Freeze Dried Ice Cream

This review is admittedly aimed at my eight-year-old self who would have thought freeze dried ice cream was just the shiznit. Well, I am no longer eight, but I still picked up this package of freeze dried ice cream in a NASA-themed gift shop at Houston's George Bush International Airport. Sadly, the shop was almost entirely aimed at kids -- and not big kids like me --- but hey, never let it be said that I let pouting get in the way of a possible review! Doing research on the history of freeze dried ice cream (AKA what can I learn from Wikipedia in three minutes or less), it was interesting to note that all these fantastic little packs of ice cream that can be found at gift shops the world over -- and that all proclaim their contents to be genuine astronaut ice cream -- are really only about as accurate as I am when I tell my nephew that I am in fact cool.

Freeze dried ice cream as we know it was developed for the Apollo missions, but actually it ended up flying only on Apollo 7 in 1968. It apparently wasn't very popular, and by the 1970s they were able to send real ice cream up. So yeah, this is "space ice cream" in the sense that it made one single voyage. Kinda in the same sense that I was considered cool once back in 1996, and that for about five minutes. Obviously, this is not filling me with hope. Is it sad to admit, pre-tasting, that I wish the gift shop hadn't been sold out of the ice cream sandwich? The thing is I never, ever eat Neapolitan ice cream in real life. Blame my parents for being too cheap and/or lazy to buy actual good flavors. It's not that I don't like chocolate, vanilla and strawberry alone; I just don't like them together.



So how was my space treat?

The little brick was surprisingly thick. If you have a small group interested in trying it, there's plenty to be shared. It is also surprisingly lightweight for its size -- and surprisingly fragile. As you can see, it shatters like glass quite easily. The texture reminded me of a very dry, very dense meringue that sort of liquefies on your tongue...and yeah, that effect was kind of cool (although the novelty quickly fades). Obviously the "ice cream" is not as creamy as even the lowest of the bargain brands of ice cream, but it does have a vaguely dairy-like mouthfeel. The three flavors varied, so we will talk about them individually:



Strawberry: Had a pleasant berry flavor that actually came off as natural. However, the dairy notes were just plain funky. It reminded me of milk that had been left out too long but had not quite turned yet.

Vanilla: I think this tasted more like "residue of chocolate" than vanilla. Again, the dairy was just funktastic -- even more noticeably than it was with the strawberry. That's probably because there was no real flavor to mask it.

Chocolate: It tastes like freebasing cheap chocolate syrup. Not bad -- but only in the sense that it was the most edible of the three flavors. The chocolate was strong enough to hide the nasty dairy taste.

Yeah, I think I know why the astronauts held out for the real thing. It was fun to try, although I certainly won't be rushing to try more (or even finish this package).



PURCHASED FROM: Random gift shop at George Bush International Airport, Houston, Texas

PRICE: $3.99

CALORIES: 110 calories per 3/4 ounce package

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: luvyduvy.com

Ben & Jerry's Rocky Road-ish (Limited Batch)

Sometimes I wonder if the Universe just likes to screw with me. Why must I be tortured with a flavor like this and have it be only a limited edition? I only have an apartment-sized freezer; there is only so much pint hoarding I can do. (Or, wait...maybe I could rent freezer space from my scary redneck neighbors. I'm sure there must be a little space in between the severed human heads or whatever it is they store in there...well, it's something to consider.) In any event, I am getting ahead of myself. Let's talk about the ice cream before I run off begging. Long-time readers will know what had sent me over the edge in a moment.

Rocky Road-ish is a toasted marshmallow ice cream, with a toasted marshmallow swirl and fudge covered almonds. (Insert fan girl screaming here.) Hey, my love of marshmallow is legendary! If marshmallow is placed in a product, I will go to the ends of the earth to hunt it down. So, as you might have guessed, that combination makes this flavor like my ultimate wet dream. It's like the frozen version of Julian McMahon showing up at my door wearing only a smile. (Ben & Jerry's was the only ice cream he was ever seen eating on Nip/Tuck.) Even though the character of Dr. Troy was a Cherry Garcia man, Julian is welcome to come and partake of my...okay, enough! This review is running off track, even for me. Just give me a minute and some fresh batteries and I will be right back...

*looks around sheepishly...*

Well, I feel better, where was I? Yeah, the ice cream. In what has become the least embarrassing admission in this review--once again, because of dental work recently done, crunchy/hard foods are off the menu--I could not actually partake in the fudge-covered almonds myself. I can tell you that in classic Ben & Jerry chunk form, they were pretty sizable. (Look people, I am already taking the high road by not making any jokes using the words; hard, mouth, nuts or sizable!) They range from pea-sized to what looked like half of an almond. I outsourced the tasting and was told that the fudge is chocolaty and sweet with that slight grainy texture, and the almonds themselves were very crunchy and fresh.



As for the parts I did try: My first suggestion is to do yourself a favor and leave this pint out of the freezer for five or ten minutes (or maybe do a super fast microwave) before eating. Having eaten more pints of this than I am going to admit to, I can tell you that this flavor is 100X more awesome when slightly melty. Once the texture gets soft, the pint almost becomes like the richest, creamiest soft-serve you have ever had. The flavor of the base is indeed toasty (um, duh! the word is in the flavor description twice for a reason). It reminded me of marshmallows just browned over a fire. It's more about the burnt sugar notes, but it is not overly strong or sweet.



The marshmallow swirl: In the past, I have said I would like to die in a vat of the caramel used in Americone Dream. Well, now I would like to revise that statement and die in a vat of the marshmallow swirl instead. If the ice cream tasted like marshmallows toasted on in open fire, the swirl is all about marshmallows just out of the bag. It's sweeter, and there is a nice mellow (mallow?) vanilla note wafting through. But what just cements it for me is that it is like liquid marshmallow. (Dare I to dream?) I know, from top view, it looks as if the swirl is merely a weird darker patch of ice cream--but as you dig into the pint, everything changes. Think of rich, flowing rivers of marshmallow, instead of, say, the sticky gooeyiness of marshmallow fluff or the spongy cloud of one from a freshly opened bag.

Here's the most important thing: This flavor really MUST MUST MUST go from being a limited edition to a full-time flavor...because my life may truly be meaningless otherwise. (Well, that is just kinda sad...)



Be sure to check out what other bloggers said:
The Impulsive Buy
On Second Scoop
And a blog that is new to me that I am really enjoying:
Ben & Jerry's Fanatic

PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

PRICE:
$3.99

CALORIES:
250 Calories per 1/2 cup serving

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Contains nuts & tree nuts, kosher, awesome

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
benjerry.com

JELL-O Strawberry Sundae Pudding

So here I am again, poised over the old laptop with a pudding cup in my hand. The last one was kind of like a Gigi Scooby Snack. I did not have to be asked twice to scarf that puppy. But this one...



Part of it is that, honestly, I am not a huge fan of most things strawberry. But that's only part of it. The other part is that the top layer is color that I could see my eleven-year-old nephew loving simply because it resembles nothing in nature. Still I do like sundaes, and this flavor is supposed to have a bottom layer that tastes like strawberry ice cream, with the top layer like strawberry ice cream topping.



It's the top layer that is a lurid shade of pink most often found in lower budget nail polishes...and what I imagine it would look like if Barbie could bleed. This cup, much like on the S'more cup, also features different textures in the different layers. In this case the top layer is very fluid--like ice cream topping can be. It's very smooth, and texture-wise I liked it.

Flavorwise, it has that super-exaggerated strawberry flavor that kids seem to love. I got through it, but it reminded me of kids' vitamins (I did in fact have strawberry-shaped vitamins as a child, and this made me think of them. So if nothing else it gets a nostalgia point.)



The bottom layer is a paler (and less terrifying) pink shade that does in fact resemble strawberry ice cream. The texture was super thick and smooth. Also, the flavor was much, much closer to real strawberry. I know it is supposed to be like strawberry ice cream, but it reminded me more of strawberry yogurt, though without the yogurty tang. On its own it was actually pretty tasty.

So what happens when you mix the two layers? Like a speech I twice got from my parents, sometimes people (or foods in this case) can still love each other, but they just can't live together anymore. Seriously, I could see kids knocking each other down to get to these cups. Me...not so much. I couldn't get over that super strong first layer. I think it completely overpowers the "ice cream" layer. Which is too bad, because I ended up loving the texture of that layer, and I even got to like the flavor the more I ate. It's just together...well, as I said, not so much.

Granted, this flavor really is geared more towards kids, and maybe I am just too old of a cranky cat lady to appreciate it. But I will be sticking with the S'mores.



Be sure to check our Marvo's reviews at:
The Impulsive Buy

PURCHASED FROM:
Sample From Company

CALORIES:
110 Calories per cup

OFFICIAL WEBSITE
kraftbrands.com

JELL-O S'more Pudding Snack

I may have said this a million times or two, but there will never be enough products with marshmallow in this world for me. I love everything about them. I love them "raw" (a.k.a just out of the bag), I love them roasted, and I especially love them burned to a post-eruption lava like crisp.

When the kind folks at JELL-O offered to let me try a pudding with marshmallow, I just about erupted myself. And just in case the FTC is reading this--while yes, I did get this pudding for free, I am not so shallow as to allow myself to be bribed by things with free marshmallows in them. It takes slightly more than that buy my allegiance. (Note to people who may want to bribe me: I only said SLIGHTLY more than that.) So why do I have the feeling that now the FTC is going to sic their own version of Men in Black on me? Anyway, on to the review...



The JELL-O S'more pudding cup consists of two layers. The bottom portion is a chocolate flavored with graham cracker, and the top is marshmallow flavored. The two layers are also differently textured.



The marshmallow layer: OH EM GEE! First, I love that they made this layer with the "mousse" texture, à la the Temptations line. Yes, I love that entire line...and having a marshmallow version only makes it better. The flavor is close to that of a toasted marshmallow. It seemed a little malty to me (but I liked that). Here's what's kinda odd, though: even though the graham crackers are in the chocolate layer, you can actually taste them more in the marshmallow layer. Go figure, huh? But it was still a very nice flavor, so that's not a complaint. As far as I am concerned, I could skip the chocolate and just have an entire cup (or vat) of this.



But there is still that chocolate graham layer waiting below for me, like a sea of dense, dark water--you know that sounds kind of scary--like a bad Shark Week trailer--oh, wait! Let's run with that! Maybe we can somehow work in a cross-promo with the Discovery Channel, where I talk about sharks while reviewing the pudding by eating it off of...oops, duh, I meant eating it with, yes with, Mike Rowe. Silly readers, how dare you think I had my mind in the gutter! Granted, I am mayor of the gutter, but I hardly see where that matters. We are supposed to be talking about pudding here, right? And sadly, it is Mike Rowe-free pudding. What did you say? Okay, fine, have it your way, I will get back to work on this review. Sheesh.

So, before my mind took its perv detour, we were starting to talk about the chocolate layer. And so we shall.

Unlike its best friend the marshmallow layer, which is mousse textured, the chocolate layer is the classic smooth and creamy style of pudding. On its own the chocolate seems to be not quite as infused with graham cracker flavor as the marshmallow layer, but you can tell it's there. I actually think it works better that the chocolate is the stronger flavor in this layer. It keeps things from being too sweet, and I like the contrast in textures. That said, I do think it would have been even better to have a layer of actual graham cracker crumbs in the cup. That would have been pretty tasty.

Now that I have talked about the layers separate, how are they together?

I have no idea how this is even possible, but the layers together reminded me more of a rum ball then of a S'more. I doubt kids would ever pick that up, but it may be an extra selling point for the grown ups (and right now the JELL-O people are probably wondering why the hell they ever let me near a sample). It's a delicious combo either way. And again, I would love to see the marshmallow layer get its own dedicated cup.



Also check out reviews by:
The Impulsive Buy
Foodette Reviews

PURCHASED FROM:
Sample From Company

CALORIES:
110 Calories per cup

OFFICIAL WEBSITE
kraftbrands.com

Jala Vanilla Pomegranate Swirl Bar

I happen to really like yogurt. I like most styles, I like it in smoothies or those yogurt drinks, and it goes without saying that I like it frozen. So, being the spoiled brat that I am, my mother -- knowing that I like both vanilla frozen yogurt and pomegranate -- got me this box of bars.

I have never seen Jala local to me at home (as I write this I am in Atlanta), but according to their website, each bar has only 110 calories, contains antioxidants and probiotics, is low fat and might make me less grouchy... OK, it doesn't claim that last part, but my mother was hoping.

Anyway, so I have this rather generously sized bar in front of me (I am kind of a size queen with my frozen goodies) and so far, so good. It's a snowy white and the pomegranate swirl in the center adds a nice esthetic touch. I let it soften a bit before trying it.



And, well...honestly, I was kinda underwhelmed. It's not that the bar tasted bad -- it's just that it really didn't taste of much at all. It was as if I tried really really hard, I could kinda maybe sorta pick up a hint of vanilla, but the main flavor was simply "cold." The pomegranate swirl was somewhat pleasant, but it tasted more like pom-flavored syrup than the actual fruit -- and looking at the ingredient list for the swirl confirmed that pom-flavored syrup is pretty much what it was.

The texture was reasonably smooth but a little grainy. But that seems to be the typical way of the yogurt bar, so I would place the Jala bar at about average on texture.



I really wanted to like the bar, and it's not that I disliked it -- I just felt like I'd eaten 110 calories of "cold air" flavored stuff. But I would love to give their Lemon Sweet Tea Swirl flavor a go, so I will defiantly be giving Jala a second chance. This one, however, was a big disappointment.



PURCHASED FROM:
Found in my mother's freezer, where it will probably remain.

CALORIES:
110 calories per bar

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Contains milk and soy. Processed in a facility that uses tree nuts & peanuts.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE
jalabars.com

skyr.is: Vanilla

Skyr? What the hell is skyr?

Well, I first heard of skyr on an early episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern where Andrew was in Iceland, and decided that should I ever find it "in the wild" here in the United States, it was something I was going to have to try. It just sounded that good.

If you've never heard of skyr -- and unless you are a seriously hardcore Björk fan, or you've watched every Travel Channel piece on Iceland where the host vomits after sampling locally made hákarl, you probably haven't -- no worries, Gigi is here to explain it to you. Skyr is a dairy product that, while it outwardly resembles a super-thick yogurt (like Turkish yogurt), is actually a form of soft cheese. My understanding, prior to actually seeing it, was that texture-wise it would be like a cross between Greek yogurt and cream cheese. It can be flavored with various fruits mixed in, as yogurt often is. In Iceland the most popular variety is unflavored, although it is traditionally served topped with fresh cream and sugar.

Also, and equally appealing, is the fact that Icelandic livestock is raised the old school way, grazed naturally on the grasslands without the use of growth hormones, chemical feeds, and other nasty stuff. Obviously the milk produced by these animals is of a quality you probably won't find anywhere in the United States (unless maybe there's an Amish dairy near you), so how could the skyr made from that milk not be good? I'm telling you, it just sounded better and better. But would I ever come across any?

Yes! As luck would have it, the branch of Whole Foods on Manhattan's Upper West Side happens to carry a commercially imported version. While I did not find the plain variety on the shelf (they do carry it, but were sold out) they did have a vanilla flavored -- which is as close as I could get.

So how was it?

Well, the contents of the little tub looked exactly like (the far more commonly available United States) Greek yogurt. The package gave no indication that I should do anything to the product other than to give it a good stir prior to eating...so that was all I did to it.



The texture reminded me of a cross between Greek yogurt and sour cream. Basically not as thick or as thin as either; sort of in the redheaded stepchild middle ground. And once I actually tried it, that was pretty much the perfect description of the mouth feel as well. It had a nice aroma -- tangy, yet clearly vanilla.

But how did it taste? I know I keep going back to Greek yogurt, but that really is the easiest comparison. It was very much like vanilla Greek yogurt, but less acidic. It's sweeter than Greek yogurt, though not as sweet as a typical American yogurt. There's also another flavor note that I can't exactly place. Sort of like a soft cheese -- perhaps mascarpone, or maybe if I was really stretching it, I could say it reminds me of the aftertaste of cream cheese. But even that doesn't exactly pin it down. It's not a bad taste at all, just a tricky one to identify.

I would have liked to try it served in the traditional way, but I didn't have any cream or sugar on hand to mix in, so I had to skip that. But I did have some sweetener (yeah, my favored Splenda), so I also tried adding a packet to see how that changed the flavor. I'm not sure that this version actually needed either addition, but it was still fun to try. I will admit I did like it a little better with the added sweetness. Yes, it was good straight from the tub, but I think my sweet tooth is taking over a little. I can also tell you that the added sweetness pushed the flavor I couldn't quite nail a lot closer to that of cream cheese.



All in all, I'd like to see skyr gain wider availability in the United States. It's tasty, and for me it's a happy medium for when I don't want something as sweet as a mass market American yogurt, yet at the same time I'm not in the mood for something as tangy as Greek. This really bridged the gap between the two perfectly.

If you're an open-minded yogurt fan and you come across this on the shelf, it should not be missed!



PURCHASED FROM:
Whole Foods

PRICE:
$2.99

CALORIES:
150 calories per 6 ounce serving

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Fat free

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
skyr.is

Haagen-Dazs Five: Caramel Ice Cream

I was trolling the ice cream selection at the old mega mart on my last shopping trip and noticed that Haagen-Dazs had added a caramel flavor to the Five lineup. That said, my local store is actually really slow on getting the new Haagen-Dazs flavors -- so I'm not exactly sure how long ago Caramel was tossed into the mix.

I do love caramel ice cream though, and since the "death" of the heavenly Fleur De Sel Caramel (the only way that could have been better was if I got to lick it off Gerard Butler), Ben & Jerry's Dulce Delish (which, although I have eaten way more pints of than I care to admit, I have somehow managed to not review to this day) has picked up the title of current favorite. (Note to my friends at B&J -- if you would like to arrange for me to lick Dulce Delish off Gerard Butler I am perfectly willing to take one for the team. Just sayin'...) Anyway, for a full-fat ice cream that's still in the Haagen-Dazs lineup, they also have the now-classic Dulce de Leche, which is also pretty darned yummy.

I have to admit I always sort of eye the Five line with suspicion. It seems when a flavor is good it's really good, but when it's bad it's enough to make me seriously regret the lactose issues I'll be stuck with for the next few hours. And I am still a little bitter that the Brown Sugar flavor got discontinued (though to be fair, I think I may have been the only person on the planet who liked it).

What I like about the Five line is that in terms of ingredients, it is as simple and close to homemade as you can get, with each flavor containing only -- you guessed it -- five ingredients. It's also slighter lower in fat and calories than the rest of the Haagen-Dazs line. Admittedly, I would rather simply have less of something with higher fat because I prefer the mouth feel and texture -- and since I'll to have to deal with dairy issues anyway, I'd at least like to enjoy it to the max before the inevitable happens. But for people who are just watching the numbers, it's a great option to have.



So how did it scoop up?

Flavor-wise really, really well. It is completely on par with the classic Dulce de Leche. It's sweet of course, but not overly sickly sweet. The caramel is heavily on the milky side, but sadly there is no caramel swirl (which was one of the best parts of Dulce de Leche). It's not a complex caramel but it is still tasty. I wish that there was a little salt kick to add some zazz, but then I guess that would make it six ingredients rather than five, and that would kinda defeat the purpose. The flavor also wanes quickly -- as in under five minutes. I will grant you that eating anything cold tends to dull the tongue, but even bringing it close to room temperature gave the same results...along with melted ice cream.



Texture-wise, like all of the Five line, it's on the soft and fluffy side. It's funny how that works for some flavors and not so well for others. Fortunately, this is one of the flavors that it does work for. It has a silky smooth mouth feel, and when it melts it glides down your throat in a happy puddle. Also like the rest of its Five siblings, it doesn't have the rich, fatty mouth feel of its bigger cousins -- but for a lighter calorie, lighter fat option, it really is top notch.

Best Five flavor since my beloved Brown Sugar.



PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

PRICE:
$4.75

CALORIES:
240 Calories per 1/2 cup serving

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
haagendazs.com

Temptations by Jell-O: French Silk Pie

There are many three-word phrases that get me excited. Examples include:

New Droid Phone
New York City
Gerard Butler Naked

-and-

French Silk Pie.

In an ideal world I could have all of those things simultaneously. In this one, sometimes you have to settle for whatever is doled out one at a time. And somewhere along the line in the last couple years, I have started to like pie a lot more than I used to. As a rule I prefer fruit pies to cream pies, but I have always had a soft spot for French Silk Pie.

Need I thus explain how happy I was when the generous folks at Jell-O sent me a package of their French Silk Pie Temptations to review? I didn't think so!



To keep calories down -- as with their Lemon Meringue Pie entry -- there is no pie crust to be found here. But that's OK, because the pudding (or filling, if you will) is so good that you won't miss it. (Though I can't say that the addition of a chocolate cookie crust wouldn't have been worth the extra naughtiness.)

The main portion of the cup is a dense, rich chocolate. I loved the texture. In fact, I liked it more than I did any of the actual French Silk Pies I have ever had. The reason is that actual pie filling tends to be a little too runny for my liking. But the Jell-O Temptations were thicker than standard pudding, and at the same time seemed to have a slightly whipped, mousse quality to it. It just held up really well and gave you the best of both worlds.

The flavor reminded me a lot of an actual slice of French Silk Pie. The large bottom layer is a really rich chocolate. It's like classic Jell-O pudding, but with a stronger cocoa flavor.



It is also topped with a smooth creamy layer, which was terrific. The texture holds its own, and is silky smooth with a slightly sweet, chocolate/vanilla flavor.

I loved this cup! It's up there with either of the chocolate Mousse Temptations for me.



PURCHASED FROM:
Sample from company.

PRICE:
MSRP is $2.89.

CALORIES:
140 calories per 1 cup serving (3.9 oz)

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
jello.com

Ben & Jerry's Hannah Teter's Maple Blondie Limited Edition (Round Three!!!)

Update -- December 15 2010:

Yes, it's true! Hannah Teter's Maple Blondie is back yet again, for an unprecedented third production run! (Normally Ben & Jerry's limited editions are made in one single batch, and once they're gone, they're gone forever.) And it's available on supermarket shelves right now, so be sure to get some -- trust me, it is well worth hunting for. In fact, I have even heard a rumor that if you leave some of this for Santa Claus, he'll give you an iPad.

Anyway, since Maple Blondie is back -- and since it's totally, absolutely fantastic (Jerry himself has said it's his favorite flavor) -- I decided to do something I very rarely do: I am reposting the review I did of it way back when. So if you missed it the first time around, or even the second, here it is:

Ice Spiders. It's not just a movie, man! The giant spiders are coming, I know it! (If you have not surrendered over two hours of life to see this movie yet, it is awesomely, transcendentally bad and you are missing out.) Hannah Teter, by the way, is a famous snowboarder and a Vermont native, who has never been attacked by ice spiders, as best I can tell. Hannah -- besides snowboarding -- also has a nonprofit charity called Hannah's Gold that sells Vermont maple syrup to help the children of Kirindon, Kenya.

Conveniently, this is a maple ice cream base with a maple caramel swirl. So you see, people, I am eating ice cream to save the children! I thought of the children! There are also blonde brownie chunks. I don't know how the children feel about them, but I tend to be a fan.



So is it worth risking death by ice spider for?

The scent is heavenly. It's a sweet maple, yet it doesn't send you looking for the pancakes.

The maple base tastes like a creamy version of the best maple syrup you can imagine. It's deep, there's a brown sugar/molasses quality, but it manages never to overwhelm. If you are basing your like -- or more to the point, dislike -- of maple on pancake syrups found on supermarket shelves that are no longer maple syrup but merely maple flavored syrup...cease and desist! This is what you should be looking for.

The maple/caramel swirl is addictive. It's mostly caramel, but it's just good. It adds a slightly sticky texture that I liked.



The brownie pieces are super, super soft and I found myself hunting for the chunks. It's like little brown sugar cubes of happiness. Really, the only thing bad about this ice cream is what it might do to my ass if I am allowed to consume it in the quantities I'd like to.

Be sure to check out Marvo's review, because my butt might be completing with his moobs over the last pint!



PURCHASED FROM:
Vons Supermarket

PRICE:
$3.49

CALORIES:
240 calories per 1/2 cup

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
benjerry.com

Broguiere's Egg Nog

It's not often that I dedicate a review -- but with this one, I have to give a special shout out to Doug who runs the the O.K. Corral Ostrich Farm. You might have seen Doug on Dirty Jobs or Modern Marvels. Or perhaps you've even been lucky enough to try some of his ostrich meat or eggs. The reason this review this is dedicated to Doug is because he and I have been email pals for about the last year, and one of the things we've talked about a lot is our shared love of Broguiere's products.

Anyway, I have been looking forward to trying this since last year when Doug -- along with many other readers, as well as literally hundreds of online mini-reviews -- proclaimed Broguiere's to be quite possibly the best egg nog in the world. Really, how could I possibly not want to try that? Unfortunately for me, by the time I decided to, it was so late in the season that there was simply no more of the egg nog on the shelves. Broguiere's only produces egg nog for a brief, seasonal production run each year...and when its gone for the year, it's gone. In my area there are few stores that even carry it. I also live 34 miles from the location of their own drive-thru store; which, with Southern California traffic, is more than just a bit of a nuisance. However, if you are close to Montebello, California (in the greater Los Angeles area) it is possible to get it directly from them in greater quantities than you can from a typical retail location.



As with all of Broguiere's products, it comes in an old fashioned heavy glass bottle. The color of the nog is a rich buttery yellow, with little specks of spice sprinkled throughout. And before you even take a sip, you can see it's easily twice as thick as any other egg nog you're likely to have tried.

Tastewise, it lives up to every single bit of hype. It's extremely creamy, and like all the other Broguiere's products that I have tried, it leaves the same fatty, rich film in your mouth that a premium ice cream does. There are notes of vanilla and nutmeg. Maybe a touch of cinnamon too. But what it really tasted like to me was a super quality butterscotch. I'll bet a touch of dark rum added to this nog would make a fantastic adult treat -- but even drunk straight from its 1950's Leave it to Beaver-looking bottle, it's sinfully good.



I think even if you've been a horrible brat throughout the year, if you leave this for Santa, you could bribe your way into getting that new Wii.

Bottom line -- this is simply the Best Egg Nog EVER! It's even better than the Southern Comfort egg nogs I reviewed last year, and make no mistake, I still love those too.

Plagiarizing from myself here, but...I know that for those of you outside of Southern California, this review may be something of a tease. But you ought to search out local dairies in your own area that sell products like this. The difference between this and the highly processed stuff you're probably used to drinking is amazing, and worth whatever it takes to hunt it down.



PURCHASED FROM:
Vons Supermarket

PRICE:
$5.39 per quart bottle (price includes $2 bottle deposit, which is refundable when empty bottle is returned).

ADDITIONAL INFO:
None on the bottle, but the cap advises you to call (323) 726-0524 for nutritional info.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
Talk about old school...if they have a web site, I couldn't find it. But they do have a Yelp page here, most of whose reviews are even droolier than mine.

Klondike Oreo Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

First, a thank you to all the readers who sent me emails to let me know that my once beloved Oreo Ice Cream Sandwich had been relaunched.

You see, folks, for many years Klondike had made a seriously addictive version of this treat. In fact, one of my very early reviews was of the original Klondike Oreo Ice Cream Sandwich (warning: the review is not the best -- even if the treat itself was).

Sadly, shortly after that review was posted, a reader let me know that they had not seen the product on local supermarket shelves for a while...and right after that, it disappeared from my shelves as well. I sent off an email to Klondike's parent company (Unilever), and with great sorrow I soon received a reply confirming that the product had been discontinued. (You can read about that in more detail in this post.)

Just as I was getting used to the idea of an Oreo Cookie Ice Cream Sandwichless future, Unilever dangled a carrot of hope in front of me by re-launching the sandwich under the Breyers label (which I duly reviewed here). Not surprisingly, there were some changes made: the cookies were smaller and the Oreo ice cream was replaced by plain vanilla. In short, the cookies themselves on this version were actually very good -- in fact, I liked them more than I did the old version. But the ice cream was...well, merely cold. And it's not a good day when the nicest thing you can say about an ice cream is that it was cold. That was the first and last box I bought of that version.

Fast forward to a couple of months ago: On my normal perusal of the ice cream aisle, I saw the new version of my old favorite. Y'know, kinda like that ex-boyfriend who you still kinda like but know you should ignore? Well, for several visits I was able to avoid giving in to its charms...but eventually its come-hither stare and the remembrance of all the good times we once shared proved too much for me, so I gave in and bought a box.

So was it as good as it once was?



Errrrrrrmm...no. The cookies themselves were closer in size to the classic Klondike version than to the smaller Breyers cookies. (The box boasts that they are 33% bigger.) The cookie itself was really good. It's very chocolaty and very close in flavor to an actual Oreo cookie. The texture was perfect. It was soft enough that it yielded easily to a bite, but was not soft enough to be soggy. Which is good, as I hate it when the cookies are too hard to bite cleanly, which causes the ice cream filling to squoosh out the sides. Thankfully, that's not a problem here.



But what of the ice cream?

God, this is getting to be just too predictable. The ice cream, yet again, is the downfall. On one hand, this version features the return of actual Oreo ice cream as the stuffing, rather than the plain vanilla of the Breyers version. However, it is listed on the box as being "light" ice cream.

I gotta rant for a second here. While I understand it's a great thing to watch calories and have "light" options, why must it seem like every new product out there has to be "light" or reduced fat, etc? As good as some light ice creams can be, they are just not as good as "real" ice cream. Clearly these snacks are meant to be a "sometimes" food -- and dammit, sometimes you just want something that is full fat! And because it is a light ice cream, it does not have the same mouthfeel as the "old" Oreo ice cream had, nor the same full taste. There doesn't seem to be any flavor from the Oreo bits in it, and even the vanilla is wimpy and weak. (Yet the package also says "not a light food." So the cookies are full fat, maybe? Who the hell writes the package copy, anyway? Politicians?)

Thus, once again, about all I can really say for the ice cream is that it's cold. So we've come full circle here, haven't we?



Overall, I will say this fares slightly better then the Breyers version, but I still liked the first version the best. It's just sad that it's not satisfying. If I am going to spend 200 calories on ice cream -- and a relatively small portion of ice cream, at that -- you can bet I'm going to choose a premium full fat option over this one. Really, what's the point of sinning if you don't enjoy it?



Sorry, Klondike, but I'm not impressed. I will not buy this item again.

Check out On Second Scoop's review here.



PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

PRICE:
$3.99

CALORIES:
200 calories per cookie sandwich.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
klondikebar.com

Ben & Jerry's Snickerdoodle Cookie Ice Cream: Limited Batch

Snickerdoodles are one of those cookies that people seem to either love or hate. I am in the love crowd, and I do mean love. If you have never had one still warm and fresh from the oven, with the aroma of heated cinnamon Eskimo-kissing your nose, then it is quite possible you have not fully lived.

Ben & Jerry's latest limited edition flavor is the autumn-friendly Snickerdoodle Cookie. It is a butter and cinnamon flavored ice cream base with chunks of -- you guessed it -- snickerdoodle cookies.



I think the choice of a butter flavored base was interesting. I have always like the butter flavored part of butter pecan ice creams. I am just not a fan of the actual pecans, even though I like pecans otherwise. (In one of the quirks that makes Gigi, as much as I like nuts by themselves, I hate nuts in ice cream.) So I was looking forward to enjoying the butter flavor without having to worry about avoiding nuts.

But how did it taste? Well, the butter is more like essence of butter. Don't expect the full-on rich, almost salty flavor that you would get from, say, a butter pecan ice cream. This is more subtle and creamy. And in addition to the cinnamon, there also seems to be a hint of nutmeg. It actually reminded me a lot of a less custardy egg nog flavor. Truly delicious by itself.

Aaaah, but it's not by itself. No indeed, it is chock full of hunks (because "chunks" does not convey how large some of the pieces of cookies are) of snickerdoodle cookies. The cookies are full of cinnamon and brown sugar. They crumble up just a little and add a small hit of salt that brings all other the flavors out a little more.



This is truly one of the best flavors ever to come out of Vermont -- and I do not say that lightly. In fact, I beg those good people in Vermont to just forget the whole "Limited Batch" thing and add it the core line. This was truly amazing.

Be sure to check out Rodzilla's review here. I liked it a little more than he did...but that just means more for me!



PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

PRICE:
$2.59

CALORIES:
230 calories per 1/2 cup.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
benjerry.com