Let's talk about ice cream

[Kaido]

They are a little messy to eat, especially if you aren't familiar with them. The way I eat a mango I got from observing someone I know who's crazy about them. You take a sharp knife and score the mango along longitudinal lines with the pit and opposite ends as the poles. You then peel the strips. Probably around 8 or so cuts on the fruit, depending on the size. It works really well to remove the skin. Once the skin is removed, the only impediment is the pit. You could just bite into it or cut off the fruit from the pit. You could then make your own mango ice cream (I have an ice cream making machine, I've made some incredibly delicious ice cream).

No no no, that's not the way to do it. All you need is a knife & a glass cup:

http://imgur.com/gallery/6zL1d3b

This trick improved my mango-eating enjoyment a thousand fold :thumbsup:

 

[Anubis]

Mango anything is nasty.

 

[Kaido]

Kids will live up or down to expectations. Treat them like a worthless baby, and you get a worthless baby(you see some of that product around here). Treat them as a capable, functional person, and you get a capable functional person. She has all her fingers, and has made it to 17 pretty well intact. I have few complaints.

True story. My wife refused to let me talk in a baby voice to our baby because she wanted him to grow up understanding what real conversations sounded like. It's the same thing as that school-disconnect message floating around social media that goes something like "you expect kids to graduate high school, learn about insurance, taxes, shopping, taking care of themselves, paying bills responsibility, managing student loans, handling debt, when last week they had to raise their hands to go to the bathroom."

It's not that it'd be all that hard to teach, either. A month's worth of "real-life boot camp" classes as a senior in high school would have saved me an awful lot of headaches when I first moved out on my own. And I don't really expect parents to teach a lot of that stuff, even though they technically should, because based on the obesity rate & debt rate of your average American adult, most parents don't know how to manage things very well either. Just enough training to know what to expect (what do you mean I have to pay renter's insurance?!) & have a basic system in place for not going into debt or starving before the next paycheck comes in.

Because, uh, ice cream.

 

[Kaido]

To be fair, most people have never experienced a good, fresh mango. I had a family member tell me that mangos were nasty & tasted like broccoli. I immediately sliced up one of my ripe ones and they were like this isn't a mango, haha. Buy one in the summer, let it get ripe, and then eat it. It's the same with fresh dates, fresh dates are amazing! Taste like caramel! But I went 30+ years without knowing that because it's not a common fruit in American supermarkets.

 

[Muse]

To be fair, most people have never experienced a good, fresh mango. I had a family member tell me that mangos were nasty & tasted like broccoli. I immediately sliced up one of my ripe ones and they were like this isn't a mango, haha. Buy one in the summer, let it get ripe, and then eat it. It's the same with fresh dates, fresh dates are amazing! Taste like caramel! But I went 30+ years without knowing that because it's not a common fruit in American supermarkets.

Not sure I've ever had a "fresh date." I buy them in the markets. Typically, I buy the big containers at Costco (3.5 lb., pitted deglet noor), inexpensive, the dates seem to keep forever, unrefrigerated. But the best dates I've had are medjool. They are relatively expensive, they're very large, very delicious.

 

[Muse]

No no no, that's not the way to do it. All you need is a knife & a glass cup:

http://imgur.com/gallery/6zL1d3b

This trick improved my mango-eating enjoyment a thousand fold :thumbsup:

Lordy, that's really interesting!

Of course, when you're out in the jungle that may not be too practical.

 

[Kaido]

Not sure I've ever had a "fresh date." I buy them in the markets. Typically, I buy the big containers at Costco (3.5 lb., pitted deglet noor), inexpensive, the dates seem to keep forever, unrefrigerated. But the best dates I've had are medjool. They are relatively expensive, they're very large, very delicious.

Fresh dates have pits (like an inedible almond) & basically smush if you squeeze them. The pitted ones get dry pretty fast. True fresh dates dry out in pretty short order anyway, so you need to keep them in your fridge or freezer to keep the moisture in. The ones that keep forever unrefrigerated are usually "hydrated" (steamed) & sometimes have added sugar (glucose) so that they're sweet & reasonably soft. However, they don't compare to actual fresh dates, which can taste like dates, or like honey, or like caramel, depending on the variety you get. There's probably hundreds of date varieties available worldwide & some of them taste completely different from the regular "date" flavor. Here's some I just got in:

https://vid.me/MK9k

The best place to get them is online if you want real fresh ones, either from Arizona, California, or if you can find them, from the Middle East (the ethnic stores near mosques usually get a lot of fresh boxes in, especially around Ramanadhan, if you live in a culturally-diverse area). Medjools are the most popular (I like deglet noors too, but they're generally looked upon as a say a Hershey bar vs. Lindt or Munson's, and are usually pitted, steamed, and have added sugar to be shelf-stable & sold in larger bulk quantities). Fresh dates typically go for between $6 to $12 a pound. They are seasonal, but you can still get them pretty soft from different vendors throughout the year. A good place to start out ordering from is here:

http://www.medjooldates.com/large_medjool_dates.asp

Although, shipping is kind of expensive for small boxes (costs about the same for shipping as it does for the product haha), but it's worth spending twelve bucks on to try out if you want to see what fresher ones are like. Medjools are usually harvested towards the end of the year (Oct/Nov) & a lot of the other varieties are being harvested this month in the warmer states. I think if people knew just how amazingly good they were fresh, there'd be a HUGE demand for them in supermarkets, but most people's exposure is only to the nasty dried pieces in trail mix, or else to the horrible dehydrated ones they sell in small packs. It's like raisins vs. grapes, totally different eating experiences despite being from the same source fruit. I don't like the dry ones at all.

 

[chitwood]

memories of telling the fat hairy guy that drove the icecream truck through our neighborhood that I wanted one of these

 

[dank69]

Blasphemy!

However, for ice cream, there is only cookies and cream.

Agreed!

Nope, there is also this:

 

[Homerboy]

Get back to me when you've had frozen custard (Butter Pecan specifically) from Leon's

http://leonsfrozencustard.us/

 

[vi edit]

Kroger's private selection ice creams are awesome.

http://www.privateselection.com/artisan-products/frozen-foods/ice-cream/

Cookies and Cream and the Sea Salt Caramel are my favorites.

Also like blending their lemon and raspberry sorbetto's together.

 

[Kaido]

that's really interesting!

This is typically my approach, once the mango is ripe: (a bit soft to the touch)

1. Slice off the left & right wide (fat) parts (like in the gif)
2. Skim the inside edge into a glass, peels perfectly instantly
3. Make a slice with the knife on the remaining skinny skinned side & peel off the rest of the skin by hand, then eat that part & whatever is left around the core seed inside

Most of the meat comes off the fat vertical side parts like you see the in the video. The skinnier part is a lot tougher to cut & can be a bit stringy sometimes, so it usually makes more sense just to snack on it as you're prepping the mangos. You can chop up ten mangos like this in a minute or two, it's REALLY fast.

If you don't mind getting messy (from the juice) & want a fun snack, you can take the Rubix cube approach of slicing off a fat side & cubing it in the skin. Jump to 1:23 in this video & watch the magic happen at 1:50:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvLdPjpELyU#t=83

It's fun to eat this way because you get little bite-sized cubes, but can hold the whole thing in your hand. You can also take a butter knife or spoon & scrape out the cubes if you want to throw them in a salad or fruit salad or something. You can make smoothies, ice creams (well, sorbets & sherbets), and sauces (like mango chutney or mango salsa, which are actually pretty good), although if you have a fresh mango in the summertime, it's hard to not eat them all. Most of mine never make it past the slicing stage because they're too delicious not to eat

 

[Kaido]

memories of telling the fat hairy guy that drove the icecream truck through our neighborhood that I wanted one of these

Whoa, I'm having flashbacks. Ninja Turtle ice cream pops with candy eyes, those fake gum cigarettes with the powdered sugar smoke, stinkbombs...hahaha. What a different world we live in today...

 

[vi edit]

I love mango's, but at a buck or more each...ouch. Same with avocado's. They get pricey.

 

[Nograts]

Pralines and cream or get out of my face.

 

[Kaido]

Nope, there is also this:

One of the most glorious things about moving to New England was discovering Moose Tracks:

http://moosetracks.com/products/moose-tracks-ice-cream/

Vanilla ice cream with peanut-butter cups & fudge. Plus they have all kinds of variations like chocolate Moose Tracks, or fudge-filled cups if you like crazy amounts of chocolates.

I blame Moose Tracks for my dairy allergy

 

[Kaido]

I love mango's, but at a buck or more each...ouch. Same with avocado's. They get pricey.

Yup. And they're only a buck each in season when they're getting lots of shipments in, then they jump up to like $1.99 a pop :thumbsdown:

I just bought avocados yesterday...mediums, but on the smaller side, $1.66 each :thumbsdown:

 

[Nograts]

Yup. And they're only a buck each in season when they're getting lots of shipments in, then they jump up to like $1.99 a pop :thumbsdown:

I just bought avocados yesterday...mediums, but on the smaller side, $1.66 each :thumbsdown:

That's not bad for some guac last I checked. Hrmmm..

 

[KeithTalent]

One of the most glorious things about moving to New England was discovering Moose Tracks:

http://moosetracks.com/products/moose-tracks-ice-cream/

Vanilla ice cream with peanut-butter cups & fudge. Plus they have all kinds of variations like chocolate Moose Tracks, or fudge-filled cups if you like crazy amounts of chocolates.

I blame Moose Tracks for my dairy allergy

Moose Tracks is just a flavour; there are tonnes of different ice cream brands with a moose tracks flavour out here.

KT

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I love mango's, but at a buck or more each...ouch. Same with avocado's. They get pricey.

Sometimes I take CA for granted. During season they are super cheap around here at the Mexican or Asian markets.

 

[Homerboy]

Pralines and cream or get out of my face.

YES!

 

[Ns1]

Yup. And they're only a buck each in season when they're getting lots of shipments in, then they jump up to like $1.99 a pop :thumbsdown:

I just bought avocados yesterday...mediums, but on the smaller side, $1.66 each :thumbsdown:

Yesterday I ordered large avocados shipped from amazon - $1.25

 

[Kaido]

Moose Tracks is just a flavour; there are tonnes of different ice cream brands with a moose tracks flavour out here.

KT

Yeah, I was just linking to the first google link. But other brands sell alternative flavor options as well. They go pretty crazy out here sometimes :thumbsup:

 

[Kaido]

Yesterday I ordered large avocados shipped from amazon - $1.25

Link me! And post a review...I've heard of people ordering avocados online before, never done it myself!

 

[Ns1]

Link me! And post a review...I've heard of people ordering avocados online before, never done it myself!

https://fresh.amazon.com/