Happy National Ice Cream Day!

Blue Bell Ice Creamery. Century Sundae. This ice cream has homemade vanilla with swirls of caramel and chocolate, creamy whipped topping, and chopped maraschino cherries. I really like the texture of this ice cream. The soft whipped topping was nice and airy and the caramel swirls were tasty. I usually don’t like maraschino cherries in ice cream, but due to the size of the chopped cherries it was ok. The cherries added a nice sweet flavor that melts on your tongue. This was a good ice cream. Give it a try. Rated 4.8 out of 5-D
Century Sundae from Blue Bell Ice Cream. While browsing the ice cream isles this Blue Bell product has been catching my eye. We finally picked it up one Friday night and decided to give it a try, why not? Blue Bell has made an ice cream sundae all conveniently packed into one of their famous half gallon tubs. Though this ice cream was good, it unfortunately was not my favorite. I would have to disagree with D on the chopped cherries; I would have preferred to have whole cherries or perhaps even cherry halves. I also thought the whipped topping was weak compared to the whipped topping that was in the Key Lime Pie Blue Bell we reviewed. The swirls of chocolate and caramel were okay, but the caramel sort of got lost in the ice cream. And of course the homemade vanilla was perfect, as usual. Give it and try and lets us know your thoughts! Rated 4. 7 out of 5. -A

Mrs. Renfro's Ghost Pepper Salsa

Mrs. Renfro’s Ghost Pepper Salsa out of Fort Worth Texas. This salsa was hot. I have had ghost peppers in other foods but nothing tasted this hot before, which is a good thing. I really liked this salsa. It’s one of the hotter salsas I have tried and one of the hotter ones we have reviewed. It has a nice smokey flavor to it. I immediately felt the heat as soon as it hit my taste buds. It has a slight vinegar taste to it. This salsa has a medium consistency and a nice flavor profile. It is made, like all Mrs. Renfros salsa with all natural ingredients. If you like hot salsa, give this a try. Rated 4.85 out of 5-D.
Mrs. Renfro’s Ghost Pepper Salsa. I was pretty excited to give this salsa a try, especially since we love Mrs. Renfro’s products. This salsa didn’t disappoint. Even though it is packed with a lot of heat, I like that the heat doesn’t completely overpower the taste of the spices in the salsa. I can definitely taste hints of garlic and vinegar, and then the heat kicks in. The heat stays on your tongue minutes after you are done eating, which I kind of like. It wasn’t runny but I wish it was chunkier. Overall I think this was a great salsa and I hope y’all give it a try if you haven’t (be prepared if you’re not used to the hotness of ghost peppers). Rated 4.8 out of 5. -A

Dublin Bottling Works Tart-N-Sweet Lemonade

Dublin Bottling Works Tart-N-Sweet Lemonade. “Always made with pure cane sugar”. This drink had equal (perfect) amounts of tartness and sweetness to it; the first sip will make you pucker a bit. It had a crisp, fresh, sweet taste and was a perfect thirst-quencher on a hot, Texas summer day. Even though it doesn’t list carbonated water as an ingredient, it does have a slight bubbly texture on your tongue. All in all, it is a great sweet drink to treat yourself on a hot day when you want good bottled lemonade which can be sometimes hard to find. Once again, Dublin doesn’t disappoint! Give it a try and let us know what you think?! Rated 5 outta 5. – A and D.

Blue Bell Rockslide Brownie

Blue Bell Rockslide Brownie. This ice cream was great! Delicious, creamy dark chocolate ice cream was the base to this frozen treat. I was really impressed that the marshmallows were so soft and fluffy. I thought that would have hardened up in the ice cream. And the mix of pecans, almonds, and walnuts were a perfect addition, each nut chopped ideally. The brownie pieces were delicious and chewy. My only complaint with the brownies is that I wish there were more in there. It seemed as if we only got three pieces in the whole pint. I also wish that there were more swirls of caramel; I could hardly taste it unfortunately. All in all, it was another great tasting ice cream from Blue Bell, I would definitely get this flavor again despite some of the small mishaps with it. Rated 4.9 out of 5. -A
Blue Bell Creameries, based in Brenham, Texas. Rockslide Brownie. This ice cream was great. It had dark chocolate ice cream with the perfect amount of Caramel swirls in it. I really liked the rich chucks of brownie mixed in .And chopped almonds, pecans and walnuts tasted good, Usually I don’t like nuts in ice cream but this was an exception. The fluffy marshmallow bits were great. Nice and soft, not frozen hard. If y’all like brownies and ice cream give this a try it won’t disappoint. May be my new favorite. Rated 5 out of 5-D

Shiner Original Smoked Sausage

We reviewed Shiner’s Smokehouse from Shiner, Texas. The Shiner original smoked sausage. John Patek moved to Texas from Czechoslovakia in 1889. They started a grocery store in 1937.With much success they expanded into a smoked sausage and meat market. Four generations later, Brian Patek founded Shiner Smokehouse to share their Czechoslovakian heritage with Texas. This smoked sausage was great. It had a really deep smoke flavor. The great quality meat melts in your mouth. I did think that the casing was a little too tough, but not enough to hinder the enjoyment of this sausage. They recently signed a deal with Kroger’s so all of Texas can enjoy their products. One of the better sausages I have tried. Rated 4.85 out of 5-Dave
Shiner Original Smoked Sausage from Shiner’s Smokehouse in you guessed it, Shiner, Texas! We have heard about the Shiner Smokehouse, but with our busy schedules it’s hard to get a break to visit these awesome places (we are in the DFW area). So we were excited to hear about the deal they made with Kroger’s that brought their sausages to the DFW area (yah)! The sausage had a great, fresh taste and had a lot of smoked flavor (love the bountiful smoked flavor). It was juicy and tender with no additives or fillers! It had the perfect amount of spices to compliment the meat. The casing had a great snap to it, but I do have to admit that the first bite I was surprised how thick the casing was. But that definitely doesn’t change my view on the sausage itself, why? Because it’s one of the better tasting sausages I have had and I really look forward to getting my hands on their other products (the Shiner Beer Brats have caught my eye)! Those of you in the DFW are or anywhere in Texas, give this a try and let us know what you think! Rated 4.75 out of 5. -Allison