The Big Muddy Ice Cream Blog

It is hard to believe that I am so close to trying every single flavor in the New Orleans line up (minus their season flavors, which by the way I REALLY want to try, especially Nectar Soda). The only other brand I've ever been able to say this about is Ben & Jerry's, but that quest started well before I became an ice cream blogger. Every time you try every flavor in a brand's line up do you level up as an ice cream eater? Anyway, I have this review and then one more NOLA flavor, and that will be all of them! I really enjoyed trying all of these flavors and I am super thankful to New Orleans Ice Cream Co for sending me all of their flavors! The description of this flavor isn't exactly a description of the flavor of the ice cream so much, but what more do you really need to say about Vanilla Bean other than "vanilla bean"? The description reads, A Classic Ice Cream Flavor Crafted With The Finest & Freshest Natural Ingredients. It's Simply Del...

Okay, Dearest Readers. Time to apologize in advance for an epic fail. I do not have any pictures of the actual ice cream with this post. Many moons ago, when Madeline was visiting me over spring break, she wanted to sample all of the flavors of New Orleans Ice Cream Co that they sent to me. We ended up eating almost a quarter of this pint in our sampling, just because we liked it so much. Madeline took pictures of all of the tops of the pints so I would have shots for blogging later, but it took me so long to get around to this one, she doesn't have the picture anymore. And then, there was some iciness when I reopened it, so I didn't want to get that shot. And then I ate the whole rest of the pint while watching a super intense episode of OITNB so I forgot to take pictures. And basically I'm just trying to say SORRY FOLKS! But the pint is pretty, right? Now, this flavor is described as Satsuma, The Crescent City's Favorite Citrus, Is Blended And Swirled Into Our...

So all the cool kid ice cream bloggers on Insta have been talking about the 7-11 ice cream brand as of late, especially the s'mores flavor. And the last few days I was traveling, my Airbnb host told me to help myself to the ice cream in the freezer. Now, when you visit friends (or stay with strangers) and they tell you, "Oh help yourself to anything in the kitchen" they don't really mean it. Like, they think they do, but usually they don't actually want you to eat all of the ice cream in their freezer and all of their peanut butter. But I was happy to have super awesome Airbnb hosts who actually meant it when they invited me to help myself. And with a pint of 7-11 in the freezer and specific instructions to eat the ice cream, I was like, "Mmmm yes." The flavor they had in their freezer was Double Cookie Dough, so lets see if this flavor is as tasty as everyone seems to think the 7-11 s'mores flavor is.  This flavor is described as Vanilla...

Okay Dearest Readers, get ready for what may be one of the best posts of all time. Yesterday, I walked to Cold Stone with my friends and fellow Anthropology graduate students, Emma, Charlie, and Scott. We decided to get ice cream there because the Math graduate students at Iowa were holding a fundraiser! And what could be better than eating ice cream while supporting fellow graduate students? Nothing!  I decided to get the Not So Vanilla, a new Cold Stone Creation. And while you will see that this creation was absolutely delicious, it might have been a bit of a mistake to order it. You see, the math graduate students were making  the creations for the fundraiser. As they are not Cold Stone employees, they were having a hard enough time making all of the creations normally on the menu, and then I asked them to make a new one! They must have little descriptions of each creation posted behind the counter for employees to read, but they did not seem to have them for the new cre...

There's been quite a lot of hype over here as of late over all the awesome New Orleans ice cream flavors. However, we cannot forget the ice cream sandwiches they sent me. Madeline and I are both not very good about reviewing ice cream treats, like sandwiches and bars. The main reason? They're usually not big enough. I usually eat an ice cream treat and feel the need to eat a couple of cookies or something to top it off. But lots of ice cream companies have been upping their treat game, so Madeline and I were excited to try these Po'Boys. I, personally, am also much more excited about this ice cream version of a Po'Boy, as a standard Po'Boy is a sandwich made with some kind of meat (gross) served on French bread. New Orleans sent me 4 total, two each of two flavors, Vanilla Bean and Creole Cream Cheese. They are both described as All Natural Ultra Premium Ice Cream, Chocolate Cookie Sandwich Dipped in Milk Chocolate . Lizzy's take: Creole Cre...

Alas!! I have done it!!! I have complete the epic, months-long quest to try all of the Haagen-Dazs Artisan Collection! After a treacherous trek across town to the HyVee on the other side of town, losing hope while wandering the maze-like, only slightly-different layout of this grocery store, I finally found it. The Banana Rum Jam flavor, the only remaining missing link. The completion of this quest will bring eternal fame and glory to the Big Muddy Ice Cream Blog!! And what I mean by eternal fame and glory is being able to say we are not the actual worst ice cream bloggers out there. Most other ice cream blogs had tried all of the artisan collection flavors months and months ago. You know, like, when they were still new. However, Madeline can't find the Applewood Smoked Caramel Almond flavor (which I did when I first moved to Iowa City) and I couldn't find the Banana Rum Jam (which Madeline did back in May).  And what I mean by couldn't find, is hadn't look exte...

Ok peeps, does anybody else think its a bit weird that Haagen-Dazs makes a Vanilla ice cream and a Vanilla Bean ice cream? Like, is that really necessary? Regardless, it is my duty as your guide to the ice cream world to try both flavors and report back. First, the description.  I'm taking the full paragraph from the website because it gives more info about the supposed differences between the two flavors. Vanilla: Vanilla is the essence of elegance and sophistication. This marriage of pure, sweet cream and Madagascar vanilla creates the sweet scent of exotic spice and a distinctive taste that lingers on the tongue. Vanilla Bean: A unique twist to our iconic flavor.  Our ice cream blends Madagascar vanilla and pure, sweet cream with flecks of real vanilla beans, for a spicy and sweet delight. Do we all agree that Haagen-Dazs' descriptions are bordering on florid here? Just wow.  So the descriptions have got me all hopped up and raring to eat some ice cream, b...