Ice Cream

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Bought hazelnut choc chip and caramel cookie crunch.

I love Talenti's caramel cookie crunch, and its vanilla caramel swirl, despite not being a huge caramel fan.

Oh, man, all this talk -- the sale is on until tomorrow, and it's a really good deal, so I may have to go pick up a pint of one of those flavors (I got chocolate chip this time).

[Scatterbrained]

I would like to add that Gelato Fiasco also has nice containers for storing stuff.  :)

[ennui]

This year, July 16 is National Ice Cream Day.  (In 1984, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed July as National Ice Cream Month and established National Ice Cream Day as the third Sunday in the month of July.)

I hear rumors of deals and lots of freebies, so I'm giving advance notice so you can plan accordingly.

[EyewatchTV211]

I guess there are no former or current Penn Staters who have visited this thread. Their ice cream is AMAZING! Ben and Jerry actually learned to make ice cream by taking Penn State's course years ago. It was very dangerous living there with the creamery right on campus, although I was able to avoid temptation more than others because I am lactose intolerant and can only have a little at a time. They don't serve all flavors all the time, but they have a large selection that they switch in and out throughout the year. There is something for everyone - plain flavors, flavors with a lot of add-ins. I've inherited the chocolate gene from my father's side, so I like almost every chocolate flavor, but they have gotten me into some others as well. It wasn't available often, but I loved the Pumpkin Pie ice cream which had actual pie pieces in it. Also one called Russ Digs Roseberry, which is strawberry ice cream, black raspberry sauce, red raspberry sauce, and dark chocolate flakes. I don't usually love the fruity ones, but that one is a surprising favorite. 

The old site allowed for easier scanning of all of the flavor options, but in case anyone is curious: http://creamery.psu.edu/ice-cream/flavors.html 

And their story: http://creamery.psu.edu/our-story

Though it looks like they don't have as many flavors as I remember. Oh well. 

[chessiegal]

I've been to the PSU Creamery - but it's been over 50 years ago. It was wonderful. I was born in Lewistown, and had a great aunt and uncle who lived on Main street back in the 60s. They sold it to someone who built a McDonald's in the 70s - made a small fortune. I went to UM College Park grad school - they are also a land grant college and have a farm - the cows were across the street from the chemistry building. Their creamery has really good ice cream too.

[harrie]

I went to UMCP too -- long, long ago, but the ice cream was excellent.  When the local papers do the annual local ice cream feature, the UCONN Dairy Bar always gets high marks.  Yay for state schools/land grant schools!

[EyewatchTV211]

34 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

I've been to the PSU Creamery - but it's been over 50 years ago. It was wonderful. I was born in Lewistown, and had a great aunt and uncle who lived on Main street back in the 60s. They sold it to someone who built a McDonald's in the 70s - made a small fortune. I went to UM College Park grad school - they are also a land grant college and have a farm - the cows were across the street from the chemistry building. Their creamery has really good ice cream too.

If it has been 50 years, you need to go back! LOL. You can even take ice cream back home with you - they ask you how far a trip you have and pack it with enough dry ice to get you back with the ice cream intact. Cool story about Lewistown - I did a practicum there. I actually looked at UM College Park for undergrad at the same time I was looking at Penn State, and of course they offered free ice cream to try. I didn't think UM's ice cream was as good. The chocolate wasn't chocolate-y enough, I remember. I may be somewhat biased now, but I think Penn State's ice cream is recognized more in national ice cream rankings than the other college creameries. 

[Snarklepuss]

On 4/19/2017 at 5:36 PM, Mittengirl said:

I saw a new brand of ice cream at the grocery store - Halo Top.  I don't know anything about it and at $5.98 a pint (on sale!) I will never find out.  But they did have some interesting flavors including Oatmeal Cookie and Lemon Cake.

Since I watch my sugar, calories and fat I've tried Halo Top and it's pretty good but I like "Enlightened" better.  It's creamier and less salty than Halo Top.  Both brands are all the rage in my area.  When they go on sale there are always people standing at the case in the supermarket.

My favorites so far of Halo Top are Red Velvet and Oatmeal Cookie.  My favorites of Enlightened are Black Cherry Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, Cold Brew Coffee and Caramel Oatmeal Cookie Crunch.  Also good for those that love Good Humor Toasted Almond is their Toasted Almond flavor.

This guy did a review of both brand's flavors and ranked them according to his favorites.  I pretty much agree with him so far.

http://junkbanter.com/2016/10/20/review-ranking-17-halo-top-flavors/

http://junkbanter.com/2017/05/04/ranking-all-21-enlightened-ice-creams/

P.S.  Lately they've both been going on sale for $3.99.

[PRgal]

I tried ice cream made from water buffalo milk yesterday.  MIND BLOWN. :)

[ariel]

Halo & Rumboldt ice creams are on sale this week at my local market. I'm going to give Halo a try &  the toasted almond sounds like something I would like. As a kid I loved the Good Humor version of it.   Has anyone tried Rumboldt?

Edited August 2, 2017 by ariel

[ariel]

I went to the store & bought Halo Top.  Sadly they didn't have the toasted almond.  I got the s'mores.  The texture of the ice cream is strange & the flavors taste artificial.  The product is marketed as being lower in calories, so that might explain it.

Edited August 3, 2017 by ariel

[kathyk24]

I had a coupon for a free pint of Halo Top and I tried Chocolate. I hated it. It wasn't creamy and tasted fake.

[ebk57]

15 hours ago, kathyk24 said:

I had a coupon for a free pint of Halo Top and I tried Chocolate. I hated it. It wasn't creamy and tasted fake.

I had a coupon too.  I can't even remember what flavor I got because it's still unopened in my freezer.  I guess I'll try it...but I'm not enthusiastic after reading everything posted here. I almost didn't even use the coupon after reading everything posted here - but that would be wasteful.  Unlike throwing out the rest of the ice cream if it's terrible.  That is saving someone else from having to eat something yucky.

Edited August 3, 2017 by ebk57

[piequinn35]

My all time favorite is Haagen Dazs  Vanilla Swiss Almond.

[Snarklepuss]

On 8/3/2017 at 3:20 AM, kathyk24 said:

I had a coupon for a free pint of Halo Top and I tried Chocolate. I hated it. It wasn't creamy and tasted fake.

Try Enlightened, it's much creamier and better than Halo Top.  The chocolate is one of HT's worst flavors IMO.  Best ones are Red Velvet and Oatmeal Cookie.
 

On 8/3/2017 at 6:48 PM, piequinn35 said:

My all time favorite is Haagen Dazs  Vanilla Swiss Almond.

I hear Haagen Dazs has a Green Tea flavor but I can't find it anywhere near me.  Has anyone ever tried it?

[ariel]

16 hours ago, Snarklepuss said:

Try Enlightened, it's much creamier and better than Halo Top.  

Enlightened is on sale at my local market this week.  What flavor do you recommend?

[piequinn35]

Haven't seen HD green tea here in Canada. Their new flavours are with spirits dont like them though but my husband loves them lol

[ebk57]

This was one of the stories in my daily Tasting Table email.  It seems impossible...as the comments say.

 

https://www.tastingtable.com/dine/national/halo-top-best-selling-ice-cream?utm_medium=email&utm_source=TT&utm_campaign=Daily&utm_content=Editorial

[Snarklepuss]

On 8/6/2017 at 6:34 PM, ariel said:

Enlightened is on sale at my local market this week.  What flavor do you recommend?

I generally agree with this guy's opinion although I would put peanut butter chocolate chip higher on the list.  I love that and the black cherry chocolate chip.  If I didn't stop myself I would eat the entire pint at one sitting!  I haven't tried the caramel oatmeal cookie crunch yet but since he put it at the top of the list I'll bet it's fantastic.  The cold brew coffee is awesome too.  I haven't tried the birthday cake flavor yet.  I had the toasted almond and I would agree with him on it being a little underwhelming.  Same is true for the chocolate chip cookie dough -it's "meh".

http://junkbanter.com/2017/05/04/ranking-all-21-enlightened-ice-creams/

[Snarklepuss]

22 hours ago, ebk57 said:

This was one of the stories in my daily Tasting Table email.  It seems impossible...as the comments say.

 

https://www.tastingtable.com/dine/national/halo-top-best-selling-ice-cream?utm_medium=email&utm_source=TT&utm_campaign=Daily&utm_content=Editorial

I believe it, if only because people are willing to forego some quality to save on fat/calories/sugar.  These days the diet mavens are really preaching that stuff and people are listening.  At least brands like Halo Top and Enlightened can be almost as good in their own way.  None of the other "diet" ice creams I know of are as addictive and similar to some other favorite high calorie/sugar/fat brands.

[Cherry Bomb]

I love ice cream and nuts in ice cream. Butter Pecan is my all time favorite and I also like several of the zany concoctions that Ben & Jerry's comes up with especially Bananas Foster, Cherry Garcia, and Chubby Hubby.

[biakbiak]

A friend brought over some Halo Top, it was S'mores flavor and wasn't bad per se but it tasted nothing like S'mores and was super coconutty.

[DeLurker]

@forumfish - you inspired me.  After my therapy appointment I went straight to Dairy Queen and got a hot fudge sundae.  I found it made me very happy.

[annzeepark914]

A few days ago I was reading something online (maybe one of the NYC newspapers? magazines?) about a cool restaurant in Manhattan and learned that they offer a special dessert: vanilla ice cream with granola sprinkled around it.  Well, that's what I've been doing for the past 2 years--who knew I was so creative?  It was desperation (nothing to go with or on my No Sugar Added vanilla bean ice cream, so I grabbed a box of almond granola cereal and poured it all over the ice cream.  It's been a favorite ever since.  I bet that restaurant's chef was desperate one night and did the same thing with his ice cream!

[chessiegal]

There is something to be said for contrasting textures. Granola with ice cream sounds wonderful. Congrats annzee for being on the cutting edge. ;-}

When we were in Europe last year, the breakfast buffets at the hotels had yogurt with a variety of toppings that besides fresh fruit, but also had nuts. I now eat my morning yogurt with either chopped walnut or mini chocolate chips.

[Quof]

Man sue Halo Top because "It's not ice cream."

See, I'm with him.  Halo has just come to Canada.  I had tried it in the US, and warned all my friends who were so excited at the prospect "It's not ice cream."  They tried it, and agreed with me.  God, it's bad.

[ariel]

I tried Halo & thought it was a crumbly mess. I'd rather have the good ice cream a few times a month than eating Halo all the time.

Edited May 11, 2018 by ariel

[chessiegal]

I had a hankering for ice cream this week, and stopped on the way home at a small mini-mart near our house. I saw they had Halo and remembered what I read here. Passed on that and got some Hersey's mint chocolate chip, and when I went to pay for it, they had a freezer by the cash register with individual Hersey's sundaes. I got a dulce de leche. Yum!

[Sweedish Fish]

I'm still on my quest to try all Talanti flavors.   Southern Butter Pecan was the last victim.   I don't need storage containers any longer.   :/   I only had on loser so far (my opinion) the eggnog one.   ooof.  no.   Good thing I am trying to gain a little weight, this could be dangerous.

[Mindthinkr]

54 minutes ago, Sweedish Fish said:

I'm still on my quest to try all Talanti flavors.   Southern Butter Pecan was the last victim.   I don't need storage containers any longer.   :/   I only had on loser so far (my opinion) the eggnog one.   ooof.  no.   Good thing I am trying to gain a little weight, this could be dangerous.

That gelato is exactly what I go for when I’m told to gain some weight. The Southern Butter Oecan was my favorite as well although the Pistachio came in a close second. After those two I go for the Cherry Garcia from Ben and Jerry’s. My ultimate fav is Mackie’s Honeycomb but you can get it in certain areas of Scotland. OMG it’s to die for good. 

[Rinaldo]

Sorry to be quoting something so old -- somehow this topic was dropped from my Followed Content a while back, and I only just noticed and added it back.

On 7/1/2017 at 3:02 PM, Mindthinkr said:

I like nuts in my food unless they get soft from over cooking. 

I actually like them when they get a little soft (which a morning's refrigeration, when I've packed a lunch for work, also accomplishes).

Magnum pints started showing up in my area a few months back. I felt that I had to test one out, for the sake of science. It's the pint-size equivalent of a deluxe Good Humor bar (which would be, of course, a Magnum bar), the tub lined with a hard chocolate shell with the ice cream plus whatever else inside. They could easily become an addiction, were it not for the price and the richness. Like the article, I preferred the simple milk chocolate option, with hazelnut second. Supposedly you're supposed to take it out of the freezer 10 minutes before you plan to eat it, to soften up the chocolate shell so you can crack it easily -- but who can wait that long? The tub is asymmetrical so you can squeeze it to crack the shell, but I'm not always successful with that (probably because I didn't let it sit), and tapping the top with a spoon works too. 

Currently our popular mid-Atlantic convenience chain Wawa is including it in its "buy 2 pints, get one free" promotion. So I had to bring three home, right? After all, I just finished my last task before retirement yesterday!

Edited May 27, 2018 by Rinaldo

[Mindthinkr]

6 minutes ago, Rinaldo said:

After all, I just finished my last task before retirement yesterday!

Yippee for you. Congratulations on retiring. Sounds like you have figured out how to treat yourself and of course you had to bring home three. It won’t go bad in your freezer over the next few months (lol if it lasts that long!). Enjoy 

[chessiegal]

I had so many good ice cream flavors on the QM2. Every lunch and evening, one choice for dessert was 3 different flavors - 2 ice cream, 1 sorbet, with a small drizzle of a sauce - chocolate, caramel, or raspberry. I had an olive and basil sorbet that I thought would be awful, but it was quite refreshing. Another flavor was brandy cherry cheesecake that was quite good. I should have taken pictures of the menus so I could remember them. I asked the waiter if they made the ice cream on board because some of the flavors were so unusual. He laughed, and said no. It would be interesting to know where they buy them from.

[theredhead77]

Anyone try the Ben and Jerry's Moo[-phoria? https://www.benjerry.com/flavors/moophoria

[Athena]

Actually, I haven't had B&J's in a few years (lucky to be in a town with lots of good local ice cream options). What are everyone's favourite flavours?

[chessiegal]

Double chocolate fudge (I think that's the name) is my husband's favorite. He declared it to be the best ice cream he'd ever had.

[Rinaldo]

4 hours ago, Athena said:

Actually, I haven't had B&J's in a few years .... What are everyone's favourite flavours?

Given my love for banana-flavored ice cream, Chunky Monkey and Banana Split top my list. I also loved Boston Cream Pie, but I haven't seen that in several years. They don't list it among their current flavors, yet it's not on their Graveyard page either. I don't know what its status is.

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, Athena said:

Actually, I haven't had B&J's in a few years (lucky to be in a town with lots of good local ice cream options). What are everyone's favourite flavours?

I'm persnickety about ice cream; I mostly only like vanilla or sweet cream ice cream with stuff mixed in.  For example, I love chocolate, mango, strawberry, etc. but I don't like chocolate, mango, or strawberry ice cream -- only "neutral" ice cream with chunks of that stuff mixed in.  But occasionally I like a flavor other than vanilla (e.g. mint chocolate chip ice cream). 

Anyway, the B&J flavors I like are: chocolate chip cookie dough, cookies and cream, bourbon brown butter (I only like a couple of bites of this, due to the overwhelming sweetness even for ice cream, but it's good), mint chocolate chunk, vanilla caramel fudge, salted caramel almond (vanilla with roasted almonds, fudge, and caramel), Americone dream (vanilla with fudge-covered waffle cone chunks and a caramel swirl), salted caramel blondie (sweet cream with blonde brownie chunks and a caramel swirl), milk and cookies (either vanilla or sweet cream [I can't remember] with chunks of a couple different types of cookies), and spectacular speculoos (another one I can only eat a few bites of, but yum).  I like truffle kerfuffle because of the chocolate ganache swirl, but eat around the pecans; if they used a different nut (maybe walnuts or peanuts), I'd love it.

I want to like pistachio pistachio, because pistachios are my favorite nut, but I don't like the pistachio ice cream.  Same with peanut butter cup; the peanut butter ice cream is too much for me.  (So sometimes I just get vanilla ice cream topped with peanut butter cups, and then mix it up.)

Edited July 5, 2018 by Bastet

[callie lee 29]

On 6/30/2017 at 6:40 PM, Trini said:

So what are our thoughts on nuts in ice cream? (not as a topping or coating) I'm against it because I don't like having to stop and chew.

Normally I don't like the mixing of the textures (I really hate chunks of anything in something), but I soooo miss the Ben and Jerry's cashew ice cream. 

So this might be a huge long shot but maybe someone will know. When I was growing up in Las Vegas, late 70's and early 80's I remember having this chocolate ice cream that was so good. It was in one if those cardboard cartons and I think it was called Dutch chocolate. None of the Dutch chocolate ice cream I've had now tastes anything like it. This was not so sweet. Not really bitter though, more like cocoa. I remember it having this almost cocoa powdery taste to it. Does that make any sense?? I wish I could find it (or anything closer to it).

[kathyk24]

On ‎5‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 9:12 AM, Rinaldo said:

Sorry to be quoting something so old -- somehow this topic was dropped from my Followed Content a while back, and I only just noticed and added it back.

I actually like them when they get a little soft (which a morning's refrigeration, when I've packed a lunch for work, also accomplishes).

Magnum pints started showing up in my area a few months back. I felt that I had to test one out, for the sake of science. It's the pint-size equivalent of a deluxe Good Humor bar (which would be, of course, a Magnum bar), the tub lined with a hard chocolate shell with the ice cream plus whatever else inside. They could easily become an addiction, were it not for the price and the richness. Like the article, I preferred the simple milk chocolate option, with hazelnut second. Supposedly you're supposed to take it out of the freezer 10 minutes before you plan to eat it, to soften up the chocolate shell so you can crack it easily -- but who can wait that long? The tub is asymmetrical so you can squeeze it to crack the shell, but I'm not always successful with that (probably because I didn't let it sit), and tapping the top with a spoon works too. 

Currently our popular mid-Atlantic convenience chain Wawa is including it in its "buy 2 pints, get one free" promotion. So I had to bring three home, right? After all, I just finished my last task before retirement yesterday!

I tried the Magnum dark chocolate raspberry pint. It's very good but there is no way you can get three servings from one container.

[larapu2000]

On 7/5/2018 at 11:15 AM, Athena said:

Actually, I haven't had B&J's in a few years (lucky to be in a town with lots of good local ice cream options). What are everyone's favourite flavours?

Forget what these losers are telling you, CHUBBY HUBBY IS THE ONLY FLAVOR THAT MATTERS.

[Sweedish Fish]

Think I better stop my Talanti quest to try every flavor.  Embarrassing amount of little containers that are good for storage.

My pants are getting a bit tight.   But damn, that Mediterranean Mint.

 

 

Spoiler

[kathyk24]

1 hour ago, Sweedish Fish said:

Think I better stop my Talanti quest to try every flavor.  Embarrassing amount of little containers that are good for storage.

My pants are getting a bit tight.   But damn, that Mediterranean Mint.

 

 

  Hide contents

Mint is good I also like the dark chocolate and peanut butter fudge.

[biakbiak]

The woman at the farmers Market gave me an extra bunch of mint even though the one O bought was only a dollar and ginormous so the only logocal thing to do is make mint chocolate chip ice cream!

[Mindthinkr]

Anyone remember those Good Humor Almond pops? I can find the strawberry shortcake and chocolate eclair but not the almond anymore. It was my favorite of the three. 

[Trini]

2 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

Anyone remember those Good Humor Almond pops? I can find the strawberry shortcake and chocolate eclair but not the almond anymore. It was my favorite of the three. 

They're still making them, but I guess it's not popular enough for some retailers:

http://www.goodhumor.com/product/category/114266/ice-cream-bars-good-humor

[rcc]

On 7/16/2018 at 3:33 PM, Mindthinkr said:

Anyone remember those Good Humor Almond pops? I can find the strawberry shortcake and chocolate eclair but not the almond anymore. It was my favorite of the three. 

My favorite too. I haven't seen any in years.

[callie lee 29]

Since I'm sure I'm late to the game on this, but I think I just found my favorite ice cream. Museum of Ice Cream just brought their line to Target this month and the cherrylicious is amazing!! It tastes like the old fashioned I've cream we made when I was a kid.

[DeLurker]

I've never heard of MOIC brand, but now I must try some!  I went to the website to check them out and it says they will only be in Target through December.

[larapu2000]

I've really started to dig on "nice" cream as a replacement for my summertime cravings for the real thing.  You slice a banana, put it in the freezer, let it freeze solid, then puree it in a blender/food processor with flavors like other fruit, peanut butter, chocolate chips, etc.  You can slice a bunch of bananas in advance and just make them one at a time, too.  The banana really doesn't turn brown (Mine have only lasted a week in the freezer, though, so longer may turn them eventually).  I really love adding fresh berries, and I'm trying out using some passionfruit pulp I had thrown in the freezer a while back today.  You can add a little cream if you want some richness, or almond milk.  

It's definitely NOT ice cream.  But it definitely suits my craving when I'm trying to lose weight.