So I've been looking at these things on and off for a couple years now...

And up until now I've been completely flummoxed. I mean, sure, they look like this:

so they appear tasty enough (rest assured through all of this that they are, as a matter of fact, really tasty). And I get that they definitely do look a bit like a more familiar plum than a prune, and I do love a good plum.

But...why call it a prune plum? It's one of those things, you know how it goes. I've been with Capogiro so long that at this point I was actually too embarrassed to ask. "So...prunes? Henh?" I figure it's safe to assume that I'd be in for some, uh. Ribbing. And as much as we do all like each other (and we do, both among the CapoPenn crew and the boss crew who meets occasionally but mostly lives out our relationships through texts like a bunch of teenagers), the ribbing around here...it can be less than gentle sometimes.

ANYWAY. So why is it a prune plum? Because it's the variety of plum that gets turned into a prune. That's it! It's utterly that simple. As is my wont I had fairly convinced myself that it was some relatively obscure cultivar that was epically and especially suited to sorbettoing. (I have a penchant for over-complicating things, including and/or especially my syntax.)

So...does that make the prugna sorbetto as healthy as a handful of prunes? It's not too far off! Prunes are one of the more nutrient-dense fruits you can put in your face, and given how much fruit goes into our sorbetto (and since the fruit never gets cooked)there really is a good bit of nutrition in there. And it's fat-free of course, so it's pretty much guilt-free, too. There ya go. Nutrition in you dessert. Can't beat that.

 

Member These?

Some of ya'll may or may not have noticed our Gelato Cake and Cookie Sandwich freezer has been on the fritz.  If you're craving that vanilla sugar cookie dipped in chocolate with Stracciatella sandwich, you'll just have to pass the 20th store a couple blocks and make a hard right down Walnut to CapoPenn. OR you don't quite make it to the 20th store by a couple blocks and make a hard LEFT depending on which way you're coming. OR you head towards 20th from West Philly and realize you have to turn completely around and head back in the direction from whence you came.  OR you...nah, I'll stop there.
    I want to reassure ya'll that the cakes are still here at 20th, still waiting for you to special order them with 48 hours notice.  The Bomba (white haired /coconut toupeed turtle shell), the Della Signora (pistachioed and lady finger-lined), and of course the Triangolo (bacio slapped with extra candied hazelnuts for pete's sake) just to name a few. They are all here lying dormant in the potential energy of Irlanda's talented hands.  Let her make something for your next birthday party, bar mitzvah, quinceanera, or Freemason initiation. The holidays are just around the corner, too!

DISCLAIMER: this is not an example of our cakes, but I Googled "Freemason holding a cake," crossed my fingers, and this came up. Thank you internet.

Why are my eyes soo itchy?!?!

It seems like the fall allergy season has begun to set in.  For the last three days my eyes have become progressively more itchy and I'm presently fighting myself not to scratch them with a nice sharp fork.  I promise to reserve my forking of things for the dinner table.  To my fellow fall allergy sufferers just know I'm there with you and I hope we all get to experience relief sooner rather than later. 

Neck Pumkin's!

On the positive side of this, Fall allergies mean that fall fruits and veggies are all getting themselves primed for our gelato and sorbetto pans.  Things you can look forward to in the coming weeks are Acorn Squash Gelato, Lancaster Neck Pumpkin Gelato, and the return of our our delicious soups!!  I also heard rumor of some new things coming to our candy counter so keep your eyes peeled for those too.

Acorn Squash!

One more time for the world (or the city, really, I guess)!

So the days are conspicuously getting shorter: I came downstairs to the counter the other evening at 7:45 or so and looked outside and totally had a "whoawait it's dark out" moment, which is an annual (perennial? Man I'm STILL not sure) occurrence. And it's definitely getting cooler out, for which I'm ever grateful if totally unsure about who it is I'm grateful to. 

Which means we're running out of time for you to find us out and about! It really is one of our favorite things to bring our gelato to hungry faces in various parts of the city--and it's been a great festival season! Of course we did Feastival a little bit ago, and there have been some Night Markets here and there and...I sort of hate to tell you this (but on the other hand it's super-useful info to stash away for later!) but we've done some private gigs here and there--weddings mostly, and alas you weren't invited. But was Brewers Plate really that long ago? Like...March, I think? Makes me nostalgic for strawberries, it does.

But we've got one more event in the out-of-doors for you! We'll be at the Manayunk StrEAT Food Festival, which is kind of a great way to wrap up our season since we were at this fest's spring version earlier this year. 

So! One more time, come get yer walkin' around gelato! There'll be a bunch of our favorite food trucks and the local shops will be out and the sidewalk and the weather should be just about PERFECT (lil warm for my tastes but I'm cantankerous and difficult to satisfy). C'mon! Hop a train and come see us one more time this year. 

The most un-noticed, but delicious Capogiro Sweets!!

Our gelato is so good that some customers never move beyond the case.  As understandable as that is, there are some great products for sweet tooths craving something other than gelato.  

My number one favorite treat that often gets over looked by gelato crazy customers is cocolove’s whoopie pies, located on the top shelf of our beverage case, next to the register.  By the time our customers get to where these little guys are, they already have gelato.  But folks, I promise you will not be disappointed if you treat yourself to a good whoop by buying a cocolove midnight chocolate whoopie pie with chocolate mousse frosting.

Another cocolove favorite of mine is their shortbread!  If you are looking for a little salty weet crunch to go with your morning cappucino, then grab a two pack of these cookies for just a buck!!  I really recommend the rosemary variety!

And last but not least (although they wont last much longer) are the last few boxes of salt water taffy  (by Salty Road) hanging out on top of our drink case.  These sold like hotcakes during the summer but we still have a couple boxes left!! Get one before they are gone until next year!

<3 Tori Styner

So...TONIGHT though what're you doin?

Because see, it's Feastival night and we're going to be there! Good food festivals don't often need anything to gild their lilies, but since it's actually a sneaky way to support FringeArts (the folk that bring you Fringe Festival) and some of the truly best restaurants in Philadelphia will be there, it's pretty sure to be an all-around rippin' good time.

So my sister's birthday is coming up and she's just shown my niece Ratatouille. Since they're in the culinary desert that is suburban Maryland, we kicked it around a bit and decided that the two of them should come to Philadelphia for a night so that A>sis can get some legit food for her birthday and B>we can see how my niece does with dinner in an upscale (hate that word in this context, but) restaurant. She is five years old after all, and these things are maybe a little dicey until you really put them to the test. Of course, I'm a restaurant guy and the three of us used to live together, so OBVIOUSLY my niece is the coolest, brilliantest, most well-behaved(est) five year old that's ever been on this or any other planet, and I'm not at all worried that she'll cause a scene.

And I'm actually pretty excited to take them out, because between thinking about sis's birthday dinner and gearing up for Feastival, I've really been reminded that Philadelphia is a serious restaurant town. We're absolutely spoiled with riches when it comes to real food here. We've got Chinatown, the Italian/Mexican/Vietnamese Market, all the awesome East African places in West (best) Philly, great cocktail bars (and bartenders) and celebrity chefs who remain more chef than celebrity.

Admittedly though, sis and her daughter are vegetarians, about which I'm of two minds. On one hand...I mean, clearly they're just, like, wrong. Because pork. But on the other hand, I've defintely had my head turned by a well-executed vegetable dish. So sis asked me to come up with suggestions, and I've found myself really advocating for...a place I'm not going to tell you about yet! Because it's super-small and very specialized and I want to make sure we can get our reservations.

But all in all...we should take pride in our town. The restaurants around us and the people that work in them are some of the best in the country, and whatever you've got a hunger for you're lucky enough to find authentically done and close by.

Needs better pizza, though.

 

Sansom street make-over!!!

Friday night while working the closing shift a fleet of tow trucks rolled out on Sansom Street to move all the cars that had ignored the city warning signs that some road work would be taking place after 8pm. We watched while they made quick work of whatever cars were unlucky enough to have missed the notices. Next rolled up a dump truck which slowly backed up Sansom toward Broad st and was followed by the awesome street stripper (not that kind of stripper!) which ground up all the gross uneven pavement that is Sansom street and spit it into the back of a series of dump trucks.

I was very excited to see our little street is finally getting some attention from the streets dept. Sansom Street is not exactly known for being the most pleasantly scented of streets nor did it have a good reputation for being well maintained or a smooth ride. This means we'll be getting a brand new strip of smooth, even, and clean (for now) asphalt!!! I bike a lot in the city and consider this to be quite a luxury. I don't know if this excites anyone else quite as much as me but I thought maybe someone else out there would appreciate the neighborhoods improvement. Here is a picture of how it looks now and soon I'll be able to post a lovely after picture.


 

Yay the fall riding is going to be great!

To the end of an era (season)

We're serving the last of the rose gelato at our Passyunk location this evening!
..never let go..

Capogiro Point/Counterpoint

At the risk of seeming to throw Melissa under the bus...

PEOPLE. SUMMER IS NOT OVER. Sure it's kinda close to over. But let's not kid ourselves: there are still several 97 degree/103% humidity days in our immediate future. And when did the pumpkin/Oktoberfest creep get so aggressive?! (Gauntlet-throwing admission in direct conflict with my blog post about Oktoberfest: I don't like German beer. Laagers? Meh. Where's the hops?)

Seriously, it's the first week of September. All the big beer folk have started rolling out their fall beers--like a week ago! And the [shudder] pumpkin spice lattes...I mean. I don't even know where to start. For one thing, this is what your (real) pumpkins look like right now:

Noooooooooooot altogether very pumpkin-y, right? Also...do you know what goes into making your pumpkin spice latte beyond milk and espresso (which are the only ingredients in a legit latte, obv)? You don't really think they're using any actual pumpkin in there, right? "Natural and artificial flavors," of course. Which means...fractionated corn! Also probably molested soybeans. And possibly petroleum. Deeeeeeeeeelicious.

Don't get me wrong, I love the fall. I'm a fall guy! Definitely my favorite season, though I'm annually (perennially?) dismayed by how quickly it always seems to creep up. Wasn't it just Memorial Day? And as much as I really tried to embrace the summer this year, to make peace with the heat and humidity and Eau de Hawt Dumpster...I tried. I really did. But no. Y'know what? Summer sucks in a lot of ways, and while it's got some upsides--eagerly looking forward to an all-day cookout this weekend--man. I ride all over this town and there are so many interesting (?) smells. Really looking forward to the cooler weather to knock that down a bit.

Anyway, here's my point: can we ease up on pushing into whatever season is next and just relax and be in whatever season we're IN? Jeez. Also: gonna need you to get offa my lawn.

Marshmallow is a PLANT, say what?

      Marshmallows were not always a vegan's fluffiest nightmare.  A marshmallow is, in fact, a plant.  A mallow found in a marsh. Marsh mallow.  Egyptians had plenty of marshes and therefore plenty of mallows with which to make sweet treats.  As with most plants found in this habitable world, it was originally used for medicinal purposes.  The root extracts, as well as chewy sweets made with honey and either the plant's sap or pith, were used to soothe sore throats. 
       French confectioners continued the use of marshmallow sap to literally whip up treats similar to the modern marshmallow through the 19th Century.  All that whipping took a lot out of the Frenchies, so they devised ways to cut down on the labor by adding egg whites or gelatin.  The marshmallow as we know it today, that little squatty cylinder, is a product of an automated process developed in the economic boom following WWII.  Essentially, it squirts out in a tube shape, gets cut down, and rolled around in corn starch. 
       Lately, the kids are making them at home, usually in a pan, so they're cut into squares. We have some here at 20th St. from the Little Flower Candy Company.  I tried, and failed, about 5 Christmases ago to make some for my family.  I imagined making hot chocolates and wowing the fam, but 4 gelatin sheets and a fifty dollar candy thermometer later, and all I had were glossy white strands of goo.  I have it all documented with pictures which I wish were on this computer so I could properly punctuate this rambling, but instead I'll just direct you to an unfortunate news story involving marshmallows and Pennsylvania.  OOh. wait. goody. I found my pictures on the interweb...

So Long Sweet Summer

Lots of changes come around at the end of summer for Capogiro. Summer not only features some of our most exciting flavors, but we also serve some of our most exciting and interesting customers. We see a lot of tourists and children and as September comes along, there are less of these around. Some of our regular customers come back from travels and we love hearing about all their summer fun. There's still some time to catch some late summer flavors as Tori superior A-frame sign artistry shows: 

Though some people lament the end of summer, September is a pretty swell month and as I always say "The only thing fall has going against it is that winter follows." So chin up, folks! Fall has it's beautiful scenery and delicious flavors. Apples, pumpkins, sweet potatoes and more. Capogiro is the place to celebrate those flavors! 

 

Today, I noticed that the sun set exactly between the buildings on Sansom St.  I declare this event to mark the end of summer on the Calendar of Capogiro 13th St every year until eternity.