Gelato
JULY is national ice cream month, but we have something much better. Italian Gelato!!! Celebrate!
IL Fiorello has gelato, made by Leo Leo in Paso Robles. The family is from Florence, hence the name Leo, or Lion, the symbol of Florence. Fantastic, delightful, perfect, amazing, colors and flavors. 99 to be exact. Each week we will offer different flavors. Current favorites are Passion Fruit Sorbet, Chile Chocolate and, of course, Olive Oil Gelato made with our own olive oil and drizzled with lemon olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Heavenly.
We served gelato in the colors of the French flag at our Bastille Day celebration, Blueberry blue, Honey Lavender white, and Strawberry Basil red. We do have fun. The next offerings will include Pistachio. Everyone who has gone to Italy will testify that this is the test of how good the gelato really is. We will have my very favorite in the Fall, Chestnut. Beautiful creamy vanilla with chunks of chestnuts. Drizzled with a wee bit of balsamic it is my perfect gelato. Or maybe creamy gelato with a shot of espresso on top, called affogato. Or maybe stracciatella, chocolate bits interwoven into super creamy gelato. Or maybe just espresso, dark and rich. So many to choose from. We purchased peanut butter and jelly for the kids, and all the adults ate it because of the clarity of the flavors. Great!
We had such a hard time trying to decide what flavors to have at IL Fiorello. It was a very hard job tasting each and every flavor. You should have seen us by the end of the day. Wanting to taste more and more but groaning with pleasure at the wonderful flavors and colors. Maybe we should hold a contest as to which one is the best, that would be a lot of tasting, but we could rise to the occasion.
We have had many requests to sell the gelato by the pint and gallon so we are making plans to do just that. How fun is that idea?
Look up Leo Leo. Their web site is too good to be real. Then come to IL Fiorello for a taste. See the gorgeous photo below from their beautiful web site.
When my girls were young we used to read all the Shel Silverstein books for children and adults. This one poem makes me laugh and sigh, as Mr. Silverstein died all too early. He has entertained many a person with his wit and art. Buy all of his books and read to the children with a scoop of ice cream to top it off. This poem is just delightful for national ice cream, really gelato, month.
EIGHTEEN FLAVORS
By Shel Silverstein
Eighteen luscious, scrumptious flavors
Chocolate, lime and cherry,
Coffee, pumpkin, fudge banana
Caramel cream and boysenberry.
Rocky road and toasted almond,
Butterscotch, vanilla dip,
Butter brickle, apple ripple,
Coconut and mocha chip,
Brandy peach and lemon custard,
Each scoop lovely, smooth and round,
Tallest ice cream cone in town,
Lying there (sniff) on the ground.
Come in and have a double scoop cup- no spills.