Mint chocolate chip is my very favorite. I loooove Ben & Jerry’s mint chocolate chunk and hate that they don’t have it in grocery stores. Mint chocolate cookie is nowhere close.
Peppermint/peppermint bark ice cream is the very best and whoever (in history) decided to relegate peppermint to Christmas only is dumb. Haagen Dazs has a fantastic peppermint bark ice cream bar around Christmas that I always stock up on. But we moved states in December so I had to finish my stockpile and couldn’t restock 😭
I might possibly love frozen custard more than ice cream, but I live in SC where it is not a thing. NC triangle people - don’t sleep on Goodberry’s!!! It’s so good and I miss it so much.
If you’re ever in Asheville - The Hop is fantastic. Their salted caramel is amazing and of course peppermint in the winter.
In regards to the Spice Conference, I just wanted to come in to say that I stayed at the Hyatt Centric in Minneapolis for a night alone to celebrate my birthday back on the 24th and the hotel was so nice and the staff was delightful! So if you’re coming to Minneapolis you shan’t be disappointed!! 💙
Salted caramel pretzel ice cream - the best - sweet n salty and little pretzels to chew!
Ice cream is good for you for sure - after a rough day in court there was a Mr. Softee truck outside and i got a vanilla chocolate swirl on a cone and it just made the day so much better.
And our favorite ice cream place is this resort on the Rideau in Canada called the Opinicon - they make their own homemade ice cream which is just amazing. When my daughter gets married i want her to get married here and after reading the comments we are definitely going with the ice cream selection over a cake!
Hear me out with these unpopular opinions - once a summer you should have sweet corn ice cream. So good you’ll think you have silks in your teeth. For every other day- baking coco powder on plain vanilla.
On the ice cream of it all - saying you don’t like fruit in your ice cream clearly indicates y’all haven’t had Oregon strawberry or Oregon marionberry ice cream when berries are in season! There’s a place up here that does like a strawberry shortcake combo with graham crackers and fresh Hood berries and it’s to die for. I don’t do fruity ice cream year round, but we all crave the berries when summer comes around. The rest of the year, my go to’s are a good cold brew with chocolate ribbons or a mint chip or our local lavender gelato.
Where are my coffee ice cream lovers? I will always choose it - especially if chocolate (or heath bar) is added. Nothing better than a strong coffee ice cream...
Beth - 100% with you on the marshmallow. Do not want that - pretty much ever LOL.
I am a school administrator, and love the conversation about all that schools are asked to do outside of our stated actual work of teaching students 'the basics' and supporting their social-emotional growth (I think this is a legitimate role because one doesn't happen without the other). But in recent years, don't forget to include health clinic (vaccines/immunization compliance, and here in DC, we were a primary implementer of Covid contact tracing and testing) and now we are also tasked with solving the problem of truancy/absenteeism.... All that ails society seems to eventually end up at the school's door.
Is the problem with milkshakes that it's way more ice cream than you'd normally eat in a serving (even an extra big one)? Whenever I have extra ice cream to use up in the freezer and pull out the blender, I'm gobsmacked at how much it takes to make a decent "shake serving”. Eating that much ice cream with a spoon would surely give me a tummy ache.
I remember an episode of Planet Money a couple of years ago called “The Ice Cream Conspiracy”. Basically, that Haagen Daaz cornered the market for smooth, traditional flavors, and Ben & Jerry's monopolized chunky, chewy mix-in flavors. It was a fun listen. I'm definitely a chewy mix-in girl, and I load up on B&J’s when it's on sale- my 9-year-old and I love it.
Are there any Vermonters here? Where is the Maple Creemee representation??? If you go to Vermont, go to Cookie Love and order it. Embrace the word Creemee.
I love ice cream - it’s my favorite. I did want to point out that the Atlantic article specifies high quality ice cream made from whole ingredients…Blizzards are delicious (no shade) but I don’t think they qualify as “not bad for you”.
A few summers ago my family made a list of all the local ice cream shops in our county (20!) and made a pilgrimage to visit each and rank our favorites.
My favorite flavors are: coffee, mint chocolate chip (NOT green), and vanilla (some are really excellent, some are boring - it pays to taste test), raspberry/white chocolate.
Just dropping a reminder to try Salt & Straw ice cream whenever you find yourself on the West Coast. Be sure to sample all five of the monthly specials, especially in October (be sure to read the description of the last flavor at the end).
Love homemade ice cream! It’s my go-to for summer gatherings and the kiddos in my friend group LOVE it! This weekend we did nutter butter: typically vanilla base with peanut butter mixed it + two containers of crushed nutter butters. I add the nutter butters in at the beginning, middle and end of churning. Next time I’m adding in strawberry jelly to make a pb&j.
For strawberry, my tip is to make a strawberry reduction in advance, let it cool and add that to the mixture.
In the spring, king cake ice cream is where it’s at! Get a grocery store king cake, break it up into chunks and freeze. Make the vanilla base but add a good bit of cinnamon. Same as the nutter butter, add at the beginning, middle and end.
1. As a teacher in post-secondary education, it would be wonderful to hear someone talk about us with the same reverence and appreciation that K-12 teachers get (which already, ha!) Many traditional students (17-21) just aren't done cookin' yet and we, too, take our jobs quite seriously. I deal with plenty of really serious issues with my students: depreasion, anxiety, alcoholism and addiction, SA, the list goes on. Kind of a bummer to be the punching bags of the educational space. Not to say either one of you denigrated post-secondary educators, but the tone of the discussion shifted significantly! Sigh. It's okay, I'm used to it! 🤣
2. I cannot BELIEVE the disrespect that was heaped upon the good name of vanilla ice cream, mother to all other ice creams. The audacity! 🤌🏻
@sarah asked about why she feels worse after a milk shake vs a serving of ice cream. One of the Pantsuit Politics RDs in residence here. Short answer, I don’t know 😂. But I thought it was important to acknowledge not knowing. 😂😂
I have suspicions. 1) everyone is so different. We just tolerate food differently, even if it doesn’t make ‘sense.’ And I think it’s important to acknowledge that because when people are told, no it shouldn’t matter, they distrust us.
2) it could be something with the ratios of macronutrients being different between a shake and ice cream. Generally ice cream is going to be higher fate percentage, where as a milk shake is going to have liquid milk added, add some and protein and carbohydrate (and fat) a little bit. Significantly different?? 🤷🏻♀️ 3) as a person who is super duper sensitive to lactose in foods but can tolerate dairy protein, I personally always suspect the lactose. Lactose is part of the naturally present carbohydrate available in milk from all mammals. In general, As we age, we produce less of the enzyme lactase (for a variety of reasons). So, when there’s not enough enzyme the lactose isn’t broken down in the gut until it reaches the gut bacteria which then have a banquet. The bacteria produce gas when ‘eating’ the lactose, which then will cause someone like me to have terrible stomach pain and emergency toilet breaks 😂.
All this to say milk shakes have more lactose because of the liquid milk added and you have a mild reaction??
Or not. 😂😂😂😂 it’s a mystery.
4) maybe you eat one slower than the other?? That could contribute.
5) total volume consumed may be significantly different. You can get smaller servings of ice cream, but generally shakes are on the big side?
Fellow RD, co-sign everything you said! I was also thinking something about drinking through a straw vs eating, could cause you to eat faster and swallow more air as well, leading to that bloated feeling after?
And years ago when I was working in diabetes care, I sometimes saw the wildest variations between individuals and even between brands of food. Like I remember one brand of tortilla would spike someone’s blood sugar, while another wouldn’t, even though the carb load and ingredients lists were the same. Bodies are different! And sometimes don’t make sense!
I love everything about this comment, Jessica. Thank you for sharing your expertise! (And I want to hug my doctor/every professional who says "I don't know and here's why and isn't that interesting and revealing?!?" -- I'm like YOU ARE AMAZING AND A TOTAL PROFESSIONAL AND I TRUST YOU FOREVER)
Mint chocolate chip is my very favorite. I loooove Ben & Jerry’s mint chocolate chunk and hate that they don’t have it in grocery stores. Mint chocolate cookie is nowhere close.
Peppermint/peppermint bark ice cream is the very best and whoever (in history) decided to relegate peppermint to Christmas only is dumb. Haagen Dazs has a fantastic peppermint bark ice cream bar around Christmas that I always stock up on. But we moved states in December so I had to finish my stockpile and couldn’t restock 😭
I might possibly love frozen custard more than ice cream, but I live in SC where it is not a thing. NC triangle people - don’t sleep on Goodberry’s!!! It’s so good and I miss it so much.
If you’re ever in Asheville - The Hop is fantastic. Their salted caramel is amazing and of course peppermint in the winter.
In regards to the Spice Conference, I just wanted to come in to say that I stayed at the Hyatt Centric in Minneapolis for a night alone to celebrate my birthday back on the 24th and the hotel was so nice and the staff was delightful! So if you’re coming to Minneapolis you shan’t be disappointed!! 💙
Salted caramel pretzel ice cream - the best - sweet n salty and little pretzels to chew!
Ice cream is good for you for sure - after a rough day in court there was a Mr. Softee truck outside and i got a vanilla chocolate swirl on a cone and it just made the day so much better.
And our favorite ice cream place is this resort on the Rideau in Canada called the Opinicon - they make their own homemade ice cream which is just amazing. When my daughter gets married i want her to get married here and after reading the comments we are definitely going with the ice cream selection over a cake!
Hear me out with these unpopular opinions - once a summer you should have sweet corn ice cream. So good you’ll think you have silks in your teeth. For every other day- baking coco powder on plain vanilla.
I listened late this week. Beth, butter pecan is the supreme ice cream flavor. It made me so happy you also love it.
On the ice cream of it all - saying you don’t like fruit in your ice cream clearly indicates y’all haven’t had Oregon strawberry or Oregon marionberry ice cream when berries are in season! There’s a place up here that does like a strawberry shortcake combo with graham crackers and fresh Hood berries and it’s to die for. I don’t do fruity ice cream year round, but we all crave the berries when summer comes around. The rest of the year, my go to’s are a good cold brew with chocolate ribbons or a mint chip or our local lavender gelato.
dental problems = heart problems
Where are my coffee ice cream lovers? I will always choose it - especially if chocolate (or heath bar) is added. Nothing better than a strong coffee ice cream...
Beth - 100% with you on the marshmallow. Do not want that - pretty much ever LOL.
I am a school administrator, and love the conversation about all that schools are asked to do outside of our stated actual work of teaching students 'the basics' and supporting their social-emotional growth (I think this is a legitimate role because one doesn't happen without the other). But in recent years, don't forget to include health clinic (vaccines/immunization compliance, and here in DC, we were a primary implementer of Covid contact tracing and testing) and now we are also tasked with solving the problem of truancy/absenteeism.... All that ails society seems to eventually end up at the school's door.
Is the problem with milkshakes that it's way more ice cream than you'd normally eat in a serving (even an extra big one)? Whenever I have extra ice cream to use up in the freezer and pull out the blender, I'm gobsmacked at how much it takes to make a decent "shake serving”. Eating that much ice cream with a spoon would surely give me a tummy ache.
I remember an episode of Planet Money a couple of years ago called “The Ice Cream Conspiracy”. Basically, that Haagen Daaz cornered the market for smooth, traditional flavors, and Ben & Jerry's monopolized chunky, chewy mix-in flavors. It was a fun listen. I'm definitely a chewy mix-in girl, and I load up on B&J’s when it's on sale- my 9-year-old and I love it.
Are there any Vermonters here? Where is the Maple Creemee representation??? If you go to Vermont, go to Cookie Love and order it. Embrace the word Creemee.
(When in Rome)
Not a Vermonter, but NE, and getting a maple creemee has been at the top of my list
Jeni’s ice cream. Expensive- you betcha.
But there is a flavor with pie or crumble bits…for those of you that are like Sarah.
My favorite is gooey butter cake. (I hate the name, love the product)
I love ice cream - it’s my favorite. I did want to point out that the Atlantic article specifies high quality ice cream made from whole ingredients…Blizzards are delicious (no shade) but I don’t think they qualify as “not bad for you”.
A few summers ago my family made a list of all the local ice cream shops in our county (20!) and made a pilgrimage to visit each and rank our favorites.
My favorite flavors are: coffee, mint chocolate chip (NOT green), and vanilla (some are really excellent, some are boring - it pays to taste test), raspberry/white chocolate.
Just dropping a reminder to try Salt & Straw ice cream whenever you find yourself on the West Coast. Be sure to sample all five of the monthly specials, especially in October (be sure to read the description of the last flavor at the end).
Review: Salt & Straw's 2025 Halloween Ice Creams Are Frightfully Delightful https://share.google/aRrmIuY7rQaccRte2
And don't forget their Willy Winka-esque Thanksgiving collection:
We Tried Salt & Straw's Thanksgiving Menu Ice Cream Flavors https://share.google/J5SEU1hlcNGCR7ENt
Love homemade ice cream! It’s my go-to for summer gatherings and the kiddos in my friend group LOVE it! This weekend we did nutter butter: typically vanilla base with peanut butter mixed it + two containers of crushed nutter butters. I add the nutter butters in at the beginning, middle and end of churning. Next time I’m adding in strawberry jelly to make a pb&j.
For strawberry, my tip is to make a strawberry reduction in advance, let it cool and add that to the mixture.
In the spring, king cake ice cream is where it’s at! Get a grocery store king cake, break it up into chunks and freeze. Make the vanilla base but add a good bit of cinnamon. Same as the nutter butter, add at the beginning, middle and end.
Two completely different bones to pick:
1. As a teacher in post-secondary education, it would be wonderful to hear someone talk about us with the same reverence and appreciation that K-12 teachers get (which already, ha!) Many traditional students (17-21) just aren't done cookin' yet and we, too, take our jobs quite seriously. I deal with plenty of really serious issues with my students: depreasion, anxiety, alcoholism and addiction, SA, the list goes on. Kind of a bummer to be the punching bags of the educational space. Not to say either one of you denigrated post-secondary educators, but the tone of the discussion shifted significantly! Sigh. It's okay, I'm used to it! 🤣
2. I cannot BELIEVE the disrespect that was heaped upon the good name of vanilla ice cream, mother to all other ice creams. The audacity! 🤌🏻
@sarah asked about why she feels worse after a milk shake vs a serving of ice cream. One of the Pantsuit Politics RDs in residence here. Short answer, I don’t know 😂. But I thought it was important to acknowledge not knowing. 😂😂
I have suspicions. 1) everyone is so different. We just tolerate food differently, even if it doesn’t make ‘sense.’ And I think it’s important to acknowledge that because when people are told, no it shouldn’t matter, they distrust us.
2) it could be something with the ratios of macronutrients being different between a shake and ice cream. Generally ice cream is going to be higher fate percentage, where as a milk shake is going to have liquid milk added, add some and protein and carbohydrate (and fat) a little bit. Significantly different?? 🤷🏻♀️ 3) as a person who is super duper sensitive to lactose in foods but can tolerate dairy protein, I personally always suspect the lactose. Lactose is part of the naturally present carbohydrate available in milk from all mammals. In general, As we age, we produce less of the enzyme lactase (for a variety of reasons). So, when there’s not enough enzyme the lactose isn’t broken down in the gut until it reaches the gut bacteria which then have a banquet. The bacteria produce gas when ‘eating’ the lactose, which then will cause someone like me to have terrible stomach pain and emergency toilet breaks 😂.
All this to say milk shakes have more lactose because of the liquid milk added and you have a mild reaction??
Or not. 😂😂😂😂 it’s a mystery.
4) maybe you eat one slower than the other?? That could contribute.
5) total volume consumed may be significantly different. You can get smaller servings of ice cream, but generally shakes are on the big side?
Fellow RD, co-sign everything you said! I was also thinking something about drinking through a straw vs eating, could cause you to eat faster and swallow more air as well, leading to that bloated feeling after?
And years ago when I was working in diabetes care, I sometimes saw the wildest variations between individuals and even between brands of food. Like I remember one brand of tortilla would spike someone’s blood sugar, while another wouldn’t, even though the carb load and ingredients lists were the same. Bodies are different! And sometimes don’t make sense!
I love everything about this comment, Jessica. Thank you for sharing your expertise! (And I want to hug my doctor/every professional who says "I don't know and here's why and isn't that interesting and revealing?!?" -- I'm like YOU ARE AMAZING AND A TOTAL PROFESSIONAL AND I TRUST YOU FOREVER)
Awe thanks. I had fun with my long explanation 😆