Christmas time in South Philly

One funny thing about living in South Philly (there are many) is that the neighbors always let you know what holiday it is. As of now, 1 out of every 3 row homes are littered with Christmas cheer. Mine is not. I'm very nontraditional and I really don't care to spend my time adorning my house with lights. It's enough of a struggle to manage a 3 year old, let alone a twisty mess of lights. And at the same time? Whoa. Brain freeze. (Which is what you won't get when you enjoy a lovely gelato.)

These cats in South Philly go all out. Three story row homes are encircled in lights. Can you imagine the ladder they'd have to use? Candy canes in windows. Snowmen. Santa. You walk down a side street and I kid you not, a house has a speaker on their stoop playing nonstop Christmas music.

And it's like this for every holiday/season that's on the calender. January's all "new year" themed, of course. Lot's of babies in diapers and top hats and sashes. February has windows full of valentines and love and cupid and blech. March, St. Patrick fills the streets with green lights and leprechauns and the pots of gold we all wish for. April is awash with Easter bunnies and fuzzy ducks.

May is spring. Isn't President's day in the spring. Do I have to capitalize "president"? Or "spring"? So the windows are full of flowers and spring type stuff. It's also Cinco de Mayo. Now my neighbors don't actually decorate for this one, but sure do celebrate it like most Americans. You can tell by the collection of beer cans in the gutters and storm drains. June. I am now consulting my daughters Highlights calender. Just found out that Presidents Day in in February. I do remember seeing photos of Washington and Lincoln in the windows. No lights, though. But Flag Day is June and there's lots of flags.

Of course July brings out all sorts of red, white and blue. American flags are freakin' everywhere. It's all USA. USA. USA. And surprisingly, a South Philly fireworks show rivals the one at the Parkway (especially at New Years Eve). August/September are pretty boring. Maybe you'll find a beach ball or two in the window; maybe some pre-fall leaves. But I guess everyone needs a break b/c the killer months are a comin'.

October is Halloween and this is when things really start to get crazy. Pumpkins, skeletons, gravestones, witches, that house I mentioned before now has "scary" music playing. Neighbors are going all out! There's a house that has this HUGE inflatable spider on the front. My daughter really likes that one. Which then leads into November and I wish I could count how many Pilgrims I see in windows. And cornucopias. And leaves. And turkeys. And everything Fall. And as soon as Thanksgiving is over, Christmas roars in like a drunk Santa and blindsides you with Christmas cheer.

Okay. I'm taking my girl to see Santa (but she says she won't sit on his lap! Don't blame her.) And her response for when Santa asks what she wants for Christmas will be: a hat - Easiest Christmas EVER. Sure, we'll listen listen to all that Christmas music. But as for decorations... call me Scrooge. Call me Mayor McDuck. I'll just let my South Philly neighbors decorate for me.

No, YOU look good!

So,

Our last month our friend Caroline at Looks good to me NOT ONLY wrote a really nice post about our Capogiro Gelato on her blog BUT to top it off, sent us one of her awesome illustrations to boot!!! Thanks Caroline!
(You can see the non goofy version of it on her site...)
We really appreciate the print and the post. Hope you have a great holiday and thanks for being a Capo fan!

Persimmons start arriving in November. During the first week of December, I place 6 persimmons on a plate on my counter. They soon become soft, dark in spots and quite frankly, if it were summer, they would gather flies. I carefully wrap and pack them to make the trip down to New Orleans. I give the gift of rotting fruit to my mother-in-law, Anna. Because I love her. Not kidding.

My mother-in-law was born in Padua, Italy and raised in Rome and spent her teen years back in Padua (which is between Venice and Verona).  The holidays were filled with roasted chestnuts, panettone, linguine alle vongole e cachi. Cachi are persimmons. The way to eat them is to let them ripen to the point of rotting, lean over the sink and rip into them.  I know she only eats them in privacy: I have never seen her indulge, she is too much of a lady. It is one of those things in which you need a moment alone. We all have one.

In celebration of the holidays and my lovely inlaws (and they are lovely):

Strange Holiday Gelato

Anna’s Persimmon Sorbetto

Uber ripe, sweet, slightly spicy and ultra Italian.

Roan’s Pure King Leo Stracciatella
Mint, smashed candy canes, bittersweet chocolate? Yes, please for my sweet nephew.

Francesca’s Coquito

Thai coconut milk, egg yolks, vanilla and rum. AKA “Puerto Rican Egg Nog” for my lovely friend Francesca, like a sister.

Domenico’s Nocciola

Just pure hazelnut for my father-in-law.

Julian & Gabe’s Sweet Clementine

For my nephews who are getting so tall I forget how little they are.

Quince

Quite possibly my favorite thing to poach.

Enjoy the holidays with what makes you happy and, well...different. We love different.


6 perfectly packed pints shipped anywhere in the continental US.!
Click HERE to order, just in time for Christmas!

Party Favor Flavors

As the holiday season descends upon us, the cards and party invitations start pouring in. Office parties, family parties, friend parties, kid parties, etc. Parties are fun and all, but it can be a bit overwhelming when you're expected to bring a little something to each one. A bottle of vino, a cookie tray, foil-wrapped candies: these are acceptable contributions, but don't they seem too played out after all these years? I mean, really - when is the last time a tray of gingerbread or sugar cookies really knocked your (or anyone's) socks off?

When heading to holiday parties this year, why not bring some Capogiro pints along? They are hand-packed into sturdy to-go containers in any of our three Philadelphia locations, and you can pick any flavor from our abundant gelato selections. Kids will love sweet-tart pomegranate and milky dulce de leche, while adults will appreciate rich and luxurious chocolate hazelnut, sophisticated Turkish coffee, or sinful single malt scotch. Thai coconut milk, dark chocolate, and lemon sorbetto are all guaranteed crowd pleasers. Our baristi will be happy to help you pick the perfect flavors (we have between 22 - 27 fresh flavors in our cafes), sure to add a creative flare to any dessert spread. All those dry and boring cookies will be given new life when used as bookends for gelato sandwiches!

If you're invited to soirees out on the Main Line, New Jersey, or even further, never fear - you won't arrive bearing gelato soup! Our gelato can survive the trip. We pack your pints up with ice or even dry ice, and both will keep them frozen for several hours.

So this year, bring the party favor everyone will fight over - pints of Capogiro's beautiful, artisanal gelato!

Start Your Engines!

Your holiday cake buying engine! We've told you about them before, I know, but it's in full swing now, baby! Be the envy of your guests at your next holiday party, family gathering, or misfit toy club meeting.

Layers of fresh, seasonal gelati and sorbetti shaped into exotic shapes, like PRISMS (ooh, like that pink floyd album) and DOMES (like those bullet guys from mario bros. what were they called?) Whoaaaaa.

We keep our case fully stocked with some of our favorites:

Il Mattone - Or the brick to most. Alternating layers of sweet Mascarpone gelato and indulgent Amaretto gelato in a rectangular shaped cake coated with toasted almonds.

Triangolo - Our most popular cake. Three layers of gelato in a groovy prism shape. Contains a layer of each: Cioccolato Scuro, Fior di Latte, and Bacio, with crushed house-caramelized hazelnuts pressed into one side. Slice it backwards to hear secret messages from a non-denominational demon of your choice!*

Della Signora - Men, fear not! It's only a lady cake because of the finger shaped cookies on the outside! A layer of Pistacchio Siciliano gelato topped with a layer of Burnt Sugar gelato with those caramelized hazelnuts (they're something special) in between and on top. It's finished off with a ring of lady finger cookies and a fancy pants bow.

Not something you were thinking? We have other cakes in our reportoire available for special order. La Bomba is a sharp little number of two seasonal sorbetti, surrounded by a layer of Thai Coconut Milk gelato with flaked coconut pressed into the exterior in a sleek half sphere shape. Or maybe you're going to dress to impress with an L'Alaska al Forno: a brilliant cake made up of a 2 flavor core and then topped with beautiful peaks of Italian Meringue. Placed in a 500 degree oven for a minute or two (wait, gelato in the oven? no lie!) to get the meringue brown and toasted. It'll knock the pants off your guests, if that's what you're goal is.

Or, choose to keep it simple. Ciclone comes in two cyclone shaped sizes with up to 4 layers of seasonal sorbetti. Circles make you dizzy? The Quadrato is a traditional square shaped cake with up to 5 alternating layers of seasonal gelati or sorbetti. You decide!

Maybe not your favorite seasonal flavor? Call us up! (215)-636-9250. Our gelato cake operators are always available to discuss our current seasonal flavor options with you for your very own, one of a kind, custom gelato cake. Keep in mind they're only made at our 20th St location and we'll need a few days to whip up something custom for you.

*We kid, we kid. Only our cioccolato scuro is demon endorsed, start saving now to buy his soon to be released basketball sneaks.

Vegan Apple Cider Donuts!!

Yeah, that's right... We used the "V" word.

If you haven't stopped by 13th Street to taste one of these mouth watering creations, you need to schedule a visit soon.

Mike Landers, the mastermind behind the North Port Fishington Cookie Factory treats, has completely reinvented the cruelty-free goody. "But vegan?", you ask? YES. We know. But try it for yourself, they're only 50 cents. Moist, dense, and delicious: grab a couple of mini apple cider donuts with your morning cappuccino and start your day!

The North Port Fishington Cookie Factory delicacies are made in Philly's own kitchen share. (Did you even know Philly had a kitchen share? Very cool Philly.) Along with the donuts, 13th Street carries North Port's Chococochip, Peanut Butter and Crasin Oatmeal vegan cookies.

You don't have to be vegan to like these goodies, or even know what a vegan is... You just have to like goooooooooooood treats!!

Cats, Dang It!

Cats love our gelato--it's true--but they shouldn't eat too much of it, 'cause they will get spoiled rotten and maybe also gain secret mind powers. Spoiled kitties moving furniture with their minds is a really scary thing you don't want to have to deal with, trust me.

Unicorns used to eat gelato, but they are now forced to live outside the "irreality cone" and are lost to us. Someday (maybe after the next imminent polar shift) when the electromagnetic veil is lifted, we will hopefully be able to feed cioccolato scuro to our mythical, horned, ungulate friends.

My cat just mind-scanned me to see what I was thinking, and wishes to remind me that the now-extinct thylacene used to gobble triple cones of bacio, pistacchio, and stracciatella gelato so fast and so often that they had permanent "ice cream headache," thus the terrible grimace they always wore - Crazy! Thank you, dearest Cat Overlord! He also wants me to bring home a pint of fior di latte and to relay this special message to oppressed cats everywhere:

"mew! mew! miow! rowr!"

Cross Country Capogiro

Have you ever found yourself on a long business trip in Boston, going through Capo-withdrawal? Were you shaking in the corner of your hotel room, with your laptop propped open for you to stare at the daily flavor list like a lion gazing hungrily at a gazelle? Do you roam aimlessly through the streets mumbling in a mixture of tongues and broken Italian... forcing yourself into ice cream shops and leaving with feelings of emptiness and regret?

Fret no more, Bostonians!

We're shipping fresh gelato and sorbetto to this fantastic Zagat rated, Italian Wine Bar, Café called Piattini! They just got an awesome review in the Boston Globe and we wanted to congratulate them and wish them the best via Capo-blog shout out.

Thank you Piattini, for spreading the Capogiro love and furthering our (not so) secret plans of world domination.

Where in the world will we end up next? Any ideas?

Almost Phamous!

Hey! Our friends at Philebrity (one of our favorite local blogs and twitter pals) have listed us on their "Business of the year" poll in honor of their 1st Philebrity Awards Show! Oh, you just HAVE to go and vote for us. Please? Please... with a dollop of freshly whipped panna on top? Thanks for the props Philebrity! Holla Back.

xoxoxo,
Capogiro

What's In A Name?

We know you don't understand, and we sorta like it that way. It's that one little thing we can smile about on the inside when you ask us. It's an age old question round these parts "What's capogiro mean anyway?"

But shh...don't tell my boss, 'cause I'm gonna let you in on our little secret.

To have a capogiro is the Italian way of saying that you are a bit dizzy. Not dizzy in a feeling sick to your stomach way but, mind you, dizzy in a schoolyard crush kinda way. The one where you have to sit down cause the grin on your face is throwing off your equilibrium.

It breaks down like this: capo means head and giro means spinning. Are you picking up the breadcrumb trail I'm leaving for ya?

Here's what the fine folks who write Italian - English Collins Dictionary have to say

Capogiro - sm: dizziness
aver un capogiro - to have a dizzy spell
ho avuto un capogiro - I felt dizzy
da capogiro - astonishing

So come on in and let a Capogiro hit you: we have plenty of seats to rest your tush on and all sorts of refreshments for you to recover!