ciao, mi amor!

Elle of Elle's New England Kitchen has single-handedly broadened my horizons and opened my eyes to a better world.


A world with gelato.

A while back, Elle ran a little contest in order to give away some samples of Ciao Bella gelato and sorbetto. I confessed to her that I had never tried gelato, and she took pity on me and chose me as one of the winners.


I received a massive box of goodies from Ciao Bella. Aside from the edibles, which I'll describe shortly, I got a shirt, a bag, a magnet, a pin, and some coupons. Talk about a haul!


I'll start with the sorbets, which I've had before. (See, I'm not a total cavewoman.) The blood orange was magnificent--tart, but not too tart, and really quite wonderful in a glass of ginger ale.


The Blackberry Cabernet sorbet (which rolls off the tongue quite nicely, wouldn't you say?) would've been terrific if I liked the taste of wine, but alas, I just don't. It sure was purty though.


On to the gelato! Folks, I've been missing out. It's truthfully just as good as, if not better than, ice cream. The Key Lime Graham Cracker was pucker-your-lips sour (and I mean that in a good way). I love the texture that graham cracker crumbs provide--they're my favorite mix-in at places like Cold Stone Creamery and Maggie Moo's. My second thought (after "Ooooo-weee!") was that this would be good with some blueberry pie.


I've gone and saved the best for last. May I present to you the Maple Ginger Snap gelato:


It could also be known as Heaven on Earth. The maple flavor was just right, and the little cookies were a nice surprise--a break in texture in the ultra-smooth and creamy gelato. It reminded me of one of my favorite ice creams--Ben & Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk* (drool).

*In looking for a link to this delightful concoction, I discovered that it's no longer commercially available. My day was ruined...until I saw that they've created something with the potential to be even better--Coconut Seven Layer Bar (coconut ice cream with coconut and fudge flakes, walnuts and swirls of graham cracker and butterscotch)!


But I digress. I'm here to talk about gelato, ice cream's better-looking first cousin. I heartily and sincerely thank you, Elle, for improving my life. :)

Side note: We got our first snow last night. Accumulating snow in October just seems wrong.
Side note: To instantly fill your cuteness quota for the day, check this out.