Confessions of a Novelty Ice Cream Fiend

[Carolyn Tillie]

Welcome, fellow addict.

I won't post pictures, because it is far too embarassing... But I have now stocked our winery freezer with novelty ice cream treats. When the temperatures hit over 80 degrees, our vineyard manager, Gabriel, and I have one every afternoon at 3:00.

The winemaker and owners laugh at us. Looking at their watch, I will be asked, "is it Ice Cream Time????"

I try and shop for deals and was thrilled last week when I found boxes of Häagan Dazs treats at two for $5.00 (I bought one of every flavor, preferring the Raspberry Sorbet with Vanilla Yogurt and the Coffee Almond Fudge Crunch. Gabriel likes the Dulce de Leche).

This week, the deal was on Nestlé treats and the freezer is full of Drumsticks and the Crunch Bars on a stick.

When Gabriel and I have been working especially hard, I will treat him with an Its-It or one of the cookie-encased sandwich brands. We are somewhat limited to what is sold at the local market up here on the mountain. If I buy them down in the valley, they melt before I can get them up here.

I'll never be skinny -- but have accepted that fact to have my ice cream.

[Andrew Fenton]

I like Fudgy the Whale. And not just because I like the name so much, either.

Alas, since Carvel isn't available in my area, I find myself an Ahab in search of the Great Brown Whale...

[bloviatrix]

Frozen novelty icecream ratings ...

  (ice cream sandwiches): These are fun, even though the chocolate material clings to your fingers with a ferocity rarely seen outside of the orange crap on Chee-Tos.

Still my choice remains Carvel Flying Saucers .. in chocolate, if you please ...

Love any kind of an ice cream sandwich actually ..

Oh yeah, the flying saucer, definitely.

The mention of flying saucers brings back another childhood flashback.....

When I was little, my mom would buy flying saucers by the dozen. The preferred family flavors were chocolate and vanilla, but there would always be a strawberry or pistachio as well. I was incapable of eating an entire flying saucer so my mom would cut them in half for me. Anyway, I've been an ice cream fiend for my entire life, and my favorite thing to do on weekend mornings (when I woke up before my parents) was to eat half a flying saucer for breakfast. Afterall, it's a health food - it has calcium!!

[Chef Shogun]

For me, it begins and ends with the Chipwich, with an honorable mention going out to the Snickers ice cream bar.

Anybody know if the Harbor Bar is still around?

[Jason Perlow]

When I was little, my mom would buy flying saucers by the dozen. The preferred family flavors were chocolate and vanilla, but there would always be a strawberry or pistachio as well. I was incapable of eating an entire flying saucer so my mom would cut them in half for me. Anyway, I've been an ice cream fiend for my entire life, and my favorite thing to do on weekend mornings (when I woke up before my parents) was to eat half a flying saucer for breakfast. Afterall, it's a health food - it has calcium!!

My favorite saucer flavors are pistachio and strawberry, which are rare since many Carvel shops don't bother to make them anymore.

During the mid to late 80's my parents went on a health kick and stopped buying Saucers at the local Carvel and started buying their "Bongos" instead. My mother and father unsuccessfully tried to convince us that the reduced-fat and sugar-free ice cream in the Bongos were "just as good" but nobody was falling for that one.

[bloviatrix]

Reduced-fat and sugar free ice cream? What's the point?

[Carolyn Tillie]

I never saw a Carvel here on the West Coast... tell me more!

[Gifted Gourmet]

I never saw a Carvel here on the West Coast... tell me more!

more .... and more ....and ...

[tryska]

definitely astro-pops.

and klondike bars (don't like the crunchy kind - the crispies remind me too much of chewing on balls of tinfoil)

and cheap ice cream sandwiches like bloviatrix said.

i also the single bar popsicles that come in lime, cherry and grape, can't remember their names, and dove bars. haagen dasz bars get an honorable mention.

i also really like dairy queen misty floats, preferably cherry. soemtimes grape.

[Mayhaw Man]

I should also point out that I have a thing for ice cream sandwiches, preferably the cheapest ones you can find (usually a store brand). There's something about the fake vanilla ice cream - wilted chococlate cookie combo that's very enticing.

I can't believe it. As I was reading this thread (on my newly repaired and operating like a champ computer ) I was thinking that I should admit my love of grocery store brand ice cream sandwiches and lo and behold, someone beat me to it!

I love those things. Particularly the brand that is sold by Winn Dixie here in the South (name escapes me for the moment, I will come back and add when I remember). They improve greatly if they are in a freezer that keeps them cold enough to put some crunch in the cookie.

I also like cheap Popsicles. Especially blue ones (bubble gum, I guess).

In the good novelty department, I am kinda crazy about frozen Peppermint Patties (the candy, not the stuff they have for ice cream) and I like Popsicle brand Banana Fudgesicles.

Don't forget orange popsicles with "vanilla ice cream like" goo in the middle.

And Push Ups, I love push ups.

Hell, I like just about any frozen confection, I guess.

[Gifted Gourmet]

And Push Ups, I love push ups.

so does Anna Nicole ....

[alacarte]

For me, it begins and ends with the Chipwich

Word. Chipwiches rock.

warning: going off-topic:

My father-in-law has a weakness for sweets. He's a big, affable guy who treats my mother-in-law like a queen. We always joke that we don't worry that he might have a little "chippie" (floozy) on the side...however, he might have a Chipwich on the side.

off-topic ramble concluded.

[bilrus]

#1 - Haagen Dasz Strawberry ice cream with White Chocolate cover on a stick

#2 - Drumsticks with Caramel - love the accumulation of chocolate in the bottom of the cone. makes the rest of the cone worthwhile.

Honorable Mention - Bomb Pops - the Red White and Blue popsicles.

[adoxograph]

All through school for me it was the holy trinity - the Chocolate Eclair, the Strawberry Shortcake and the Toasted Almond bar. I, too, was heartbroken by the recipe changes. The only one that is clase to what it was in my mind is the Shortcake.

Shouldn't there be a recipe somewhere on how to fake those?

[wnissen]

I think Carolyn and I have a lot in common when it comes to ice cream novelties. My first love is anything with a gumball stuck in it. It's two, two treats in one! First runner up is strawberry shortcake, followed by almost any kind of ice cream sandwich, but I really love them all. The ice cream man in our neighborhood is not a Good Humor man, so I don't buy a lot from him. Instead most of the time my wife and I get Skinny Cows, which are very tasty low-cal ice cream sandwiches. I have no idea how they pack that much creaminess and ice cream into 130 calories, but they do. Oh, and I insist on getting my treats home while they are still frozen solid as well. In these days of frost-free freezers, I don't need to help the recrystalization along any more. Oh, god, now I need to go downstairs and get a sandwich out of the vending machine.

Walt

[Gifted Gourmet]

Honorable Mention - Bomb Pops - the Red White and Blue popsicles.

I remember those! The blue in the ice was so intense that it made your lips a frightening blue .. so much so, in fact, that my daughter thought I was in congestive heart failure and she wanted to call 911 . ....

Edited June 28, 2004 by Gifted Gourmet (log)

[Carolyn Tillie]

I couldn't wait until 3:00 today because of this thread....

Right now, I'm consuming a caramel-core Drumstick.

Neeener-neeener-neeeeeeeeener!!!!!

[tryska]

doh. i meant bomb-pop not astro-pop in my original post. astropops are the candy, right?

[Jason Perlow]

doh.  i meant bomb-pop not astro-pop in my original post.  astropops are the candy, right?

Yeah I think those are the ones that are cone shaped with different layers of color on them.

Bomb Pop

Astro Pop

[tryska]

hee. thanks jason! i mean bomb pop. (altho i coulda sworn we called them astro-pops.) that's so strange...

[redfox]

I too love the cheapest ice-cream sandwiches, but not crunchy. Instead, in my view, the proper way to eat them is to lick around the edges, then press down gently and repeat until you've reduced it to about half its former stature. Then you may begin taking bites, alternating with the occasional return to the lick-and-press approach. Mm.

I also miss It's-Its very, very much. I had far too few of them during my Northern CA period. What was I thinking?

Weren't Klondike bars originally an Isaly's product?

Edited June 28, 2004 by redfox (log)

[aunteejoy]

A fudgsicle is great when I'm in NY, but Del's is the best! It's my first stop when I get to RI.

[Mayhaw Man]

I am a popsicle biter. I am a candy biter.

Licker or biter? Which one are you?

[Jason Perlow]

Welcome, fellow addict.

I won't post pictures, because it is far too embarassing... But I have now stocked our winery freezer with novelty ice cream treats.

I'll show you mine if you show me yours.

[Gifted Gourmet]

I am a popsicle biter. I am a candy biter.

Licker or biter? Which one are you?

Most definitely a licker rather than a biter, Brooks!

Nice stash of ice cream, Jason, very complete inventory!