Best ice cream ever… Pt 2

Jess,
Thanks for commenting.

That’s a good idea actually. It’ll have to wait till winter. If i do it i’ll have to buy 2 barrels and have a German choc cake ice cream party with 1. You’ll be invited.

So, as an update we went on my first trip to cold-stone. Robin warned me about how gross it would be,
but of course they had their “signature” verson of German choc cake, so we had to go..

but they spelled it like this:

“Germanchokolatekake” Yes, one elegant word. So naturally it seemed to reel the chump in me, in and in I went for it.

Their sizes are “Like it” (sm) “Love it” (md) “Gotta have it” is the biggest. I got the Love it for 5$ and I was getting happy as I watched them design my ice cream for me on their signature cold stone.

Verdict- What a pile of shit man! They used the blandest american choc. ice cream, a crappy brownie (like Entermann’s minis but not as good), and a squeeze bottle of smuckers caramel (wtf). The coconut was decent i guess.
But if i were German id be truly offended about how god awfully this place is representing an ice cream version of my dessert!

BR used some crazy delicious dutch chocolate ice cream as their base.. which is the obviously right idea.

My opinion:

One trip to cold-stone convinced me they’re nothing but designer ice cream with no real attention to quality ingredients.

Go to Baskin Robbins from 5-10 tonight only for 31 cent scoops, and have some good ice cream.

Best Ice Cream ever… but we can’t have it again till next winter?

Hey its Stevey.

Greetings.

So it really gets me when something comes around that’s SO good or a product that (in rare form) does what it does SO well, only to find out that its been “discontinued” or it’s a “seasonal item” or it is “only in participating stores”..

I can think of a few things and I’m sure you can too. I ask:

Why do they make some of the most brilliant products so difficult to get your hands on?

Anyway, on to my point.

For 3 or 4 months out of the year, Baskin Robbins has 1 seasonal flavor that I make a really big deal about. Such a big deal that i search for it like I’m on a mission. Phone calls, and the whole 9.

This flavor is German Chocolate Cake. Rich german chocolate ice cream with chewy chocolatey cake, awesome coconut, sugary caramel, crunchy walnuts. I feel that this stuff is THE ice cream, and i get behind it!

Not only is it only served in the winter, but heres the real kicker, it only exists in the real BR and not the Baskin Robbins/Dunkin Donuts pop fart storefronts that exist every 2 blocks! What a huge inconvenience. I say these new half-n-half franchises just don’t feel the same. Its not all about being able to get a coffee, donuts and ice cream in the same place. What are they doing? What a terrible idea. And only to deny me my limited time only favorite flavor. Don’t these executives get that people have loyalty to a company and aren’t just looking for convenience for good reason? We as consumers want the goods!

And hey, ice cream reminds me of nothing DD reminds me of.

There are like 8 REAL Baskin Robbins in all of NYC that carry this flavor a few months a year.

I first had this flavor about 3 years ago only to be denied it the 3rd time i returned for more. And without any warning. I was shocked. I would have to wait 10 months to experience this form of heaven once again when I wanted it now? What is it about winter and good ice cream flavors? Who wants ice cream in the winter? Alot more business happens in the summer, but I like to enjoy a cone YEAR ROUND.

Now for the record and from my experience, Baskin Robbins is WAY better than Haagen Dazs (an entirely fake name btw) and Ben and Jerry’s. I just can’t be convinced considering I once worked at Haagen Dazs and have tried just about every B&J flavor including a visit to the factory in VT.

I’ve called specific stores in the NYC metro area to see if any one has any left post season. If you know a place that has it contact me! I’ll ride my bike there and eat a whole quart!

I wish they understood what this ice cream has done to me.

Their reply?

“What you see is what we have sir”

yep..

Maybe they can send me a 15 cent coupon like Hersheys did when I was in search of and wrote a well presented letter to the company requesting info on where I could find Zagnut candy bars in the New York area.. Butthatsawholeotherstory..

Thanks Robin for being my partner in enthusiasm.

Cheese from around the world

Last January Stevey and I had a life changing experience in Amsterdam when we went to a street fair and ate some cheese.
We both thought we had eaten cheese before.
We both thought we had eaten goudas before.
We were wrong.

When you go to Amsterdam* you MUST eat cheese. There are no two ways around this. In between coffee shop trips, bicycle rides and the endless eating you will inevitably do, cheese should be an activity. Don’t worry; the Dutch are friendly people** and they give you ample opportunities to eat cheese. There are street fairs, farmer’s markets, cheese tours, cheese shops, etc (getting behind amsterdam is another blog. If you haven’t been, you must go). The cheese that you will eat in Amsterdam is like none you have ever tasted before.***

Anyway when I came back from Europe I missed cheese so much. Your average Tesco has a wall of delicious cheese and very little of it is the processed crap we have. More specifically Stevey and I became obsessed with Goudas and enthusiastic about trying different cheeses. This led us to Zabars (LOVE Zabars, easily another blog) and discovering our new favorite place: Murray’s cheese shop.

Why is Murray’s awesome? They were patient with me and Steve as we asked all of our cheese related questions. They also would have let us try all the cheeses if we hadn’t become full. We left with several goudas including one from Vermont which was almost as good as what we had in Amsterdam. They also have a tour of their big cheese cold room in the back with samples provided. We haven’t actually gone on that yet, but that is in the works. Also: The tour is only $10. Murrays is also right next door to more awesomeness including Aphrodisia, and Cones (see upcoming blog about ice cream).

We leave you with your new favorite song about cheese:

*Well for that matter anywhere you go in Europe. You should just go to Europe.

**Tell them you’re Canadian or from New York if applicable.

***(unless you are from anywhere in Western Europe. A few weeks ago at Risotteria, Stevey and I were laughed at by a very nice couple from Brussels when we suggested they go get cheese in NY.)

General enthusiasm

Perhaps a good place to start would be to explain about being a general enthusiast. I was one for a while and didn’t realize. Maybe you are too.

Firstly, if the above sentence made you think, “wow I’m excited to think I could be a general enthusiast!” that’s your first clue.

Other clues:

• Use of exclamation points to describe things combined with abundant use of the word “excited.” (examples: I’m excited to drink this orange juice!!!” and “I”m excited to live with Hope!!!”)

• You find yourself really “getting behind things” and wanting to tell people about them.

Being a general enthusiast does not make you a pollyanna. In fact, you most certainly can be a general enthusiast and also be cynical. It also does not mean that you are enthusiastic about EVERYTHING. It just means you’re incredibly excited about some very specific things.

Why we get behind it

Enthusiast (en-thu-si-ast) n. a person filled with enthusiasm for a particular pursuit; an ardent supporter: a Scrabble enthusiast, a Buffy the Vampire Slayer Enthusiast.

This, my friends, is what this site is all about, generally. We are generally enthralled with many, many things and wish to share our joy in discovery of new things with everyone around us. We think it’s nice.

Pop culture is riddled with downtrodden messages, pointless irony and nihlism, and we’d like to offer a counter-point of sincere excitement. There’s already a shit-ton of valid misery going on in the world, so why create it needlessly? Here are the things we get behind. We hope you will, too.