24 24 24: Cold Comfort

Drool-worthy amounts of ice cream... ready to be chowed!

For some, Fall is a colorful transition into the winter months. For others, it means shorter days and grey skies. Whichever way you see things, a nostalgic summer treat mixed with the unique or traditional flavors of Fall can’t help but bring a smile to your face. On Saturday night, friends gathered to experience the tastes of Autumn from local creameries featuring Fall flavors:

Pumpkin
Pumpkin Pecan Crunch
Orange Chocolate Chip
Maple Walnut
Apple Carmel Crunch
Cinnamon
Maple Walnut Custard
Chocolate Almond Custard

The ice creams and custards came from three local shops, Bruster's Real Ice Cream, Corn Hill Creamery, and Abbotts Frozen Custard.

We also had some coconut milk ice cream for the unfortunate lactose intolerant in the group :) It was torture for her seeing all the flavors but she still had fun :)

Foodbuzz made this night possible and I am so excited to be part of 24 24 24. I mean, what's better than a bunch of friends sharing ice cream?!

Some friends enjoyed the ice cream a little bit more than others ;)
Chow Sugar, CHOW!!!

The tasting started will a small scoop of cinnamon ice cream from Brusters; most were skeptical but everyone enjoyed the light flavor.

Next came a BRIGHT orange pumpkin, also from Brusters. Some were put off by the intense color but others fell in love with the equally intense pumpkin flavor.

Pumpkin Pecan Crunch from Corn Hill Creamery was a less intense color and packed a spicier punch; people found this one to be a bit icy and less creamy than the first pumpkin.

Orange Chocolate chip, also from Corn Hill Creamery, left a strong aftertaste which turned out to be polarizing: people either loved it or hated it.

Apple Carmel Crunch from Brusters was as decadent and sinful as it sounds. The texture was amazing and the flavors were like eating real home made apple pie a la mode. YUM! This one was my personal favorite by far!

Maple Walnut from Brusters was chocked full of huge walnut chunks and had the taste of real maple syrup, none of that artificial cr@p :)

Maple Walnut frozen custard from Abbotts was next. This one was totally smooth and a bit more artificial-tasting maple (think mrs butterworth) although one of the tasters preferred it over the first one.

The final flavor of the night was Chocolate Almond from Abbotts. This custard was a rich delicacy brimming with hearty almond chunks.

After all of the scoops were chowed, everyone was invited back for more of whatever flavor they wanted. Once everyone's bellies were full, the votes were tallied and the winner of flavor of the night was....

CINNAMON!!!

Yes amazingly the flavor that people thought they would like the least came out on top! The other surprise about it... it's a no sugar added / non fat ice cream!! And everyone loved it!!! They had no idea it was a "better for you" ice cream :) At only 100 calories, 0g fat, 7g of sugar, 5g of protein per half cup, this ice cream tasted as decadent as all the others!! I've had plenty of gross fat free ice creams before and this one tastes nothing like them... kinda makes me think of the fat free Seinfeld episode... maybe it's not really fat free.. hmmmmmmmm

A bowl with a little of everything enjoyed by my roomie who was stuck at work during the tasting part of the night. Check out the neon orange scoop in the back right... WOW! now that is some intense color!

I hope you all enjoyed our ice cream tasting, I know we did :) Check back for tons of recipes here at Steph Chows. I'll be posting later this week about the potent apple pie punch I made for the party. Thanks again to Foodbuzz!! You guys rock!


Chow!!