Thursday
Sep162010
Life List #93: Take Chris to the Blue Bell Ice Cream factory
Thursday, September 16, 2010 at 08:09PM
For my 32nd birthday, and my last one pre-motherhood, I chose to return to childhood for an afternoon (and fulfill #93 on my Life List): tour the Blue Bell Creamery with Chris.
My parents took me and my sister when we were kids, and it was a huge thrill for a little kid. You got to see how they make the ice cream, yes, but the best part was that you got a *free ice cream sample* at the end! Meaning: your parents couldn't say no because it was free.
Growing up, Blue Bell was the only ice cream we ever ate. We knew it was a special occasion if a gold-rimmed half-gallon was in our freezer. At birthday parties, each kid would get their own tiny yellow container that we didn't have to share. I'd scrape out the creamy cold treat with the accompanying flat wooden stick and smear it onto my tongue with glee.
Y'all, it really is the best ice cream in the country, like they've branded it. I've tried a lot of other ice creams. None of them taste this good. It's creamy but not too rich, sweet but not cloying, and their different flavors are incredible. Putting anything other than Homemade Vanilla on a warm piece of pie is just insulting, though sometimes a necessity, if you're not in Blue Bell territory.
Created in Brenham, Texas, Blue Bell is the third highest-selling ice cream in the country, despite the fact that it's only sold in 18 states. I remember hearing as a kid that they'd only sell their ice cream in a place if their delivery drivers could travel to and from the location in a workday, so they could be home with their families by night. (I don't know if that's still true.)
Needless to say, New York is not in their distribution zone. When Chris and I lived in Brooklyn, we missed Blue Bell so much that we'd literally dream at night about walking into our local Pathmark's frozen aisle and seeing a freezer full of Blue Bell Ice Cream.
We flipped out with excitement when we learned that Outback Steakhouse has a worldwide, exclusive contract with Blue Bell -- so no matter where you are in the world, if you're near an Outback Steakhouse, you can fill your craving for Homemade Vanilla.
One of my ingenious friends somehow finagled an entire industrial-sized container of Blue Bell from the restaurant for my bachelorette party.
It was a superb surprise.
You'd think I was upset from the looks of it, but no, I was just so thrilled that my face was out of my control.
Since we moved back to Texas, I've wanted to take Chris on the tour, since he missed it as a kid. For my birthday, we finally made it, with our friend, Gareth (who was born in the northeast but got to Texas as soon as she could. Har har har. I couldn't resist evoking the bumper sticker).
The tour was as much fun as I remembered. I love getting behind-the-scenes looks at places where things are made, especially when they're delicious things. I learned that not only does Blue Bell have a quaint "down home country" vibe, they also put their money where their cows are. The cream used during each day's production run is always less than 24 hours old, and the cream, milk, and eggs all come from local farms within a 200 mile radius of the creamery. All of the cookies, cakes, etc. in their ice creams are made in-house. (The "cookie" in Cookies and Cream isn't an Oreo -- it's a homemade cookie! Also, they were the first to create this now-classic flavor.)
The only thing I'd like to see them do is phase out high fructose corn syrup and corn syrup from their recipes. The dietary tide seems like it will turn fully away from these substances, since they're continually being proven to be so unhealthy. I trust that Blue Bell, a creamery known for its high quality, will (hopefully sooner than later) reinvent their recipe to omit these ingredients.
Near the end of the tour, the guide mentioned 55 flavors of Blue Bell Ice Cream in total, and Gareth got a devilish look in her eyes.
"If we tried one flavor a week, we could try them all in about a year," she said. "We could just buy the pint, or get a group of friends to finish off the half gallon."
Look. I'm pregnant and I love ice cream. You don't have to tell me twice. I'm in.
We kicked off our sampling by trying five new flavors after the tour. Our first flavors were Krazy Kookie Dough (Colorful chunks of sugar cookie dough in a cake batter ice cream) and Caramel Kettle Crunch (that's right; crunchy caramel-coated popcorn in vanilla ice cream):
Then we went back for three more flavors:
Mocha Madness, Strawberry Cheesecake, and Strawberry.
That is one happy, happy man.
A fantastic way to polish off #93!
My parents took me and my sister when we were kids, and it was a huge thrill for a little kid. You got to see how they make the ice cream, yes, but the best part was that you got a *free ice cream sample* at the end! Meaning: your parents couldn't say no because it was free.
Growing up, Blue Bell was the only ice cream we ever ate. We knew it was a special occasion if a gold-rimmed half-gallon was in our freezer. At birthday parties, each kid would get their own tiny yellow container that we didn't have to share. I'd scrape out the creamy cold treat with the accompanying flat wooden stick and smear it onto my tongue with glee.
Y'all, it really is the best ice cream in the country, like they've branded it. I've tried a lot of other ice creams. None of them taste this good. It's creamy but not too rich, sweet but not cloying, and their different flavors are incredible. Putting anything other than Homemade Vanilla on a warm piece of pie is just insulting, though sometimes a necessity, if you're not in Blue Bell territory.
Created in Brenham, Texas, Blue Bell is the third highest-selling ice cream in the country, despite the fact that it's only sold in 18 states. I remember hearing as a kid that they'd only sell their ice cream in a place if their delivery drivers could travel to and from the location in a workday, so they could be home with their families by night. (I don't know if that's still true.)
Needless to say, New York is not in their distribution zone. When Chris and I lived in Brooklyn, we missed Blue Bell so much that we'd literally dream at night about walking into our local Pathmark's frozen aisle and seeing a freezer full of Blue Bell Ice Cream.
We flipped out with excitement when we learned that Outback Steakhouse has a worldwide, exclusive contract with Blue Bell -- so no matter where you are in the world, if you're near an Outback Steakhouse, you can fill your craving for Homemade Vanilla.
One of my ingenious friends somehow finagled an entire industrial-sized container of Blue Bell from the restaurant for my bachelorette party.
It was a superb surprise.
You'd think I was upset from the looks of it, but no, I was just so thrilled that my face was out of my control.
Since we moved back to Texas, I've wanted to take Chris on the tour, since he missed it as a kid. For my birthday, we finally made it, with our friend, Gareth (who was born in the northeast but got to Texas as soon as she could. Har har har. I couldn't resist evoking the bumper sticker).
The tour was as much fun as I remembered. I love getting behind-the-scenes looks at places where things are made, especially when they're delicious things. I learned that not only does Blue Bell have a quaint "down home country" vibe, they also put their money where their cows are. The cream used during each day's production run is always less than 24 hours old, and the cream, milk, and eggs all come from local farms within a 200 mile radius of the creamery. All of the cookies, cakes, etc. in their ice creams are made in-house. (The "cookie" in Cookies and Cream isn't an Oreo -- it's a homemade cookie! Also, they were the first to create this now-classic flavor.)
The only thing I'd like to see them do is phase out high fructose corn syrup and corn syrup from their recipes. The dietary tide seems like it will turn fully away from these substances, since they're continually being proven to be so unhealthy. I trust that Blue Bell, a creamery known for its high quality, will (hopefully sooner than later) reinvent their recipe to omit these ingredients.
Near the end of the tour, the guide mentioned 55 flavors of Blue Bell Ice Cream in total, and Gareth got a devilish look in her eyes.
"If we tried one flavor a week, we could try them all in about a year," she said. "We could just buy the pint, or get a group of friends to finish off the half gallon."
Look. I'm pregnant and I love ice cream. You don't have to tell me twice. I'm in.
We kicked off our sampling by trying five new flavors after the tour. Our first flavors were Krazy Kookie Dough (Colorful chunks of sugar cookie dough in a cake batter ice cream) and Caramel Kettle Crunch (that's right; crunchy caramel-coated popcorn in vanilla ice cream):
Then we went back for three more flavors:
Mocha Madness, Strawberry Cheesecake, and Strawberry.
That is one happy, happy man.
A fantastic way to polish off #93!
Reader Comments (1)
You guys are too funny. I love the bachelorette party face.
May I please visit during the fruit flavor test period, then return during the sherbet season?
What you are tasting this week?
Love and hugs, S