First World Wonders

I'm going to go out on a small limb and say that you would not hear any of my friends or acquaintances refer to me as a complainer. A ranter, yes. A critic, sure. And, most descriptively, a connoisseur of certain tastes, flavors and sins. Top of my vice list is chocolate, in particular the many variations of chocolate ice cream.

However, for some time I have apparently been remiss in keeping up with the decadent offerings in the grocery freezer. Because . . . late one night recently, I stopped at an all-night market and drooled my way to the frozen sugar aisle. There I found the great and powerful combo of Messrs. Ben and Jerry had come up with several versions of what they are calling Core Ice Creams.

Reading the various labels risked a minor case of frost bite but just in the nip of time, I settled on Peanut Butter Fudge Core. One-half of the pint is chocolate ice cream, the other a mild peanut butter ice cream. Mixed throughout are mini-peanut better cups but in the center is a rich, dark, smooth dollop of chocolate peanut butter fudge or "The Core."

Such sweetness hath not crossed my tongue since . . . well, never you mind.

Other offerings to temp you:

Salted Caramel Core
That's My Jam Core [raspberry]
Hazed and Confused Core [hazelnut]
Karamel Sutra Core [2 kinds of caramel]
Peanut Butter Me Up Core (crunchy peanut butter chips]
Dough-ble Whammy Core
Blondie Brownie Core
Spectacular Speculoss Cookie Core [cinnamony speculoss cookies]
Boom Chocolotta Cookie Core [mocha, caramel, fudge flakes]

Those bastards at Safeway, with all their store card savings and special shopper discounts. This week Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream = $2.25 a pint.