I Love the Blue Bell

Okay, I'll post later about the homogenization of American food and how regional brands and products are becoming a thing of the past. But I want to tell you about a regional food that lives up to it's reputation.

Many people rave about the foods they grew up with and the brands that only exist in their home towns. Pickled bologna, Faygo soda, even Oliverio's peppers from Clarksburg, West Virginia, close to where my mother grew up. Usually when other people (outsiders) try those foods they wonder what all the fuss was about. (I've tried pickled bologna and thought it was okay but I love those peppers, I wish they weren't so hard to get!) So when I heard people rave about Blue Bell ice cream, I didn't think much about it except that I'd like to try it sometime. (Of course, I'd never turn down trying just about any ice cream)

Blue Bell is a Texas based ice cream company that is still pretty regional, mainly Texas and the surrounding states. So when I got to New Mexico I figured I was close enough (it's only eighty miles to El Paso) that I might get a chance to finally try it. Sure enough, Blue Bell is available at the Alamogordo grocery stores. (The Wal-Mart Superstore has a small selection but the Lowe's Grocery Store has a big variety of both the ice cream and their novelty line. Support smaller retailers whenever possible!)

I bought a lot of ice cream. Hey, I heard this stuff was good and I needed to give it a thorough evaluation. So I got a half-gallon of "Moo-lenium Crunch" and a half-gallon of "Ultimate Neopolitan". And it's a true half-gallon, not that 1.75 quart bs that most ice cream retailers pull. But it's not cheap, a half gallon runs a bit over four dollars, which is more than I usually pay for national retail ice cream but less than the cost of most "super-premium" brands like Ben & Jerry's or Haagen-Daaz.

Oh my heck, is this ice cream good! I now understand and agree with all of the hype. The "Moo-lenium Crunch" is vanilla with chunks of chocolate and caramel and lots of walnuts, almonds and pecans. It's a great flavor for people who like lots of stuff in their ice cream. The nuts are great big halves and you can't take a spoonful without getting a whole lot of everything. They don't skimp on the add ins. But as good as it was, the best was the Ultimate Neopolitan.

I always thought of neopolitan as a sort of weird flavor. I like vanilla, love chocolate and I'm pretty lukewarm on strawberry. I'm sort of like Homer Simpson and I'd just eat my favorite flavors and leave the rest, till it gets freezer burned and thrown away. But I bought the Blue Bell because I figured it was a good way to try multiple flavors. So I scooped out a heaping bowl. (Why lie and say I took a small lady-like taste? We both know the truth.) First up was the strawberry, my least favorite...until now. This was honest to gosh strawberry ice cream. Not some artifically strawberry flavored pink goo but real ice cream with real strawberries swirled in it. Big honkin' pieces of strawberry, too. It reminded me of when I was a kid and we used to make ice cream in my grandma's hand crank ice cream maker. Trust me when I say this is a high compliment indeed. Next came the vanilla. Creamy, not too sweet, just right old fashioned vanilla. So delicious and now I kow why Blue Bell "Homemade Vanilla" is the best selling ice cream in Texas. It is wonderful and on a piece of peach pie was heavenly. (I'll post about the pie later!). Last was the chocolate and it was okay and by that I mean it was good but the strawberry and vanilla were so outstanding that it paled in comparison. It was a fine example of chocolate but I would have preferred a deeper chocolate flavor to stand up next to the others.

So now I am a Blue Bell devotee. My problem is that now I have something else I love that I can't get back home. (Except for shipping it, but that costs $120 for 2 gallons and even I can't justify that kind of expense!) So I'm trying to figure out how much ice cream I can eat in the next eleven days. Also, in looking at the website I can apparently get their ice cream in the Phoenix area...where there also happens to be my other illusive favorite, Ikea. Perhaps I'll have to rent a refrigerated truck sometime and bring back meatballs and ice cream!