PHX --
I just got home form the store (Ralphs).
This is my ice cream tale: I had a coupon for a free frozen dinner so I was mulling over which variety to get. Since I was already in the general frozen food section, I figured I'd mosey on down the frozen sweets aisle and glare at the Slow Churned Impostor peppermint ice cream.
I slowly rounded the corner, inching ever so slowly towards the Dreyer's. In passing I noticed a seasonal
Breyer's flavor that I had not seen before (maybe Apple Cinnamon or something like that? I can't recall...), but I bypassed that and kept on my path to the Dreyer's section.
And there it was. The Slow Churned Peppermint Wonderland ice cream...and both the full fat Pumpkin Patch and Slow Churned Pumpkin Patch too. I glared at the Impostor ice cream...the interloper...the intruder... And, strangely, the little snowman on the carton glared back (or so it seemed).
It was a stand-off. I felt like saying "This town ain't big enough for the both of us...be gone by sundown," as though I had suddenly been transported to the Old West.
I turned my cart away from the ice cream and began to walk away. I could have sworn I heard a little voice saying, "
Sherry...Sherry...Sheeeerrrrrrryyyyyy...come back...come back...look again...look again..."
Not one to ignore voices coming from the frozen sweets section, I stopped dead in my tracks. I turned around to once again face the Impostor (and the snarky, snickering snowman on the carton). I hesitantly reached my hand to the handle on the freezer door and pulled it open. I squinted my eyes and peeked inside. I pushed aside some of the Pumpkin Patch cartons and some of the Impostor cartons and...
THERE IT WAS!!!!! The REAL Peppermint Wonderland (full fat) ice cream was sitting way at the back of the shelf, hidden behind many, many other cartons. I only saw 3 cartons of the REAL ice cream at first...and so I lunged forward and grabbed all three of them! (I restrained myself from shouting "Mine! Mine! Mine!") One never knows when an asteroid might collide with earth and wipe out humanity. In case that happens, I will be all set with my peppermint ice cream.
I saw one more carton of the REAL ice cream mixed in with the Impostor ice cream but I didn't take it.
I notice that Dreyer's is making the cartons look almost identical, whereas in the past the "Light" variety of Peppermint always looked totally different from the full fat kind. If I didn't know better, I would guess that Dreyer's was trying to trick people into buying the Slow Churned..."accidentally."
In any case, judging by how many cartons of Grand (full fat) were available and how many cartons of the Impostor ice cream were available, I'd say that I'm not the only one who is on the hunt for the real stuff. It's like gold. Everyone wants it. Someone else clearly had gotten into the stash before I got to it, and if I had gone to the store in another week it probably would have all been gone!
So now I have to hang on to my 3 cartons as though they are thousand dollar bills, because I never know when I will find it in a store again. On the Dreyer's website, even the flavor locator doesn't list the Grand/full fat Peppermint as being at any of my stores!
It's only October, but I won my holiday season ice cream battle!
