This week Ryan’s boss is in town from England and last night I finally had the chance to meet her over dinner.
Since she has been enjoying rather indulgent meals out every night since her arrival and was in the mood for something not quite so heavy, Ryan suggested heading to the Artisinal Dish, our favorite spot for fresh, local fare in Ocala. The Artisinal Dish is part gourmet grocer, part restaurant and Ryan and I love it!
I met up with Ryan and two of his coworkers at the restaurant a little before 7 p.m. and immediately selected a drink from the beverage case. They have tons and tons of different flavored sparkling waters and as a sparkling water fanatic, I was excited to see Ayala’s sparkling herbal water available.
I selected the lavender mint sparkling herbal water and loved every sip! I wish this stuff was easier to find and more readily available at the grocery store because it is fabulous.
Once we placed our orders, we hung out and chatted for a while until our food was delivered to our table. Ryan and I decided to share a pizza.
I also got the grilled scallops salad for some greens and ordered a side of the beets.
Ryan ordered a side of the curried sweet potato salad (the one that inspired my at-home attempt of the recipe) and I had a few bites of that as well!
It was just as good as I remembered. Yum!
Before we left, I browsed around the freezer section and stumbled upon the most fantastic-sounding ice cream: High Road brown butter praline craft ice cream.
Of course I had to try it!
As I was looking for High Road’s website, I stumbled upon a review of the ice cream on The Ice Cream Informant’s blog and agree with every word. And yes, there is a blog dedicated to reviewing ice cream. After I found this fantastic blog, I naturally searched it for a review of the elusive Ben and Jerry’s Oatmeal Cookie Chunk to see whether or not we share similar tastes. After reading their review of my beloved ice cream, I saw that they gave it an “A,” so I now know their opinion can be fully trusted. (Hear that Ben & Jerry’s? People love Oatmeal Cookie Chunk! Please don’t take it to the flavor graveyard!)
It was a fun night!
Questions of the Morning
- What is your all-time favorite ice cream flavor?
- If you were going to start a blog that reviewed one kind of food or drink, what would you review?
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Julie I’m with you – I LOVE oatmeal cookie chunk from Ben & jerrys!!! I check the case in publix everytime I pass in the hopes that it’s there – never is! Boo’
Wow everything looked delicious! And brown butter praline craft ice cream sounds fantastic! My fav ice cream has always been chocolate chip cookie dough…Mmmm.
I recently tried Red Velvet ice cream (Blue Bell i think) and it was amazing!
That dinner looked awesome! Is that water only sold in Florida? I adore sparkling water!
I’ve been eating so much ice cream lately that I’ve considered doing a weekly review. haha I know, I know… I have a problem. 😉
Mmmm that ice cream sounds delish! My favorite ice cream flavor is breyers loaded waffle cone. If I was doing a food review blog it would definitely be for cupcakes!
One of my biggest pregnancy cravings has been pizza and the picture of the yummy pizza you posted is making me want it more!
I would be reviewing Gelato & Ice cream!
I would have to review frozen yogurt! I seriously could eat it all day every day and I would just go around to all the different yogurt places and sample everything – YUM!!! Love that little place – I wish we had places like that where we live! Looks like you had a great evening!
Such an adorable outfit!!
I would have to go with chocolate peanut butter cup. If I had some in my freezer I’d eat it for breakfast right now!
Ugh oatmeal cookie crunch is my all time favorite Ben & Jerry’s flavor! I can’t find it anywhere and it’s frustrating! I have had to replace it with Blue Bell banana pudding ice cream (WHICH IS AMAZING).
I would definitely write a wine blog and review different kinds of wine. I could visit vineyards and sample everything, it would be awesome!
That ice cream sounds so good! I recently tried Banana Split from Blue Bunny and it’s SO good! It’s becoming a favorite of mine. 🙂
Peanut butter brownie blizzard…I make a banana softserve version with raw brownies pulsed through!!!!
I love places like that!!! It looks like a lot of fun!
Question for you. How do you go about taking pictures, especially in public places, all the time without feeling awkward or having to explain, “this is for my blog.” I recently started my blog and want to take pictures to document, but feel weird doing it. Any tips?
It’s only 8:17am and after seeing all these food pics… I’M STARVING. I would review pizza… that would be the best “job” ever!
Oh goodness, everything looks so amazing. I have to say that ice cream looks the best though!
Yum.
I’m so torn about a favorite ice cream flavor – you can’t really go wrong! I’ve been a long-time lover of classics like mint chocolate chip and cookie dough, but a good birthday cake or chocolate peanut butter is hard to pass up. I guess I’m equal opportunity. 😉
If I had to review one food…. It’d probably be sushi!
I find it hard to talk about ice cream….bad habits that I’m kinda not proud of …
like how on earth do you stop after a serving or two? A tiny pint of anything will be gone in no time flat for me (jeesh, I’d eat eat a full 2 L tub!).
I really want to try the coconut milk or almond dream ice creams (the pints) but know I’ll eat the entire pint in one sitting (simply because I WANT to) and since issues prevent me from exercising, I feel its not “right” (yes, I have a muddled mind and heart 🙂
Looks like such a neat restaurant/store to visit! My favorite all-time ice cream – hmm, that is a challenging question to answer, but I suppose I would say Vanilla Fudge, because it combines the classic vanilla taste I love, with a hint of chocolate sweetness!
I would review tacos. I could eat them daily! My favorite ice cream is Publix caramel praline. It is sooooo delicious!
Edy’s has a limited edition light ice cream called Salted Caramel Pretzel which is to die for!!
I love ANY fruity sorbet, which helps me avoid dairy because of my lactose sensitivity. But if I am truly craving ice cream, it is usually mint chocolate chip!
I would have to review…sweet potato recipes! I swear it is the only food I don’t get sick of!
My favorite flavor is plain vanilla. I’m not a big fan of too many toppings and it’s just refreshing on a hot day.
Prailines and cream! Yum yum yum. I would want to review… PEANUT BUTTER!
That`s tough to choose, I like ice cream but not love it. I like soft serve better so my favorite is actually the vanilla and chocolate twist from Costco.
Nut butters!
You have to try 16 Handles when you are in NYC again. The pecan praline is to die for!
Everything looks SO delicious! The sparkling water sounds fantastic and so different! Hmmm…my favorite ice cream flavor…I would have to say mint chocolate chip!
I love High Road Ice Cream! I sampled it one time in the grocery store and it has been love ever since! The Bourbon Burnt Sugar is my favorite!
So funny….I found myself craving Oatmeal Cookie Chunk just the other day…went to 3 different grocery stores with no luck! Now it all makes sense…had no clue they discontinued that flavor!
Ben and Jerry’s Pistachio Pistachio is my all-time favorite although sometimes it is hard to find and I think at one time, it was supposed to be in the graveyard.
If I had to review a drink on a blog it would be all about COFFEE! I am an addict and very picky when it comes to coffee so that would be my area of exertise!
My favorite ice cream is definitely coffee! I’ve been loving coconut too on days when my sweet tooth isn’t raging as much, which is rare. If I could review any food I think I’d have to go with granola because I never get sick of it and can eat it with so many things. I am VERY particular about the cluster sizes in granola, level of sweetness, nut and dried fruit choices…I could go on 🙂
When it comes to ice cream I am boring, I love just vanilla but with fun toppings like colored sprinkles and coconut. Nothing fancy, but a good vanilla is often hard to find!
Everything looks so good! It is hard to pick one ice cream flavor as my favorite, but I adore cookie dough, butter pecan, and Oreo! A local Ohio ice cream shop, Graeter’s, has incredible ice cream and I love every flavor lol! Their strawberry chocolate chip, plain ol’ vanilla with chocolate chip, and seasonal pumpkin are all amazing as well! 🙂
Being a bit of a lemonade connoisseur, I would review lemonades. I have actually tried a number of different kinds. Two of my favorites have been a huckleberry lemonade, and watermelon basil lemonade. If you all haven’t explored outside of the traditional lemonade box, I definitely recommend it.
mmm grilled scallops salad sounds AWESOME!!! all time favorite ice cream flavor is birthday cake!!
You can actually still find the Oatmeal Cookie Ice Cream in Puerto Rico! I was so sad when I moved to Florida and couldn’t find it anywhere!
I miss oatmeal cookie chunk!!! My go to lately is haagen dasz salted caramel truffle. De-lish!
Birthday cake flavored ice cream from Marble Slab is my new fav. Tough call though. I also like cookie dough and mint chocolate chip. Mmm 🙂
I need to find this Ben and Jerrys Oatmeal Cookie Chunk, I have never seen it! My Ben and Jerrys weakness is Phish Food!!
I love that there is an ice cream blog! What an excellent idea.
Hi Julie! I don’t know if you’ve seen this before, but you can request to bring back your flavor from the graveyard! I’ve already sent my own request in for oatmeal cookie chunk!
https://secure.benjerry.com/contact-us/resurrect.cfm
Your shorts are adorable!! Where did you get them?
And my all time favorite ice cream flavor has to be…vanilla with chocolate syrup. Boring I know.
If I had a food blog and only could review one food I would choose pancakes! I love some good pancakes!
I LOVE the Ben & Jerry’s Oatmeal Cookie Chunk!!! I mean, I don’t understand how they keep some so so flavors around and not that one. Though honestly, it is probably a good thing for my waist and thighs because this girl can demolish a pint of that in no time!!
Favorite ice cream – Jeni’s Goat Cheese and Fig, or Sweet Potato Marshmallow
Blog reviewing one kind of food or drink – Wine!!! 🙂
I still go for the good ol’ mint chocolate chip.
I would review cheesecake. How awesome of a job would that be? Who cares about health when there’s cheesecake around! (This is why I don’t keep cheesecake around or I would eat it all, no joke)
Chocolate chip cookie dough will always win my heart – Ben & Jerry’s in particular!
My all-time favorite ice cream is Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough! Love those little chunks of dough, yum yum!
If I was to write a blog based solely on reviewing a certain type of food, I’d probably do it on cupcakes; I love baking and experiment with my own cupcakes, so maybe traveling around to different bakeries and cupcakeries and trying the cupcakes they’re most known for would be fun and interesting!
Wait… they are getting rid of Oatmeal Cookie Chunk?! I haven’t been to Ben and Jerry’s in a long time because there just isn’t one close to me so I am kind of in the dark but that used to be my favorite flavor!!