faq: What's your favorite flavor?

Jon Stewart deserves his own flavor.

So, Jimmy Fallon AND Stephen Colbert BOTH have their own flavors of ice cream (made by a very nice company that we need not name...).

It's not to say that we don't think Stephen and Jimmy are deserving, (although, we took a vote and decided that a Questlove themed ingredient should've, at the very least, been a predominant influence in Jimmy's flavor BUT, we digress.) Wait, no we don't.... Jimmy, we love you. We think you're great but, you're more like that high school friend that we hung out with every night in hopes of catching a glimpse of his hot older brother slayin' the drum-set in the basement.

As for Colbert... THAT prima-donna TOTALLY bumped into our very own Saint Stephanie Reitano skiing once and didn't even KNOW that he was in the immediate presence of a real live Philebrity... Not to mention he didn't even have the cojones to ask for her autograph. Phhpht...

Furthermore, we think it's absolute malarkey that Jon Stewart wasn't the frontrunner in this dessert themed frenzy. After all John has done for Stephen... and Jimmy AND AMERICA. To think of the HOURS that we waste devote to enriching our minds in the office watching Daily Show clips..... to send Jon off, bat in hand, with his tail between his legs and no cream dream crown upon his glorious head... well, it was just too much for our hearts to bare. No delicious dessert for our fearless leader of fake news?! Not on our watch, sister.

So without further delay.... we proudly introduce not one but, TWO Jon Stewart inspired flavors of gelato that we're trying desperately to get to someone from the Daily show. If we get in, we'll totally sell it at the stores but.... we sorta kinda have to have their permission. (Our lawyer loses so much sleep over our shenanigans...) We think these flavors do Jon justice, as he does justice every night to the good American television viewers, all in desperate need of honesty, laughter and more fresh, local produce. Bless you Jon Stewart and we hope you like Halvah. Halvah from Russ and Daughters! Your favorite!

It's the Most Wonderful Time...

The holiday season is truly a wonderful time of year; in fact, I’d have to agree with whoever said that this is the most wonderful time of the year. There are twinkling lights and decorations everywhere, shoppers merrily bustling about and, almost more importantly, something that makes me love holiday time even more: Castagna or Candied Chestnut Gelato. This elusive and tantalizing flavor makes its appearance in our gelato cases every December, but enjoy it while you can because, unfortunately, chestnuts, like Santa himself, don't stay around for long.

This much anticipated (at least by me) seasonal flavor is light in texture but rich in flavor, and is swirled with tons of candied chestnut chunks. It’s like eating a fluffy cloud of sweet deliciousness peppered with yummy bites of velvety nuts - how could you say no? This gelato is so unique in flavor I almost always opt to eat it solo, however, with so many options why chose just one? I like to pair Chestnut with Cioccolato Scuro, but if you prefer things on the more mild side I would calm it down with the green wonder of the gelato case, Pistacchio Siciliano, or Rosemary Honey Goat’s Milk, for an all out holiday feel.

Hey Punkin', How Ya Doin'?

Nothing stirs up good warm feelings of fall like pumpkin pie. Even better, pumpkin pie a la mode. We've one upped the classic combo in our Long Neck Pumpkin gelato. It's really what pie and ice cream want to be when they grow up and find their life passion. There's thanks to go out to our superior kitchen staff that prepares this autumn treat, but also thanks to the "pumpkins" themselves.

We play favorite when it comes to pumkin varieties, and only one shines in our eyes among the rest. Long neck pumpkins are hands down the best, and what's more, they're native to our area, so you can pride yourself in knowing you're feeding your growing locavore hunger. With their elongated features, weighing in at around 12-15 lbs each, they wouldn't be able to make the trek from Chile intact anyway.

Most of ours come from Glenn and Green Meadow Farm, and our weekly produce deliveries are chock full of these peculiar looking squashes well through Thanksgiving. Not only are they delicious when transformed into pumpkin gelato, but they're the easiest to prepare. Those pesky seeds with their slime and tendency to stick to the good meaty parts that you're after only reside in the tiny little bulb at the base of the squash. That extra long neck, is pure pumpkiny goodness, ready to be cubed and roasted and turned into something grand. The skin is smooth, so there's no gnarly ridges to work around, too. Gosh, I could go on.

Start your love affair with pumpkin gelato soon, so you'll be able to get your fill before the well is all dried up. Pairing ideas: Amaretto, Pecan, Dulce de Leche, Apples & Mascarpone, Apple Cider, Bourbon Butterscotch, just to name a few of mine... or when all else won't live up to it, a simple smack of fresh whipped cream does the trick.

Flavor Profile - Hibiscus Tea

It's called Agua de Flor de Jamaica in the Central and South American countries it's popular in, but when we use it to make sorbetto, we'll let you just call it delicious. Hibiscus tea is made by steeping the dried calyces (no idea how to say that, but they're the leaves that hold the petals together in a hibiscus bud, also called sepals) in hot water, and sweetening it up with a little sugar and that's pretty much how we translated it to a tasty end of summer sorbetto.

It may derive from a beautiful flower, but this ain't no perfumey floral flavor it has going on. Think more of a tart cranberry-like flavor with mild bitterness and a touch of tannin from the tea side.

We're super excited about autumn's arrival, with all of its apples and pears and long neck pumpkins (oh my!) on their way, but gosh darn it we're gonna milk what's left of summer until every last drop of sweet sunshine is in our bellies. That's just how we roll.

I wasn't able to get a real answer from our kitchen aficionados concerning how long this flavor will be around for, but it's here today, and definitely tomorrow, and with any luck some more after that. Pair it up with some fico nero or pesca giallo sorbetti and nom nom nom it up before you go breaking out your sweaters from storage.