The Big Muddy Ice Cream Blog

Haagen-Dazs gelato is a new-ish (within the past 2 years or so) addition to the frozen dessert selection.  When this first came out I tried the Stracciatella flavor and was hugely underwhelmed.  It didn't have a great texture and the base gelato was not flavorful at all.  Since then, Haagen-Dazs has come out with some intriguing gelato flavors such as Caramelized Banana and Pomegranate Swirl, but my first experience with the brand made me hesitant to pick up another pint. One of my first posts on this blog was about Haagen-Dazs limited edition pomegranate ice cream bars, which I really liked.  Also, Kyle is obsessed with all things pomegranate.  These two things, along with a 3 for $9 sale, finally made me get over my reluctance to eat Haagen-Dazs gelato. The Haagen-Dazs website say A strikingly beautiful duo, Haagen-Dazs Pomegranate Swirl blends tart pomegranate gelato with elegant vanilla gelato, creating an exceptionally smooth indulgence tha...

I realize it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but that doesn't mean we can't start talking about peppermint ice cream.  My memories Christmas season past are tinged with the sounds of Jingle Bells off of Booker T. and the MGs' album Booker T. and the MGs in the Christmas Spirit and taste of peppermint ice cream with chocolate syrup. The peppermint ice cream of my youth was antibiotic pink with chunks of hard as rock red-and-white and green-and-white peppermint candies scattered throughout. Haagen-Dazs Peppermint Bark (Limited Edition) is a totally grown up, sophisticated version of this (still delightful!) childhood treat. First let me say that I love the purple packaging of the Haagen-Dazs Limited Edition flavors.  I absolutely despise their normal maroon and yellow packaging, but the purple is wonderful. The Haagen-Dazs website has this to say about their seasonal flavor: Celebrate the season with our rendition of this holiday classic.  Rich white chocolate...

Preface Yes, I am copying my sister in the format of this post. But it was too good to pass up, and the story of me and ice cream flavor really cannot be described in any way besides a SAGA. Introduction It's my turn, finally to review the amazing, limited-edition, Ben & Jerry's Candy Bar Pie. I first had this ice cream a while ago, like a WHOLE month ago, but just haven't had time to review it. In the mean time I think I have eaten like 3 or 4 pints of this ice cream. Mostly because they don't sell it in Eldon, so I had to drive 25 mins to the Lake of the Ozarks to buy this flavor. I decided to stock up when I bought it so I would have to drive to the Lake again too soon to buy more. But in reality, a 25 minute drive is nothing compared to the reality of what I have gone through to get this ice cream. Act I: Romance I have waited over a YEAR for this ice cream to come out in pints. Back in Spring of 2013, Candy Bar Pie hit the scoop shops. I had it at the...

Where the heck are all of the seasonal pumpkin flavors this year?  I know they're out there.  I know Ben and Jerry’s made a Pumpkin Cheesecake flavor and Talenti made a Pumpkin Pie flavor, but they NEVR showed up at my local grocery store.  I mean COME ON.  I did, however, find Kemp’s Pumpkin Pie, a limited edition seasonal flavor. This was described as Pumpkin Ice cream swirled with real crust pieces. This ice cream was pretty good.  I didn’t realize until I got home that it was reduced fat.  (Ewwwwww!)  Normally I wouldn’t buy something reduced fat, but this wasn’t that bad.  The texture wasn’t as un-creamy as reduced-fat ice cream sometimes is.  Honestly, if I didn’t know it was reduced fat before I tried it I probably wouldn’t have guess.d I could tell it was pumpkin flavored, which is more than I can say for some pumpkin ice creams that lean too heavily on the ‘spice’ part of pumpkin-spice.  As far as the spi...

I'm aliiiiiive! I feel like I haven't posted in SO long.  Part of that is because I don't have internet at home, but I should get that sometime this month (fingers crossed!)  Time to rejoin the 21st century! Today I have a review of another Kemp's flavor (and there's yet another to come!), Black Raspberry Swirl. The first thing that hit me when I opened this carton was the color of the ice cream.  It was an insanely  bright and vibrant purple.  This flavor is described as Black Raspberry flavored ice cream and vanilla ice cream with chocolate chunks. The short story is that this ice cream is good, but not great, but good for the price.  I probably won't buy it again, but if I was on an ice cream budget (I pity the poor soul who is) I would probably turn consistently to Kemp's. Kemp's ice cream gives the most beautiful scoops ever. The vanilla ice cream was good, but not earth shattering.  The black raspberry ice cream tasted like ra...

Dearest Reader, I feel like is has been a while since we've caught up. Well, I guess you don't ever really tell me what is going on in your life, but whatever. Recently, I've been doing a lot of work on my applications to graduate programs, and I've been working and running a lot, not leaving much time for blog writing. And let me tell you, I have missed it. Not that I've decreased my ice cream consumption, don't you worry about that. I've just been eating flavors I've already reviewed. I've also missed blogging because it is my creative outlet; it is where I wrestle with the really important life questions: like which am I in the mood for, crazy, chocolatey mix-ins or unique flavors?? Well to get to it. Back in October when it wasn't really effing cold outside, my friend Bronwyn and I walked to Jilly's Ice Cream Bar. Bronwyn's favorite flavor there is Kaboom, which is Oreo Ice Cream, Mini M&M's, and Brownie Morsels. She really,...

My grocery store FINALLY got some seasonal/limited edition items.  When I went yesterday to check out the freezer section and saw that they had B&J's Candy Bar Pie and Haagen-Dazs delicious, amazing holiday flavor Peppermint Bark.  I obviously picked up a pint of this and the review will be coming soon.  But, they have sucked super hard at getting any pumpkin/fall flavored things.  I mean COME ON!  Kyle thinks they'll get some in November, but I, the eternal pessimist, doubt they will get any in at all ever. Anyway, on to the review.  If you don't live in the upper Midwest, you may as well move along because you can't get Kemp's ice cream.  HA. A few weeks ago I picked up a couple Kemp's flavors, one of which was Maple Nut.  I picked this up because I thought it was a seasonal flavor, but it's not!  It's awesome that you can get this year-round. This flavor comes in a 56oz size in a square cardboard carton.  If you are a map...