Sometimes a quest becomes damned depressing. This is the time of year when the lovely people at Ben and Jerry's come out with a pumpkinny ice cream---this time it's Pumpkin Cheesecake. Now I had spotted this at a local market but was not heading right home and didn't want either to slurp it all down, or to have it melt before I could even try it.
So later I stopped in at Smith's supermarket, having failed to find any at Trader Joe's, where the dim bulb manager seemed amazed that I even knew of this seasonal flavor, and wondered why the store didn't have it--the same store that was shoving Halloween down our throats in August, and pushing Thanksgiving and Christmas simultaneously as of November 1st.
Walgreen's was next--I knew they carried a few B&J items but no, said the manager, that's all decided at corporate and in truth all 7000 stores do not really have room to carry more than a few basic popular flavors. "You have a huge aisle always overflowing with seasonal, um, items," I said, but that does not extend to ice cream? "
"No--you see if they don't sell, then we have to pay for them and throw them out."
"What? What about donating them to the local food bank?" I asked.
"That's not possible. Management thinks the employees will steal the food, you see--or that they will deliberately damage things so as to make them unsaleable."
Temporarily silenced, I stood there while he pointed to a couple of security cameras. "See those?"
"70 percent of the cameras in the store are intended to watch the employees. And that's true in all the big supermarkets as well."
Lord. Makes you want to pour hot fudge over the pumpkin ice cream, if you ever find it, that is.
I like the style of your article! I was shocked that you think it!
Posted by: Jordan 1 | August 16, 2010 at 03:17 AM
Found it! Tried it! YUM. Thank you, B&J.
Now send me one of Fred's pretzels, Rose.
Posted by: Foodie | November 18, 2009 at 08:21 PM
Poor Obama- and us.
Just found something else surplus to requirements: old white male pompous politicians! ( "This is Maddy- she does not want healthcare...")
But then... Palin???? AAARRRGGGHHH!!!
Back to food: After our visit to the Octoberfest and real pretzels
( Brezen ) hubby tried to make them at home. Great success with a recipe from an American food website, no less.
Posted by: Rose | November 18, 2009 at 02:09 AM
True, Rose--(I just scored an amazing London Fog bronzy, slickery leopard print trench coat at Goodwill for $6...) And--do we need dozens of right wing pundits commenting negatively on Obama bowing in Japan, when bowing in greeting is politely done by EVERYONE to EVERYONE there, especially in formal settings?
Posted by: Foodie | November 17, 2009 at 08:19 AM
Joining the curmudgens: I am not talking about EATING ice cream, I am bothererd by the surfeit of everything.
Do we actually need 365 of anything? Ice cream, cars, throw-away clothes? We all should get used to less, we cannot afford endless consumerism.
Poor Obama has a tough time in China right now- the consumer chicken has come home to roost.
PS. My rant started with the availability of pumpkin icecream???? Tsk.
Posted by: Rose | November 16, 2009 at 01:12 AM
Well, Kenny et al, no Pumpkin at Walmart either. The quest thickens and quickens.
As for enjoying less, quite true, Rose. Have had ZIP ice cream since August!
Posted by: Foodie | November 15, 2009 at 09:13 PM
Glad the dim bulb was not an employee of my beloved TJ, could not bear that. Even though TJ's big brother ALDI has only underpaid dim bulbs working there- you gets what you pays???
I noticed you were mainly concerned with the not-trusting-the -employee issue but I got stuck on the 365 flavor philosophy. What happened to enjoying less?
Vanilla, choc, strawberry??? Err, maybe not.
Posted by: Rose | November 15, 2009 at 02:54 PM
Found Pumpkin listed as a "seasonal flavor" on Double Rainbow website.
Hope in America is renewed.
Posted by: Foodie | November 15, 2009 at 10:51 AM
Call me a curmudgeoness, but my main point really was the bit about stores fearing the worst of their own employees.
Also--my poor punctuation may have led readers to think that the TJ manager was a dim bulb. Not. It was the Smith's guy.
And--I think that Double Rainbow comes out with a pumpkin ice cream each year and that TJ either carries it or absorbs it into its own brand.
Tks, Kenny--do you work for B&J?
Meanwhile,and more importantly, what about Afghanistan?
Posted by: Foodie | November 15, 2009 at 10:49 AM
ben & jerry's pumpkin cheesecake was sold by ben & jerry's to it's ben & jerry's scoopshops and to walmart
Posted by: kenny schnabel | November 15, 2009 at 08:10 AM
ben & jerry's pumpkin cheesecake is primarily available at ben & jerry's scoop shops and at walmart - call ahead wherever you decide to try to see if it's in stock - it is a limited batch flavor so it's available for a short time only - the next limited batch flavor will be gingersnap
Posted by: kenny schnabel | November 15, 2009 at 08:06 AM
My, my, you do sound crotchety!
Being deprived of Pumpkin icecream??? Shock, horror, the world ends! What are you going to do??? Eat one of 365 other flavours?
How anout pine-needle flavoured icecream for Christmas??? Next week? We would not want to miss a day of the lenghty commercial exploitation time leading up to Christmas day.
Posted by: Rose | November 15, 2009 at 01:42 AM