Leap This!

Hokay, it's Leap Day! For those of you who don't know, Leap Year was created to make sure that the Gregorian calendar matched up nicely with the astrological and seasonal year. In order to justify the calendar, and extra day was added every so often in order for things to make sense. Yes, because adding an extra day all willy-nilly makes perfect sense. In any case, here are a few things that you may not know about leap year.

In the British Isles, it is a time-honored tradition that women can only propose to men during a Leap Year, some say only on Leap Day. This spawned many silly jokes and comics about men hiding up trees so that they could not be easily wooed by saucy women.

In Ireland, a woman who was intent on pursuing a man in a Leap Year was required to wear a red skirt so that he could see her coming across the moors and thus have ample time to escape.

Leap Years (in most of the world, anyway), occur only when the year is evenly divided by 4. I am really bad at math, but I will assume that is why 2012 is looking leapy.

Leap Frog is a wonderful schoolyard game that has absolutely nothing to do with Leap Year.

"Leap Year (2010)", starring the abhorrent Amy Adams, is probably the worst movie ever. I would rather carve my eyes out with a spork than ever be subjected to that repulsive dribble ever again.

In Greece, it is a bad omen to be married during a Leap Year. This means that every four years, the Greek bachelorette party industry is crippled, and all of the male exotic dancers are forced to take part time jobs as cheesy lounge singers.

A person born on February 29 is called a "leapling" or a "leaper". This is not to be confused with a "leper", which is something else entirely, and should generally be avoided.

Our favorite "leapling" is Capogiro district manager Sarah, who is celebrating her 7th official birthday today. So accomplished at such a young age!! "Leaplings" generally observe their birthdays on Feb 28th or March 1st, so that they can still have cake and presents and not be socially ostracized and ridiculed by other children. Apparently in East Timor, this is not allowed and Sarah would actually not be able to drive a car or vote until she was 72. Crazy!

Biscotti!

They go great with any coffee drink or even alone. I love the original almond flavored ones dipped in chocolate. At capo we sell the almond and chocolate swirl singles or 8oz bags of a variety of flavors. The nut flavors are my favorites but every now and then I like the cherry ones as well.



Biscotti translates to biscuit in English so they are more properly known as "biscotti di Prago,"
Prago being the city they originate from. The rarely used (in the US) singular form is actually biscotto.

Biscotti are twice baked, cut after the first bake so that they become dry and hard giving them a longer shelf life in a time before more modern preservatives. The oldest documented recipe dates back before the 8th century. And all this time later they haven't changed a whole lot.

Next time you stop in for a coffee, latte, cappuccino, or just about anything else give one a try. You might just find yourself hooked!

Capowich!! Grab it Baby!

So how much fun is this? There is this awesome place called The Quick Fixx. It is located at 1511 South Street and they sell delicious stuff. They deliver. Did you hear that? They freaking deliver. I love when really good places deliver. Busy people love delivery.

A few months back the owners contacted us and wanted to sell our novelties. We were just starting to play with these. We are crazy busy and we just started to do our own baking.

Damn...they sell alot of these. We are thrilled!! We just tripped out their freezer. Looks good, no?

So, The Quick Fixx is selling our chocolate chip with fior di latte cookies, our peanut butter cookies with scuro, brownie and fior di latte bars coating in dark chocolate and our version of King Cones. Our King Cones are Italian style with nocciola and dark chocolate.

You should stop by or get something delivered!! They have this build your own option, which for a control freak like me, is awesome!

It's raining

It's raining here in South Philly.. Last week I turned the big 'ol ambiguous 23. So like any grown teenager who was romantically involved with The Smiths and Sartre, I've been a moody wretch. Of course browsing through Forbes Top 30 Under 30 AGAIN has been a major bummer. Now, I know I'm still young...but the thirst to pat myself on the back each day is insatiable. I mean, I have a great job and it can be totally fun and/or total chaos - that's great.

Today I received a picture of this postcard from my dad:

This is a postcard of the Ephrata cloister in Pennsylvania. Kinda spooky.. I gave this to my incredibly talented 25-year-old wayward friend Mark a year ago with my parent's address on it. He told me he was going to "head west for awhile." I haven't seen him since.

The message was shortly phrased but nevertheless sweet.

Holy crap, just found this postcard. I'm in Junction, TX. It's raining. There are horses. I really need to send you more songs... been slacking on the distro.

Are you still in Philly? Sincerely, Mark.

Immediately, I listened to some of his old lo-fi songs (last.fm/MarkHenkel)

I don't care about the pat on the back I've been craving. I just want to write, draw something, compose anything. I am so drunk off meager life experiences.

Stupidly happy right now,

Jessica

The Future is NOW!

Google has done it again! This time with a new application for their Android software: sunglasses. That's right, in the next year we'll be seeing a pair of smart goggles that will have a functioning HUD (heads up display), 4g and possibly web browsing capabilities. Much of the information on the project is still unknown but it has been stated that the user will be able to control a mouse by the movement of their head. It is also speculated that the goggles will look a lot like a pair of Oakley Thumps:

Information suggests that the glasses will also be able to capture live video feed of what the user is seeing and sport GPS navigation.When I heard about this a lot of things popped into my head, mainly concerning consumerism, privacy and fashion (those are some ugly sunglasses). I am still very-much undecided on how I feel about technology like this beginning to be mass-marketed. Whatever happens you can be sure that in the next few years people will be tweeting about their favorite gelato flavors via a pair of sunglasses.

P.S.- I hope they work like the glasses from 'They Live!'

Is it my birthday?!

Wow, my day started off super crazy, but now it's awesome! So many good things happening today. First off, I met the kindest police officer EVER this morning (don't worry, I didn't get arrested). My roommate thought that her car was stolen, and called the police. The kind police officer was at our house within a half hour, and he hunted it down. Turns out, it wasn't stolen, but wrongfully towed by some jerkfaces in West Philly. Apparently private towing companies can take your car whenever they want, because there is no way to prove that you parked where you said you did. This is stupid. The upside though, is that she can now get her car back, along with the awesome collection of DMX CD's we feared were lost forever.

After already thinking it was a fairly successful morning, I left the house only to discover that it was springtime! Really, complete with chirping birds and budding daffodils, it is amazing outside today! I actually basked in the sun for a change.

After the bask, I walked in to work to discover... PEANUT GELATO ON A WEDNESDAY!!!!! Usually we save this amazing flavor for our weekend crowds, so naturally my face lit up when I saw my favorite flavor staring up at me. Then, what's this? BURNT SUGAR TOO?!!! YEAAAAAHHH!!! In case you folks don't know, Peanut and Burnt Sugar are meant to be together just like Angelina and Brad. For an exceptional cup, include a bit of a delicious sorbetto to round things out. Might I recommend Bosc Pear? So delicious.

Gelato Haiku

Capo. Slow tonight.
Sean and Adrienne write blog.
Do you like haikus?

What is Coquito?
A Plethora of flavors
It's not just egg nog.

A tasty frozen treat
Gelato so creamy good
don't stop until full.

Oh! I want bourbon
I hate to disappoint you
Vanilla has none.

What's nutella like?
You know the chocolatey spread?
Yeah. - It tastes like that.

I'll have Vanilla.
We do not have that today.
What's the closest thing?

Espresso to go.
Are you sure you want to go?
I'm in a hurry.

I'm comfortable with my inner nerd.

I don't know about you guys, but I know where I'm going on my next day off. The National Constitution Center is hosting an exhibit on Bruce Springsteen, soooo...

Listen, I'm not enough of a nerdlinger (or a pedant) to jump up on my soapbox and explain in excruciating detail all the things that our Constitution and Bruce Springsteen have in common with one another. (I mean...I could do that. If you asked.) Let's just leave it at this: the Constitution Center is actually a pretty good time, if you haven't gone. I mean yes, I am the kind of guy who will on occasion sit at home on a Friday night and watch PBS. But still--next time you have friends in from out of town, you should go. And Springsteen...I mean, c'mon. Do I really have to make the case?

And see? Now you have plans for the weekend. Besides coming to see us for a cioccolato calda with sea salt.



Curveball! I've posted plenty of Springsteen videos.

Check!

I'm pumped! I get to cross one thing off my bucket list this weekend - Be In Same Room With "Twilight" Actor. That's right, ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to see an off-Broadway play in NYC this weekend that stars one Elizabeth Reaser who plays vamp mom Esme in the "Twilight" saga. So excited! It will be difficult for me to not yell out "Team Edward!!" when she walks on stage, but I'll try to contain myself. Judge me all you want, people, but "Twilight" is the bomb. She was also in "Grey's Anatomy" for a while, but hospital dramas depress me. Give me cheesy teen angst any day of the week.

In Capogiro news, Valentine's Day was a total hit! We were super busy last night, and although I find Valentine's Day to be insufferably horrible, even I couldn't hold back feeling the love. Soooo many couples! There was a little too much PDA going on in front of the case at one point, but hey, at least people were happy. Thanks for coming out all you gelato-loving cuties!

Hey, what's a "Twilight" actor's favorite flavor?

Blood Orange of course! Yuk, yuk, yuk...

Capogiro? Or Italy?

The following post is from the wonderful, spectaucular Dawne Ballard during her trip around the world:

Ciao from Italia! It is our last day in Italy (we're finishing this part of our trip in Rome) and we figured an update on our gelato consumption was in order. There is gelato all over the place! You really and truly can't walk more than 2 or 3 blocks without spotting one. We didn't opt for gelato in Venice, but in Siena, we got a cup from a big, bright, shiny place on the circle in the center of town. Delicious! Though the Amarena, along with the young man who served us were a disappointment.
In Rome, on the suggestion of a superb source (our friend Ellen G.) we headed to Old Bridge, a teeeny gelateria resting just outside the walls of the Vatican. Pistacchio with Ricotta was yummy, as were Amaretto and a Ricotta with the candied fruits from Pannetone. Tasty but not tantalizing.
Last night, after visiting the Cripta dei Cappuccini (so cool, though SO unusual, you NEED to google it seriously) we headed to Grom, another tastefully shiny place, which happens to look suspiciously similar to Capogiro. Grom certainly beat out the competitors for texture, flavor, and the general experience. A bright, insanely clean, and friendly atmosphere made for an enjoyable dessert date.

So, the question that stuck in the back of our minds: Did anything compare? To what we grew up on (so what if it was in our 20's!) back home in Philly? Nope. Not at all.
What we've come out of this realizing is that we were purely and simply spoiled by Capogiro. Philadelphia, please take it from us, we don't even know how good we have it! Capogiro really is the cream of the crop, made fresh daily, and made with care. You've got what has been named arguably the BEST in the world... right at your doorstep. Dig in!