Little Debbie Ice Cream Review

Recently, Little Debbie announced that they are turning seven of their classic snack cakes into ice creams with Hudsonville Ice Cream. I immediately put it on my schedule to grab them as soon as they came to my local Walmart. When I got them home I immediately tried a spoonful of each. Let's break down each flavor.

Honey Buns:

This is the one I was honestly looking forward to the most. The ice cream consists of what tastes like a vanilla base with little donut pieces and a swirl of cinnamon sugar. This is the only one that I thought might be too sweet. The donut pieces are a little tougher than I expected, but are still good. The swirl has a surprising amount of nutmeg flavor and I love it.

4/5

Strawberry Shortcake Rolls:

Probably the best one here and a really solid ice cream. The vanilla base is perfectly complimented by a sharp strawberry creme swirl. The little pieces of shortcake are a great texture contrast. It is a surprisingly adult flavor, not too sweet at all.

5/5

 Zebra Cakes:

Again, I was really looking forward to this one, and it was honestly the most disappointing one here. Surprisingly bland with cake pieces and a little ribbon of chocolate. Honestly the one I am least likely to finish.

2.5/5

Oatmeal Creme Pies:

The only other disappointing one. Seems like it is just vanilla ice cream with cookie pieces, and there are not enough cookie pieces for it to just be that. The pieces are nice and chewy and soft, like you would expect.

3/5

Nutty Bars:

Pretty much rocky road. A vanilla base with peanut swirl and chocolate covered ice cream cone pieces. really solid. I wish it had more peanut in it, like a peanut butter ice cream base, but it's a really great expression of this snack as an ice cream.

4.5/5

Cosmic Brownies:

Another one that they just nailed! Chocolate ice cream, the iconic sprinkles, and brownie pieces. Surprisingly, it is not an overwhelmingly sweet ice cream. If you like cosmic brownies, this one will perfectly hit that itch.

4.5/5

Swiss Rolls:

Again, a solid chocolate ice cream. Not too sweet and really well balanced. The marshmallow swirl and cake pieces are a fantastic emulation of the snack cake. Marshmallow is not personally a preferred flavor of mine, but I cannot fault them on execution.

3.5/5

Altogether, a surprisingly great collection of ice creams for such a limited run event. I honestly hope they sell well enough to keep them going, or to encourage other manufactures to throw their hats into the ring. If you can find them, try them. I do not think you will be disappointed.

Sumo Oranges

It's been a while since I did a food review, and since the couple weeks leading up to Valentine's Day were a little hectic, I decided to take it a bit easier on myself and review the only piece of citrus I enjoy eating out of hand more than a clementine: the Sumo orange.

First, a little history courtesy of sumocitrus.com. Sumo oranges are a tangerine-orange hybrid that is extremely popular in Japan, where it is called the Dekopon. Apparently in Japan they sell for as much $8 a piece. The American variety is grown in California where it is called the Sumo because of its distinctive "top-knot".

As you can see, sumo oranges have a really thick skin that is really easy to peel. The fruit is sweeter than you would expect from an orange and it is seedless.

Now, the growers claim that it sections easily, and, while it isn't exactly hard to separate the sections, I don't find it easier than a clementine or other tangerines.

Sumos are pretty expensive, so I don't usually buy them that frequently, I tend to just pick up one box at the beginning of the season. Also, they aren't exactly easy to find yet, but if you can pick some up, and it makes sense in your budget to do so, give it a try. I think you will really enjoy them.

My Favorite Cheesesteak

While I may live in the Philadelphia area, my favorite Philly style cheese steak is found not in the City of Brotherly Love, but about 2 hours south near Charm City, or Baltimore, MD.

Half an hour outside of Baltimore in Hunt Valley is a tiny joint called Pizza Connection. I've never had anything there I didn’t like, but when I lived in the area the real reason they recognized my phone number was their cheese steaks.

You walk into this tiny restaurant off York Rd with a small counter where they take your order, a few tables if you feel like eating there, a drinks cooler, and a small TV showing some news about local sports teams. You get your sub and you take a bite of what I believe to be one of the best sandwiches out there.

Let’s get the big selling point out of the way first: they use pizza dough for the bread. It’s amazing. I don’t know why more pizza/sub shops haven’t taken advantage of this opportunity. On top of this, they are generous with their filling, and they don’t charge extra for toppings, and it all just tastes so good.

I like to get lettuce, mayo, provolone cheese, and fried onions. My dad likes to get sweet peppers on his and you can’t go wrong with tomatoes or mushrooms. I know it isn’t traditional, and any of my purest friends will scorn me, but I don’t care, it’s tasty.

If you are ever in Northern Baltimore County I urge you stop in at this tiny hole-in-the-wall pizza shop and try one of their delicious creations.