Conference and Ice Cream Reviews

Did everyone have a good weekend? I hope so. My weekend was very nice. I sat around doing nothing, I let my children run around like heathens, I let my house get even messier, and then I listened to conference and ate ice cream. Conference was so wonderful and actually quite humbling and motivating. For those of you who don't know what "Conference Weekend" means to us "Mormons" I will elucidate. Twice a year the leaders of our church assemble and speak to us. They travel all around the world all year long speaking to churches, building temples, meeting with foreign and home dignitaries, administering relief aid, and doing other great things, but at General Conference they speak to everyone. Each speaker is allowed to speak on whatever they feel inspired to so there is a wide variety of things that are addressed. This was also a special conference because, after President Hinckley's death, a new Presidency was presented and sustained. Thomas S. Monson is the new President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and he is one heck-uva guy. At the very ending of conference he was telling all these funny stories and had everyone laughing, and right as I started to think that maybe he was going too far he suddenly turned all his funny anecdotes into a powerful message about creating love and joy in our families. One of the talks that seems to be getting the most attention was Russell M. Ballard's talk to young mothers. It was a fabulous talk that aptly captured the humor, the hardship, and the responsibilities of motherhood. It was because of this talk that I woke up happy, bathed all my kids, folded all my laundry, fed everyone, got the kids to school and went to the store to buy fruits and veggies for the week, all before 9am. Anything that can make me do all that with a smile on my face that early in the morning is something good. I can't wait for all the talks to be available for reading and listening to.



And now, time to review all that luscious ice cream:


B&J's Strawberry Cheesecake. You can read my extra comment on this one in the sidebar. It has a scrumptiously thick swirl of crunchy, sugary, buttery graham cracker crust through it that makes it hard to stop eating. YUM!

B&J's Pistachio Pistachio. My husband doesn't understand why I like this one. It isn't very sweet and there is no chocolate or candy in it. It is a subtle pistachio ice cream with whole pistachios throughout. To be enjoyed only by the most avid pistachio lovers. Mmmmmm. I love it.

Haagen Daz's Vanilla Honey & Granola frozen yogurt. This is good, but nothing to write home about. The granola is in small bit rather than big chunks so you get these odd specks of oatmeal throughout the ice cream. I think I would rather just pour my own granola and honey over a bowl of Dreyer's vanilla or caramel flavored ice cream.

Haagen Daz's Mango Sorbet. Have you tried it yet? Come on people, what is the point of me finding the world's best ice creams if you aren't going to try it? I even tried a different brand of Mango Sorbet and it didn't even come close to this. On of my favorite restaurants of all time puts a scoop of this over fruit salad and it is roll your eyes to the back of your head good. It just never ceases to amaze me how much flavor they have packed into this amazing stuff. BUY IT!

Breyer's Chocolate Crackle. Um, yeah, this is Breyer's all natural vanilla with ribbons of Magic Shell through it. Not good. Breyer's natural vanilla is made to be used with other natural ingredients, not fake processed chocolate, so it just didn't work. Also, I like my Magic Shell as a topping, not a stir-in. And if you are going to use Magic Shell, do yourself a favor and find the Heath Bar Magic Shell (So far I've only seen it at WalMart or Winco Foods). It is THE BOMB! But don't put it on Breyer's Natural Vanilla, put it on Dreyer's vanilla.