Ice Cream

[BetterButter]

I scream you scream...

[WendyCR72]

...we all scream for ICE CREAM! 

 

Now I want some Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie. <Shakes fist at thread>

[Athena]

Yes, I like ice cream. I also like gelato, frozen yogurt, and frozen custard. 

[Shannon L.]

I could drown in ice cream--and I have a long list of flavors that I love.  Because of my obsession for it, I buy Dreyers Slow Churned 1/2 fat.  IMO, it's just as good (especially the Carmel Delight! omg!) as the regular stuff.

 

I grew up near Ben and Jerry's so I have a special place for them, but it's a rare treat these days. 

[joanne3482]

frozen custard.

 

Until I moved to Texas, I had never heard of frozen custard. It is delicious!

 

I grew up near Ben and Jerry's so I have a special place for them, but it's a rare treat these days.

 

I visited their factory once when I was in Vermont. It was so cool! (Both literally and figuratively)

 

Similarly in Tillamook Oregon is the Tillamook factory which has ice cream. So delicious. 

[Bastet]

Ice cream made with fresh vanilla beans, yes.  With "natural flavors," no.

 

I only like flavors that are made from a vanilla base -- cookies and cream, chocolate chip cookie dough, vanilla chocolate chunk, etc.  Even something I like - mint, chocolate, strawberry, peanut butter, etc. - I do not like as an ice cream flavor, only as an ingredient mixed in with vanilla ice cream.

Edited August 6, 2014 by Bastet

[Rick Kitchen]

My favorite is peppermint candy, which is usually only available at Christmas, but the rest of the year, mint chocolate chip, please.

[BizBuzz]

Most of the time I don't do any flavors as vanilla (french or otherwise) is my ice cream of choice.  If I want to splurge, butter pecan or cherry vanilla.

[TWP]

Homemade vanilla where you practically pour the whole bottle of vanilla into the ice cream....YUM.  Or sometimes I'll use Greek yogurt as the base.

[halgia]

My favorite is peppermint candy, which is usually only available at Christmas

My family is all super into peppermint ice cream (both of my parents' sides, actually). It's one of the most important holiday foods. I like to mix it with my family's other main ice cream, mocha almond.

 

My dad likes to tell the story of how, when he was younger, the local grocery store would get in one container of peppermint a week. My grandpa would go to the store the day they got it, and if it was still there, buy it, but often someone else beat him to the punch. When he talked to the store manager, though, they said they wouldn't buy any more because "no one ever buys it."

[Shannon L.]

 

My favorite is peppermint candy, which is usually only available at Christmas, but the rest of the year, mint chocolate chip, please.

Yeah, what's up with that?  I've also seen Black Raspberry on occasion, but only in the summer and I love that flavor, too.  Seasonal ice creams can be so frustrating. 

[Bella]

I said elsewhere that I love my ice cream maker because I believe that cinnamon should be one of the basic flavors, like vanilla and chocolate. But cinnamon ice cream is exceptionally hard to find. I found cinnamon and vanilla at Whole Foods recently, but it was stupidly expensive even by Whole Foods standards.

 

We get one delivery each month from Relay Foods - usually meat and local produce, but I also order a container of ice cream in an unusual flavor. This month, it was popcorn and caramel, and the basket arrived today.

 

That is one weird ice cream flavor. Lots of sugar and lots of salt. It's not bad, but I don't think I'll reorder it.

[OnceSane]

 

Because of my obsession for it, I buy Dreyers Slow Churned

I love Dreyer's Slow Churned...delicious!

 

 

Because of my obsession for it, I buy Dreyers Slow Churned

 

I love being from Oregon. ;)

 

I adore Ben & Jerry's, too many flavors to mention.  But I'm also happy with a simple vanilla (I can do more things with it).

[ramble]

My favorite is peppermint candy, which is usually only available at Christmas, but the rest of the year, mint chocolate chip, please.

I love peppermint ice cream. It's an unhealthy stalker type of love. I can imagine standing outside its window & staring at its house, leaving bizarre notes written on its car windows, even hacking its email. Braum's, which is a regional chain based out of Oklahoma, often has it year round. I had some this summer. Yes! In the summer! We always go there after the first day of school so I'm hoping they still have it next week. Btw, I had a homemade white chocolate peppermint once that was so amazing I kind of needed a moment to myself, but it was at a church ice cream social so it just seemed as if I loved being there.

I love most ice cream in an unhealthy way. As in I would give up real food & just eat ice cream 90% of the time. Therefore I do not keep it in the house. Ice cream is a go & get it treat because I have no willpower when it comes to it's creamy goodness.

Edited August 7, 2014 by ramble

[zbornak]

I barely liked ice cream until I moved to Italy, but now I'm borderline dependent.

[joanne3482]

@forumfish Fort Worth. I have a Central Market nearby so I'll have to check out the hatch gelato. I like interesting ice creams like that! 

[GreekGeek]

I love almost any kind of ice cream, gelato, sorbet, sherbet, and frozen yogurt, although some of the ice cream parlor ice creams have that "mixy" taste. Where you know they took a mix and added flavorings. I especially love the caramel-type flavors, especially with sea salt. Baskin-Robbins English Toffee is a flavor I'll always miss. Their pecan praline was pretty good, but not the same. Howard Johnson's buttercrunch is another lost love.

 

The only kind I'm not eager to try is the weird stuff, where the mix-ins would be more at home on a sandwich--like bacon or horseradish. (Speaking of weird combos, have any of you ever eaten pickles and ice cream while pregnant? That's one of those movie/TV tropes I've always wondered about.)

[OnceSane]

 

Speaking of weird combos, have any of you ever eaten pickles and ice cream while pregnant? That's one of those movie/TV tropes I've always wondered about

 

Nope.  I drank pickle juice & strawberry milkshakes while pregnant, but not together...ever.

[turnitwayup]

I love Baskin Robbins ice cream cakes. I usually get either mint n chip or chocolate chip with chocolate cake. I also love their daiquiri ice but am annoyed that they got rid of the plain chocolate fudge and remade it brownie and almond pieces. I also eat rasberry, peach and mango gelatos. On frozen yogurt I like to get the plain tart yogurt with strawberry topping.

[spaceytraci1208]

My heart was broken the day I brought home Breyer's "frozen dairy dessert." I forget what the flavor was, but I went to scoop some and noticed that it didn't say "ice cream" on the package. It had a weird texture and somehow didn't seem as cold as ice cream. I threw it out after a couple spoonfuls. I'm super careful with my selections in the ice cream section now

[Uncle Benzene]

Best commercially-produced ice cream ever: Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby

 

Best ice cream ever: Homemade, hand-cranked in the back yard while saltwater pours from the little spout. Dad's week to choose: Butter Pecan. Mom's week to choose: Strawberry. I was cool either way. (To be honest, I was usually more interested in lifting a pocketful of rock salt while nobody was looking, to suck on for as long as the haul lasted.)

 

Later on, when my sis & I would spend every other weekend at dad's, he'd make us milkshakes with french vanilla ice cream, malted milk powder and maraschino cherries. Outfreakingstanding. For some reason, I've never had easy access to malted milk powder in my adult years. Wish I did. No idea what's up with that, I've never been able to find it locally. Whoppers will do in a pinch, though I'm not fond of the waxy chocolate bits when I go that route.

[LuckyBitch]

My heart was broken the day I brought home Breyer's "frozen dairy dessert." I forget what the flavor was, but I went to scoop some and noticed that it didn't say "ice cream" on the package. It had a weird texture and somehow didn't seem as cold as ice cream. I threw it out after a couple spoonfuls. I'm super careful with my selections in the ice cream section now

 

Mr. LB accidentally bought that shit once because it was on sale. Now he knows enough to carefully read the label and avoid anything called "frozen dairy dessert", and make sure it's real ice cream. Ours ended up in the garbage disposal.

Edited August 10, 2014 by LuckyBitch

[Shannon L.]

 

Best ice cream ever: Homemade, hand-cranked in the back yard while saltwater pours from the little spout.

We did that when we visited our grandparents house every summer.  My grandfather would freeze water in milk containers, then throw them in burlap sack and take a sledge hammer to them to break up the ice for the bucket (the kids loved trying this, but it was always too heavy for us).  When it was all set up, we'd stand in line from youngest to oldest and take turns cranking--the grown men doing it last because it got so hard to do after a while.  Our favorites were vanilla, strawberry, and--wait for it--Grape Nut.  It sounded awful to me, but then I tasted it and omg is it good. 

 

 

did you used to sit on the freezer? I used to love to sit on the freezer while my dad turned the crank.

 

We did! 

[imjagain]

Not a huge ice cream fan. I like it but I almost never eat it.

Couple weeks ago I bought some, it was Kroger's private selection brand, Michigan cherry cobbler. So good! Creamy with chuncks of cobbler and cherries. I loved it.

I won't buy it again for a while. I ate it 1 cup at a time,lol.

I was thankful that hubby hates fruit in ice cream. My 4 year old hate ice cream .... So it was all mine.

[WendyCR72]

Wow, @imjagain, your kid hates ice cream? I think that's a first! LOL!

[imjagain]

Wow, @imjagain, your kid hates ice cream? I think that's a first! LOL!

Yeah people never believe that,lol. He has autism and sensory disorder. So he has lots of food issues. He will take a bite but its to cold for him and spits it out. I thought it was the texture, but he will eat yogurt. So I figure it's the temp.

He will eat the hell out of popcorn lol.

Edited August 11, 2014 by imjagain

[Crs97]

I grew up on Blue Bell ice cream, and every night before bed we got a bowl. I live too far away for Blue Bell now, but there is a local ice cream parlor called Mitchell's and they are awesome. My husband says he didn't know you ate ice cream in winter until he met me (that is what hot fudge is for). When I tell my kids we have a surprise treat, they tell me if I got it then it's not a surprise. I like vanilla based ice creams.

[grisgris]

My favorite flavor, hands down, is chocolate chip. I usually buy Blue Bell because it comes in one-pint containers. (I have a small freezer.)

 

I also like Whole Fruit raspberry sorbet. I often throw that in the blender with frozen peaches and vanilla yogurt and make a peach melba smoothie for breakfast.

 

The stores always put out Edy's peppermint ice cream in the winter. LOVE IT!

 

When I was a kid, we lived not too far from Baskin & Robbins and Mom and Dad would often take us there for ice cream cones. My mother's favorite was a lemon chiffon, which was only available in June or July. When I moved, the B&Rs around here kept closing, so I remember driving all over the place to get some for her. B&R eventually discontinued it.

 

Mom made ice cream sometimes, always vanilla and it was delicious.

 

My dad would make us ice cream malts with malt powder, which reminds me that I recently found a recipe for chocolate chip malted cookies. I'd like to try them, but I'll have to really track down the malt powder.

 

My go-to treat from the ice cream man was an ice cream sandwich.

[Tabbyclaw]

I said elsewhere that I love my ice cream maker because I believe that cinnamon should be one of the basic flavors, like vanilla and chocolate. But cinnamon ice cream is exceptionally hard to find. I found cinnamon and vanilla at Whole Foods recently, but it was stupidly expensive even by Whole Foods standards.

 

It breaks my heart that Fry's/Kroger discontinued their Private Selection cinnamon chocolate ice cream. That stuff was heaven in a tub.

 

For me, ice cream is like nonalcoholic beverages, in that I will try almost anything at least once. The Ben & Jerry's flavor with the chocolate-covered potato chip clusters? Hell yes I bought that the second I saw it on the shelf. And it is awesome and I still snag it whenever I have a little extra money and it's in stock. Other than that I usually end up with a pint of the Private Selection ice cream when I've got a craving; they have a bevy of unusual flavors and the quality is surprisingly high for the price.

 

I also recently found out that Trader Joe's is currently stocking cookie butter ice cream. God help me, I am afraid if I try it I will never stop eating it.

[mlp]

 

Other than that I usually end up with a pint of the Private Selection ice cream when I've got a craving; they have a bevy of unusual flavors and the quality is surprisingly high for the price.

 

I don't know whether to thank Kroger for changing my mind about ice cream or blame them for about a million calories I wouldn't have eaten otherwise.  I grew up when ice cream basically meant a gallon carton of rock hard, grainy Sealtest that came in vanilla, chocolate or Neapolitan (which I loathe to this day).   For decades, I rarely ate it and never bought it for home.  Then, a couple years ago, I was looking for something in a freezer case at Kroger and noticed they had butter pecan which I remembered liking at some time in the past so I bought some.  Delicious.  Since then, I've tried many flavors of the Private Selection brand and they're really good.  Schwan's has good ice cream, too.

[grisgris]

I like Dairy Queen chocolate-dipped soft serve cones. I also loved their crunch cones, which I enjoyed when I was growing up. That variety hasn't been around for ages. Sadly, all of the DQs in our area are closing.

[mlp]

 

I like Dairy Queen chocolate-dipped soft serve cones. I also loved their crunch cones, which I enjoyed when I was growing up. That variety hasn't been around for ages. Sadly, all of the DQs in our area are closing.

 

I liked those dipped cones too although we called soft serve "custard" back in Buffalo where I grew up to differentiate it from regular ice cream.  I think I was an adult before I realized that custard is actually something else.  I can think of two old-fashioned Dairy Queens in my area (Central Illinois) but most of them are now super DQs with all kinds of fast food and indoor seating.

[Bastet]

My go-to treat from the ice cream man was an ice cream sandwich.

 

Mine was the "chipwich" with vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two chocolate chip cookies, with chocolate bits stuck to the side of the ice cream.

[KnoxForPres]

I love mint chocolate chip ice cream. But....it must be green. I don't like Breyers and I went to a farmers market last year where they made it with fresh mint. I hated it.

I'm not proud of that. But damn I love the fake green stuff. Add Hershey's syrup, wet walnuts and yeah real whipped cream. It's akin to heaven. Not trendy and I don't give a fuck ;)

[Shannon L.]

 

I'm not proud of that.

No biggie--I'm sure everyone has that one food where they prefer the fake stuff over the real stuff.  As for mint, I love it all: fake, real, white, green.....mmm....

[wovenloaf]

Of course, the concept of a chicken-fried steak sandwich ("The Dude") horrified her.

 Ewww! The DQs where I grew up all had food, but I think it was just burgers and hot dogs. I always pretty much ignored the food menu entirely though. I think I got some fries once, maybe.

 

I so crave a Blizzard! There's no DQs where I live now (I've never seen one, at least) =(

[Rick Kitchen]

OOOh, DQ is advertising both pumpkin pie and apple pie blizzards now.  I can't decide.

[Babalu]

I always think I'm going to love pumpkin pie ice cream concoctions, but they always end up tasting more of cinnamon/cloves/nutmeg than pumpkin, so I'm disappointed.

My favorite ice cream is Magnolia Mango. It's a Filipino company (other flavors include ube [purple yam] and halo halo) and isn't available everywhere, but might be near you if you live in a place with a large Filipino community. (Searched a few places at random on their web site, and they're in/near New York, Miami, LA, and San Diego, but not Boston, Seattle, Portland, or St. Louis.) Or - you can come visit me in Hawai'i, and I'll buy some for you!

[GreekGeek]

I always think I'm going to love pumpkin pie ice cream concoctions, but they always end up tasting more of cinnamon/cloves/nutmeg than pumpkin, so I'm disappointed.

 

I don't think pumpkin by itself has much flavor, so you can add those spices to anything and call it "pumpkin pie" flavor.

[stillshimpy]

I haven't had it since I was a child, because that was the last time I lived in a part of the country that had them, but my ultimate soft-serve love? Mr. Softee :-)

[Babalu]

I don't think pumpkin by itself has much flavor, so you can add those spices to anything and call it "pumpkin pie" flavor.

I agree that pumpkin's flavor is subtle, but I still think there's a difference between "pumpkin pie" and "pumpkin pie spice." I think you have a point, though, because it just occurred to me that there's probably no actual pumpkin in pumpkin pie lattes, so I think I'm just objecting to the strength of the spices in ice cream concoctions.

[stillshimpy]

Trader Joe's now has Cookie Butter Ice Cream.

Clearly, I must live off of this from this point forward. Oh.My.God it is good.

[Bastet]

From the TJ's newsletter:

 

More or less exactly what you think it might be - yet surpassing your ice cream imagination - Cookie Butter Ice Cream begins as humble-yet-rich vanilla ice cream, carefully crafted using fresh cream from the Midwestern United States and Madagascar vanilla extract. Pieces of Belgian Speculoos cookies are blended into the ice cream, and then comes the pièce de résistance, the not-so-secret ingredient that makes all of our ice cream wishes come true - a ribbon of Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter.

 

Yeah, I'm going to need to eat this very soon.

[WendyCR72]

I tried the Speculoos Cookie Butter (not the ice cream version) and...I didn't like it.  :-(  I guess this makes me some kind of mutant food freak, but there it is. <Hangs head in shame>

[Shannon L.]

 

Trader Joe's now has Cookie Butter Ice Cream.

Oh. My. God.  I must try this.

 

Today, we stopped off at our local specialty ice cream shop, Carmela's Ice Cream and Sorbet, for a rare, expensive, high calorie treat.  They have a few regular flavors, then some that they change out from time to time.  This was today's menu:

Signature Flavors:

Salted Caramel

Brown Sugar Vanilla Bean

Dark Chocolate Cacao Nib

Lavender Honey

Mint Cacao Nib

 

Current Flavors:*

Rose Petal

Earl Grey Tea

Strawberry Buttermilk

Cucumber Sorbet

Raspberry Rose Sorbet

Blackberry Vanilla Bean Sorbet

Intelligentsia Espresso

Peaches 'N' Cream

Lemon Verbena Vanilla Bean

Cantaloupe Sorbet

 

The italicized ones are my favorites.  I love caramel, but I'm not a big fan of salted caramel, which seems to be a new thing over the past couple of years.

[Tabbyclaw]

My newest obsession: Good-quality vanilla ice cream topped with blackberry ginger balsamic vinegar from a local specialty store. They told me it was a good combination, but I was skeptical. I have ceased to be so now.

[emma675]

I'm simple--give me Blue Bell ice cream in pretty much any flavor and I'm happy.

[DeLurker]

 

Speaking of weird combos, have any of you ever eaten pickles and ice cream while pregnant? That's one of those movie/TV tropes I've always wondered about

I went through several periods during my second pregnancy where the only things that would not make me throw up was super cheap frozen pizza (if it cost more than a $1 it wouldn't do) and lemon Italian Ice. 

 

I love B & J's Cherry Garcia.  I get a pint and just eat it a few spoonfuls right out of the carton and pop it into the freezer.  A pint can last me a couple of weeks and I am perfectly happy with just a couple of bites each time.  My ex would sometimes eat some without telling me, but he would leave some ridiculously small amount (less than a tablespoon) so as to not eat the last of it and then put the carton back in the freezer.  This drove me INSANE!  Just finish it and put it on the list, because I don't care if you eat it, but I do care if I expect there to be enough for me and there is only a miniscule amount because you feel guilty about "finishing" it. 

 

There should be an Ice Cream Clause as standard premarital agreements.

 

Since I have my "own" carton in the freezer, my kids love when I occasionally buy them special flavors in pints that are solely theirs and they can eat them right out of the carton.

[daughtersofanarchy]

Ice cream, ah beautiful beautiful ice cream.  We have learned through hard experience (or soft experience - soft bellies) to not buy ice cream by the carton, and not to keep a steady stock of ice cream products on hand (because, again, it will soon be on belly). We have no willpower at all where ice cream is concerned.

 

We get an occasional box of Hagen-Dazs ice cream bars.  Just lately, dh had a really good coupon for the Magnum Infinity Chocolate bars and we tried them.  They are great and we are going to switch permanently to them.

 

The rest of the time, after dinner we have a 40 calorie fudgsicle and two pieces of individually wrapped, small Dove chocolates.

 

On birthdays and holidays we get a carton of the birthday cake flavored ice cream, and a carton of extra super chocolate, and have those over a few day's time, plus a couple of individually packaged slices of cake from a store that makes really really good cake.

 

I'll admit that reading your descriptions of the various specialty ice creams has made me want to go dive into a vat.  heh

[WendyCR72]

You know what ice cream I loved (and this is probably more geared for the discontinued food thread, but I'll split hairs!) and dearly miss?

 

Godiva Ice Cream. And no, I don't mean the new soft serve offered with the shakes at the boutiques. I mean the pints that were sold around the late '90s. The Belgian Dark Chocolate flavor with Godiva chocolate hearts was TO DIE FOR, and it had bunches of other flavors I still miss. I guess the distributor marketing the ice cream for the company went under, and I still miss it dearly.