First a little background info and how we ended up at this shop.
As you may or may not be aware, we have a slight, or not so slight, addiction to Blue Bell Ice Cream. It really is bad. Everywhere we go in the south or west (as that is there “territory”) we have to search for Blue Bell Ice Cream. Whether it is in the local grocery stores or in a specialty ice cream shop.
While visiting some friends in Hoover, Alabama they took us to a crack house…I mean, a Blue Bell Ice Cream shop…The Whole Scoop Ice Cream Shop. (I did mention we were addicted right?)
The Whole Scoop Ice Cream Shop In Hoover, Alabama
Memory Wall In The Whole Scoop Ice Cream Shop
Of course with them selling almost exclusively Blue Bell Ice Cream, we were hopeful that they might have our favorite flavor, the ever elusive, very hard to find, if at all (because we can’t find it in any store anymore) Chocolate Peanut Butter!
And behold…They did! Yay!
Finding Chocolate Peanut Butter Blue Bell Ice Cream!
This is where we literally jumped for joy.
OK…maybe we didn’t jump so much as just sit quietly and licked our bowls clean. Indulging ourselves with a couple scoops of chocolate peanut butter. We had our fix. (Long overdue.)
But seeing we had a taste, we weren’t satisfied with just that. Oh no. We sought out and met the dealer…hummm… shop owner, who happened to be on site watching his “employees” hand out little tastes to people like it was candy. Just giving them little tastes of this and of that, and then BAM! They are hooked and need to order scoops of it. So sad, for we knew it would not end there for them.
We told him how hard it was to find the chocolate peanut butter flavor. Both David and the owner, lets also call him “David”, came up with a solution. We could just buy a 3-gallon tub from them. That should last us a good long time…. Right?
Well, he didn’t have a spare one and we were leaving the next day to head to Florida. So ordering it was out of the question.
Boo!
However, we were coming back this way when we left Florida in a few weeks and we could have it ordered for that time. He would just make a call to his “supplier” and make it happen.
Yay!
2 Pints Of Chocolate Peanut Butter Blue Bell
So our solution to get us by in the mean time? We bought 2 pints of course of the hard stuff. (Chocolate Peanut Butter)
Sad to say that didn’t last long for us but that was all the room in the freezer we had. The extra time in Florida did give us time to clean out our freezer to make room for the large 3 gallon container though.
Still doubtful it would fit, we called “David” when we arrived back into the area and asked if he could measure the container.
Yes! If the measurements were accurate, we would just be able to fit the 3 gallons in there. Crossing our fingers now.
A few days later the call came in, he had the “stuff” we wanted.
Time has come to pick up the 3-gallons of Chocolate Peanut Butter and really see if it’ll fit or not in our freezer so we could transport it across the state lines. Worse case scenario is we transfer it to a different container, or several, so we could surely hide it as needed. (And by that I mean hide my 1.5 gallons from David who was not going to get any of my portion.) Needless to say, we were NOT going to drive away from Hoover without some Chocolate Peanut Butter!
The Whole Scoop Ice Cream Shop In Hoover, Alabama
It Fits! It Fits!
And the verdict is…
It fits! It fits!
Life is indeed good.
So the lesson that we all have learned from this?
That YES, money can indeed buy happiness. OR at least rent it for a short time. You just have to make sure you have enough freezer space for said happiness.
Also learned, people can still surprise you. Thinking this was going to cost us a small fortune, after all, it is Chocolate Peanut Butter, that was not the case. We met a fair man with a willingness to help us with out with our little problem. So A BIG Thank You goes out to David, yes that is his real name, the owner and the whole gang at The Whole Scoop Ice Cream Shop for making this happen. If you are in the area, please stop in and tell them we said hello. (And buy some ice cream of course.)
And please, no need to write to us about how to kick our addiction. We are fully aware of the withdrawal symptoms. We are starting our trek north and will soon be out of the Blue Bell territory. So we are just going to enjoy this 3 gallons for as long as we can. Only one painful spoonful a day. (Side Note: David added this last sentence and I want to go on the record as to say, I will not be abiding by the one spoonful a day rule :) ).
The City of Sylacauga (40 miles east of birmingham on hwy 280) is worthy of some visit time – first, there is a huge marble quarry that is opened right now for 2 weeks – giving free tours to the public – and….the blue bell ice cream factory and outlet store – well worth your time to visit! Call the city hall and book your tour in the next day or two!
That does sound interesting. Sorry to say we are heading north to our summer location and are on a time schedule. We will be in this area again however (after all, this is where our dealer/supplier is) and we’ll have to keep our eyes open for more tours of the quarry. Thanks for that.
If you ever find yourself up in Brenham, TX again, you should really stop in and take the BB “factory” tour. It’s AMAZING..and it provides a lot of insight into just why their particular crack/cream is so very good. SOOOO very good. Also may explain why your favorite flavor is so hard to find. And, oh, yeah, they give out scoops at the end! WELL worth the time it takes to visit. While you’re there, visit Shiner for a brewery tour..also worth the time. :) enjoy!
Yes, I can’t believe we haven’t been close enough to an area to take a tour. It’s definitely on our list! Thanks.
OK Folks.. We follow your Bubble on lots of things even in our Tiffin 45LP but when you are up our way again in Oregon go to the Tillamook Factory and they will have your Choc/Pnut and it is great ice cream! Maybe they got BB’s recipe.
We have yet to get to Oregon, however, we have tasted Tillamook while we were in Utah as they sold it there. And yes…it was VERY good and a good BB substitute. Good to know they give tours and now that is added to our list. Who doesn’t like an ice cream tour after all?
In the Northwest yes Tillamook is good but Umpqua, also in Oregon makes a killer chocolate peanut butter. I’m a peanut butter ice cream expert so I know:)
update on Sylacauga – the tours of the quarry needed today – however, blue bell factory gives tours – call 256-249-6100 and make a reservation. Also, there are marble carvers working on various projects right now that you would find to be very interesting – on Norton Street.
I must of missed what BB is all about. I know it’s an ice cream, but what is the flavor?
Blue Bell is the company that makes very additive ice cream. All kind of, well, weird, like Birthday Cake that has actual birthday cake in it. Not sure if that is what you meant.
Hilarious post! I understand your addiction completely, I too have the addiction. And NO! I do not want help with it. Don’t know where you’re headed up north but FYI, Blue Bell ice cream is carried in most grocery stores in Indiana. Safe travels!
Good to know. Hopefully that means it’s just a matter of time before it hits western NY. One can only hope.
Having grown up in central TX.. Blue Bell is just a way of life. Heck, we could get our fix at lunch time in the high school cafeteria (legally, I might add) :)
So I completely understand. We were just shopping in a TX HEB grocery store and found ALL Blue Bell products had been pulled from the shelves due to possible food contamination. Eeeps!!!
Thankfully, Blue Bell is now appearing across the country. No longer the exclusive TX rights it once was. Enjoy your treasure.. 3G.. that should last about 2 nights? :)
Blue Bell made it to Indianapolis a couple of years ago. Elwood (just North of Indy) has an ice cream shop that serves Blue Bell. “We eat all we can and sell the rest.”
Brenda: How far north are you coming? We are in NY?
We are originally from Rochester, NY so we go back there every Spring/Summer to visit family, friends and doctors. We are planning on staying up there most of the summer this year and not heading back out until Fall. We stay at Southwoods RV Resort in Byron, NY.
When you have finished travelling the crack/ice cream states, you need to come to New Zealand, the land flowing of ice cream and honey. Creamy. Real. Mmmmm. Current favourite is Munro Rush Walnut and Maple Syrup. When we go to the Natural New Zealand Ice Cream parlour in the malls it is soooo difficult to choose our favourite. Each one lives up to our high expectation and all the ingredients are pure and healthy. Even love the Vanilla Bean.
New Zealand, Ice Cream and Honey? Sounds like our kinda place! A little far for us to travel right now but we would love to get some international travel under our belt some time in the future. Thanks for that.
Hi Brenda, lovely to hear from you. I have just found the button to see comments and reply to them. I’m still learning about blogging. We love following your blog.
Aw our “addiction is Conecuh Smoked Sausage. We buy as much as we can stuff into our small RV fridge (10 cf). It is only found in the South so we have to buy enough to last us until we go South for the winter. Who needs regular food.
I know what you mean. When we are back in the Rochester, NY area there’s a local grocery store called Wegmans and they make (there brand) an organic tea/lemonade drink that David is totally in love with. We stock up as much as we can before we leave the area so he has a good supply for a while.
Everyone you have to go to Lancaster Pa and try the Turkey Hill chocolate peanut butter ice cream. Very close to Blue Bell and can be found in Wegmans and Tops in Western NY. Enjoy
We have Turkey Hill up in the Rochester, NY area. We’ve tried it but when we are back up north we like to indulge in Abbott’s Frozen Custard (chocolate almond). A Rochester tradition. Yum! There really is no limit to the good treats that we have found and can look forward to when in certain areas. Thanks.
Just saw on the news where they are recalling ALL of their products.
Hmm could not find that info anywhere, maybe they put too much peanut butter in it.
Yes, Blue Bell has a nationwide recall for Listeria, a nasty stomach disease along the lines of ecoli. Can make you very sick or even kill some people with comprised immune systems. Sorry, but you really should toss that out.
Yes, we heard. :( See, we knew they would catch them at some point and cut us off. Maybe our blog was all the evidence they needed to stop these specially suppliers. :)
Just saw this on the news. Sure that they will make it right.
http://news.yahoo.com/blue-bell-creameries-issues-recall-products-022223073–finance.html?.tsrc=samsungwn&.sep=table
Yes, we heard. :( No way for us to return 3 gallons of this drug…hummm…ice cream. Now will will surely go through withdraw as it was all we had to carry us though the summer with one spoon hit a day. Sigh.
Awww, so sorry. Saw what you went through to get it. Knowing MY husband, he’d tell me, “well, we’ve been eating it and we aren’t sick, so why should I throw it away?” Hmmm. I’d probably have to do it in the middle of the night while he slept. Ha!
Since you are headed to Perry’s country, try Fools Gold. Also I’m seeing a lot of salty caramels popping up. Ben &Jerrys and Hersey’s are pretty yummy!
Before you toss that frozen gold , I might call the plant/ home office with your lot number to see
if your 3 gal is on the recall list .. Darn, we are headed for Elkhart and sure did want to put some in the freezer
LOL…We are going to eat it. We really are not to concerned actually. I do really hope however they get it back on the shelves as there are a lot of people now going through withdraw.
I found OOB when I saw the video about the fire and the dog, which was just a few days ago. However, I felt I had to contribute to this ice cream topic, even if I am coming late to the table.
If you find that you will be coming to Louisville, there is an ice cream shop here that makes its own ice cream – Comfy Cow. There are several locations. Any chocolate flavor ice cream they make is my favorite. They switch around the flavors every month. You could find that you have a new addiction! :)
Leslie Ewing
So cute . I admit I didn’t read every word of the story ( my ADD ont let me read something as long as this) so I skimmed through the second half. But it was fun to see someone else with the same obsession as me. What do the put in this stuff? I found your story because I googled “Why am I addicted to Blue Bell ice cream?” I havnt yet found the answer. Maybe I’m add it’s to the Listeria. Ouch, too soon?