Today I am thinking about ice cream. I love ice cream. Maybe even more than I love meat. I guarantee if there were no such thing as ice cream I would weigh about 30 pounds less than I do. But without ice cream would life really be worth living?
I have had a couple different ice cream experiences over the last month. We grabbed $1 sundaes at McDonalds one day. They were great. I love vanilla soft serve. I got strawberry, which of course is the fake, corn syrupy strawberry sauce that has just enough chunks of real strawberries in it to let you pretend its kind of healthy (like freezer jam). I love it. The sundaes weren't very big, but they were adequate. Probably more than I should eat, but not too much more. My wife had caramel, which was also good. Nothing fancy, but what do you expect for a buck? She loves that they give you a packet of chopped up peanuts to put on top. She especially loves when I give her mine. Verdict: Perfect size portions, cheap, and good. My kind of treat.
Another night we went to Baskin Robbins because we got an email coupon for a free scoop for my daughter's half birthday. Of course, a free scoop at Baskin Robbins is tiny, so while my daughter got her scoop for free, my wife and I had to buy ours at about $3 each. I tried the Mint Cookie slow churned kind that is supposed to be less fat and less calories. It looked good, but it was horrible. The texture was like someone had poured in a handful of sand. It was bad enough I actually took it back and asked for a different kind. They were very gracious about it and got me a scoop of Cookies and Cream instead (not the diet kind). It was good, but not any better than you buy at the grocery store, where you can get an entire container for the $3 I spent on my one little scoop. My daughter wanted "pink" flavored ice cream. They had a couple options for pink, but she ended up with strawberry and loved it. She loved it so much that she ended up with it from her hair down to her knees. She's two, so that's kind of the norm when we eat anything. My wife had Snickers or something along those lines, and again it was good, but not spectacular and definitely not worth what we paid. I have never been impressed when I have gone to Baskin Robbins but I keep forgetting and going back anyway. I will try to remember this time, even if I get a free scoop coupon. Just not that good. I'd rather pick up a carton of Dreyers and eat it at home.
The last ice cream adventure was actually a shopping trip to Sam's Club where we stopped at the cafe in the back and got a 4-Berry Sundae. Similar to the McDonalds experience, it was a pleasant surprise. Good vanilla soft-serve with frozen mixed berries and berry sauce. Very simple, but it definitely hit the spot. I love that they put a scoop of berries and sauce at the bottom of the cup before they even put the ice cream in so that you don't run out before you finish. I don't know if it was a 12 oz or a 16 oz cup, but it was more sundae than I should have eaten, but I finished it anyway. And I think it cost $1.59. Worth every penny!
I guess the moral of the story is that sometimes the cheap stuff is actually better than the expensive stuff. Sometimes you pay more for a name rather than for something bigger, more satisfying or with a better flavor. And if you are going to go out for more expensive ice cream, go to Coldstone or Leatherby's or somewhere that is actually worth it.
