N.C. Double Scoop: The Scooper Bowl
Mint chocolate chip vs. vanilla. Is this match-up proof that vanilla isn’t boring and green dyed ice cream isn’t radioactive? I’m not sure. What I do know is that I love vanilla ice cream. I love vanilla bean, French vanilla, malted vanilla, and regular vanilla. I love that vanilla comes from very special orchids. I love that I just learned the Latin derivative of “vanilla.” Wow. No one should call “vanilla” boring after that little revelation. Tee hee hee.) VAGINA! VANILLA MEANS VAGINA! I have never been more eight years old as I am right now.
…Ahem. I do want vanilla to win like the classic, stately old lady that she is, but mint choco-chip has many minions. Legions of minions. So, cut down the net because it’s mint chocolate chip for the WIN!
Tags: food
I love both flavours, but I had to go with the Standalone Rule – would I eat a big bowl of vanilla without adding anything (chocolate sauce, pie, sprinkles, whatever)? No. Good old MCC doesn’t need any accessories – it’s just a damn good ice cream.
WHOA whoa whoa. Ok. I was fine with chocolate losing in the 8 round; while it’s clearly the quintessential ice cream flavor and SHOULD win it all, I felt that cookie dough was a worthy adversary. But now you’re telling me that chocolate gave it up early, and its conqueror didn’t even MAKE it to the FINAL?!
This is not right.
Nothing wrong with being eight. I’ve been twelve for thirteen years now.
I predict vanilla will take it. Which, I have to admit, surprises me.
The vote thingy isn’t working for me (the page header and title load, but there’s no voting box), but my vote would’ve gone to mint chocolate chip. Vanilla is, you know, nice. It goes with… stuff. On its own, though, it’s — well, vanilla.
I’m only ok with MCC that is NOT green. Bleh.
See I went with vanilla simply for the versatility. A good scoop of vanilla bean is delicious on it’s own, but with vanilla you can do everything from cones to sundaes to floats.
Mint choco chip is delish, but really only in scoop form.
Blah.
I knew vanilla would win.
Well, that puts a whole new spin on “vanilla” sex.
While I love me some mint chocolate chip ice cream, vanilla has always been my favorite. Because it goes with so many things. Why is my mind in the gutter? Because I, too, am eight. And I’ll just be over here snickering in the corner.
@ Molly, heh, thanks! I’m still giggling.
Also, whoever recommended I try Izzy’s pink grapefruit sorbet is awesome. Went to Izzy’s last week when I was home and got to sample it. It was probably the most amazing sorbet I’ve ever had. More people need to make it. Got to have salted caramel as well.
I think I had a similar experience when I found out the etymology of “Porcelain”.
…8 is a good age.
I’m using the Force as hard as I can, over here. VaaaaaaaaNILLLLLa.
Can I vote for “None of the above”? Haaaaate mint chocolate chip, and I, too, subscribe to Elizabeth’s “Standalone Rule”: vanilla is not a flavor I would eat on it’s own, therefor not worthy of a vote.
I’m going to go drown my sorrows in a bowl of Mexican chocolate. (le sniff, le sigh, le pout)
Vanilla! While I love mint in its own right, mint chocolate chip always tastes like toothpaste with wax additives to me. I will eat vanilla any way and any how.
Sorry, but this is the most boring final two since Survivor Vanuatu.
@Mariam: EWWWWWWWWW. So…I’m thinking somebody had been looking entirely too closely at ladypigbits. Is this also the source for the verb “to pork”?
Vanilla has to win – think of the babies, people. Please remember the babies!
Oh poor strawberry and I am still bitter about Dulce de Leche.
I do love vanilla but it is like third on my list. As for MCC, if I could remove the mint, I would eat it up. I would even keep the green color.
Come on vanilla.
The next Munchies Madness should definitely be breakfast cereals. Someone suggested that a while back, and I heartily concur.
CHEERIOS FOR THE WIN! Or Rice Krispies.
See, I care about vanilla/MCC no longer.
Nothing against MCC, but I’ve been slowly working my way through a pint of Bruster’s vanilla this week (okay, I added vodka-soaked strawberries to it), and it was rich and tasty and I would have been happy to eat it without any additions whatsoever.
On the other hand, I do have some fond memories of eating MCC with friends outside one winter in Massachusetts, so I won’t be too upset if vanilla gets creamed (heh).
Is Glark madly clearing his cache and repeatedly voting for vanilla?
While it is a lovely companion food, I’d NEVER order it on an ice cream cone. And that, folks, is a deal breaker. Go MCC!
@Jaybird: I only made a casual connection between porcelain and porcine, I had no idea that end bits were involved until I was doing a quick once over for spelling. By then I was already listening to Moby and such info was too gross to keep to myself.
I haven’t looked at pig naughtyparts in ~14 years and, if memory serves, our fetal pig dissecticon was a dude-pig. I would, however, imagine the verb “to pork” would have rather evolved due to the squeally sounds that stuck pigs make and potential…homologous sounds where porking is concerned.
Of course, the fake word dissecticon is close enough to decepticon that now I will only be able to imagine pigs making transformers noises.
These are my two fave flavors from childhood…
but I went with mint chocolate chip. I can only eat vanilla bean ice cream, but I’ve never had a bad mint chocolate chip. Plus, getting mint chocolate chip ice cream was the ultimate treat.
” The Vanilla Monologues” would not have had the same impact …but I too dislike MCC cannot eat it …
When I ask myself which I would want to eat for the rest of my life if I could *only* have one, it’s not so much about what I would want as what I would miss. And the idea of my mother’s championship pecan pie without an accompanying scoop of melty Haagen-Dazs is not a happy one.
But straight-up-and-down in a bowl with a spoon? MCC, no contest, so that’s how I voted.
I like the waxy chips and all things mint, but chocolate waffle cones *require* vanilla. So voted.
Pecan pie!! Is there a recipe? I LOVE pecan pie.
I have to agree with The Versatility Rule – you want sprinkles, you want some pie a la mode (…heh, Little Miss Sunshine moment), you want floats… you NEED vanilla. And some good quality vanilla ice cream (vanilla bean, french vanilla, and similar) are nice, subtle standalone choices. MCC sits in a cone or a dish solo – it can’t have anything else, even if you try.
This is added to the fact that I’m standing my ground on vanilla despite MCC being my childhood favourite AND the fact that I’ve been missing MCC like freakin’ crazy (living in the Midwest and being lactose intolerant, I can find some places that have some Rice Dream or similar lactose-free vanilla, but MCC is either not being sold or is getting sold out before I get there).
VANILLA! Yaaayyyy! I’m so glad that some version of vanilla made it to the end. French Vanilla should have been the vanilla to make it, of course, but hey. I would – and do – get vanilla on a cone, all by itself. I think it’s delicious, both by itself and with other things (like apple pie, or peach pie, or just about any kind of pie or cake). Mint chocolate chip is… okay. I would eat it. But I wouldn’t pick it over other ice creams unless the selection were pretty dire. Admittedly, I don’t like chocolate very much, but my biggest gripe with MCC is the hard chips you have to bite. I don’t want to have to bite my ice cream.
But anyway… go vanilla! :)
No contest! Give me the green dye any time :)
I adore MCC (sorry baby at the receiving end of Glark’s fist…), but I had to vote for vanilla. Because a world without a good vanilla would be sad place, indeed.
WOOHOO! Vanilla at 54% right now. For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my ice cream.
I finally tracked down some Haagen Dazs Fleur de Sel Caramel. MMM! So much better than Dulce de Leche, and I had no idea there’d be different caramel ice creams to fill my needs. I can’t wait to track down more of the flavors on the list I had to make when the NCDS started…
Sara u=in red – try clearing your cookies & caches & refresh your browser.
Vanilla is winning by a mile! VAGINAS RULE!!!
Poo – I can’t type.
u=in is “in” – sorry.
Mint chip doesn’t HAVE to be dyed green. If the ice cream makers know what they’re doing, they DON’T dye it green — they just concentrate on the taste and don’t muck about with whether or not it “looks” minty.
This was no contest. I love mint. Love love love it. I actually made a lot of ice cream this summer, and when I was making my batch of mint chip, I doubled the amount of mint extract — and ended up with something that tasted for all the world like Altoid flavor ice cream. And I LOVED IT.
@Jaybird: Hee! Pork. I foresee a melding of the NCDS and Things Kids Will Say At The Worst Possible Moments threads in future comments. (Because, really, who isn’t eight whenever possible?)
I attempted the Caramel au Beurre Salé Ice Cream from The Perfect Scoop this weekend, but my ice cream maker wasn’t cooperating. (The high proportion of sugar makes the mixture VERY soft.) It tastes really, really good, though.
Andale, vainilla!
I curse this poll for giving me an addiciton worthy of clinical treatment. Before NCDS, I lived happily ignorant to Sticky Toffee Pudding’s existence. Now, I can’t pass a freezer aisle without checking. If STP is available, I purchase. And consume. And consume some more until the blasted stuff is gone. Damn you, Haagen Das, NCDS and my snug-fitting pants!
Oh yeah-my vote: go Vanilla! You can add to or take away from it, and it’s still good!
@Sandman: Yeah, tell me about the “Kids Say the Darndest Things” bit. My five-year-old chirped “Mommy’s a SCREAMER” to my in-laws, rather matter-of-factly, during our last visit.
My two favorite flavors, facing off in the finals. On the one hand, I have to be ecstatic that they both made it this far. On the other, how depressing to have to choose between them.
I’m one of MCC’s minions. Vanilla is so boring it has become its own adjective…
“Vanilla Dentata” is totally going to be the name of my next band.
Until I read this comment thread, I had no idea the nasty gack known as mint chocolate chip had any fans at all. At least, any fans out of grade school. Maybe it’s regional, but the one and only time I saw it in someone’s home was when a friend’s mom bought some for the littles. And all the rest of us were gagging over it.
That said, MCC isn’t inherently nasty, I’ve just never had any storebought that tasted good. I made my own last summer using fresh pulverized mint and really good-quality chocolate, and it was aces.
So it’s vanilla all the way here.
I love a good vanilla (not vanilla bean, silly flecks). It’s rich and sweet and creamy and doesn’t feel the need to entertain or assault you. It just comes in and gives you a comforting bit of subtle goodness. Oh yes, it’s good on things and in things, but it’s perfectly lovely all by itself. Given the choice, I’d have a scoop of simply wonderful vanilla over any other any time.
Oop, MCC is comin’ on!
(Also, I’d love to know why the ads on the voting page are for Blue Bunny ice cream and…Phillies tickets. Hilarious.)
Vanilla’s only ahead by 2%
MCC, MCC, MCC. Come on, you guys.
Vanilla is fine, but in small doses and never on its own. To me, vanilla works well as a flavour enhancer, as in baking, but as a side it also can be replaced by other flavours – you have not fully lived if you haven’t had a slab of warm apple crumble with maple ice cream, especially with maple sugar crunchy bits. Something that’s easily replaceable doesn’t belong at #1.
Vanilla also always seems to need assistance: chocolate sauce, chopped nuts, macerated fruit (which, trust me, rocks – mixed berries in limoncello on vanilla ), gummibears, whatever. Once something else is splooshed on or mixed into it, it’s no longer strictly vanilla. Something that can’t hold its own doesn’t belong at #1.
Vanilla is also tricky from a scent standpoint. If something has an intense vanilla smell, I’ll likely gag – I can’t go near a Yankee Candles shop for the same reason. Something that makes me bazooka barf doesn’t belong at #1.
MCC, on the other hand…I can hoover a quart of the BR stuff at a single sitting. Yes, the colouring is possibly a carcinogen and the quality of chocolate is questionable, but it brings back lovely childhood memories of fighting with my brother for the last scoop on the Mount Olympus, or sneaking the ice cream at the cottage at night and being scared spitless by a loon calling right below the window. Ahh, memories. I have no such warm fuzzies for vanilla. The emotionally banal does not belong at #1.
Mint is calming, both the scent and the taste. This is a good thing – ask your therapist or gastro-enterologist. Plus it also helps the breath, if this is a problem.
Real MCC can be sublime – made with fresh mint right out of the garden and the insanely expensive chocolate of your choice. Plus mint is a digestive, so you can eat as much as you want without gettting sick!! How great is that?
MCC: stress-relieving, anti-halitosis, open to culinary experimentation, and with self-contained stomach medication.
THIS is a #1 ice cream.
I will never think of vanilla again without thinking of the Latin derivative. Just watch. Someone will order a vanilla latte in front of me in line at Starbucks and I will start giggling.
@Arford: I’m totally going to Vanilla Dentata’s first show, especially if you get Tomato Nation to sponsor t-shirts with the AngryVan face on them.
Maybe the Phillies tickets ads are due to your recent review of the book on the ’77 Phillies. It’s not like there are any Yankees tickets/games left.