Ice Cream Sandwich Casserole – Another Easy Dessert!

With the crazy hot weather on the east coast this weekend, I remembered another one of my favorite, super-easy summer desserts. I do not know if this dessert has an official name, so I have named it the delicious Ice Cream Sandwich Casserole!

I have had great success with this dish. It only takes minutes to prepare, and everyone loves it. What’s really funny is to see your friends’ faces when they learn that it is made from ice cream sandwiches. :) They always think it is more complicated than that. lol

Here’s what you need:

• 13X9 casserole freezer-friendly casserole dish
• A box of ice cream sandwiches
• A container of Cool Whip
• A bottle of Hersey’s Chocolate Syrup

Here’s how to make it:

• In the bottom of the casserole dish, pour in a thin layer of chocolate syrup. I like to give it a zigzag effect, but that is up to you.
• On top of the chocolate syrup, place a layer of unwrapped (that should be obvious, but just in case) ice cream sandwiches. You may have to cut a few sandwiches in half to finish filling the dish.
• Cover the ice cream sandwiches with a nice layer of thawed Cool Whip.
• Finally, take the bottle of chocolate syrup and make a cool design on top of the Cool Whip. The design can be as fancy or as simple as you want. You can also add other small toppings, such as M&Ms, graham cracker crumbles, etc…

Let your delicious ice cream sandwich casserole sit in the freezer for 4-8 hours, so it gets nice and cold!

When you’re ready to serve, bring it out with a big serving spoon, because I guarantee you that everyone is going to want a nice big piece!

For more cold dessert ideas, see my earlier post.

Peppers, and Basil, and Tomatoes, Oh My!

This pepper smells amazing.
Dan and I picked a bunch of veggies from the garden yesterday, so I figured I would post an update on how everything is growing.

Our pepper plants are producing by the fistful. Chillies and jalapenos are everywhere, and we also got our first bell pepper!

Chilli Peppers

First Bell Pepper
The basil and rosemary plants smell sooo good! We grabbed some of each to season our dinner tonight.

The four tomato plants have grown into a mini jungle. No joke, they are over SIX feet tall!! The cherry tomatoes are already ripening and being picked, even as the plant puts out more flowers. The beef steak tomatoes are making up for their smaller numbers by producing tomatoes that will weigh at least a pound each!

Look how tall the tomato plants are!

Beef Steak Tomatoes
The rest of the garden is bursting at the seams and starting to bloom. The bean bushes are reaching up toward my knees, and both the cucumber and zucchini plants are blooming. Our chives and garlic are also getting taller by the day.

Hurray for fresh produce!!

My Epic Visit to the Hallowed Grounds of ThinkGeek HQ

In addition to Star Wars, Star Trek, and binary, one thing that I love about being a geek is the geek culture itself. Gone are the days when we geeks had to hide behind monitors or book bindings. Today, we have a culture of our own, and we can proudly display it on our clothes, our cars, and our pizza cutters!

When I was young and new to the working world, my coworkers taught me many important facts, such as: accurate ICBMs (inter cubical ballistic missiles) are vital for cubical survival, office soccer is allowed if work is mostly done, and ThinkGeek.com is an essential resource for geek culture supplies.

A week ago, I saw a ThinkGeek tweet about a lightsaber training event being held at their HQ building for 50 local fans. It only took a few seconds to enter Dan and I into the drawing, and I got to spend the next few days in nervous agony wondering if we had won this coveted honor. Needless to say, I was ecstatic when I received our email invitation. Finally, I was going to be able to cross another item from my bucket list and visit ThinkGeek HQ. Huzzah!!

Dan and I arrived at the *undisclosed* location right on time. It was really hot and humid outside, with temperatures in the low 100s, but we were undaunted by the weather. Some friendly ThinkGeek staff signed us in and placed us on the Flyboys team, handing us blue swatches of fabric and blue lightsabers (ie: spray-painted dowel rods. No laughing. They were badass).

Dan and I with lightsabers
We walked into the loading bay (employee lounge), read through the evening’s itinerary, and enjoyed a few minutes of A New Hope while waiting for things to begin.

The Itinerary
For us Flyboys, our evening began with a great tour of the facilities. We got to see all the important areas where the magic of ThinkGeek occurs, as well as spotting lots of important items from ThinkGeek legend.

Admiral Ackbar Fish

Sighting of a Flux Capacitor

Timmy Outfits
My own personal quest was to discover the Mutant Jello, of which I have been a transfixed follower for over a year. Seriously, any group of people who can make a cult following for something like a cratered piece of dried jello is awesome in my book.

Me with the Mutant Jello
After our wonderful tour, we moved to lightsaber training. At the training grounds, we met Bette and Paul, who walked us through the process of film-staged combat. How awesome is that?! When I first signed up, I thought lightsaber training would be something like a fencing class, but learning the ins and outs of stage combat was way cooler than just a fencing lesson! Dan and I practiced back and forth, inserting sound effects and dramatic acting. It was brilliant.

See the ThinkGeek image of us on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thinkgeekmonkeys/7490240692/

Sweaty and hungry from all of our efforts, we made our way from the training grounds to the Noms station. Aware that hungry padawans are angry padawans, ThinkGeek had prepared for the training by asking a Stix food truck to provide nourishment for the event. We were all quite happy with the delicious food, and we even got to watch some great scenes from Empire Strikes Back while we munched.

See the ThinkGeek image of us on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thinkgeekmonkeys/7490242622/

Our evening concluded with an epic battle in the training grounds, which was lit by the blue and green lightsabers of our trainers. As the sky faded to black, members of the ThinkGeek staff also gave out tons of raffle prizes to the lightsaber trainees. Dan was especially excited when his name got called for the inflatable Star Trek Captains chair. :)

Dan sitting in his new chair the next day
The evening of lightsaber training was a smashing success for ThinkGeek, and Dan and I enjoyed it immensely. We are definitely planning to keep our eyes open for future events (which were rumored to be in the works). If you are interested in learning about them yourself, be sure to like or follow ThinkGeek on Facebook and/or Twitter.

May the Force be with You!

Special thanks to ThinkGeek for letting us join them for this auspicious event and for the links to a few pictures that I was unable to get, due to being in a battle or stuffing my face. :)