It all started with a conversation with my friend, Rachel, who's lived here in Texas for three years. "The people in Texas really love their Blue Bell ice cream. There's even a factory that you can go tour."Hmm . . . an ice cream factory you can tour. Gotta love that. Just like years ago when I drove up to Waterbury, NH, to visit another famous ice cream factory. Anyway, visiting the Blue Bell factory has been added to the list of places to visit.
So, when I was treat shopping a few weeks ago for the family (which usually is ice cream), my eye stopped at the large selection of Blue Bell in my grocer's freezer. Wow! Tons of flavors. I quickly scanned the labels . . . Homemade Vanilla, The Great Divide, Century Sundae. Hmm . . . Century Sundae: "Homemade Vanilla, swirled with caramel and chocolate sauces, a whipped topping and diced maraschino cherries. Let the celebration begin!" Well, alright. Count me in.
I couldn't wait for my first bite. I mean, after all, how can 22 million Texans be wrong (don't answer that)? My first bite tasted like . . . a melted sundae. You know that milky melted pool leftover at the bottom of your sundae mixed with the flavors of whatever toppings you had. It was alright, but certainly nothing to write home about (apparently something to blog about, however). Slightly disappointing.
Well, the next day I had myself another bowl of this frozen dairy confection. I mean, who am I to let a dessert go to waist, I mean waste. Whoa! Now this was something delicious. Since the ice cream had had time to refreeze (it was a HOT muggy day when I bought the ice cream), I could now tell what the fellows at Blue Bell had in mind. This was an intriguing treat. I would definitely have to explore more flavors.
Friday Joseph celebrated his 32 birthday. We'd bought his favorite Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip. But since we had company coming over, we needed to buy more. Here was my gold-rimmed opportunity to sample some more of Texas' finest. There are a lot of "common" flavors to choose from: Peach and Homemade Vanilla, The Great Divide (half Dutch Chocolate, half Homemade Vanilla), Cookies 'n Cream. But there were several other "special" flavors that caught my eye: Cantaloupes and Cream, Anniversary Cake, Key Lime Pie. I couldn't choose just one, so I bought all three.
Compelled by the need to sample every flavor as soon as possible, I tried all three. Cantaloupes and Cream--remarkably like fresh cut, ripe, sweet cantaloupes with farm-fresh cream poured over them. Not too sweet, but packed with cantaloupey chunky goodness. Quite a refreshing summer treat. Anniversary Cake--amaretto ice cream with chunks of white cake topped with amaretto icing. Now this is delicious! I'm a fan of amaretto anyway, but then to have the chunks of cake with icing. Wow! I must admit it's the icing that makes this such a smashing favorite. I only eat cake in order to eat icing, and I loved every icing-filled bite. Then there's Key Lime Pie--tangy sweet key limy goodness filled with chunks of flaky pie crust. Yum! I would be hard pressed to pick a favorite out of these three.
September's flavor of the month is Southern Blackberry Cobbler. I don't know how this differs from a Northern Blackberry Cobbler, but I sure can't wait to find out!
Fun Facts:
- Blue Bell is the #3 selling ice cream in America--and it's selling region covers only 18% of the US population.
- Blue Bell's best selling flavor is Homemade Vanilla, which also happens to be the #1 selling flavor in the whole United States.
- For only $89 (inc. shipping), you can have 4 half-gallons of Texas' best sent to your door.
- President Bush orders Blue Bell for Camp David. There's our tax dollars at work.
