The Big Muddy Ice Cream Blog

Two weeks ago I finally had the opportunity to check out Ices Plain and Fancy. Ices Plain and Fancy (can I just call it IPF for the rest of this post?) is a new ice cream shop in St. Louis. It opened this summer and I heard about it in late August. Not long after I heard about this unique little ice cream shop, Madeline's friend from high school, Zach, requested that she review IPF. I decided to just take over so Zach didn't have to wait until Thanksgiving to get a review. IPF is in the Shaw neighborhood of St. Louis. Brett and I hopped over there after a nice afternoon at the Botanical gardens. As we drove up, we thought Siri might have been leading us astray. We were in a totally residential area; no other shops or stores in sight. I honestly loved the location of IPF. It livened up the block and it is so nice that it is so close to places like the Botanical Gardens, Tower Grove Park, but it still seems hidden away. Now to actually talk about ice cream. There are no...

Before I say anything else, let me say this is another hit from new-to-me brand 2nd Street Creamery.  Run, do not walk, to your nearest store and buy a pint. I have strong memories associated with strawberry rhubarb pie.  I remember, when I was really little, my grandmother and father trying to convince me to try a piece of strawberry-rhubarb pie, and me refusing because, what were  all those icky bits in there?  Then, when I was a bit older, I gave in and tried a piece, but picked out all the rhubarb and said, "I liked the pie except for that stuff."  I don't know what was wrong with me.  Strawberry rhubarb pie is, like, totes the bomb.  Nom. This is described as Strawberry ice cream with strawberries, rhubarb sauce, and pie crust pieces. The longer description on the website reads John, his wife and four daughters, trekked to the Black Hills of South Dakota for a family wedding.  At a point when John felt he needed an escape from the ...

Alright guys, dearest readers, my first review of Breyers. Breyers is like super classic ice cream brand. It's not luxury, but it's not cheapo. It's that kind of ice cream you would buy if you have 2.5 children and a white picket fence, but you don't have enough money to send your 2.5 kids to a private school. In addition, Breyers isn't too popular in the ice cream blogging world. However, Breyers has been around since 1866, so I don't feel comfortable without going into the ice cream with an open mind. Maybe they've been doing something right to keep themselves open that long. Also Reese's. Can you really mess up ice cream with Reese's in it?? This product is described as Peanut Butter Light Ice Cream with Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Pieces and a Fudge Swirl. Ooookay so strike number 1, light ice cream. Yeahhhh if I wanted to eat something "light" I could have had some lame yogurt or something. Like why do you think I am buying ice...

Kyle picked me up from a ballet class the other night, and on the way home we decided to stop for gas.  After we fueled up, we headed inside to pick up a treat for the night.  Kyle headed straight for the gummy candy while I decided to check out the ice cream selection, as I do at every new store I go to.  I was pleasantly surprised.  The ice cream selection was huge for a gas station. Recently our local grocery store changed ownership and the new store has a much poorer selection of Talenti gelato than the old store.  This gas station had what I would call a medium to good selection of Talenti, but definitely better than the new grocery store.  Also, THEY HAD AN AMAZING ICE CREAM BRAND THAT I HAD NEVER HEARD OF BEFORE. I picked up two flavors from the new-to-me brand 2nd Street Creamery.  These ice cream flavors are inspired by different stories.  For example,  Almond Butter Hazelnut Fudge, the flavor I am reviewing today, reads: ...

I know, of all the ice cream bars out there in the world I could review I review another Magnum. My really devoted reader(s) (my mom may in reality be the only person I could consider a devoted reader of this blog) will notice that I have been trying to review a wider variety of ice creams and ice cream products. The beginning of the blog was a little Ben and Jerry's and Haagen-Dazs crazy, admittedly and I'm trying to do better. And to be honest, the day I bought these bars, I really really wasn't trying to buy ice cream that day. It wasn't on my grocery list, it really wasn't. Like, I am one of those people that makes lists for the sake of the sense of satisfaction of crossing things off the list. And if ice cream isn't on my grocery list, what satisfaction would I get from buying it?! None!! BUT! As I wandered down the aisles at Gerbe's, a sign of the goodness of this planet appeared. A coupon dispenser of coupons for $1 of a box of Magnum bars!! A light...

Kyle and I went to the Minnesota state fair on the Sunday before Labor Day.  Guys, the Minnesota State Fair is, like, a Big Fucking Deal. Since it was Labor Day Weekend and the last few days of the fair there were so, so many people there, and nobody was following any discernible traffic patterns.  Everybody just walking wherever whenever.  It  was a little hard to maneuver around and was honestly a little bit stressful. Eet ees huuuuge! The first thing Kyle and I decided to try was a funnel cake ice cream sundae.  We chose the strawberry cheesecake flavor which had vanilla soft serve on top of a funnel cake topped with strawberry syrup, cream cheese icing and whipped cream.  There was nothing highbrow or pretentious about this dish, it was just a lot of fried, sugary, delicious calories packed onto one plate.  They gave you a spoon to eat this with, but we would have been better served with a knife and fork because of the gooeyn...

Sometimes you just need to stay in on a Friday night with only yourself, Netflix, and a pint of ice cream.  Sometimes your boyfriend breaks up with you (or you with him, that asshole!) and you need to watch chick flicks, eat ice cream, and cry with your best friend.  In times like these, the chocolatier the ice cream the better.  This is where Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Therapy comes in.  Described as Chocolate ice cream with chocolate cookies and swirls of chocolate pudding ice cream. This ice cream is there for you no matter what.  A helping hand.  A shoulder to cry on.  It will help you move, it will help you forget you failed that math test.  When you need a friend, look no further than Chocolate Therapy.  It's ok.  We've all done it.  Just let it out and have a good cry over a pint of ice cream. I had this ice cream this weekend, and it was just what I needed to temporarily forget my bottomless woe that summer is coming...

I know I am a little late on the uptake that only now I am reviewing one of Ben and Jerry's scoop shop exclusive SNL flavors. However, you've gotta cut me some slack seeing as I now live, like, two and a half hours away from a Ben and Jerry's scoop shop. Many people fairly say the the golden age of Saturday Night Live is looong gone. However, anyone would acknowledge that Kristen Wiig is one of the few gems of the late 2000s early 2010s SNL. Her characters are fabulous. Although Target Lady is my favorite Kristen Wiig character (because I think only Target Lady matches my deep passion for that heavenly place), you gotta love a good Gilly skit! Here!! Watch one!! https://screen.yahoo.com/gilly-science-fair-000000981.html When I first heard about the SNL flavors, I was really expecting a muffin counterpart to the Schweddy Balls flavor that lasted just a few blissful weeks before our good friends B & J realized having a ball flavored ice cream, despite being delicious,...

First let me say that I am totally impressed with B&J’s Greek Frozen Yogurts.  I’ve had one other flavor, Raspberry Fudge Chunk, that I have not reviewed on the blog. (Because Kyle ate it all.  Boo.)  Both that flavor and the Vanilla Honey Caramel flavor were amazing! To me, the Ben and Jerry’s brand exudes a certain playfulness.  Their flavors are chock-full of mix-ins, they have very playful flavor descriptions and they have COWS on their pints!  In contrast to the ice cream flavors, I felt that Vanilla Honey Caramel was a very mature flavor.  Reading the description, I wasn’t sure this was going to be a great flavor, as the only mix in was a caramel and honey swirl.  It was described as Vanilla Greek frozen yogurt with a honey caramel swirl. Honestly, this sounds simple, but this pint didn’t need anything else.  The main thing I love about the Greek Frozen Yogurts is that they actually taste like Greek yogurt.  Somet...