Get Ready for the Scooper Bowl, Boston!

We haven't been as good at posting as we would like (and we hope this changes as it usually does in the summer!), but didn't want to forget to remind our Boston friends that next week is the Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl. (Non-Boston friends, too -- there's still time to get here to Boston for the biggest ice cream event of the year!)

The event runs from Tuesday, June 3 through Thursday, June 5 from noon to 8 p.m. every day at City Hall Plaza, Boston.

Read some of our previous posts here to get motivated for the event -- as if all-you-can-eat ice cream isn't enough of a motivator!

Scooper Bowl 2013

The all-u-can-eat ice cream event raised almost $300,000...wow!

We did it again. We fought crowds a couple weeks ago in order to test flavors at the Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl this year. And that we did. Between the two of us we had 32 scoops...ouch. Almost a little embarrassing but hey its our duty and it was worth every bite!

Each brand has four flavors to choose from and its all you can eat!

First of all, I have to get on my ice cream soap box about Scooper Bowl etiquette  Common sense? When you grab your ice cream or ice creams turn around and keep walking. I don't say this to be rude, but the place is so crowded that it just makes sense to clear out so more people can get in. People seem to linger by the tents, which just makes a crowded area even more crowded. Oh and the poor Moms with strollers...we empathize....it is barely impossible to get a stroller. But enough about that...

Bethany & Tina live at Scooperbowl. 

I think we both agreed that the flavors really weren't that exciting this year. Lots of the expected...Mint Chocolate Chip, Oreo, and Chocolate. The past years seemed to bring on new and a few more interesting flavors. But really this is a fundraiser and for an awesome cause so at the end of the day who cares! It's all good. But here are some thoughts: 

Bethany: 

Whenever I think Edy's, I think of one of my mom's favorite commercials: the dog high-fiving his owner over the promise of Edy's. (I could only find the Dreyer's version of it, but as I understand it, Dreyer's is the West Coast brand, and Edy's is the East Coast brand.) Anyway, Edy's Tropical Rainbow Sherbet was worth the Edy's high-five.) It was light, refreshing, and super creamy.

I liked Friendly's Celebration as well. It was a party in a cup!

While I have already given a rave review to Ben and Jerry's Liz Lemon that was another favorite, as well as Hood's Raspberry Granola Greek Frozen Yogurt (stay tuned for this review as I got some more flavors mailed to me from Hood and I was pretty impressed!).

Tina: 

Ok so I have to admit now that I am writing this a couple weeks later not much stands out but their were a couple I know I would go back for. I really liked Hood's Double Chocolate Chip Greek Frozen Yogurt. It was very creamy and I loved the chocolate chips in it. I also have to agree with Bethany on Friendly's Celebration. I am all about Cake Batter these days and I loved how this actually had cake pieces in it. And lastly Byrne Dairy's Green Monstah made a lasting impression. Interestingly they don't list Green Monstah on their site. I think they might have made that name up for the Boston occasion (they are NY based) so I think it really is their Grasshopper Pie. I love anything mint so that was a keeper as well.

All in all it's a can't miss event that we look forward to every year!

Another indulgent year at Scooper Bowl

 

Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl 2012

Thankfully Mr. Weatherman was wrong. Sun brought crowds and fun. 
We met at 5:30 and looks like we weren't the only ones having an ice cream dinner.

Can you guess what the blue one is? We couldn't!

Volunteer scoopers hard at work.

Ben and Jerry's Greek Frozen Yogurt is a hit.

My favorite of the day...SoCo Creamery.

SoCo Creamery can't scoop fast enough.

Now these are diehards. Looks at all those cups.

All for a good cause. My daughter loves her new hat.


I am almost embarrassed to admit all that we tried but that is what you're there for! Some brands offered their tried and true flavors while some ventured out. Sort of felt like every one was serving up Cotton Candy but then again this is an event for kids too and if I had my daughter there that is what she would be eating...not the Mission Fig. I think the booth that inspired and intrigued us the most was SoCo Creamery. I had heard of them before but never actually tried them. They definitely had a crowd and offered up the most unique flavors. 


And drum roll for all the flavors we taste tested (see below). Funny thing is my husband called me on the way home asking what I wanted for dinner. Silly question...we had ice cream!

Soco Creamery

Lemon Poppy Seed (Tina's top pick!)

Salted Caramel (Bethany's top pick!)

Mission Fig

Cake Batter

Ciao Bella

Passion Fruit Sorbet (SO refreshing)

Malted Milk Ball Gelato
Strawberry Gelato 

Baskin Robbins

Splish splash

Lunar cheesecake (A 1969 flavor revisited! Bethany's second?)

Super Fudge Truffle (worthy of seconds)

Icing on the cake

Hood

Hood Bear Creek Caramel

Hood Maine Blueberry and Sweet Cream

Brighams 

Peppermint Stick

Edys

Espresso Chip

Rainbow Sherbert (Another very refreshing flavor)

Friendlys

Hunka chunka PB Fudge

Graham Central Station

Rockin Poppin Cotton Candy

Byrne Dairy

Mint Chocolate Chip

Holy Cow

Ben and Jerry's

Chocolate therapy (OMG!)

Americone Dream

Blueberry Vanilla Graham Greek Froyo

Scooperbowl 30 Starts TODAY!

The 30th Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl starts in a little over an hour!

Tina and I are going to brave the unfortunate forecast of rain tomorrow and attend the Bowl tomorrow Nothing gets in the way of a New Englander and her ice cream!

For those of you in the Boston Area who want to attend, here's the scoop (yes, pun intended)...

Tuesday, June 5 – Thursday, June 7, 2012
Noon – 8 p.m. every day
City Hall Plaza, Boston
Cost: $10
Flavors/Participating Shops: Follow this link!


Even if you can't make it, you can still show your Scooper Bowl pride with official Scooper Bowl gear...AND you'll be supporting a great cause, the Jimmy Fund.

Scooper Bowl 2011

We went out on Tuesday to the Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl, the ice cream event of all events, as it was the coolest day forecasted of the three days the event was in town. And thank goodness we did because the next day was about 100 degrees and then on the last day there were severe storms and they had to shut Scooper Bowl down all together. Total bummer for those who were planning on attending on the last day. S0 we got there at about 12:15 and it was CRAZY busy. The lines to get to the ice cream were deep, and there was kind of a lot of pushing to get up to the counters and then back out with your flavor. Next time we'll be a little smarter and wait a couple hours after the gates open to avoid the mad rush. Check out this rough video of the scene:

Later on by about 1:15 pm or so the crowds seemed to calm down and though there were still a number of people milling around each stand, it wasn't as hard to get in to grab the flavor you wanted. Thank goodness because we've been pretty lucky in the past of getting at all the flavors without the extra elbows.

 Friendly's Nuts Over Caramel and Hunka Chunka Peanut Butter Fudge

We went with three honorary Scoopaliciousers and two of the wonderful three actually helped us review the flavors. Thanks CSR and CAR! See below to hear what we thought of all the great flavors we tried.


Note that those without comments means we didn't get a chance to try them. Amazingly one truly can eat only so much ice cream in one sitting, even us!

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Baskin-Robbins® 
line was so long at first and by the time we got back we were too full :(

Lucky Mint
Firehouse #31
S'More the Merrier (didn't try at SB but did recently try and its soooo good)
Oreo®Gold Rush

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Ben & Jerry's®

Americone Dream

Late Night Snack
TAS:  Great texture as B&J always does. Good but not memorable.
CSR: interesting but not worth the calories
CAR: agree with CSR; I prefer some of the other flavors with salty mix-ins like "everything but the..."
Milk and Cookies
TAS: Love the added mix-in of the cookie dough..I was so full at this point I hardly remember...coma time
BSS: Cookie's 'n Cream with Cookie Dough...not a brand new idea, but still two flavors I really like, so...not going to complain. I wish the cookies were bigger.

Bonnaroo Buzz
TAS: YUM....I love the slight flavor of whiskey and coffee ice cream is one of my faves. This is a keeper for me.
CSR: the toffee bits were the highlight, after they were gone it really wasn't worth the stomach ache

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Ciao Bella Gelato®

Chocolate S'mores  
CSR: YUM!
BSS: The first one of the day! Didn't taste too s'mores-y to me, but it was still yummy. I only really recall tasting the chocolate. Liked that the base was chocolate, which was a nice change from the usual vanilla base I have made it in. I must also admit that the one I picked off the counter was completely melted so my review is a little warped.

Mango Sorbet
TAS:  Hot seller at the booth. Overheard comment.."..this would be great to use for a summer cocktail" ..I might just have to try that
BSS: The last one of the day. Refreshing!

Wild Blueberry Sorbet  
CAR: My favorite of the day; rich, natural blueberry flavor

Key Lime Graham Gelato
TAS: Not overly tart and just the right touch of grahams. Great smooth texture..I LOVE this as I've said before. Def a fave of mine not just here but in general  
CSR: #1 favorite by a long shot
CAR: I had just a taste of CSR's and it was delish! Great texture and flavor
BSS: Verry light and refreshing tasting. Not usually a key lime fan, but this was a real treat. I wouldn't have picked it normally, but it was so crowded I was taking whatever I could get!

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Edy's®

The Original Rocky Road
Cookies and Cream
Orange Sherbert
Espresso Chip

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Friendly's

Vienna Mocha
Mocha Chocolate Chip
Rocky Road

Nuts over Caramel
TAS:  The caramel ice cream was awesome....prefer less nuts but the combo of the walnuts and the caramel was good
CSR: delish although I think I could have done without the nuts

Hunka Chunka Peanut Butter Fudge  
CAR: Tasty; if a little light on the PB flavor
BSS:I liked this! It had the Friendly's peanut butter that I LOVE. Kind of an ice cream version of my favorite sundae.

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HP Hood/Brigham's®

Hood Frozen Tangy Yogurt Rasberry Vanilla

Hood BoSox Brownie
CAR: lots of soft brownie bits!
BSS:good but actually kind of reminded me of Cookies 'n Cream/Oreo.  
Brigham's Oreo  
CSR: classic

Brigham's Mocha Chip  
CSR: I wish I didn't waste the room in my tummy!  

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SoCo Creamery
Vanilla

Mexicali Chocolate

Dirty Chocolate
TAS: First impression (never heard of SoCo Creamery prior)...super premium. SO smooth and velvety and amazing chocolate flavor. I prefer ice cream with mix-ins but this was phenomenal  
CSR: deadly
BSS: LOVED. So rich and amazing. I'm a new fan of SoCo after trying this one flavor!
Espresso Cookie
TAS: Not too strong and awesome smooth texture....this place rocks. Glad they came to SB  
CSR: Would have liked some cookies crumbled on top :)

Berkshire Berry  
CAR: okay, but VERY subtle, like fruit-on-the-bottom grocery store yogurt

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One of the highlights of the hour we spent there was meeting Bryan from team Ciao Bella (Thanks Jess for making the connection....that's him above) and the lovely employees at Ciao Bella. They truly are just as fun and approachable as their product.

We thought this was fun too, the "Text your Favorite Flavor" idea. A fun way to keep all the ice cream lovers engaged. I would love to know what flavor got the most votes. I just looked around their site and FB page and saw nothing. Oh well :(

UPDATE: We have a winner....Ciao Bella's Mango Sorbet...so deserving!

Despite the crowds, the Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl 2011 was a blast, we tried some new flavors, we ate way too much ice cream, and even Violet, who only got to people watch (not eat ice cream) enjoyed the event! And most importantly the event raised $358,596 for the Jimmy Fund. WOW!

See you next year Scooper Bowl 2012!