I have to admit that when it comes to ice cream, I am fairly powerless.  I think that when you find the right brand and the right flavor, it is pure bliss.  And while I have done my part to explore as many undiscovered gems as possible during my travels, there is still much work to be done.  Fortunately for me, this is a hunt that will last as long as I can lift a spoon to my lips – and that is pretty encouraging.

When recently searching for “best ice cream” in Google (part of my regular due diligence), a year-old article from Forbes Traveler came up as the top hit.  I perused this document with much interest.  The article references a number of places, some of which I have heard.  Among them:

Cincinnati: Graeter’s
Cambridge: Toscanini’s
San Francisco: Bi-Rite Creamery
Santa Barbara: McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams
Wisconsin: Sibby’s Organic Zone Ice Cream
Boulder: Glacier Homemade Ice Cream

I have been familiar with Graeter’s for a while, and have always been interested.   McConnell’s is no stranger to my supermarket aisle.  The others are clearly more regional, and thus do not ring any bells. 

I know there are more treasures out there, and my aim is to try something new and delicious.  What I propose is to either order from one of the above vendors, or from a place recommended by a reader who seems particularity passionate. I will then chronicle my findings here.  The product does not have to be ‘ice cream’ per se, as I would happily embrace frozen custard, gelato, or any other cold dairy treat.  I do not discriminate, except on quality.  It also has to be shippable.

Let the great ice cream chase begin!  I await your recomendations…

H/t to Forbes Traveler for the top picture.

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The contest pies (mixed berry, chocolate cream, coconut cream):

Now you are probably asking, that’s not a ton of food, what’s the problem?  My friend, the problem is getting those pies down, and down fast.

The other issue was that I had never done this before, so I was totally at a loss for how to proceed from a strategy perspective.  Which pie do I start off with?  Do I go as fast as possible from the beginning, or start slow and gauge the competition?  Do I make such a mess that I only end up eating half as much as everyone else?  I had no answers.

I can eat a lot, but not usually under the gun.  And I like to enjoy my food and savor it; but this was not the time to smell the roses.  Also, silverware was not an option, so every eating rule I knew went right out the window.  So when the gun went off, I just went for it, shoveling in the chocolate cream.  I made the unfortunate mistake of chewing some of my food, which apparently really slowed me down.  I was half-way through the coconut cream, when the winner was declared.  Yeah… no chance. Not even close.  There are professionals, amateurs, and then there was me.  Although, upon further review, that is not such a bad thing.

This contest taught me truly what I am best at – taking my time, lingering over the especially good bites, and taking it all in.  While there is fame and fortune in competitive eating, it is certainly not for the true foodies among us.

H/t to @CoolinAustin for the pie photo.  And much respect to local mom and pop eateries making a go of it and succeeding.  Also, here is video of the event; thankfully, I am not featured.

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As we all know, yesterday was President Barack Obama’s birthday.  And what kind of cake did the Commander-in-Chief receive?   How about the disaster you see above.   Does this cake fit the President?  I think not.  This is not the essence of cool.  This is more like fireworks shooting out of your nose while the Star Spangled Banner is playing.  And do you think there is room for another seal on that cake?  Come on…

H/t to NBC Washington for the cake pict.

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I’ve mentioned before that Domino’s is a client of mine and my company’s, so some of you are probably wondering what the heck are Chocolate Lava Crunch Cakes?  Well Domino’s describes them as:

oven-baked chocolate cakes, crunchy on the outside, with a rich warm flowing chocolate inside… inspired by a combination of chocolate and textures.

I’m not a chocolate guy myself, but I imagine some people’s mouths just started watering.

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Considering that Toffee For Your Coffee wasn’t even in the top 4 for consumer voting (see below) this would seem to be a bit of an upset.  The creator of the winning doughnut, Jeff Hager, must have really wowed the judges in the bake-off.

Orignal Post:

The Dunkin Donut’s “Create Dunkin’s Next Donut” contest, which we wrote about previously, has a notice up on their website announcing that voting is closed, and the winner will be announced tomorrow. Considering that the vote percentages are displayed on the website though, this is obviously a done deal.  With 18.1% of the vote, at 11:40 pm June 4th, So Good and our scientific projection system is ready to declare a winner: sm’OREO has defeated Chocolate Monkey, A Nutter One and Tour de France!

So what is a Sm’OREO? It’s a marshmallow-filled donut with chocolate icing topped with OREO® cookie pieces and graham cracker crunch.  No idea when it will be available in stores, but I have to say, as someone who never eats dougnuts, the thought of marshmellow in a doughnut makes me even less likely to do so.

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Option #1: You have to eat a squishy over-ripe banana every day for the rest of your life.

Option #2: You can never eat anything that could be classified as “dessert” ever again.

Things to consider:  Have you ever brought a banana to work thinking you were so swell?  “Hey, look at me, I try to eat fruit once a day!” you say to yourself.  Your smug feelings are soon replaced by a gag-inducing realization:  YOUR BANANA HAS GONE SOFT.  Like super-soft, to the point, that it is barely able to maintain its banana-form when you peel away its epidermis.  And you have to eat one of theses monstrosities once a day…for the rest of your life.  Now when I say eat, I mean EAT. As in straight on, just the banana. You cannot grind it up into a smoothie, chop it up and put on top of cereal, or slather it in peanut butter. You must eat it all by itself.

Unless you decide to give up dessert.  No more creme brulee? Dah!  It’s terrible just writing that sentence.  And I can’t even put the little accent over the “e” at the end of brulee.  Sad.  For others, this means no more strawberry ice cream.  Or cheese cake.  Or this heart-rending scenario: It’s the end of another brutal day at work, and the only thing you want to do is sit down and watch your favorite episode of Magnum P.I. while clutching a pint of Haagen Daaz.  Only you don’t have that option anymore.  It’s just you and Tom Selleck’s mustache.  Here’s the thing: there is no cheating.  You may say, “Oh Cary, it’s so simple to give up sweets.  No one is that weak.”  What I mean is this: you can’t ever have it, EVER again.  So yes, in the short term it may seem like an easy decision.  But ten years down the road, when you’re still working the same job, and that same episode of Magnum P.I. comes on where Ted Danson’s character is killed by a boat propeller, YOU’LL WANT THAT ICE CREAM.  Trust me.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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As I have previously reported, the consumer seems to be getting less product for the same price – especially in this economy.  As I recently read on The Comsumerist, I am sorry to say that this truth can now be applied to the sacred institution of Girl Scout cookies.  Due to the rising costs of ingredients, you might notice a few changes when you order your cookies this year.  According to CBS11:

“But this year, Girl Scout leaders admit something is different about their cookies. The cookie boxes have shrunk and so have the number of cookies in the boxes … But the prices have not changed.”

Now, I am the last one to give the Girl Scouts a hard time, but seriously, what’s next??  First of all, how much did it cost to completely change the packaging of the cookies – smaller box, smaller trays?  That has to account for at least one half Thin Mint right there!

And frankly, I would rather pay a little more for the regular amount of cookies. The standard is the standard, and I will never understand why a company would rather shrink the product than increase the price (but when they do both – ERRRR!).

Am I way off?  What was the best thing for the Girl Scouts to do here? 
To the comments section, Batman!!

And you can buy your smaller-boxed cookies here. See – I do care.

H/t to Baking Bites for the pic.

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What took you so long Ben & Jerry’s? I reported back in March that Slate’s contest had identified ”Yes, Pecan!” as the best potential Obama related flavor.

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Now you are probably saying – ‘this is a great idea – but what about the holidays?’  Well friends, all you need are a few red and green sprinkles, and you have one decked out little dude!  Or put a little Santa hat on this guy and watch “it” (sex still undetermined) fly off the tables at your next holiday bash!  The ideas are limitless! 

This product is available at … wait for it… Stupid.com (shocking).
H/T to Cake Wrecks for the scoop.

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This crosses the line on so many levels, the biggest of which is the ranch dressing “frosting.” One word: gross. The bacon “cake” is really unappealing as well, and that is coming from a bacon early adopter – way before the recent craze. Check out those post-bite chunks… barf.

Are you with me? Am I just a cupcake prude? Show me your wrath, cupcake lovers!

Thanks to We are not Martha and Flickr user palit9 via CTTC for the photos.

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What do you think?

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