Scoop up summer fun in ice cream social online
It hasn’t been a sweet season for ice cream parlors this summer.
So GoodTaste! Pittsburgh, which organizes food-centric events, is planning to redeem a bummer summer. It will stage its first Virtual Ice Cream Social, featuring some of the city’s top ice cream makers, on Sunday.
Mercurio’s Gelato & Pizza, NatuRoll Creamery and the historic Isaly’s will dish on their ice creams during the online event at 6 p.m. Carnegie Science Center will bring some scientific knowledge with a wow factor. The Oakmont Olive Oil owner will create unconventional ice cream toppings that can be replicated at home. And for some lighthearted fun, Bob the Juggler will juggle pints of ice cream while riding a unicycle.
Those who buy the $10 tickets will get not only access to the online presentations but also freebies and discounts from each of the presenters’ businesses. The freebie from Oakmont Olive Oil alone is a $14 value, ice cream social organizer Dee Weinberg said.
When the pandemic shut down large-scale events, “for all intents and purposes, my business was done,” she said. “But I just knew there was a different way” to bring fun to the masses.
She started with a virtual PizzaFest in June. Ticketholders picked up pizza kits from participating pizza shops and learned about different sauces, doughs, toppings and accompanying cocktails.
Its success set the stage for a second event — the ice cream social. The event will include:
• Isaly’s: Jen Gregg, director of digital marketing and events for Isaly’s, will demonstrate how to make Klondike bars at home. She’ll also talk about Isaly’s history and create a few different boozy milkshakes.
“We had to have Isaly’s,” Ms. Weinberg said. “They’re certainly the icons of ice cream in Pittsburgh.”
• Mercurio’s Gelato & Pizza: Owner Anna Crucitt will talk about gelato, which Ms. Weinberg said is her favorite frozen treat.
“Many people don’t even know what it is,” she said, but they’re about to find out.
• NatuRoll Creamery: Kayden Young, operations manager for the rolled ice cream shop, will talk about how rolled ice cream developed in East Asia and how Americans have adapted it. He will demonstrate how to make a traditional flavor — chai ice cream rolled with East Asian fruits like mango — as well as Americanized flavors such as s’mores or Cookie Monster (Oreo, Chips Ahoy and chocolate shavings rolled with a blue sauce representing the famous muppet).
“This will be my first experience teaching people other than training employees,” Mr. Young said.
He’ll also explain how people can make rolled ice cream at home if they have a freezer large enough to accommodate a heavy-duty baking sheet.
• Carnegie Science Center: Amanda Iwaniec, director of visitor engagement, will do a presentation she’s done many times before at the science center — demonstrating how to make ice cream using liquid nitrogen.
“Liquid nitrogen is amazing,” she said, noting it’s 321 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. “It freezes things pretty much on contact.”
She plans to make a traditional custard with egg yolks and milk for a “fatty, creamy, decadent texture and taste,” and she’ll also explain how to make it at home, where most people wouldn’t have liquid nitrogen lying around.
An ice cream churn works well, she said, but so does a regular bowl as long as you remove it from the freezer every half hour for a good stir to keep the milk fats and ice solids from separating, she said.
She’ll teach kids how to make shake-the-bag ice cream using a zippered bag of ice cream base inside a larger bag of ice and rock salt.
She also will talk about how to substitute different ingredients into ice cream recipes, such as using oat milk or almond milk for regular milk or cream for the lactose intolerant.
• Oakmont Olive Oil Co.: Owner Sharon Carroll will create two unconventional ice cream toppings. The first will consist of blood orange, olive oil and sea salt, and the second will be a dark cherry balsamic hot fudge sauce.
Ms. Carroll explained balsamic vinegar works as a topping because its natural sugars complement the ice cream well. There is no need to add extra sugar.
Ticketholders will receive a small sample of the ingredients needed to make her toppings, along with recipe cards, when they visit her store.
Jessica Iacullo, founder and CEO of the Pittsburgh blog, Hungry Grl, Big City, will host the ice cream social. Ms. Iacullo hosted the June PizzaFest, too, and described her role as “introducing the presenters, getting people excited, taking questions from the audience” and otherwise facilitating a smooth evening.
“I think it’s super cool that anyone from anywhere can tune in,” she said.
For information or to order tickets, go to goodtastepittsburgh.com.
Online wine classes: Palate Partners, the Pittsburgh wine school and partner company of Dreadnought Wines in the Strip District, is now offering online wine classes. They are: Sake 101 at 1 p.m. Saturday, $60; Wines from Slovenia, 6 p.m. Aug. 27, $20; and Sparkling Rose, 6 p.m. Sept. 2, $20. Wine bundles for the classes are sold separately. palatepartners.com.
Ellio’s Pizza Phenomenal Kids Scholarship: Parents and guardians of children from ages 6-12 may write a brief character submission about what makes their child phenomenal for a chance for the child to win a $10,000 scholarship from Ellio’s Pizza. Submissions will be judged on community involvement, passion with purpose, creativity and academic achievement. Deadline is Nov. 2. ellios.com/phenomenalkids.
Yinzer Thank You Bars: Pittsburgh Yinzer Greetings, the creators of Yinzer Bars and Yinzer Cards, have debuted a “Thank You” Yinzer Bar to benefit Pittsburgh Emergency Medicine Foundation’s Pandemic Grant Program that provides supplies for health care workers and first responders in Western Pennsylvania. The bars are made by Sarris Candies and retail for $2.99 at Giant Eagle, Market District and Laurie’s Hallmark stores, as well as at Ambridge and Hampton DoIt-Best Home Center. The labels are designed by cartoonist Rob Rogers and feature a drawing of various health care workers and first responders. The wrapper also says: “To all the heroes among us … Thank You!”
412 Food Rescue: Leah Lizarondo, co-founder and CEO of 412 Food Rescue, is featured in a book that will be released in September. “Vital Voices: 100 Women Using Their Power to Empower,” will celebrate 100 global leaders who are redefining power. Copies can be reserved at vitalvoices.org.