With all this talk about ice cream, I figured it was time to share with you my all-time favorites. If you're dieting or trying to cut back on sugar or just generally hungry and nowhere near any ice cream, please forgive me.
- Breyers Mint Chocolate Chip - Ahhh, an oldie but a goodie. This one definitely wins in the nostalgia category. It's what we grew up eating, fighting over who had dibs on those last precious spoonfuls. The ice cream is incredibly creamy and the way the chips get stuck in your molars is like a little chocolate gift that keeps on giving. It's the ice cream of my childhood and it will always hold a special place in my heart - and my freezer.
- Edy's/Dreyer's Mint Cookie Crunch - Clearly I have a thing for mint chocolate. This flavor started out as a limited edition American Idol flavor called Mint Karaoke Cookie. Jared and I loved it so much we would buy 2 or 3 cartons at a time because we feared they'd stop selling it. They eventually re-released it as a regular flavor. Whew! The ice cream in this one could be a little denser if they really want to achieve ice cream perfection, but overall the combo of Oreos and the mint ice cream is truly fantastic.
- Haagen Dazs Five: Milk Chocolate - This ice cream is exactly what chocolate ice cream should be. Simple, creamy, not too rich, not too sweet. I have yet to find a better grocery store chocolate ice cream.
- Almond Brittle with Salted Ganache at Salt & Straw - This picture doesn't even come close to doing this ice cream justice. I dare say it's the best ice cream I've ever had. Salt & Straw is a new ice cream stand here in Portland, and for better or for worse it's located only one neighborhood over from mine. Their claim to fame is being "farm to cone" - so very Portland. The unconventional ice cream flavors garnered a lot of hype when S & S first opened up, but this place - and this flavor - completely lived up to the buzz. This ice cream alone might be worth a trip to Portland. The chunks of homemade almond roca combined with the ribbons of chocolate ganache make for the perfect marriage of crunchy and smooth. It's just ridiculously good. No words will do it justice. (PS... try it by itself on a cone the first time. The second time, pair it with a scoop of the Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons. Your mouth will thank you.)