37 Weeks and Cookie Dough

37 Week Picture (apparently I'm back to not smiling for the camera):



We are officially at full term as of yesterday! It doesn't really mean anything in terms of when he'll actually make an appearance, but it's still a nice landmark to pass. Charlie is still convinced we'll have a July baby but I'm mentally preparing myself for another 4 weeks of discomfort. At least that way if he comes early it's a nice surprise, rather than being disappointed as my due date comes and passes with no sign of the Minion. Everything is pretty much set to go, I need to get a few more cloth diapering supplies and install the carseat, but other than that all we're missing is the baby himself.

Charlie has discovered a new hidden talent - creating belly art. Here's the turtle that graced my belly earlier this week:



I have such a talented husband!

So about the ice cream. Since last week I enjoyed half of Half Baked this week I decided to try out the other half and see how well it handles things without the brownie quartet backing it up. I also decided that now was a good time to start cutting back on the amount of ice cream I eat, so I picked up one of the new single-servings for this week. Look how cute it is!



Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Vanilla Ice Cream with Gobs of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

We knew we were onto something big when we made the world's first Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream in 1986. It took us a while to iron out the details, but in 1991 we finally rolled the world's first Dough - in pints - out the door & into ice cream history. Today it still reigns among our all time most popular flavors.

The single serving pack is actually pretty nice - you can eat the whole thing in one sitting and not feel the least bit guilty when you feel your spoon hit the bottom of the cup. I haven't had plain cookie dough ice cream in quite a while. I remember when this kind of flavor first appeared - it was the summer that I was 9 years old and playing softball. We used to stop at this ice cream place in Colonia every so often after getting our butts kicked in a miserable fashion, and that's the first time I can remember seeing or tasting cookie dough ice cream. I have to say, it was love at first bite (oh, how cheesy was that!). Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough Chunk is the perfect cookie dough ice cream. There is an adequate amount of dough chunks, both small and large, and the vanilla ice cream is pleasant, if a little unexciting.

After trying this pint on its own I still consider myself to be a chocolate girl first and foremost. Don't get me wrong, there's something incredibly satisfying about biting into a huge chunk of cookie dough, but if forced to choose I'd go with something that involves a larger quantity of chocolate. To me, cookie dough is still best eaten off a spoon from a bowl, preferably with a glass of Riesling. Not that I've ever had that for dinner or anything when C was out of town....