Anyone remember Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour? I had a birthday there once when I was a little one. They brought out a trough full of different flavored ice cream scoops with a ton of candles and we all got free straw hats. :)

HOLY SHIT, someone else remembers Farrell's!

There used to be a Farrell's at Granite Run Mall, right down the road from me, across from the Rustler Steakhouse (another oh-why-won't-they-bring-THAT-back memory). All you had to do was tell them that it was someone's birthday, didn't matter whose or whether it was true or not, and the lights would flash and bells would go off and pots would be banged with spoons like it was a goddamned air raid or something.

Then we'd go from there to Gino's, _another_ chain that Marriott managed to screw up. Damn, I'd give a finger for a Gino Giant some days.

hush your mouth, boy.

There is never anything "unfortunate" about an overage of chocolate chips.

It was a moment of great sadness when a terrible accident occured involving my giant Coke glass.

I spent a lot of time at that Granite Run Mall Farrell's too.

My friend forksBob and I would go there, and get the big Coke, and what we called a "Super" Purist.

The Purist was a massive goblet filled with six scoops of vanilla ice cream, served up with a BUCKET (no lie) of hot fudge, and they would bring you more if you needed it. Our "Super" version was made with chocolate ice cream.

We never went for the Birthday gambit, because we didn't want the Ice Cream Mountain.

I hear the food was good too, but I never bother with anything that wasn't the ice cream.

They are sorely missed.

Oh yeah ... the day they converted the Gino's on High Street into a Pizza Hut was a moment of great sadness. I always thought they had the best fried chicken (I'm not a big burger with goo on it fan). Back in the day the only place you could get secret recipe Kentucky Fried Chicken was Gino's.

I have never been able to understand the thing about chocolate. It's good, yeah...as a brownie, or covering a piece of fruit, like a cherry, but just on its own? For its own sake? Nah. Can someone explain the chocolate thing?

If you don't get it, no one will ever be able to explain it to you. It's like describing color to a blind man, or music to the deaf.

Please, case, just don't bother. That means just that much more for me. Really, no biggie.

Um, are you gonna eat that?

i do not have a sweet tooth. none. except for chocolate chip cookies and good ice cream. i like choloate chips in both of them.

I should clarify.

For some reason, I don't mind the little chocolate nuggets so much. What I was referring to was the actual chocolate chips - the thin squares that are oft really crunchy/brittle and sometimes hard to eat. It's those that really bother me.

Blech.

Broke down and went to Coldstone tonight. The flavor for the month of April was Red Licorice - it tasted just like a twizzler! It was really weird... I just didn't expect it to taste so real - much like a jelly belly.

Anyway - I had coffee with brownie - it was fantastic. They didn't have mocha today :(.

Are we talking about Coldstone CREAMERY? Maybe it is a different chain out here in California, but I went there once and will never go again. Consumer Reports just covered them too, and said the same thing as my impression - that the ice cream itself is bland and tastless and the attraction is the handsfull of "extras" they mix in, stuff you can get anywhere and produce the same results by mixing it into a half-melting a quart of plain stuff you got at the supermarket. Just wondering if somebody else is sharing a name with the chain that neither I nor Consumer Reports think is worth the money.

I agree - Coldstone's is overrated - I had to keep telling the girl to add more mix-ins because I just couldn't taste it - Farrell's memory: cheerleading squad intiation: had to eat a Pig's Trough with our hands tied behind our backs. Not a pretty sight.

Tonchi, try to find a Marble Slab. MUCH better ice cream.

Not pretty to whom? I think the idea of an ice cream covered cheerleader has a certain appeal. In fact, I bet there's a market for such an image.

Now, before y'all put a big ol' checkmark in the "prevert" box next to my name, I want to make clear, I'm the proud papa of a varsity high school cheerleader. I guess you wouldn't call it "pretty" but it would be "pretty funny"!

I'm getting a Coldstone Ice cream cake for my graduation... I'm really excited... more so about the cake than actually graduating.

I will share the cake experience once we have it.