My "Happy Things" List Includes Breyers
Do you ever stop and make a mental list of things that make you happy?
I do. Seriously. When I'm having a super-crappy day, I try to force myself to stop wallowing for a minute and list My Happy Things. All sorts of random things are usually on that list. There's the kid, chocolate, the way Penny's fur flops around when she runs, peanut butter, Max purring, cookies, sporks, sprinkles, flowers, ice cream, frogs in my pond, food . . . hey! Did I mention that food makes me happy? Especially dessert?
You know what makes me even happier? When I get to combine things that are on my Happy Things list. Give me chocolate and peanut butter and time with my kid and you've just made me the happiest human on earth.
Hello there, sexy!
You guys. YOU GUYS. Breyers and BlogHer asked me to review Breyers Blasts!® Chocolate REESE’S®. You can add THAT to My Happy Things list. Getting asked to review Breyers Blasts! is definitely one of My Happy Things.
A few weeks ago there was an evening when I didn't get home until it was almost time for Alexis to go to bed. I called when I was on my way home and told her that we would have some Breyers Blasts! together as soon as I walked in the door. I try to make it a point to spend a little time every day having a one-on-one conversation with her. Gathered at the kitchen table with a treat is an excellent way to get the conversation started.
She made herself a bowl and I made myself a milkshake. I kind of have a thing for chocolate/peanut butter milkshakes, by the way. That "thing" is that OMG I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.
We sat at the table talking about what we each did that day. Alexis talked about the things she had learned in school, she shared a funny story her bus driver had told her, and she told me about how she wanted to spend the weekend. It was nothing particularly exciting, but it was perfect. Everything about those moments was perfect.
Until Alexis finished her bowl.
Fortunately, we had some Breyers Blasts!® OREO® Birthday Blast! to try as well.
(Cake batter flavor + OREO cookies + sprinkles = YES. PLEASE.)
My Happy List is made up of things that may not seem significant, but thinking about sitting at our kitchen table sharing Breyers Blasts! while Alexis tells me about her day is one of those memories I'm going to hold in my heart forever.
What about you? How would you and your family enjoy Breyers Blasts!? Tell me in the comments below for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card.
Rules: No Purchase Necessary
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You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet about this promotion with hashtag #sweeps and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate free form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 6/28 to 7/26.
Be sure to visit the Breyers Blasts! brand page on BlogHer.com, where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Reader Comments (380)
EVERYONE (including my husband) would love this! Yum!
We'd enjoy it as a cool treat on a hot summer day.
Tweet: https://twitter.com/CarlyHobart/status/222508243061194752
My family and I could eat the wafflecone with chocalately chips right out of the carton.....are you kidding me!!!! All that yumminest should not be allows in one carton!
We would enjoy Breyers Blasts while watching movies with waffle cones!
I tweeted about the giveaway, I'm @AmberGoo:
https://twitter.com/AmberGoo/status/222532360816705537
We would enjoy it outside on a hot day!
We would sit on our front porch and enjoy our ice cream
nickieisis3atgmaildotcom
We would enjoy after a day at the park. I'm a traditionalist I usually go for just the vanilla bean, but the rest of the house can never decide which flavor to get they like them all
We would enjoy breyers blast on top of bownies!
Breyers midnight ice cream is one of my favorite treats. It helps relieve hunger and settles stomach acid for a good nights sleep. Please accept my entry. Thank you.
I'd enjoy it by making it into milkshakes.
For a weekend treat. Make my day, please.
love there reeces ice cream the best
We'd make our own version of a Blizzard.
We would use this for root beer floats and/or a sundae party for an upcoming august birthday!!
Tweeted 7/10 https://twitter.com/methhamfetabean/status/222671238869426176
Ice cream would be GREAT during these hot summer days!
We would enjoy making milkshakes and ice cream cones during these hot summer days for desserts
kport207 at gmail dot com
We would love the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Blasts! The combination of peanut butter and chocolate is one of our favorites. We would enjoy it any time after supper.
We'd eat these Blasts! straight up in a bowl or sugar cone in the evening after a summer bbq. Thanks.
We would enjoy Breyers Blasts while watching a good movie.
austma7@aol.com
I want the Reese blast -just a big scoop or two in a bowl-no toppings needed.
We enjoy it kicking back on the couch together watching TV or a movie
My two daughters enjoy ice cream during the hotter days of summer.
Bowl of ice cream in the evening watching a movie~
yum, we'd love Breyer's Blasts - the more stuff in the ice cream the better! In the evenings, ice cream is always a great treat for all of us! I do wish Breyers would go back to making ice cream instead of 'frozen dairy desserts' and that the now 1.5 quart container would return to the half gallon size.
Thanks for the giveaway!
tweet: https://twitter.com/js22222222/status/222752751355047936
I think we would love blast after a great day at the docks or backyard camping.
we love eating ice cream at night while watching tv
We love Breyers, their new PB&J flavor is delicious!
https://twitter.com/prismperfect/status/222779216998051840
sit on porch and eat ice cream
We would enjoy Breyer's Blasts with a blonde M&M brownie. Heck, it could be dinner in and of itself like that! :-)
I tweeted @getbackzack. https://twitter.com/getbackzack/status/222802783064166400
We would enjoy Breyers Blasts on the deck during hot summer evenings
my husband loves ice cream, but I don't buy it very often beacause of the calories. my family would enjoy Breyers Blasts on a summer night, forget about the calories and just enjoy the lovely cold ice cream like the kids do!
tweet
https://twitter.com/hbbs55/status/222837887761268736
would enjoy after a great dinner and watching a movie
We'd enjoy ice cream on hot summer days!
We would gather to have a Banana Split Party for sure.
marybug3 @ yahoo . com
Tweeted
https://twitter.com/marybug2/status/222853362167721984
marybug2 @ yahoo . com
One of the small things that has turned out to be true of me is a mild allergy to food coloring. It had a demonstrable physiological effect after a delay of about twenty minutes, and it manifests as discomfort and occasional awkwardness or bemusement on the part of spectators. Lessons learned, I try to avoid the stuff, and it is no small consequence that I have to be careful when it comes to ice cream packed in tubs, photorealistic pictures plastered to the packaging, posed scoops set with skill I've never felt need to practice. I've never been an fool for presentation.
I am other kinds of fool, though. I am fool enough to make my own ice cream. It's incredibly easy if you have everything you need. You will need some things.
You will need some ingredients. I start with milk, cream, sugar, and other stuff (we'll get to those). How much you need depends on the size of your churner, but I aim for one part milk to one part cream and then sugar to taste; remember to make it sweet enough to remain so when cold on the tongue. To make the mix, heat the milk and cream and sugar with the other stuff, cool it all down again (some hours in the fridge are best), and then turn it out into the churner.
You will need a churner. Those counter-top appliance things probably work well (they've certainly gotten better). I don't have one; I've got a bucket to hold ice and salt around a turning cylinder to hold the ice cream mix around a dasher which holds hidden secrets while it scrapes and folds, scrapes and folds. I cheat a little, as my ice cream churner has an electric motor, but the motor is as loud as can be in a pessimal way. My parents yet own an ice cream churner that sports enamel, boasts gears made of metal, has a big crank on the side that ends in a wooden handle. It makes a cheerful clatter when you turn it. I will pretend for the rest of this comment that we will be using that.
You will need some ice. You will need enough ice to fill up the space between the bucket and the cylinder, and then a bit more. It is important to select good ice; go find ice that is in small granules, somewhat less than the size of peas. The best bet for finding this wonderful stuff is your fishmonger. Carefully culture a friendship with your fishmonger. Ask them what they recommend for dinner. Ask them how you might best cook it to please yourself and any or all others at your table. Trust them! Tell them how it went, and ask them what's next. Soon, they will see you coming, they will pat a piece they have set aside for you wrapped up in paper, knowing what you like and how you like it. You will be able to say to them in earnest, "some jerk on the internet is trying to tell me how to make ice cream with an antique churner and I need some ice; may I have some ice?" They will smile! They will give you enough ice. You may want to bring them some of the ice cream. Keep the ice as cold as you can, so it stays in small pieces.
Salt is easy; get some salt. You may need more of it than you think.
So. We have our mix, chilled. We have our ice, our salt, our churner. Put the dasher in the cylinder, pour the mix into the cylinder, put the top on the cylinder, put the cylinder in the bucket, put an inch of ice in the bucket all around the cylinder, sprinkle a tablespoon of salt on the ice, then stack inches of ice and tablespoons of salt all the way to just below the top of the cylinder (don't go so high as to get any salt in the cylinder). Put on the top of the churner and start cranking. As you crank, the salt and the ice will form a supercooled brine. As you crank, the brine will freeze the ice cream mix at the outer edge of the cylinder into little crystals. As you crank, the dasher will scrape and fold these crystals back into the mix. You cannot stop cranking until all of the mix has been crystalized, scraped, and folded. As more and more crystals form, it will get harder to crank. Your arms will get tired.
You will need some gullible children. Small ones may need to use both hands, but the wooden handles are big enough for two hands if the hands are small. It is very important to keep cranking, though, and we must not stop cranking, no. After about twenty minutes, after your arms are on fire, after you have run out of gullible children, and when the crank is very stuff and stubborn, turn the ice cream out into a tub and let it set in the freezer for an hour or three. Letting the children lick the dasher will keep them gullible a little while longer.
My favorite recipe is Honey Vanilla Ginger. To make this, add this stuff to the mix when you're heating it: one or two vanilla beans that have been split and scraped, one or two inches of scrubbed but unpeeled ginger root that has been cut thinly against the grain. Instead of sugar, use good honey. Strain it after cooling, and before pouring into the cylinder. My favorite thing to do with Honey Vanilla Ginger ice cream is to plop a scoop into a Gin & Tonic. I can't describe that; you'll just need to try it and see.
We would sit on our deck after dinner and enjoy our ice cream. Yum
I would enjoy Breyers Blasts as part of my nightly ritual on the couch. I'm pregnant, so I've been enjoying quite a bit of ice cream.
lauren.uda(at)gmail(dot)com
My teenage daughter and I just enjoyed Breyer's Blasts Whoppers as we talked about how her evening at work went.
twitted this, 10.6
My fiance and I would enjoy Breyer's Blast curled up on the sofa watching a movie. We love trying new ice creams.
https://twitter.com/pierreplover/status/222938617532780544
I tweeted!
I'd enjoy them out on the deck on a warm summer evening.