Canadian Gift Guide

Everyone has their Thanksgiving traditions in terms of what goes on the table, and what doesn’t make the cut. Typically speaking, turkey, gravy, stuffing, and cranberry sauce are shoo-ins, but the rest is fair game. If dessert isn’t a big part of your family’s dinner, or if you’re sensing the host might like a break when it comes to whipping up a confectionary curtain call, consider snapping up one of Cold Stone Creamery’s new ice cream pies instead.

For the uninitiated, Cold Stone Creamery is a major ice cream chain based in the USA that specializes in custom-mixing the flavours of your choice, right before your eyes. You might be familiar with similar incarnations like the Marble Slab Ice Cream Co. or other local shops, but I believe it was the CSC that originated the concept. Instead of branching out on their own, they’ve partnered with Tim Horton’s here in Canada on a supposed ‘test project’ to see if it makes sense to pair the King of Donuts with the American Knight of Ice Cream. Aside from being able to mix your own flavours, they also offer a freezer case chokablok full of  ice creamy treats including ice cream cupcakes(!), cakes, cookie sandwiches, and pies.

As per usual, my involvement with said recommendation comes from a personal encounter with the product at hand. My spouse had a free coupon for an ice cream pie, and our hotel room has a freezer in it, so I ‘graciously’ allowed him to redeem the coupon this week. They had two flavours on offer – cookie dough and a limited edition pumpkin flavour, which we opted for. What can I really say beyond that? The nibbles I’ve had have been delicious – graham cracker crust, a cinnamony pie filling, topped off with daubs of real whipped cream, all at a relatively affordable price (about $12) and at a good size to please groups of 6 to 10. It was a nice twist on a Thanksgiving classic, and a welcome addition to any turkey-themed dinner this weekend.

For the record, despite this whole Cold Stone Creamery thing being a pilot project, there are a good number of locations across the country with hybrid Tim’s & CSC concepts. In fact, only the territories and Newfoundland are woefully without. Whether you’ve already volunteered to bring dessert this weekend (and know you won’t get mocked for store bought goods) or if you’d simply like to bring something to add to the mix, I’m giving the Cold Stone Creamery pies my stamp of approval!