Visit: Turkey Hill Experience + Taste Lab

This post is dedicated to our old blogging friends who used to (and may still) write for the Ice Cream Journal at Turkey Hill and to Jessie, formerally of Cakespy. (I logged onto Facebook today just before I went to write this post to find out after eleven years she is saying goodbye to Cakespy and hello to Unicorn Love). Thank you, Jessie, for eleven wonderful years of Cakespy and good luck with future endeavors! We have so enjoyed watching your vision grow into the wonderful everything it has become over the years!


❤️+ 🍦 + 🍰, Scoopalicious


It has been almost three years since I have written a post on Scoopalicious. A lot has changed in that time. My daughter is now old enough to actually read this blog. The last time I wrote she was just about to start kindergarten, and now she's mere months away from finishing second grade. My five year old could barely say the word ice cream last time I wrote this blog and being a late walker, she was still scooting on the ground towards the ice cream. With these children came less and less time to blog about ice cream. Tina, Patrick, and I all took to other forms of social media, sometimes posting to Facebook and Instagram.

I recently visited the Ice Cream Journal where our buddies at Turkey Hill used to blog, only to find that they have since moved to a new format, the all encompassing Turkey Hill Nation. Logging in (yes, you now have to login) takes you to more options than I can fit on a page for one screenshot (see below). It seems a little less intimate, which is odd, since logging in should seem to make it more personal.

Anyway, I also somewhere along the way, rediscovered the Turkey Hill Experience (THE). With a spring break trip starting in Philadelphia (hello, Cousin Mandy!) I knew I wanted to make THE a part of our trip. And so we did.

Any visit starts off right with a photo op in front of a super large cow!

We decided to sign up for both the Turkey Hill Experience and the Taste Lab. (We don't write a beverage blog, so we skipped the Tea Experience, but we imagine it would have been fun too, and the cost is minimal...)

The Taste Lab was fun. (Look at all the bottles of flavoring and swirls. Along the walls are the mix-ins! I'd like this at my house!)

It was a mix of a video presentation (where you can learn answers to questions like "What's the most popular flavor of Turkey Hill Ice Cream?" You can either go to the Taste Lab yourself or we can tell you that if Tina were an ice cream flavor at Turkey Hill, she'd be the most popular!) and a guided mix-your-own-ice-cream bar.

While we clearly learned stuff in the video, our focus was clearly in the ice cream mixing. We started with a plain base and then picked out flavoring. Go slowly with the drops, A! You can always add more, but you can't take away if you add too much!

Next it's time to add the swirls.

Finally, it's time for the mix-in. (When you first get your pint of ice cream, it's about 3/4 full, but that's ok! It leaves plenty of room for all the mix-ins!)

And then it's time to eat! YUM!

Then it's off to the Turkey Hill Experience. THE is part science lesson, part hands-on fun, and of course, part taste testing!

Here we are using the machine that

The thread (or white path on the ground, as it were) that tied the whole experience together was using a number specific to your ticket to design a virtual ice cream flavor, package it, and then make a commercial. You could even go back online later find your creation! It's a silly and fun experience, especially when Dad is wearing the same color as a green screen and turns into a floating head!

Tickets to THE experience include all-you-can-eat ice cream. Flavors are limited to eight rotating, but there's something for everyone from ice creams to sherbets to sometimes even new flavors! Here we are loving our Fruit Rainbow Sherbet after a long morning playing and exploring at the Turkey Hill Experience!

Admittedly, I didn't get as many pictures as I should have for you all, so here's a video direct from Turkey Hill...

Next stop, Niagara Falls!

Tis the season for Limited Edition Flavors

I never ever get to catch a segment of the Today show but I gave myself 10 minutes this morning to down my breakfast in front of the TV rather than my computer and glad I did. They had a quick segment on fall Limited Edition flavors with Roker and friends taste testing them all. I love the fall and the flavors that come with it. Sometimes I wish they were year round but maybe then I wouldn't appreciate them so much. It's all about....pumpkin lattes, pumpkin soup, pumpkin butter, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin bread, pumpkin martinis, pumpkin cupcakes....everything pumpkin. Love it!

So onto the flavors they highlighted and there's more to this than pumpkin. There were four flavors and all the hosts agreed on which they thought was the winner. Interestingly I didn't agree but to each there own. What's your pick?! Read on to the end of this post to see what the Today show gang chose.

Edy's Slow Churned Pumpkin
Sweet and Light Pumpkin Flavored Ice Cream Blended with the Perfect mix of Nutmeg, Cinnamon, and Ginger.

Blue Bunny 24 Karat Carrot Cake
Carrot Cake flavored Ice Cream Swirled with Cream Cheese Frosting Flavored Ice Cream with Carrot Cake Pieces....inspired by Duff Goldman

Turkey Hill Whoopie Pie
Chocolate Ice Cream with Whoopie Pie Pieces and Creamy Filling Swirl

Ben and Jerry's Cannoli
Marscapone Ice Cream with Fudge Covered Cannoli Pastry Shell Chunks and a Marscapone Swirl

And the favorite amongst the Today show hosts was ......drum roll please.....Turkey Hill Whoopie Pie!

My favorite (but to be fair I haven't tasted them all but know I don't even have to because I am biased on the all things Pumpkin....Edy's Pumpkin. 
Get out there and try these while they are around. I have a feeling none of these will disappoint.

Hooray for Holly

Turkey Hill's Super Sundae contest was loads of fun (even though my 5 year old razzes me about her recipe being a finalist and not mine!) and even more fun having Holly being crowned with the winning Super Sundae. She is going to celebrate by sharing her winnings with her kindergarten class and having an ice cream party for them all. I have a feeling she is going to be pretty popular that day. Thanks again Turkey Hill for hosting a fun contest and thank you to all of you who voted and voted and voted for her. We can't wait until our fun ice cream prize pack arrives!

Yippee we have a finalist..PLEASE VOTE NOW for Sundae #3

In Holly's eyes (my 5 year old) she is already a winner just having her creation chosen as a finalist for the Turkey Hill Super Sundae contest. The fun part now is voting, voting, voting for her "It's a Party" Sundae #3 and keeping our fingers crossed that it comes out on top. I told her if she wins she can use the supply of ice cream for an ice cream party for her class so she is even more excited to come in first place of course.

So Pretty Please With a Cherry on Top go to Turkey's Hill blog and vote for Holly's "It's a Party" Sundae #3 as the best Super Sundae!

TO VOTE...just leave a comment at the bottom of the post about the finalists.

The finalist....and hopefully the winner!

"It's a Party" Sundae Creation by Holly

Entry #2 for Turkey Hill's Super Sundae Contest

So you've seen what Mom (aka me) came up with for the Turkey Hill Super Sundae Contest now here is what my creative daughter, age 5, built all by herself. I told her her mission was to make up a sundae with what we have in our cupboards. Her entry is titled "It's a Party"!

It's a Party

A raft of Marshmallows coated with Hot Fudge and Caramel sauce topped with Turkey Hill Party Cake Ice Cream and finished off with Whipped Cream and colored sprinkles and nonpareils.

Well her thoughts on why it is truly a party is because two friends can share it, it has Party Cake ice cream, it is loaded with full size marshmallows, it has fun colors and is coated with her all time favorite of sprinkles and nonpareils. Nothing we ever make or bake lacks sprinkles. I seriously should buy stock in them. I give her props for a fun looking sundae. Yes, I helped out a bit with the food styling but she loaded all the ingredients all by herself..mostly ;) I had to take away the chocolate sauce at one point or it would have been called It's a Party Boat floating away in sauce! The funny thing is she stacks the bottom with full size marshmallows (who would even eat those I know!) then she puts the sauces on top of them instead of the ice cream. So unless you stuff yourself with marshmallows you may not appreciate the yummy toppings. Regardless she had fun and it looks fantastic and that was the point. 

So once again...let's keep our fingers crossed that one of our entries is a finalist and we will be sure to let you know if you have the chance to vote for one of our fun sundaes.


Last day is today to enter...I probably shouldn't encourage you since it lowers my chances but I am always excited to see other creative entries too so feel free!

Entry #1 for Turkey Hill's Super Sundae Contest

Here's the gist of the contest...make up a recipe using Turkey Hill Ice Cream for a sundae, name it and take a fabulous photo of it. Not so tough so I thought I'd give it a shot. This is my entry titled "Oh Snap"!

Oh Snap

Turkey Hill Ginger Snap Ice Cream sandwiched between two Pepperidge Farms Gingerman cookies drizzled with Dark Chocolate Fudge Sauce, Caramel sauce, and topped off with Whipped Cream

Once all entries are in they will choose four of their favorite entries as semi-finalists and will post them in November (contect ends the 14th) and then its up to you to vote and the sundae with the most votes wins. Keep your fingers crossed that you get the chance to vote for my Oh Snap concoction. I have to say for myself...it was quite good!

Stay tuned for Entry #2 made with love by the other ice cream lover in my house

The Super Sundae Recipe Contest by Turkey Hill starts now

Turkey Hill is at it again with another fun contest, the Super Sundae Contest, and this time its all about coming up with an awesome recipe for a sundae, creating it, naming it, taking fabulous photos of it, and submitting by Nov 14th. How fun and somewhat simple...um...I think! Well I say that but when I try to think of what kind of sundae I would create I draw blanks but I do know that chocolate is part of the equation and I am going to enter so look out for a sneak peek in the near future.

Oh and I think the hard part of this all could be the photos as they talk about in a recent blog post about food photography and the fact that the sundaes will be judged 50% on the recipe and 50% on the photo so even more pressure. This is always my challenge when I make some ice cream then try to shoot it to post. Inevitably it starts turning into soup before I get that great shot. So this could be even trickier seeing that a hot sauce could be involved as well as whipped cream but I guess if one melts I eat it then try again. Oh that really stinks!

Oh and the important part...the prizes! Turkey Hill is going to choose four of their favorite entries and post for you to vote on (hopefully mine will be there!) and the sundae with the most votes will get a super sundae prize package containing 10 free containers of Turkey Hill ice cream, a set of six Bormioli Rocco waffle cone-inspired glass sundae dishes, a Tovolo Standz Ice Cream Scoop, and a jar of Ghirardelli chocolate fudge sauce. And so nobody goes home empty handed, each finalist will also receive a one-month supply of Turkey Hill ice cream...not so shabby!

I'll be sure to share the trials and tribulations of my sundae creations. Good luck and can't wait to see the results!

Turkey Hill is getting ready for some foooooootball!

This is so not right being a New Englander and proud Patriots fan (poor Tom Brady got in a fender bender last week..hope his hair isn't messed up ;)) but we love Turkey Hill so I we'll play nice and tell all you Steeler fans about an awesome chance to win tickets to see the Steelers that Turkey Hill is scooping out. All you have to do is purchase their football crazed flavor, Blitzburgh Crunch, go here and enter a code found on specially marked packages, and get a chance to win two tickets to a Steelers home game on December 23, 2010. Wait...there's more... during each of the First Prize drawings, you also get a chance to win a  $25 Steelers gift cards and then the kicker...at the end of each season (2010, 2011 & 2012!), they'll select one fan to receive a Grand Prize — a pair of Steelers season tickets. 

So I might not be as big of a football fan as I am of ice cream but this sounds like a good deal (if you win of course) and the flavor doesn't sound so bad itself either. Actually I do have to say this ice cream sounds fantastic. Blitzburgh Crunch is a whole lot of sweet cream vanilla ice cream with chocolate cake crunchies and crunchy chocolate cookie swirl. I love crunchies in ice cream. Actually kinda reminds me of how much I love the crunchies in the middle of a Carvel cake..yum...so if this is anything like that I'd love it. But I have a feeling I will love it regardless. Oh and I guess I could enter but not sure season tickets would do me any good up here in RI but still looking forward to trying the new flavor. I'll just cover up the label when I bring it to a football party just in case!

Promo ends 1/31/2011 so get out there and get yourself some Turkey Hill Blitzburgh Crunch, let us know how it is, and most importantly don't forget to enter the sweepstakes.

Turkey Hill Holds Virtual Ice Cream Party on July 29

Turkey Hill is so thoughtful -- they're holding a huge ice cream birthday party for me...don't tell them they are three days off -- I know they worked so hard to organize it...Oh, wait, no, I think it's just a big party for everyone!

This Wednesday, July 29th, Turkey Hill's blog, Ice Cream Journal, is holding an online ice cream party...Grab your favorite Turkey Hill Ice Cream (preferably one of their limited edition flavors) and head over to Ice Cream Journal at 8 PM EST and to chat with other Turkey Hill lovers and comment about your flavor!

Visit their blog for more info on the shindig...

I'm interested to see how this goes -- I've never been to a virtual ice cream party.

If only I weren't hosting book club...

Speaking of Turkey Hill...

I know I should have told you about this sooner, but my-oh-my have things been busy this summer!

Turkey Hill's blog, Ice Cream Journal, is doing some pretty awesome celebrating about Ice Cream Month as well. If you don't visit Ice Cream Journal regularly, you should. They've got a great blog -- just do us a favor and don't leave Scoopalicious completely -- you can read two ice cream blogs!

Anyway, this month they are celebrating with great facts, contests and prizes. In fact, leave a comment on their daily post and you could be the random winner of two containers of Turkey Hill Ice Cream! What could be finer?

They also have trivia contests that not only brush up your ice cream knowledge, but also have some pretty cool prizes.

Though we are not Ice Cream Journal's sister blog, we do wish we could be. Maybe cousins?

[Scoopalicious is celebrating National Ice Cream month with a Post-A-Day throughout the month of July!]

Ice Cream Review: Turkey Hill Movie Night Ice Cream

I've been wanting to try Turkey Hill's Movie Night Ice Cream for a while now. It's popcorn flavored with popcorn and praline peanuts and vanilla flavored with caramel. It's one of the craziest flavors I have heard of in a long time so I knew I had to post about it.

It was hard to find it though -- I think that it was pulled off the shelves because of the peanut recall...but peanut recall begone!...it's back on the shelves and though my freezer is filling up with my own frozen creations I had to buy it when I saw it at the store.

Ok, so the truth? The vanilla caramel side is almost gone. The popcorn side? Yeah, that's still there. It probably won't go fast. I should have known I wouldn't really like it. I never really liked buttered popcorn jelly beans and that's what it reminds me of.

What was most interesting was the popcorn in the mix. It was kind of like my rice krispies -- they got kind of soft and soggy. While some (such as my husband) like soggy things, I don't. I don't even like milk in my cereal for that very reason -- I hate the sog!

Anyway, I "half" liked this flavor...

While writing this post, I asked husband to try it. What does he think? "It tastes like popcorn...there's popcorn in it! Mmmmm. Soggy popcorn. I like soggy popcorn...!" See? I told you! I asked what he thought of the vanilla caramel side. "There are two halves? You mean I have to try the right? This ice cream is perfect for us! I like the left, and you like the right! Except if you turn it around, then I like the right, and you like the left..." Hey, that's just what I was hoping he would say! (The caramel is "way too sweet" for him.) This is a match made in heaven.

[Scoopalicious is celebrating National Ice Cream month with a Post-A-Day throughout the month of July!]

All you Turkey Hill lovers....recall on ice cream with peanuts

Take note....one more peanut item off the shelves and this time its affecting our beloved ice cream and a favorite brand of ours, Turkey Hill.

Unfortunately a half dozen ice cream and frozen yogurt products have been voluntarily recalled by Turkey Hill because they contain peanuts from Peanut Corp. of America, the current focus of the ongoing salmonella investigations.

These products were distributed in New England and eight other states on the East Coast. According to their website..."The company has not received any consumer illness complaints about these products, however we are taking this precautionary step to safeguard our customers and consumers."


Here's the list of affected flavors in 1.5 quart containers...

Tin Roof Sundae

Chocolate Nutty Moose Tracks Light Recipe

Nutty Caramel Caribou Frozen Yogurt

Peanut Brittle No Sugar Added Recipe

Peanut Butter Mania Light Recipe
Dynamic Duos Movie Night Ice Cream

Have any of these flavors in your freezer?

If so, return them to the store of purchase for a full refund or trash 'em immediately. And then run out and replace them with a yummy flavor not on this list...my suggestion and personal favorite, Choco Mint Chip. Can never go wrong with that one!

Have questions? Contact Turkey Hill toll free at 800-MY-DAIRY.

World's Most Expensive Sundae Update

I know we've mentioned it before, but we've never had a picture quite like the folks over at Turkey Hill's blog: Ice Cream Journal...

Head over to Ice Cream Journal for a picture of the World's Most Expensive Sundae that is worth a thousand words. And if that isn't enough, they also have a wonderful description.

My question is: how many people have ever ordered this sundae?

Turkey Hill Dairy's Ultimate Holiday Recipe Contest Ends December 1

Lucky you, Scoopalicious Readers! It's a double post Wednesday. We had a couple of great things to note with deadlines fast approaching, so...

Turkey's not even on the table yet but this holiday deadline is quickly approaching so we thought we'd share this fun contest.

Turkey Hill Dairy is hosting the Ultimate Holiday Recipe Contest. In honor of their holiday ice cream flavors, Egg Nog and Peppermint Stick, they are asking all you ice cream fans to concoct a recipe using either one of those flavors. The recipe can be anything you want it to be…ice cream cupcakes, a yummy frothy drink, a layered cake, whatever your sweet tooth desires. Only rule is that Turkey Hill’s Egg Nog Ice Cream or Peppermint Stick Ice Cream be an ingredient.

So start the brainstorming and show us what you got. Send your recipe to Turkey Hill at icecreamjournal@gmail.com by December 1 (we know its days away on a busy holiday weekend, sorry for the last minute!). And we here at Scoopalicious would love to see what you do so feel free to send it to us too and maybe you'll be a spotlight on our blog with your great recipe.

So what do you get for all this hard work?

If chosen as one of the best recipes you will be featured on the Turkey Hill website and will receive a one month’s supply of ice cream. And if you are one of the best of the best, that is one of the top four recipes – two for Eggnog and two for Peppermint – you'll get a feature story for just yourself on Turkey Hill's blog, the Ice Cream Journal (http://icecreamjournal.turkeyhill.com), from December 8-11. The fun part is that the blog's visitors will then be able to vote for their favorite recipe and that winner will receive a year’s supply of Turkey Hill ice cream! WOW…all these prizes…what's not to love. Good luck!

Get Dirty and Help Save a Farm!

A while back I got an email that said "Does this ice cream taste like dirt?" Oh great, I thought...Harry Potter brought us earwax tasting jelly beans, now dirt tasting ice cream? Still, curiosity got the better of me, and I opened the email...The email was from a woman who represents the Lancaster Farmland Trust -- yes, the same Lancaster where Turkey Hill is made. Turns out the two have a partnership and "since 2005, Turkey Hill Dairy has donated proceeds from the sales of its All Natural Recipe Ice Cream to the Lancaster Farmland Trust. Last year, the Dairy’s generosity enabled the Trust to preserve an additional 63 acres of prime farmland– a dairy farm owned by an Amish family in Fulton Township. They hope to do the same again this year." Pretty cool seeing as 1,000 acres of farmland in Lancaster County are being lost each year to development. (The Trust has preserved 20,000 acres to date!)

Also part of the email was a recipe that I have been anxious to try ever since I got the email...

Preservation Pie

1 chocolate pie shell (crust)
1 lb. mint-chocolate chips (or semi-sweet chips if preferred)
1 container (1.5 Quart) of Turkey Hill All Natural Recipe Ice Cream – Chocolate
1 8-oz. container Chocolate Whipped Topping
Green Jimmies

Allow the ice cream and whipped topping to soften until spreadable. Cover the bottom of the pie shell with up to ¾ of the mint-chocolate chips.

Stir the remaining chips into the ice cream. Spread the mixture into the pie shell, adding ice cream until you’ve filled to the top edge. Liberally cover the ice cream with the chocolate whipped topping. If you didn’t use all of the chips, sprinkle the remainder over the top with the green jimmies as decoration.

Freeze the pie until solid (allow at least 12 hours between preparation and serving). If frozen solid, it will cut more easily with a heated knife.

Makes 8 servings. Saves farms.

Sounds pretty good. The Farmland Trust rep who sent the recipe and photos, tells me "While Preservation Pie tastes outrageously good, it’s not so pretty." Who needs looks when you've got taste?

Here's to ice cream and good deeds. What could be finer?

Photos courtesy of Lancaster Farmland Trust.

Blogalicious: Ice Cream Journal

Scoopalicious has a number of other favorite ice cream sites on its right hand side, and I keep a list of ice cream blogs in my Google Reader so that I can keep up with what is going on in ice cream land. Once in a while though, we like to give a special shout out to our neighbors in blogland.

Yesterday Tina and I got a lovely little "hi" email from our friends at Ice Cream Journal (Turkey Hill Ice Cream's Blog) and I thought it was due time to highlight their blog.

I love Ice Cream Journal for a lot of reasons. One of my favorite parts is "Ask Ernie" in which Ernie -- though I am not quite sure what his background is -- answers readers' questions about everything from specific queries about Turkey Hill Ice Cream to more general ones such as "What Causes an Ice Cream Headache?" Might it be no coincidence that my husband and I are naming our new puppy Ernie?

I also love keeping up with the surveys they post. Did you know that most people answering the current Turkey Hill survey proudly eat ice cream right out of the carton?

Though Ice Cream Journal rarely posts recipes for making your own ice cream (they do sell ice cream and it wouldn't make too much sense if they were giving out recipes to make your own), they do post a plethora of ways to use their ice cream from festive holiday snowballs of ice cream to today's Duetto Lemon Pie (thinking of you, former roommate Tara...!) And for those of you who do want to be a little creative and try making ice cream without a machine, the blog even has a recipe for, that's right, Tin Can Ice Cream. (And when you are done, you can use the cans to call next door to invite your neighbors to ice cream!)

Turkey Hill's Blog is a great one, and helps highlight the variety of blogs out there, from the small, do-it-yourselfers such as Tina and I, to the big companies who want to have a more personal voice like Turkey Hill...

I love making homemade ice cream, but when I am in the mood to buy it, it's Turkey Hill Choco Mint Chip all the way. The only way for it to be better? For me to call my friend Swati and invite her over to eat the mint chocolate chip out of the carton while watching TV together...

[Scoopalicious is celebrating National Ice Cream month with a Post-A-Day throughout the month of July!]

Free Year of Ice Cream - unbelievable

Looks like Turkey Hill is celebrating National Ice Cream month too! Want a free year's supply of ice cream and a trip to Lancaster County to tour Turkey Hill Dairy? Ask no more...just leave a comment on their ice cream journal blog in the month of July and cross your fingers! Only 5 days left so be sure to visit and comment as many times as you'd like for greater chances at binging for a whole year.