Trade Secret: Nielsen Massey Vanilla

While our recipes are top secret, some ingredients are so good that we're happy to share with you why we include them in Madisono's gelato and sorbet.

One of the reasons our Madagascar Vanilla Gelato tastes so good is because we use whole vanilla beans from the pure vanilla experts, the Nielsen Massey Extracts company.

The Nielsen Massey family has been delivering and producing the finest quality vanilla since 1907. Still family owned and operated in Waukegan, IL, they have locations around the world to distribute and acquire their coveted flavors.

We use the whole vanilla pod in the creation of the vanilla base because it ensures the vanilla flavor as it was meant to be delivered. Rich and mellow, sweet and smooth...delicious!

Here are some fun facts we learned about vanilla from the website:

• In baking, cream the vanilla with the shortening or butter portion of the ingredients. The fat encapsulates the vanilla, preventing it from volatilizing in the baking process.

• Vanilla beans are hand-pollinated on family plantations.

• The entire vanilla cultivation process, from planting to market, can take from 5 to 6 years!

Sweet Hearts Fundraiser at The Hills Market in Columbus

Madisono's Gelato and Sorbet was proud to participate in the "Sweet Hearts" fundraiser at The Hills Market in Columbus, Ohio on February 4th. The "Mended Little Hearts" organization helps mentor families that have children who are newly diagnosed with congenital heart disease, help support them during the entire journey and help fund more research and education.

Madisono's was one of many local vendors (including Snowville Creamery) who offered delicious desserts and treats throughout the evening. Our lemon basil sorbet was paired with a drink of proseco and lavender elixer. Sounds exotic, doesn't it? The sweet fruit of lemon was complemented by the herbal basil and lavender flavors to make quite a delicious combination!

The Hills Market carries Madisono's Gelato and Sorbet year round.

We also enjoyed some great music by the "Salty Caramels" band.

Madisono's Gelato at Pompilios Italian Restaurant in Newport

Yesterday, we suffered the loss of an entire pork loin, which had gone bad in our refrigerator. Not overly dismayed, I thought it was a perfect reason to go out to dinner with the family. Whenever we eat out, we make it a point to patronize a restaurant that carries Madisono's Gelato and sorbet. My wife and I hadn't eaten at Pompilio's Italian Restaurant since before we were married and living in Newport (before it was cool) so the visit was long overdue.

Soda is served in bottles which thrilled our son.

Comfortable and casual with the old-school Italian eatery decor.

We were charmed by the entire experience and can't wait to get back again! The decor is old-school Italian eatery with tables covered in red and white checkered linens under white butcher paper. The walls are tastefully faux painted with the look of chipping old plaster the color of amber and brick "revealed" underneath. Since Pompilio's is in Kentucky, we were greeted with the old "smoking or non-smoking" question. That right there is a throwback for Ohioans, isn't it? The smoking section and bar is on the right where the wonderful old black and white tiled floors are. You might remember those floors from the movie Rain Man when Charlie Babbitt drops the toothpicks on the floor and does his autistic savant counting for Tom Cruise's character. Bring back memories?

We were greeted warmly by the owner who chatted with us a few minutes before getting back into the very busy workflow. The service was exceptional and not in the hoity-toity kind of exceptional way. Our server was a young guy with arms covered in tattoos bearing his children's names and he expertly assisted us and our kids through the ordering process. He was very attentive without hovering  which is the best kind of service in my opinion, and kept our special requests sorted with ease. We loved all the food, especially the fried calamari (which both repulsed and mesmerized our kids--two were even brave enough to try it), caprese panini and my wife and daughter claimed the onion rings the best they'd ever had. My wife has evaluated onion rings from many, many restaurants so this is a sound recommendation.

And the Madisono's Gelato? Pompilio's serves 2 custom flavors that you won't find anywhere else: Spumoni (pistachio, chocolate and vanilla), Blueberry and Double Chocolate. Make sure you save room for dessert since you can't them anywhere else! Pompilio's has been serving delicious Italian food for over 79 years and is located on East 6th Street in Newport, Kentucky. It also has a great outside dining area with Bocce Club tournaments in the summer.

Madisono's Gelato at The Golden Lamb

The lobby at The Golden Lamb in Lebanon, Ohio

The Golden Lamb Inn in Lebanon, Ohio has a near 200 year history of offering delicious food and accommodations to travelers in the "Ohio Country". Now it serves one of the best (in our humble opinion) deserts to new visitors and travelers--Madisono's Gelato and Sorbet! We are really proud to be on the menu at this esteemed place in Ohio's history.

If you haven't been to The Golden Lamb, there is more than great gelato to lure you there. The Golden Lamb was first opened in 1803 as a public house and in it's near 200 years of hospitality it has served 12 presidents and countless statesmen and travelers through the "Ohio Country". It's the longest running business in the state of Ohio! Of course, you can't have a place open that long without some great stories, including tales of hauntings, financial drama and more. And with names like "The Dickens Room", "The Ulysses S. Grant Room" and "The Harriet Beecher Stowe Room", it's worth considering an overnight stay so you can soak up all the fun Ohio history. Just don't forget to have some gelato after your meal!

John Do Ya

We thought you'd be interested in learning how to pronounce our newest seasonal flavor since you'll be asking for it over and over again after you've tried it.

The official flavor name is "Gianduja", which is a classic Italian Gelataria flavor of hazelnut and chocolate. Think of it as gelato in the flavor of Nutella.

Before this flavor was slated for pints, we diligently worked the recipe development process, adding different ratios of hazelnut paste and coco until the richness and flavor is just right in our judgement. But then it still has to pass the very rigorous and discerning expectations of our flavor tasting panel (consisting of our kids, families and any friends who happen to invite us to dinner during the development process) before we seal up the special recipe and start production.

We welcome you to give it a try when it hits the stores in February of 2012 and let us know if you love it as much as we do!

Madisono's at Ferrari's Restaurant

If you're feeling like you need a mini vacation, you might consider visiting Italy at Ferrari's Little Italy and Bakery restaurant in Madeira, Ohio. We've been selling Madisono's gelato and sorbet there for several years and it's one of our favorites. When we enter the store for deliveries, we are always transformed to our "happy place" with the comforting aroma of fresh baked bread they offer from the bakery at the front of the restaurant. Seriously, is there a more comforting smell than crusty bread just out of the oven?

The delicious Northern and Southern Italian food is served family style in the restaurant, and after my wife eat dinner there we always leave with bellies full and hearts satisfied. When you go, save room for gelato, but if you opt for a crispy canoli confection instead, don't worry! You can pick up a pint of Madisono's on your way out to enjoy at home.

New Seasonal Flavors are Coming! Meyer Lemon sorbet

Would you take a look at these beauties? These are very special lemons called Meyer Lemons. What makes them so special you say? Well for one, they are now a new seasonal sorbet flavor offered by Madisono's starting in February. We use a lot of hand motions and facial expressions in the shop to describe flavors, so this our best effort using words. It would help if you could imagine us making a sweeping gesture with our hands from our mouth to heaven above and looking like we are going to cry because the taste is so overwhelmingly beautiful. Got the image? Now for words: sweet, tart, lively, refreshing, bursting, clean, lemon-y, citrus, crisp, bright...

Meyer lemons themselves are very special, even before their life in our sorbet. The Meyer lemon is actually a hybrid between a lemon and a mandarin orange. This is why the rind has a dark warm yellow color and the flavor is less acrid and slightly sweeter than a typical lemon. The fruit originates from China and was brought to America by agricultural explorer Frank Meyer in 1908. You can purchase Meyer lemon trees and grown your own, but in our ever changing midwestern climate they are a challenge to keep alive. We actually tried to grow one at our house but our black thumb took it to fruit tree heaven a few months later. If you'd like to learn more, here is a link to an interesting article from NPR about the lovely lemon.

Here is a picture of how we get that gorgeous flavor into the sorbet. After scraping off the flavorful rind (which is entirely edible, by the way) and adding that to the sorbet base, we squeeze the juices out so that every delicious part possible of the Meyer lemon is incorporated. Can you imagine how great the shop smells after this? It smells really good. This flavor and 3 others will be soon available at retail locations in February of 2012.