I've FOUND IT!

This deserves its own post, I think.

So lately, Daiku and I have been in a bit of a vegan ice cream funk. Our local food co-op only carries 4 flavors of Purely Decadent, and we were getting so bored with those. Our major supermarket (Wegmans) used to carry a greater selection but, inexplicably, stopped carrying Purely Decadent all together. This is especially painful because Purely Decadent has just come out with 4 fascinating-sounding new flavors (Coconut Craze! Pomegranate Chip! So Very Strawberry! and my favorite of all, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (gluten free)!)

We felt really out of the exciting vegan loop. One Friday night, as we were driving around to pick up cat litter (yes, that's just how exciting our lives are, thank you very much), Daiku mentioned that we might have a last best hope. "There's a SUPER Wegmans," he said. "In the... suburbs." The suburbs, eh? I was up for an adventure. "Let's go!" I said.

So we took the freeway a couple of miles to a super Wegmans, which, honestly, is one of the biggest supermarkets I've ever seen. Best of all, it had the world's biggest natural/health foods section. Damn, these suburbanites have it good! We made a beeline for the ice cream freezer, almost knocking down an innocent child in the process. This Wegmans, unlike our own, which by the way was seeming more and more puny with every passing second, still carried Purely Decadent. We didn't see any of the new flavors, though.

But wait! And I swear that KT Tunstall's song "Suddenly I See" started playing over the loudspeakers just as I noticed...

Temptation! Temptation! Right here in Syracuse! This is the famous vegan ice cream that I had heard so much about, but had never gotten to try. I had even emailed the company, asking if they were distributed in Syracuse, and had gotten a negative response. I had actually hatched elaborate plans involving driving 45 minutes to Ithaca, where I knew the co-op sells Temptation, with coolers and ice packs to stock up on Temptation, that is how bad I wanted to try this ice cream.

Daiku picked vanilla. I picked cookie dough. We drove home, deliriously thrilled. We put some in a cone. We tasted. We were in heaven. The flavor is a lot lighter and more ice-cream-like than Purely Decadent. It has less of a cloying soy aftertaste. And it is rich. Did I mention they were only $2.99 a pint?

Here is a cone with one scoop of Temptation Vanilla and one scoop of:

Have you ever tried fruit-sweetened Soy Delicious? It really is good- I have tried and liked both the pistachio almond and awesome chocolate varieties, and they were both delicious, with vibrant flavors.

So in conclusion, I feel like spring is truly here. Vegans have awesome ice cream options. I think I might like KT Tunstall now. And Purely Decadent? I'm sorry to say, it is SO not my favorite any more. We had our good times and all, but I'm ready to move on.

Temptation is a cute little 100% vegan company that wears their heart and ethics on their sleeves. Literally- you should read their pacakging. If you live east of the Mississippi(update, 4/26: Diann corrected me, this stuff is available west of the Mississippi too! If your store doesn't carry it, ask your manager to do so), please support them (and do yourself a favor) by buying some. And check out their website: http://www.welovesoy.com/

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I've FOUND IT!