Super Cool Halloween Ice Cream From Quinn's Gelato, Available All Over Northern Ireland

We discovered  Quinn's Gelato over the summer, when one of their beautiful concessions opened in our local Maxol petrol station, Bryansburn Road, Bangor West.

Quinn's is a local brand, lovingly made in County Tyrone. What sets Quinn's apart is the presentation of the trays of ice cream that are on show to buy. They are always piled high in fluffy clouds of soft whipped deliciousness. There are sparkling toppings, fresh fruit, glitter or chocolate pieces.​

There are over forty flavours but your nearby stockist will have between eight and twelve flavours at a time. The Maxol station we go to like to mix it up, but we've seen Raspberry Ruffle, Strawberry, Kinder, Bueno, Nutella, strawberry, honeycomb, bubblegum, blue sky, Flake, Jaffa Cake, and the strangest but one I tried and loved- Red Bull sorbet.

Two other places I have seen Quinn's for sale- Hillmount Garden Centre in Bangor and the petrol station on the Gransha Road.  You can visit the Quinn's website for your nearest stockist.

So this morning I was in the Maxol getting my Barista Coffee and noticed they had just put out fresh new trays in the Quinn's counter and they were all Halloween themed! The flavours include Apple Pie and Toffee Apple.

Let me know if you try any and if you love Quinn's. 

Here are a few close ups from the Quinn's FB Page. 

Every Child's Dream Dessert (& Many Grown Ups Too).

This week we visited Frankie & Benny's for my brother's birthday. They've a lovely Waldorfesque salad on the Specials Menu now, watch out for that, but the thing that really caught our eye was the dessert available as part of the kids' menu. 

For £1.95 you get two scoops of ice cream, bottles of sweets, mallows and a jug of chocolate sauce.  Oh! and popping candy!

It was pretty tricky to get a photo as Smix wanted to jump straight in. 

It reminded me of the dessert I always wanted to get in Nino's in Portstewart as a child. I think it was called the Michaelangelo and it was served on a painter's palette. My parents quite rightly realised I'd never be able to finish something that size, but I think they did give into my pleading on at least one occasion. 

Anyway, the Ice Cream Candy Shop is so extensive that they provide you a pick and mix bag to take your sweeties home. Smix is still working his way through it!  Maybe next time we go I'll work up the courage to ask for one for myself too.

The £14.99 Home Ice-cream Maker that Actually Works! The Chill Factor.

When I was a child I wanted, and finally got, the Mister Frostie Slushie Maker. My parents would have this look of utter misery when I'd ask to use it, as it never really was me using it, it would be them. Twenty minutes of cranking the almost impossible to budge handle, to make half a cup of broken ice. When the Chill Factor arrived with us yesterday for review, Mister Frostie was the first 'person' who sprang to mind. As my son bounced about excitedly deciding which flavour of ice cream to create first, I thought to myself, 'this is Mister Frostie's revenge'.

Nevertheless we stuck the cone in the freezer overnight, and picked up the ingredients we needed to make Oreo Ice cream this morning. All we actually needed was 100ml of cream, and some crushed biscuits. In fact all the recipes suggested in the Chill Factor instructions are two or three ingredients long. That means you know exactly what's going into your home made ice cream, sorbet or frozen yoghurt. No additives, and you can flavour using fresh fruit.

For £14.99 it's a very reasonable price for something that doesn't take up a whole cupboard to store, like a large ice-cream maker, and can help you with healthy eating as you control the ingredients. I love it. I'm freezing it up again as I type, I'm going to make myself some frozen toffee yoghurt to have while I watch tv tonight.

Let me know if you get one yourself, and which recipes you come up with.