DDlicious

I already raved about my awesome sister, right? She's AWESOME. (I actually have two sisters and they are both awesome, but this shout out is to Arianna...She just surprised us with ANOTHER guest post. Thanks, A!)

Treat yourself to our new crave-worthy Iced Coffee flavors.

 Inspired by the taste of Baskin-Robbins^® ice cream, 

Mint Chocolate Chip and Old Fashioned Butter Pecan

 flavored Iced Coffees are the perfect indulgence. 

Scoop up the fun with America's Favorite Iced Coffee today.

Image & copy courtesy of Dunkin Donuts.

In early August, I received an email from Dunkin Donuts letting me know they had these new ice cream-flavored iced coffees available, and since I know that my sister doesn't like coffee, I emailed her to let her know I'd take one for the team, if I had to...! Haha. It took me a while to actually get around to trying the drinks, but when I did, they were absolutely worth it! And very refreshing on a hot day - did you know that this July was the hottest on record for the U.S.?! So iced coffees have been a lifesaver this summer.

In any case, I stopped by a Dunkies on my way home from work one evening, and this was the result of my efforts:

Here the treats are, in my car's cupholders!

I tried a sip of each one immediately. The butter pecan was very creamy and rich, and the mint chocolate chip was extremely minty, with a rich dark chocolate blended in. I couldn't get over how much both of them tasted exactly like the ice creams they were supposed to be emulating! It was like drinking ice cream, to me.

I wanted to enjoy more, but I held off, as I knew I had a few people hanging out at my house that evening who could help me evaluate. We all tried the coffees several times, and the general consensus was that the butter pecan actually tasted like coffee too (I hadn't noticed it, but it did have a coffee-flavored aftertaste), while the mint chocolate chip didn't at all, really (that could have been due to the copious amounts of chocolate lining the bottom of the plastic cup!). I figured that was a good thing to report, for those who might want the refreshment and caffeine jolt of an iced coffee in the summer, but aren't big on the whole coffee flavor. We all noticed how rich and flavorful the coffees were, but, then again, that could have partly been due to the cream and sugar -- that isn't my normal coffee M.O., but I figured the ice cream coffees would be best to try fixed that way.

In any case, they were a hit, and they went quickly!

I'd probably be more inclined to recommend them for a dessert rather than a morning coffee, though, much like the Oreo Coolatta currently being offered (I tried a sip of my friend's, and it tasted quite a bit like cookies & cream ice cream!). Quite enjoyable, but very sweet, and probably too rich for everyday consumption, in my humble opinion. But I'd definitely recommend them to ice cream aficionados.

Well, that's all for me for now. Enjoy the last few days of summer, everyone! Thanks for letting me post.

We thank YOU, Arianna, for posting!

Cheryl's Giveaway: Winner!

We have a winner! Congrats to Mary!

Stay tuned for more giveaways!

Cheryl's Ice Cream Cookie Sampler Giveaway!

Recently we got to sample some yummy cookies from Cheryl's Cookies. We were so excited since the new collection is their Ice Cream Flavored Cookie Collection!

With absolutely adorable packaging, gorgeous colors, and enticing flavors, this is a collection that can't be beat. The above photo is only a sampling of their 20 different products in their Ice Cream Cookie Collection.

Our sample (and the one Cheryl's will be giving away to a lucky reader) is their Ice Cream Cookie Sampler which includes: Vanilla Malted, Chocolate Marshmallow Pecan, Strawberry Sugar, Banana Split with Walnuts, Mint Chocolate Chip, and Orange Citrus cookies. (Actually, that's what is listed on their site, but we got Cookies 'N Cream instead of the Banana Split, which was fine with Husband because...)

When I asked which his favorite of the six were (we shared each cookie over the course of two nights -- three tonight and three last night) he said the Cookies 'N Cream. He did think it was an interesting concept as well saying "If I can have a cookie flavored cookie, can I have have an ice cream flavored ice cream?" Yeah, I'll let you ruminate on that for a while. It took me a while to figure out what he was saying...

I love the texture of Cheryl's cookies and while I love their vanilla buttercream cookies the best, I was quite taken with all the samples, but most specifically the Orange Citrus (yay Creamsicles!)

Anyway, you too can win this sampler (though if you get the Banana Split flavor, we are going to need your review since I was unable to taste it! Just kidding) if you enter below by Tuesday, August 14.

In the meantime, you can take advantage of their Living Social deal, of $30 worth of cookies for $15! Sounds good to me!

And/or you could like them on Facebook for "a chance to win FREE COOKIES each and every Friday"!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Apologies

Our apologies for the "URGENT URGENT" message on the blog earlier this afternoon. Unfortunately, one of our email accounts got compromised and someone was able to get into our blog to post spam.

Again, our deepest apologies.

Best,
Bethany and Tina

A Little Mortensen Magic

My darling younger sister surprised me with a guest post for my birthday. Since she called me the best middle sister/ice cream maven EVER, I couldn't say no to posting this. Haha! Just kidding. What a special present and a great way to close out National Ice Cream Month! Thanks, A!

Happy birthday to the best middle sister/ice cream maven EVER!

I live in New Britain, CT, and surprisingly (for a state that consumes the most ice cream per capita!), there really aren't many good ice cream places to choose from nearby.  Nothing that I know of in the city itself, and while the local Cold Stone Creamery used to be a good, short trip for us (located on the Berlin Turnpike in Newington), it's been changed into a frozen yogurt joint.  I'm sure the froyo is good and all (haven't tried it yet!), but that wasn't what we were craving the other day after a long, hot day - I had gotten stuck in a train car without A/C for my ride home from work!*  


Mortensen's original location on the Berlin Turnpike.  From their Facebook page.

Anyway, the boyfriend and I been asked to do a favor for a friend in the West End of Hartford, so I decided to jazz the trip up by making a detour on our way back home, to Mortensen's!  We had just intended to get ice cream, but realized we really needed to get some food in our bellies, too, so we started with burgers (mine veggie) and fries, all of which was very good!  The place certainly isn't JUST ice cream, so plan to have a whole meal there if you can squeeze it all in!



Unfortunately, we couldn't.  We'd spent most of the meal perusing the BINDER filled with flavors and their descriptions, and had settled on some flavors we wanted to try.  However, when it came time to order dessert...we decided we'd have to do to-go ice cream instead, and enjoy our dessert later on.  Our waitress kindly offered to hand-pack a couple of pints for us (this is usual practice - they will pack pints, quarts, etc. at your request).  I chose Graham Central Station and Maine Black Bear (even though there were a bunch of other flavors I wanted to try - but I always have to remind myself to try the unusual flavors, because I can get the staples anywhere!).  Troy chose their mudslide (I think it was called Mud Pie?), but when they didn't have that (the ice cream is made fresh daily, and flavors are constantly rotating), they offered to mush together their cookies n' cream with their coffee.  So we both went home happy!  We thoroughly enjoyed our ice creams, and I definitely plan to go back again soon to try even more flavors!  (Although Graham Central Station has become a new favorite....)



Mortensen's has been around just about FOREVER, and they are great, local, family-owned restaurant, so if you find yourself driving through central CT on a road trip this summer, be sure to stop in for a real treat.  One of my favorite things about the place?  They have fruit flavors which they offer year-round (strawberry, peach, etc.), which they switch out for seasonal ones when the time is right.  So, if you're there, say, during our peach season, you'll get locally-grown, fresh fruit in your ice cream!  And if you're not, you'll still get their premium ice cream with peaches from a carefully selected source (they indicate the locations from which all their fruit originates on the menu).  I love the concept, I love supporting fantastic local businesses, and of course - I love the ice cream.

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*While I don't NEED air-conditioning in my daily life, I've decided that it's definitely necessary in an enclosed train car where you can't open the windows and are stuck with dozens of other people, just all sweating it out...it must have been about 20 degrees warmer in there than it was outside!  Ugh.