#192 A la moding anything

Neil Pasricha

It happened last night.

Leslie and I were walking around a new neighborhood when we strolled past a giant restaurant window with a tall guy in a paper hat standing inside. He was swiping a tiny windshield wiper across a hot black circle and cooking up thin little crepes. Maybe I’m a bit simple but for me this was like watching something from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. My brain flashbacked to watching little sugar donuts float down Hot Oil Rapids at the supermarket when I was a kid. I also remember my poor kid brother Augustus falling into a chocolate river.

Anyway, we ran inside and ordered a crepe up for snacking. Paper Hat Man stuffed it with strawberries, poured chocolate sauce over it, and asked us the big question: “Would you like a scoop of ice cream on top?” Now, I don’t know where you come from, but where I’m at there’s a local bylaw stipulating that anybody ordering a giant crepe covered in chocolate sauce must say yes to the ice cream. You don’t want to get tossed in the slammer for screwing up dessert.

As you can imagine the creamy sauce-smeared crepe was deliciouser than delicious. It got me thinking that adding a scoop of ice cream — or a la moding anything — just makes most foods much better:

1. Pie. The classic. Apple pie without ice cream is just a hot and sticky mess. You need that ice cream to balance the flavors and mess your teeth up with hot and cold sensitivity. Word to your molars.

2. A glass of Coke. Turn that boring cup of fizz into an ice cream sundae with just one scoop. Let the vanilla scoop melt and swirl into bubbly creamy sips. If you’ve enjoyed a Coke Float before then you’ve lived a good life, my friend.

3. Waffles. Okay, now we’re back in the Crepe Family. (Note: other family members include pancakes and funnel cakes.) When you eat waffles a la mode make sure to let the ice cream soak into all those little squares. When you manage to add ice cream to breakfast you are officially the Champion of Breakfast.

4. Something weird that none of us have tried before but is probably delicious. Do you add ice cream to brownies, spaghetti, or maybe pineapple pizza? Hey, we’re not judging. No, we just want to learn from you. Because all we know is the  world of a la moding has no limits and sometimes off-the-wall ideas go a long way.

5. Birthday cake. There’s something indescribably delicious about the texture of warm-n-spongy-icing-smeared cake smushed together with freezing cold melty vanilla ice cream in your mouth. This is truly the Dream Team of tastes.

Yes, adding a scoop of ice cream to food makes it that much better.  So listen up boys and listen up girls. Let’s all hold hands and just a la mode the world.

AWESOME!

Photos from: here, here, and here

77 thoughts to “#192 A la moding anything”

  2. down here we don’t call them ‘floats’
    we call them ‘spiders’ i.e. ‘coke spider’
    I have no idea where spider came from though! ahaha

    1. I call them “Spiders”, too.

      Perhaps it refers to the way the ice-cream looks after the fizz has broken through it. Particularly if it’s with Coke – the ice-cream scoop is broken by streams of fizzy drink and it kinda looks like a spider.

      That is my very scientifical explanation. :D

      1. I never thought about that. But yeah, they’ve always been ‘spiders’ too me. Also ‘mountain’, but that only refers to a lemonade or coke spider (because the fluff on to kind of looks like a mountain).

        1. I call them spiders too- where I grew up there was an ice cream shop named spiders, and their specialty was spiders!!

            1. Where are you guys from? I have never heard them called spiders before (I’ve lived in NY and VA). I know Guinness floats (or spiders?!) are awesome. Guinness with vanilla or even mint chocolate chip!!

    1. Fresh chocolate brownies with vanilla icecream melting all over? One of the best tastes ever. Also great with fresh baked chocolate chip cookies.

  4. Awe, yum! Give me boring, fizzy glass of Coca-cola Classic any day! Sure it’s not as exciting as the always classic pie with ice cream, it’s true. But there are lots of things some people would consider boring that others see as classic. Old black and white movies with Audrey Hepburn for example. Sure there are no biker gangs, no one gets threatened, shot or killed, and there is definitely no hook where you’re left wondering what the dragonfly got hit by. There’s none of that stuff. They’re just lovely, joyful stories of fun and romance. I love watching Gregory Peck and Audrey as they laugh and smile at the cafe, adventurously explore the city, and then dance freely on a warm summer night. There is even that little incident with the guitar. Now that’s my idea of classic! :)

  5. Brownies are a #4?? Crazy! I think anyone who haven’t had a hot fudge brownie Sundae before, haven’t really lived! Warm brownies, cold vanilla Ice cream, and hot fudge, not to mention nuts, whip cream and a cherry on top, yum :)

  6. Ice cream and biscuits (cookies) of any kind. But chocolate chip biscuits or chocolate tiny teddies with ice cream is THE BEST!

    or, my favourite birthday cake substitute – lollies (candy) in ice cream. Mnms, malteasers, oreos, clinkers, smarties, toffees, annnnnnything mushed up in your ice cream. YUM!

    1. TOTALLY with fries! It’s that beautiful juxtaposition between hot & salty and cold & sweet that is just AWESOME! Nom nom nom… I can feel a craving coming on. :)

      1. i dunno bout the fries and icecream but i do love your word:
        JUXTAPOSITION
        ruwearing an argyle?
        ;)

      2. Was freaked out for a second, then I remembered Wendy’s frosty and fries, and all was right with the world again!

  8. Vanilla ice cream on fudge brownies is so awesome!!! Also try vanilla ice cream on oatmeal with cinnamon & honey – dessert for breakfast! Yumm.

  9. Hmm…. you’ve just given me an entire new menu! I’ve never put ice cream on anything other than a float. Birthday cake and ice cream have always been separate on the plate. I do dip my chips in ice cream sometimes…does that count?

  10. May I respectfully add “putting ice cream in the middle of anything to make it an ice cream sandwich”?

    1. When I was in a market in Taiwan, one of the many street snacks offered was an ice cream sandwich…with silver dollar-sized pancakes instead of cookies.
      It was heavenly.
      And the version my boyfriend and I made proved to be just as delicious, as well as incredibly simple.

        1. Ice cream is my food-weakness in general, but ice cream sandwiches are my ULTRA food weakness.. because you get all the awesomeness of ice cream, and you just added COOKIES! My god.. they are fantastic..

          If I ever am somehow in a situation where someone is going to execute me, and I have to pick my last meal.. it’s going to be a giant plate of ice cream sandwiches.. mmmmm….

          For those of you who don’t live in the great state of California (which I think is basically all of you).. whenever you come out to visit (like when you all crash at my place), we’re going to eat these things called “It’s Its”.. they are a delicious ice cream sandwich we have out here comprised of a big hunk of vanilla ice cream, sandwiched between two oatmeal cookies, and then covered in dark chocolate… mmm.. *drool*.. it also comes in a mint variety for those of you who like to get REALLY crazy..

          1. until about ten years ago we had those in Canada too! I dobn’t remember that same name but the rest described and SO GOOD!

          2. If you live around LA, Diddy Reise in Westwood is where it’s at. You pick a flavor of ice cream and two cookies and they make an ice cream sandwich for you. The line is always down the block, even around midnight. So good!

          3. I NEED one of those. That just sounds so delicious! Are they just in Cali? I’ve never heard of them… I am half a continent away from you, though.

          4. I trust you Freddo, at least in general. When you say ice cream sandwiches are absolutely delicious then there’s a good chance that they are. I tried one and they did taste exactly the way you said they do!. Then again, there’s nothing like being left naively alone holding the bag of melting ice cream sandwiches.

  11. This is brilliantely written. It describes the beauty of a la moding perfectly AND made me chuckle a few times =D

  13. what’s weird about adding ice cream to a brownie? i’ve never tried it myself, but i imagine warm chocolate dough and cold vanilla ice cream to be the ultimate sweet treat combination! :o

  15. Since when do you have a kid bro named Augustus???
    I thought you had 1 precious sister, Nina and there were just the 2 of you!

    1. Next thing we know he’ll come up with more sisters named Veruca and Violet and a brother named Mike!

    2. Augustus Gloop :) It’s a great reference to someone who likely a la modes a lot!

      1. I was about to say, “According to some we’re really all are brothers and sisters anyway!!!”
        Well this place and that’ll teach me to read, see and google more before speaking~ thanks sisters!

  16. Hot Fudge brownie delight’s made their debut a Dairy Queen in 1970-72
    and they are awesome!
    Thank goodness there are so many options these days, even for the lactose intolerent.
    Go on~Alamode your life!

  18. hey, our blogs have the same Pilcrow theme and I couldn’t help say aloud: AWESOME. because it really is, and that’s why we chose it.

  21. What a rainstorm! I’m here watching the deluge from the window of a little place where ice cream is personified by a delightful Buddhist monk. Neil, all seriousness aside, your last line had the idealist in me smiling. “Let’s all hold hands and just a la mode the world.” Bring on the icecream!!! :)

    1. Although the monestary retreat was an option, I was afraid of awesomeland cold turkey, so chose elsewhere.
      Curious though, how did you get a computer past their gates?!*

  22. Hey!
    You AWESOME a lot of junk food. Is it possible to find a few awesome things about the healthy foods? What about how fun it is when you eat a really ripe peach and the juice drips all over your hands and wrists, so you have to lick it off.
    Peace.

    1. Yeah Neil!!

      Why don’t you write about how awesome it is when you eat an all-vegan wheatberry and quinoa salad with tofu??

      Oh, yeah.. that’s right.. because compared to eating ice cream, that sounds like the worst thing in the world!! ;)

      Just teasing Katherine – fresh fruits are awesome.. but we’re talking ice cream here.. that’s pretty tough to beat.. (unless of course we’re talking about the food that comes out of a pig..)

      Uh oh.. did I just stir that up again?? :)

      1. Katherine, I have a vegan daughter and she “ala-soy-ices” her life!
        Neil shares his life so tastefully with the world. Lets focus on the 3 A’s of awesome he beautifully designed and takes so much time with for everyone. He doesn’t have to you know, but he does, so maybe sit back and imagine the feat and be gratefully appreciative for the positive influence he’s having on the world. We wouldn’t want anybody to miss out. Peace to you too, Okay.

        1. Many people struggle with weight or health issues. It’s nice to lift these people’s day by giving an AWESOME to something they can have that is really great for everybody’s health. And isn’t being healthy (not dogmatic, just feeling good) incredibly AWESOME when we have it?

  23. My favorite that I discovered is to put a scoop of vanilla ice cream over a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich. I heard someone mention it years ago and had been meaning to try it ever since, because I adore a fried PB&B sandwich.

    Well I finally tried it a few weeks ago, and oh my, it is just divine.

  24. I grew up eating potato chips dipped in vanilla ice cream. Sounds gross but it’s soooo good… salty & sweet, warm & cold, crunch & soft…

    1. Ben & Jerry’s has an ice cream called Late Night Snack that has chocolate covered potato chip clusters with caramel swirl in vanilla ice cream. So good!

  25. Take a snickerdoodle, a sugar cookie, and two or three different flavors of ice cream, and make the most AWESOME ice cream sandwich of all time.

  26. So I was sitting here all day, trying to think of anything random that I eat ice cream with (though apparently I’m fairly normal on this corner)

    Then I remembered something I got turned onto when my favorite Thai restaurant ran out of mangoes. The flavor of ice cream is very important here….

    Coconut Ice cream and sticky rice (sounded weird even to me, but trust me, it’s soooo good! If you’re ever at a Thai restaurant, order it off the menu! you so won’t regret it)

    1. That sounds amazing! I’m definitely going to look for that next time I’m at a Thai restaurant. =)

  29. This might seem a bit weird, but Chicken McNuggets a la mode is just pure AWESOME.

  31. Is it just me, or do tortilla chips and vanilla ice cream taste awesome together? I mean, you got the salty and the sweet, the creamy and the crunchy. Don’t knock it til you try it, man. Don’t knock it til you try it.

  32. vanilla ice cream in a thick, dark coffee stout. beer floats. pure genius and pure AWESOME.

  33. Cream soda, grape or orange pop with ice cream, (or in my case alternative), are my favorite floats or spiders as said in OZ.

  34. A) the brownie sundae is beyond delicious – warm, gooey brownie, ice cold vanilla and a river of hot fudge….it’s a food orgasm.
    B) ice cream on warm blueberry crisp is like eating the most perfect day of summer.
    Awesome!

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  37. May sound odd to some, but deep-fried bananas with ice cream is something you want to try at least once :3

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