Tasting the new deLish Ice Cream Flavors at Duane Reade

Yesterday was exactly the kind of day you want to spend in New York City and thanks to this post, sponsored by Collective Bias®, I got to do just that. The sun was bright in the sky and it felt warm on your skin but not so warm that you couldn’t cool off in the shade. So you could be outside and comfortable the whole time. It was glorious.

Warm Weather Means More Performance Art.

I headed down to the Union Square  Duane Reade for a fun event. The two finalists from The All-Star Celebrity Apprentice, Trace Adkins and Penn Jillette, were there to debut the deLish brand ice-cream flavors that they created as a task on the show. We got to meet and chat with each man about his ice cream and the charity for which they were raising money.

Then we got to taste the ice cream which may or may not have been my favorite part.

Penn Jillette’s is called Chocolate Magic Swirtle. He said that when he thinks of ice cream, he thinks vanilla and chocolate. I can get behind the classics, so I gravitated to this flavor first. Penn decided to swirl a little sea-salt through the vanilla and then add chunks of chocolate. What you get is a truly delicious mix of all the flavors you love. I felt bad picking a favorite but this one would have to be it.

Trace Adkins’ flavor, Maple Macadamia Mash Up tastes just as it sounds-an explosion of sweet. I actually liked the taste but was afraid after more than one tiny spoonful the sweet would be too much for me to handle. However, if you’re someone who loves pecan pie or a short-stack smothered in syrup, this is the ice-cream flavor for you.

The good news is, right now at Duane Reade, the two pints are on sale 2 for $5 so you can try both and decide for yourself.

I joke about the ice cream tasting being the best part, but actually my favorite thing and the reason I was even compelled to go to this event, is the charity aspect. You know I love a good cause and while, especially in the wake of hurricane recovery, Trace Adkins’ Red Cross affiliation was wonderful, I really appreciated hearing about Penn Jillette’s charity, which is the Opportunity Village organization in Las Vegas.

It is a non-profit that works with people with “intellectual disablities” to enhance their lives and those of their families. To hear Penn Jillette talk about it was wonderful. He said he chose the charity because he is impressed with the way people are treated with such dignity and grace and he wanted to expose it on Celebrity Apprentice so that people would be inspired to do more and spread this work outside of Vegas. He told us that since the show aired, Opportunity Village has gotten calls from people interested in starting similar organizations all over the country.

That is a fantastic side-benefit to eating some deLish ice cream.

Not a bad day at all. And all these people agree.