Rice Krispies Treats Ice Cream

 That's right, Mr. Falcon, Rice Krispies Treats Ice Cream exists and I found it and I tried it and now you're gonna hear about it.

This ice cream is very elemental, it comes down to 2 or 3 main features. First, it's a cheap artificial vanilla ice cream base - pretty much the same vanilla as the Eggo Waffle flavor, it's probably made by the same people. But to the base is added a light, sugary flavor meant to represent the marshmallow. Finally, it also has chunks of rice krispies. That's it.

Does this simulate Rice Krispies treats? Sort of. Rice Krispies treats are better, no doubt, but it's a hard thing to copy and this is probably as close as can be expected.

But forget about simulating Rice Krispies Treats because all the elements together are actually reminiscent of soft-serve ice cream with the yellow topping. Remember this?

I've had this topping a million times and have no idea what it's called. My research tells me that it's called "crunch coat," "crunch kote" (at Dairy Queen) and "peanut brittle crunch cone."

So, to me, that's a big win and enough to give this ice cream a thumb's up and recommend it. I am a big fan of the old days of soft-serve vanilla ice cream.

You may wonder if the "Original" on the label means that there are other kinds - there are not. Also, there are other cereal-themed ice creams - Apple Jack, Frosted Flakes, Corn Pops, Honey Smacks and Froot Loops. I won't be trying those because I don't find the ideas compelling, but be aware that they exist if that's your thing.

Eggo Waffles Ice Cream

 

Check this, Mr. Falcon: Not only does Eggo Ice Cream exist, but it is available in my area and I was able to get some and eat it. And now you're gonna hear about it.

It comes in three varieties: Blueberry, Buttery Maple and Chocolatey Chip. I only found, and I only got, Buttery Maple.

Although the form of the package is a premium pint ice cream, the base of the ice cream appears to me to be a cheap, artificial-tasting vanilla. To the vanilla base is added a brown syrup that also seems artificial but is simulating maple syrup, which, depending on which you buy, often is artificial. To this mix, there are little cubes of crunch added. The crunchy, bready cubes are supposed to be the waffles. This is a mixed bag. If people out there are eating crunchy waffles, I suppose this is appropriate. My experience with waffles, and Eggo waffles especially, and one of the things I remember most fondly about them, is that they were chewy rather than crunchy. On this point, the replication of the waffle experience fails, for me. I understand it's probably a really tough problem to make a waffle-like substance that both isn't ruined by sitting in the liquid ice cream and, on the other hand, isn't ruined by being frozen; but still you gotta play it as it lies.

In the end, Eggo Ice Cream is a fun experiment, but the cheap vanilla base and unconvincing waffle texture keeps it from being anything more than a fun experiment. I would only recommend it to the extremely curious.

The Jean Shepherd Show - The Great Ice Cream War

 I've been listening to lots of the Jean Shepherd Show lately and I find it difficult to find clips to share. Not that it's bad, but it's all good and you either share all of it or none of it.

But I figured "The Great Ice Cream War" would be a good stand-out episode. The downside being that he shared the story on Letterman, but you probably don't remember that.

Late Night - Conan & Andy Drive an Ice Cream Truck

For the youtube re-release, the original music used has been replaced with new music. I think they should state that in the video description to alleviate confusion but they don't. At least you know that going in.



This is one of the pieces I was waiting for as it has special significance to me. This was the comedy remote that got me to start watching Conan*.

I was already a Letterman fan for years before this. I knew from the first episode of the "Late Show" I had watched that I loved the show. But because of Conan's bad press when he started, and basically just ignorance, I was under the impression that Conan "sucked" and that was the end of it.

In August of 1997**, I was on Summer vacation in between my sophomore and junior years in high school. I was off from school but still working part-time in my teen "first job" job. One night my friend Jake was staying over and we turned on Conan (I don't remember why, exactly). We tuned in as this piece was playing, we maybe didn't even see the whole thing and loved it.

In particular, it was the joke at the end. In describing the madness of the kids getting free ice cream, Andy says, "Somebody smashed Piggy's glasses too." That joke was like a nuclear bomb that exploded our brains. We couldn't stop quoting it and came to the conclusion that "Andy is awesome". From then on I'd start watching Late Night regularly, not for Conan, but to see Andy. And then eventually Conan grew on me as well.

Looking back, one of the things I was excited about was the wish fulfillment of having your own ice cream truck. It's funny how this remote is the Venn diagram overlap of adulthood and childhood.

* - This is the skit that got me to start watching Conan but it's not the first time I saw the show. The first time I saw Conan was during the "mustard set" era and it was an interview segment. I was sleeping over my friend's house and he insisted that Conan's laugh was fake - not just "put on" but that it seemed like a sound effect overdubbed later kind of "fake". I disagreed but if you watch early Conan interviews, that phenomenon can still be recreated. I'm afraid my first Conan segment/interview/episode has been completely lost to time as these things are the only things I remember about the experience.

** - This piece first aired August 21, 1997. But pinning "I remember exactly where I was when this first aired" can be extremely dangerous because of reruns. Especially with late night talk shows - the most memorable bits are the ones they re-air the most. I think my memory agrees with August enough that it just feels right. I think I can assume this was the day.

Jimmy Fallon... ICE CREAM?!

Congratulations to "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" for being two years old.

The show celebrated with a Charlie Sheen spoof, a "Jersey Shore" spoof, a Slow-Jamming of the News, Mike Tyson and Motörhead sang "Ace of Spades" (Lem-may!).

Leading up to the show, Jimmy had said that there was going to be a huge surprise that would change everyone's life forever. The big surprise was that Ben and Jerry were revealing a new "Late Night" themed ice cream flavor. Ok, you're thinking, that's not huge at all. That's what I thought. But then I thought, I love iced cream, it's up there as one of nature's perfect foods in my estimation AND let's be real real - this could offer us all a paper-thin rationalization to go out and get loaded with fat so let's hear 'em out....

So what are the ingredients?

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream... (niiiice)

with a salty caramel swirl... (yes!)

and fudge covered .... (keep going)

potato chip clusters.

Eeeeee. Good luck with all that. That sounds like something that I would happily eat on a dare but without the whole challenge-to-my-manhood element, I don't see the point.

By the way the title of this post refers to "Days of Thunder" but that's probably not obvious to the "normal people".