Peach Gelato Today

photo credit: askchefdennis.com

July is National Ice Cream Month providing fans of frozen dessert more justification to indulge during the summer heat. More specifically today, Thursday, July 17, 2014 is National Peach Ice Cream Day.  Peaches provide a copious amount of festivals for patrons to gather and share the multiple recipes associated with the fruit’s peak season, and to celebrate how darn delectable peaches truly are.  Beyond the adaptation of peaches in recipes, combinations pairing the fruit with spicy meats, teas, ideal canning and peach pies there is simplicity. Better even, peach farmers and market regulars in Macon, GA agree there is nothing like a bowl of peach ice cream after a day spent picking the fruit out in a hot field.

A few easy ways to enjoy peaches in frozen dessert form be it from a glass, bowl, or as a novelty. The supreme recommended cool down that incorporates peaches into a refreshing frozen beverage is The Blood Orange Peach Soda Float.  In the infamous Bellini, an Italian prosecco beverage,  the white peach puree beautifully defines the elite cocktail… adding mini scoops of peach sorbetto and vanilla gelato make for a drink perfect for consuming today. Drink up some peach! Peaches as an amazing (and quick) summer dessert staple = grilled peaches, served on top of a bowl of vanilla gelato with a drizzle of caramel. The sugars in the fruit create a crisp sweet layer after being grilled, adding the heightened peach flavor along with a light crunch to a household favorite.  No need to move to the country, plentiful ways to ‘eat a lot of peaches…’ this summer regardless of any metropolitan or suburbia locale status. Unarguably, the peach roadside farmer's market has got the best plan!

Peach gelato sandwiches are a lighthearted treat. Enjoy!

Peach gelato sandwich recipe

Makes 8 sandwiches

32 oz peach gelato

16 macadamia nut shortbread cookies, recipe from Southern Living

or feel free to use a favorite similar recipe of your own.

Plastic wrap

Paper wrap

Place two 2 oz scoops of peach gelato on one cookie (bottom of sandwich), top with second cookie. Wrap sandwich in plastic wrap and place in freezer. Repeat this process until all 8 sandwiches are assembled.  When ready to eat and serve remove sandwiches individually from freezer and unwrap from plastic wrap. Using the paper wrap, cover each peach gelato sandwich halfway up with paper to prevent melting.

What is your favorite peach recipe? Share with us this National Peach Ice Cream Day!

photo credit: chefsherry.com 

Spring Break 2014, Go!

Break out the sunscreen, bikinis and limes, it is time to gear up for a sea of neon- this is Spring Break 2014. After a rough Winter season for much of the US, travelers find it more reasonable than ever to justify a desired break from school, work, and shoveling the snow. Time to find the ideal place to relax and touch feet to the sand. The party stigma is forever linked to traditional spring break, but there are endless ways to enjoy the time off to actually explore a city and refine the experience.

Cuisinart Resort on Rendezvous Bay, Anguilla 

c/o cocktails&gelato

Often, Spring Break marks the first trip taken apart from family and is planned by students across universities in the country. Tens of thousands will travel during the Spring weeks to validate certain hollow expectations of college life.  While the beach, booze, and boats are all suitable categories to adhere to the practice of a legit Spring Break, there are recommendations to elevate the time spent on vacation above a blurred week of partying.  The message to student Spring breakers: no matter the destination selected find the actual sights of the city... and tour them.  Obvious as this may sound, too often the large group of friends will travel to and from without taking in all a place has to offer.  Try the local fare by way of the many websites used to filter places to dine categorized with such labels as ‘best cheap grub’, best ice-cream/gelato, and best for group dining. Plan properly to get a true taste of the city all while keeping to a budget.  Skip the daily hangover and encapsulate the well versed traveler within to discover all there is to the destination.

Alternative Spring Break trips are sponsored by nonprofit organizations and other charity or specialty groups to give students the option to spend the week volunteering for a cause with a magnitude of reward. To further explore this route and get involved read over this article about Missouri University in The Columbia Daily Tribune about the Mizzou Alternative Break trips (service trips) program and students arranging to benefit people through Habitat For Humanity, United Way and many other causes.  2014 it is more popular than ever that students are devoid of the standard expectations set by peers in order to give back.  

Time.com has created a list of the top ten popular places students are going for spring break this year, for reference to those that would like to fly with or steer clear of this crowd.  If traveling to a fancy beach town is not on the agenda this year, then Spring Break at home it is.  Easy to find local community charity programs to enable time spent to give back, explore the sites unseen that draw others to the closest large hometown location (day trip), and create atypical dining with awesome combo dessert drink recipes from Food52. Regardless of where or how to spend the break, let there be focus on enjoying family and friends, fantastic food and beverage, and giving back.  Relaxation and mini umbrellas to top drinks do not cost much: to the party people or not, spend time to revivify over the sundry Spring Break 2014.

Mini umbrellas

How are you spending your Spring Break this year?  If you are planning an alternative trip, we would especially like to hear about it!

Toast to Happiness!

Winter drab has gone on long enough. People in most parts of the country need a bit of hoopla to entertain at this point.  No need to rush to the local watering hole, keep it downright interesting with an adult beverage, complete with gelato.     

Mixologists have affirmed the creative cocktail trend is here to stay.  More advantageous? Bartenders ahead of the curve are mixing alcohol and gelato to create the happiest of hours in existence.  

Recently, a list of 15 Food Reasons Italians Are Better at Life appeared on Huffington Post (an enthused shout out to numbers 12, and 1), to build upon this accurate list number 16 easily should be Italian liquors.  Campari, Limoncello, Sambuca, Frangelico; the span of flavor across the famed spirits of Italy are ideal to infuse in gelato or sorbetto to create supreme recipes combining alcohol and the luxury frozen dessert.  It is becoming increasingly more common to find gelato with rum or another standard spirit on menus across the world.

A gelato cocktail that will go over well with everyone.

Surely, one of the most fabulous ways to enjoy gelato and get through the impending storms is to add a dash of the “good stuff” for a tasty way to make it to spring.  A favorite gelato cocktail recipe brilliantly uses pistachio gelato, espresso, and coconut to make a luscious concoction.  Worthy modifications include caramel drizzle on the rim, best served in a chilled glass. Honestly, even a "plain" vanilla gelato cocktail is delicious.

Gelato and Italian liquors add sophistication to dessert time and/or happy hour.  Celebrate this match made in heaven with a gelato cocktail toast to happiness!

Pino Gelato is available in quarts and pints for you to order to make your own gelato cocktail recipe at home! Please share your favorites with us in the comments section. Salute!

Salute 2014!

Toast 2014 with Italian flair.  “Bubbly”, “champs”, “bubs”, pop media dubs champagne numerous coined phrases, chose the preferred reference and know a delectable addition is welcomed in the flute.  Gelato and sorbetto mini scoops drenched in prosecco (Italian similar bubbly) bring true taste to cheers with this New Year's Eve.  

Celebrating with extra special beverages contributes to decor and creates a magical element to the evening on NYE.  A supreme version of the cocktail named “Sunset Bubbly” is made by combining blood orange sorbetto with prosecco turning into a beautiful, refreshing, and unique drink both ideal and palatable for serving to any crowd.  Mario Batali creates an intriguing (thick) version  “Pomegranate Prosecco Gelatina”, a recipe that works well with any berry sorbetto with colors spot on for a holiday vibe.  

The variations are endless and stupendous, but in order to avoid having to narrow down the selection consider creating a punch bowl with multiple flavor scoops.  Arranging a self-serve bubbly bar is an excellent option for guests to create their own version and to present the same array to those refraining from spirits during the evening.  Place sparkling grape juice, water, or cider aside the prosecco for a spot on way to include all at the celebration.  

Ringing in the New Year holds tradition.  Parties vary from the utmost lavish to banging pots and pans in the kitchen with the family.  Enjoying a decadent beverage is deemed celebration worthy of any style of festivities lined up.  Regardless of plans this New Year’s Eve, toasting with a gelato/sorbetto induced luxury beverage is quite the means to embrace a sparkling outlook for 2014.  Salute 2014!

photo credit: Bon Appetit

What Hors d'oeuvres do you serve on NYE that pair well with champagne/prosecco?  

Sweet Celebration this 4th of July!

Sweeten up the celebration this Independence Day!  The Fourth of July has approached rapidly this year, it is time to slow down and honor our nation with family and friends in a traditional backyard gathering.  Widespread heat waves throughout The USA call on us to cool down guests with frozen treats this Thursday.  Gelato flag cake, yes please.

 Pino Gelato Flag Cake!

Keeping guests cool in a simple atmosphere is a combination perfect for serving up frosty drinks, ice-cold dessert, and a tremendous avenue to showcase the holiday’s symbolic colors red, white, and blue.  Offer guests homemade lemonade and iced tea with a scoop of lemon sorbetto and fresh mint leaves.  To promote the color scheme offer fresh or frozen blue berries and raspberries to up the ante in the frozen drinks.  Another amazing festive option is to incorporate this great fizzy, fruit float drink using a more decadent route by topping with vanilla gelato (the straws are awesome).  Simple, refreshing, and fun, exactly what the 4^th of July exudes.

Photo: Jennifer Davick, Prop Styling: Amy Burke, Food Styling: Marian Cooper Cairns

Start the day with a local parade or festival to truly immerse into the honoring of our country.  There is something very American about celebrating with neighbors and members of the community, to be a part of it.  Once gathered in the backyard, keep the menu simple with grilled entrees and classic side dishes.  For dessert a gelato flag cake provides the perfect holiday showcase while satisfying the sweet tooth in all.  Serving quarts of gelato and sorbetto is another fuss-free route to take to beat the heat in a tasty way.  Gelato on stand-by for topping pies (a la mode) is also a huge favorite, as well as an American staple. Cool desserts covered!

Host or partake in a sweet party to celebrate Independence Day, just follow these tips to be sure to keep cool.  Happy Fourth of July!

Awesome compilation of fireworks!

Sweet Super Bowl Sunday

America’s sport has transcended over time with glorifying the championship game to include much more than football.  The NFL’s Super Bowl Sunday is just as much about the food and the entertainment as it is about tossing the pig skin making the event enjoyable, all-inclusive, and indulgent.  New Orleans is the host city this year allowing for an amazing influence on food and beverages served at parties across the nation.  While there are certain food staples associated with Super Bowl Sunday, dessert is often overlooked amongst them.  Gelato is a superb way to sweeten up the fare and drink for Super Bowl XLVII.

We have dessert covered this year.  For an impressive yet simple option serve or bring our Pino Gelato custom gelato cake shaped and made to look like a football for guests to ogle over until dessert time.  The cake itself adds instant thematic décor and is a favorite for all ages.  Another convenient option for hosting or attending a party is to bring pints or quarts of various gelato flavors that can be used to top just about any dessert.  An idea would be to have handheld mini pies, cakes, and other assorted favorite treats with a station for guests to self-serve scoops to accompany their selection.  Similarly, the gelato can be used with a coffee bar set up to allow guests to create a pick-me up with espresso or coffee and a variety of after-dinner liqueurs poured over their gelato flavor of choice. The possibilities for gelato and dessert are endless and an ideal fit for wowing people over on food-day/game-day. 

New Orleans lends easy menu selection in terms of drinks this Sunday with an array of drinks representative of The Big Easy.  Gelato can be used to add a fun and sweet flair to the traditional preparation of The Hurricane, rum and tropical juices, topped with a mini-scoop of coconut gelato will provide a sensational presentation.  NOLA is bustling with stands peddling Frozen Daiquiri’s acclimating tourists with the local’s adoration of the sweet concoction. Serve up vodka (or leave it out for a great non-alcoholic option) blended with ice, fresh berries, and a scoop of fruit flavored gelato or sorbetto to do the same for your crowd.  Additionally, Craft beer and the Pimm’s Cup, Pimm’s No. 1 liqueur and lemon-lime soda with a cucumber garnish, are important drinks to the local region but are likely to be gleefully over looked against the gelato infused beverage options.

Eat and drink a bit sweeter this Super Bowl Sunday courtesy of gelato!