Bananas for Blue Bell

Most of my friends and family who are Texan (or who grew up in states that border Texas) are crazy for Blue Bell Ice Cream.  Those who live far from home are usually disappointed to discover that Blue Bell is not widely available throughout the U.S. According to Blue Bell's website, the brand is only available in about 30% of grocery stores in the U.S. Living in Washington, DC, the primary spot to snag a scoop of Blue Bell is Hill Country. But, now that I'm residing in Houston, Blue Bell is widely available. I was so impressed by the selection at my local grocery store that I stopped in the freezer section and took a photo.

After I posted the photo above on Facebook, several people inquired about Blue Bell's Banana Pudding Ice Cream. I'm not a huge fan of banana pudding. My Grandma made it best, and pretty much nothing else compares. But, when Hubby came home with a half gallon a few nights ago, I wasn't going to pass up a chance to try it. 

After doing some research on Blue Bell's website, I learned that the Banana Pudding flavor is a "rotational flavor," meaning that it isn't available year round. So, I guess I'm fortunate that I just happened to arrive in the Lone Star State when it is available. Blue Bell has a wide variety of seasonal and rotational flavors. The details of available flavors in a given month are available on the website.

The Banana Pudding Ice Cream is a beautiful shade of pale yellow. The ice cream is creamy and delicious with a pleasant banana flavor. Best of all, the ice cream is permeated with crushed Nilla wafers providing a pleasant contrast to the ice cream and great "mouth feel" (a term I've embraced having watched every episode of Top Chef). Basically, this is heaven in a bowl. Taking a big bite, my 2 year old son exclaimed, "My tummy is happy!" Even more amazingly, my entire family enjoyed this flavor. I can't recall a time when the four of us ever ate the same ice cream flavor.

I'm hopeful that over the next few months, I will have a chance to visit the Blue Bell factory in Brenham. But, for now, I'll just continue to explore the flavors available here in Houston.