Ice Cream

It drives me crazy when I can't find things at the grocery store. Since moving to Tennessee, I've realized what a grocery store snob I am.  I want a clean, bright, friendly store, and I want it to be well-stocked with reasonable prices. I recognize that reasonable prices are relative given the rising costs of food, but I do know that I need a standard store and not someplace like a Whole Foods (as wonderful as it is) for my everyday shopping. So, I am pleased that I have a pretty good Kroger down the street from my house. It's clean, the people are nice, and the prices are okay. The only problem is, every single time I go there, I have to leave without purchasing something on my list. Commonly they are out of fresh herbs or snacks that Brennan likes, and they do not carry the garlic cheese roll I use to make broccoli cheese soup. There have been other foods I have had trouble finding, as well. BUT... my greatest frustration with the store came yesterday, when I could not find a carton of coffee ice cream! Am I the only person the south Nashville / east Brentwood / north Nolensville area that likes coffee ice cream??? I walked up and down the aisle three times, jeopardizing the other frozen items in my cart while I looked for any version of this indulgent treat. Mocha? Nope. Java chip? No. Plain old coffee? Nada. The only thing I could find was a Cappucino Chocolate Chunk with brownie pieces, which I don't love in ice cream, and a tiny container of Starbucks that cost nearly $7.00, stashed in the very back of the freezer! I just couldn't pay that when I was already getting a ton of groceries. (Of course, Jim later pointed out that it is the equivalent of less than two cups of their coffee, and cost has never stopped me from buying a latte... touche!) So I had to settle for Mint Chocolate Chip. There were probably ten kinds of mint chocolate chip to choose from, tons of cookie dough, cookies and cream, black cherry, butter pecan, and all of the other standards. Is coffee ice cream really so unusual? I realize that a garlic cheese roll is perhaps a bit out of the ordinary, and I concede that not all grocery stores keep bagels in the freezer section, but not having coffee ice cream? Feels like a conspiracy to me.