Ice Cream and Memories

When we were kids, going to Baskin-Robbins was a rare treat, reserved for a birthday month (when the birthday child was entitled to a free cone) or when I got an "A" on a history test (definitely rare). Sometimes after a movie at the Jefferson Theater (another rare treat), we would go next door to Baskin-Robbins with a throng of fellow theater-goers.

I liked to try different flavors, but my sister (known to the blogosphere as Natasha) would always get Peppermint Fudge Ribbon when it was available. I had it once or twice, and is was definitely good. Every once in awhile over the years, I've looked for that flavor in the stores and on their website, but they seem to have discontinued it.

Recently I discovered something that's just as good (maybe even better): Peppermint Ice Cream topped with Hot Fudge Sauce!

One of the grocery stores here, Smith's, is "part of the Kroger family" so the store brand items are labeled Kroger. Kroger makes unbelievable delicious (and inexpensive, since it's a store brand) Peppermint Ice Cream. It even has small chunks of peppermint candy (think candy canes) mixed in. So if you're near a Kroger, Smith's, King Sooper's, or City Market, stop in and get a carton of Peppermint Ice Cream. Topped with homemade Hot Fudge Sauce, it's so good I can't believe it. It's almost addictive. Seriously. A couple of hours after I've eaten some, I find myself thinking about how good it was and about how soon I'll be home so I can have some more. By the time I've gotten home, of course, I've forgotten all about it, so I'm not really eating it as much as it sounds.

Now that I've found the perfect ice cream, I need to find the perfect hot fudge sauce. I'm not happy with the recipes I've tried so far. I'm looking for something thick and smooth and chocolatey. Something like Gifford's Ice Cream Parlor used to have.

Gifford's. Now there's a whole other set of memories. Gifford's was even more rare than Baskin-Robbins because it wasn't as close to home and because it was more expensive (after all, it was a sit-down place, not just a counter selling cones). The ice cream came in tall glasses and the hot fudge sauce came in tiny metal pitchers so you could pour in a little or as much at a time as you wanted. I remember going to Gifford's after the baptisms of my first two nephews and may a couple of other times.

Anyone have a hot fudge sauce like theirs? Elle, where are you?