I almost forgot what today is!

With all of the excitement today...

(the squeel mobile died on me)

(and my idiot dog ate something inedible again...so for the second time in a month...and the third time in his short life, I had to take him to the puppy E.R. for surgery)

F.M.L.

I almost forgot that this is the dawn of one of the most exciting times of the whole year:

Blue Bell Peppermint Ice Cream Season!!

On the first of October the little creamery in Brenham Texas near and dear to my heart starts churning out the seasonal, elusive, delightful, heart of my hearts Peppermint Ice Cream...and I start stock-piling it.

This is made more difficult, but not impossible, because of my current geographic distance from Texas.

You see, while Blue Bell is only distributed throughout Texas and a few other Southern States, they have this handy dandy magical website which allows die hard fans like myself to order as many cartons as ones freezer can hold!

If you have been reading for awhile, you know how passionately I feel about Blue Bell Ice Cream, but perhaps some of you are still unclear about why. Let me explain.

Growing up Blue Bell Peppermint was always a passion of mine, and last year for Pete's and my four year anniversary he whisked me away to Brenham for a tour of the creamery, and my love only deepened.

The "little Texas creamery" started in 1907 in Brenham Texas. Named after the Texas State Flower, the Blue Bonnet, Blue Bell is a Texas staple and always reminds me of home. Unfortunately, unless you want to brave a dinner at Applebee's (they stock Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla in their restaurants) you are pretty much SOL if you are craving the treat unless you live in a few lucky areas of the country.

The website explains:

"And although Blue Bell is only available in about 20% of the nation’s supermarkets, it ranks as one of the top three best selling ice creams in the country. Our products are sold in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. No matter how much the market grows, quality standards never change and are never diluted or compromised. That's why, people who are lucky enough to live where they can buy Blue Bell Ice Cream, say it's "the best ice cream in the country."

If you still aren't convinced I think the only real solution is to head over to their website to order a gallon a see for yourself...it really is that amazing.