I had forgotten how summery strawberry ice cream is.  When I was younger I used to get strawberry ice cream from the Lake Harriet concessions stand and walk around the Minneapolis lake with my family.  Eating Breyers Strawberry ice cream brought those summer memories back.  Breyers Strawberry has a creamy strawberry flavor.  Not intensely strawberry, but subtle in the way it blends with the cream.  There are a good number of chunks of strawberry, but not so many as to ruin the creamy texture.  I really enjoyed this ice cream and how refreshing it tastes.

• Flavor: 5
• Flavor Intensity: 3
• Texture: 4.5
• Originality: 2
• Overall: 4.5
• Cost: $5.99 at Safeway

I went to the grocery store today and purchased ice cream making supplies so I can start making several different flavors of ice cream this week. Today I modified a recipe I found on allrecipes.com. The original recipe called for “coconut cream.” Of course, before I went to the store I didn’t read the note at the bottom of the recipe that says that coconut cream is different from coconut milk. So, I didn’t buy coconut cream. But, I managed to successfully modify the recipe by adding sweetened condensed milk. My recipe looked something more like this:

• 1 cup milk
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 a can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut toasted and chopped
• 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut

This recipe is really easy because all you do is combine all ingredients in a food processor. There is no cooking involved. (I added the second 1/2 cup of (untoasted) coconut after everything else had been blended, that way there were also large pieces of coconut in the ice cream.) After about an hour cooling in the fridge and another 20 minutes in the ice cream machine, the ice cream was done. It was well worth the little amount of effort put into it. The flavor was very intensely coconut. A sweet coconut. If you don’t like extremely sweet ice cream then this recipe isn’t for you. The texture was dominated by the pieces of coconut. I would definitely make this ice cream again. It was easy and delicious. I think it would be excellent on German chocolate cake.

• Flavor: 5
• Flavor Intensity: 4.5
• Texture: 4
• Originality: 3
• Overall: 4.5
• Ease to Make: 1

My brother is in town visiting and so we all went out for a nice dinner at one of my favorite Italian Restaurants in DC- Galileo.  We ate in the “Osteria,” which is cheaper and in the bar area.  After some great sea bass, I ordered the only ice cream listed on the menu: Caramelized Banana.  I’m not a big fan of banana flavored things, but I thought I’d give it a try.  The ice cream (and it was called ice cream, not gelato) came out in a large cone shaped dish that looked like a waffle cone.  I honestly thought it was a waffle cone for a minute, but it was just colored glass.  The ice cream was also presented with a spoon shaped cookie/pastry in it.  I used the “spoon” to taste a little of the ice cream and I said, “Oh, the spoon is made of coconut.”  Then I tried the ice cream with normal silverware and realized that it was the ice cream itself that was coconut, not banana flavored as it said on the menu.  The coconut ice cream was exactly what I’d expect from nice restaurant.  It had really good and intense coconuty flavor, with small bits of coconut in every bite.  But, the texture was just a little icy.  I’m not complaining, because the flavor was excellent; but restaurants never seem to produce really smooth ice cream.  Interestingly enough, we also ordered profiteroles, which our Italian waiter described in broken English as being puff pastries with cream inside.  When he served them he jokingly told us that he hoped we didn’t like them so he could eat the leftovers.  Well, he didn’t get any leftovers.  The profiteroles turned out to be two puff pastries with ice cream sandwiched in between them—kind of like mini ice cream sandwiches.  Only better.  They too were made with the coconut ice cream and were even better than the ice cream by itself.  We never quite figured out why the Profiteroles were made with ice cream and not cream (like a cream puff), but I think they were better that way.

• Flavor: 5
• Flavor Intensity: 5
• Texture: 4
• Originality: 3
• Overall: 4.5
• Cost: $5.00

Need more proof that Ben and Jerry’s caters to the young adult population? Ben and Jerry’s Dave Mathews Band “Magic Brownies.” This ice cream flavor name employs a popular band, a good cause, and of course, the mood altering dessert to gain attention. The ice cream is good and the cause is even better. Who needs a better excuse to eat ice cream than knowing that you’re doing it for a good cause? A portion of the sales of this ice cream goes to help fight global warming, that is- “lick global warming.” You can read all the details here.

The ice cream itself is pretty decent. It actually reminds me of a flavor Ben and Jerry’s used to carry, I think it was Black Raspberry Frozen Yogurt. I used to get it every so often, but I haven’t seen it in awhile. There’s not much plain vanilla ice cream in Magic Brownies. The raspberry swirls are fairly well integrated with the vanilla for an overall intense raspberry flavor. The brownies were good, as Ben and Jerry’s brownies usually are. But, I thought that the flavor could have been better. Maybe the brownies were too much, or maybe brownies and raspberry just don’t mix. In any event, I enjoyed Ben and Jerry’s Dave Mathews Band “Magic Brownies” and would get it again. Especially knowing that I was eating ice cream to save the environment.

• Flavor: 3.5
• Flavor Intensity: 4.5
• Texture: 4
• Originality: 4.5
• Overall: 4
• Cost: $3.00 on sale at Safeway

I’ll be honest here. When something is called “Very Chocolate Cherry” I expect it to be “very chocolate” with some cherry; not very cherry with a little chocolate. But that’s what this is: very very cherry. If you like cherry flavored things, than this is for you. If you don’t stay away. Personally, I love Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia. It was the first ice cream I ate when I came home from Ireland. Why? Because it’s practically one of my comfort foods. However, I don’t like all cherry flavored things, say Cherry Runts. Not a fan. Regardless, I could have gone either way with the cherry part of Breyer’s Very Chocolate Cherry. Well, turns out I didn’t like this cherry. I don’t know what it was about it, maybe it tasted too much like real cherries to me. It was intense. It was also smooth and the chocolate chunks weren’t too bad. But, I didn’t like it. It might be good in an ice cream sundae or maybe in a malt, but not on it’s own.

• Flavor: 2
• Flavor Intensity: 5
• Texture: 4
• Originality: 3
• Overall: 2.5
• Cost: $5.99 at Safeway

So, today I ate my 21^st “scoop” of ice cream.  Granted it’s probably been more than a scoop a day, so maybe I should say today I tried my 21^st flavor of ice cream today.  I wonder if there’s a world record for longest number of consecutive days eating ice cream.  I’ll have to look it up.  I’m guessing it’s much longer than a year.  But the question is, did they try a different kind everyday?
Anyway, tonight I went to Larry’s Ice Cream on Connecticut Ave just north of Dupont Circle.  I’ve only been there once and was excited to go back.  “Key West Chocolate Decadence” was the flavor I chose.  They also had other interesting named flavors including “Libido” (which happens to be Bailey’s and pistachios.  I may have to try that next time.)  When I saw the name of the flavor I thought that it might be chocolate key lime; it turned out to be orange and chocolate.  I haven’t had anything orange and chocolate flavored in a long time.  I used to love the Toblerone orange balls I would get at Christmas.  They were the kind that you had to smash on something to get the pieces to break apart.  I’m not sure what I liked more, the smashing or the chocolate itself.  I also used to eat those chocolate covered sticks.  (I have no idea what they’re called, but they come in lime and lemon and orange and something red/pink.)   So, I have always been a fan of chocolate and orange flavored things.  “Key West Chocolate Decadence” only solidified that fondness.  It was very smooth and creamy, except for the chunks of chocolate.  In all honesty, I didn’t care much for the chocolate chunks.  They gave it an texture that was more “fun,” but I guess I’d rather have plain, boring, smooth ice cream.  Regardless, the ice cream itself was incredibly smooth.  It wasn’t too intensely flavored.  The orange was more than subtle, but it wasn’t overpowering.  Now, to what made the ice cream so incredible: THE CONE.  That’s right, it was by far the best cone I’ve had in three weeks.  It had good flavor and was CRUNCHY.  (My only complaint—the very top was ever so slightly burned tasting.)  For awhile I was starting to doubt that they even made crunchy sugar cones anymore.  I’ve had so many that were stale that I was beginning to think the cone making people were only delivering them to ice cream shops after letting them sit in a warehouse for a year.  When you have a good cone, it makes eating the ice cream that much more enjoyable.  I love the last bite of the cone, with a little bit of partially melted ice cream sitting perfectly in the bottom, and you can just shove the whole thing into your mouth.  Mmmm.

• Flavor: 4.5
• Flavor Intensity: 3.5
• Texture: 4
• Originality: 4
• Cone: 4.5
• Overall- 4.5
• Cost: $3.50

Winning our first playoff game in the Dupont Kickball league had me exhausted and in need of a refreshing ice cream cone. (Is it necessary to mention that we won because the other team forfeited due to lack of players?) On this warm- but not hot-June evening, I was in the mood for a fruity flavor. I headed to Sweet Licks, a local ice cream shop on 17^th and R and chose Raspberry White Chocolate. Having been to Sweet Licks only one time before, I was unaware that they do not make their own ice cream. White Chocolate Raspberry is made by Great Falls Ice Cream in Silver Spring, MD. The last time I went to Sweet Licks was about nine months ago, and the ice cream did not make enough of an impression for me to return, until now. Now, I can say without a doubt that I will go back, probably sooner rather than later. I loved Raspberry White Chocolate. In terms of texture, this was not a smooth ice cream. In most ice cream, the chunks are distinguishable from the ice cream itself. But, in Raspberry White Chocolate this wasn’t the case. Every bite had little itty bitty slivers of white chocolate. Normally I am a big fan of smooth creamy textures, but I thoroughly enjoyed the course texture of this ice cream. Moreover, I loved the flavor combination. The raspberry was not too intense or sorbet-like, rather it was creamy. And the white chocolate also was perfectly flavored (sometimes I find white chocolate to be extremely bland). The only un-enjoyable aspect of my ice cream cone was the cone itself. I love sugar cones and this cone had an excellent flavor, but it just wasn’t crispy enough for me. Overall, the fantastic flavor and tantalizing texture of White Chocolate Raspberry at Sweet Licks in Washington DC left me wanting more.

• Flavor: 5
• Flavor intensity: 3
• Texture: 4
• Originality: 3.5
• Cone: 3
• Overall: 5
• Cost $3.12

There nothing like returning home from a long vacation and enjoying comfort foods.  Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia is one of my comfort foods.  I usually get the frozen yogurt because I enjoy the softer texture (and it has fewer calories), but I figured that since today still counts as vacation I would splurge and go for the real thing.  I’m not usually a fan of cherry flavored things, But Cherry Garcia doesn’t taste artificial.  And the bits of chocolate in it are so good.  I’m glad they use high quality chocolate.  What it comes down to is simply: I love Cherry Garcia and it really hit the spot tonight.

• Flavor: 5
• Flavor Intensity: 4
• Texture: 5
• Originality: 4
• Overall: 5
• Cost: 3.99 at Whole Foods