. It makes for a perfect Valentine companion for your taste buds.

I don't think I've ever had a cherry shake, so I'm pretty excited. Now just like other Sonic announcements, they have graciously offered up a $20 gift card for one lucky blog reader (plus a gift card for me so I can go try it and let you know how it is). How do you enter to win? Well, leave me a comment below with one of your favorite Valentine's presents, whether it's something you gave or something you received. I think that we've all done flowers, chocolates, teddy bears, dinners and such, but every now and then we all have that "this is the best present ever" moment.... so share it with us and you might get the $20 gift card. I'm trying to think of a good Valentine's related example, but after almost 20 years of knowing my wife, I can only think of nice things I've done, nothing spectacular.

Note: "I hate valentine's day" is a completely acceptable answer  :)

Thursday Update: A winner will be picked at some point on Thursday (I swear). Thank you all for your wonderful submissions. Stay Tuned.