Ice Cream Love

Ice cream is probably my favorite food.  I blame my dear mother for this because when I was a child she used to take me to 31 Flavors (aka Baskin Robbins) or Storheims (RIP) for ice cream almost every day.  We also had it in the house all the time.  Thus I never got the message that ice cream is a sometimes food and instead I view it as an all times food. 
As much as GB may be a bit of a culinary wasteland (with a few notable exceptions) we do not lack for options in the frozen desserts category.  My favorite is probably Zesty's, a local custard chain.  There are several locations throughout GB.  Luckily (unluckily?) I pass one twice a day on my way to and from work.  However, this location closes down during the winter so I don't have to resist temptation all year long.  Just spring, summer, and fall.  There is another location not too far from my house but I really don't find myself going there too frequently.  The last time I was there was Valentine's day with Alexa and Jamie (happy Valentine's guys!  Thanks for spending it with me!) We wanted to try their new frozen yogurt.  We agreed it was okay.  What Zesty's is really known for is their frozen custard.  Frozen custard is like ice cream only more rich, creamy, and delicious.  My friend Sam worked at Zesty's in high school.  He created a flavor and named it Bittersweet Samphony.  It was one of the most delicious flavors ever.  However, so many people helpfully notified the staff that the name was misspelled that they had to rename it.  They chose Toffee Crunch.  Meh.  Bittersweet Samphony for life!  I most frequently find myself getting frozen yogurt.  Now to give you an idea of how behind the times GB can be, we didn't get a soft serve fro yo venue until last year!  I know, it's sad.  However we now have two, Smart Cow and Orange Leaf.  Orange Leaf is the newer of the two.  Their yogurt is fine but they have an odd policy that you can't serve your own samples.  You can serve your own dish but not your tastes.  Because of this I most frequently go to Smart Cow.  As much as I love ice cream I rarely have it at home, mostly because I know if I do buy some, I'll eat it all in one go.  I had seen several recipes on pinterest lately for frozen banana soft serve.  I love frozen bananas so last night I decided to do a taste test to see if it would be up to the standards of Snack Club.  My mom and I tried it and agreed it was delicious!  And really healthy.  All you do is peel, cut up, and freeze two bananas, then blend them in a food processor or a high-power blender until creamy and smooth.  Then you blend in one tablespoon peanut butter.  I also saw recipes that suggest you add some unsweetened cocoa and I may try that.  I am also going to experiment with adding one or two chopped up Girl Scout Peanut Butter Sandwich cookies.  I have a box and they are staring me down begging me not to eat them.  Dream on GSCs.  Do you like ice cream?  What's your favorite ice cream place?  Have you ever tried frozen banana ice cream?  Any suggestions for mix-ins/recipes?