Hot Dogs and Ice Cream, All Grown Up

This commitment has upheld Niman's reputation for the best-tasting meats available -- one bite of its juicy all-beef fearless franks will convince you.

For those seeking a wider range of flavors -- beef, pork, chicken or turkey -- heat up some of Wisconsin-based Organic Prairie dogs ($6 for seven dogs), which are produced by an independent cooperative of organic family farms. All its products are made without the use of antibiotics, synthetic hormones or pesticides, and the free-range animals are fed 100% certified organic feed.

One Scoop or Two?

For those who want dessert first, there's plenty of notable artisanal offerings in the freezer section as well.

In 1976, Hobart D. Smith opened Bart's Homemade ($50 for six pints) in downtown Northampton, Mass. Smith's sweet lasting legacy? He was the first person to put Heath Bars in his packaged ice cream before selling the company to Barbara Fingold and Gary Schaefer in 1978.

In the early days, Fingold and Schaefer made all of the ice cream in a batch freezer, two and a half gallons at a time, in the front window of the store. By 1997, Bart's Homemade had opened an additional shop and helped create the Pioneer Valley Milk Marketing Cooperative of Western Mass. -- eight farms selling their recombinant bovine growth hormone (rbST)-free milk as Our Family Farms Milk.

Although many people believe Ben and Jerry's kicked off the premium ice-cream craze, Schaefer points out that this honor actually belongs Reuben Mattus, who started Haagen Dazs in the early 1960s. And while both Haagen Dazs and Ben and Jerry's have since been swallowed up by corporate giants -- General Mills (GIS Quote - Cramer on GIS - Stock Picks) and Unilever (UN Quote - Cramer on UN - Stock Picks), respectively -- Bart's remains independent. "Our goal is to own a facility which can bottle Our Family Farms' milk and other dairy products, and also make an ice cream mix with only [that] milk and cream," Schaefer says.

Marcia Blackwell is a likeminded producer: She and her lactose-intolerant husband Tom formed Blackwell's Organic ($85 for six pints), a nondairy line of gelatos and sorbets, after desiring a sweet and ecological dessert alternative.

The line was launched from Red Bank, N.J., in 2006, after Blackwell invested months in experimenting with an Italian gelato maker, refining her recipes, and finding distributors that could meet her company's smaller needs. "I found a New Jersey blueberry farmer to supply me with a local ingredient, which makes the product fresher and more unique," she says.

The quality of the ingredients is Blackwell's highest priority, since the true flavors of the fruit are the essence of the product. She is also dedicated to using green business practices, which led her to go the organic route, and use coffee and chocolate that are triple certified (fair trade, shade grown and friendly to migratory birds). "One of the best things about the whole experience is that I'm never at a loss for what to bring to a party," Blackwell points out. "I never have to bake another casserole or cake again."

If none of those have you melting, then try some offerings from Dr. Bob's HandCrafted Ice Creams ($70-$90 for six pints), a classic flavored line created by Dr. Robert Small, a professor at Cal Poly University in Pomona, Calif., and lifelong ice-cream connoisseur. New Mexico-based Jamie Leeson and his partner mix in indigenous Southwest ingredients, such as organic lavender and local pistachios, into their Taos Cow ice creams ($5 per pint, no shipping) to delightful effect. And Jeni's Ice Creams ($65 for six pints) out of Columbus, Ohio, is spoon-worthy as well, from its refreshing backyard mint to a surprisingly rich honey vanilla bean.

---

Enjoy the Good Life? Email us with what you'd like to see in future articles.

« Previous Page

1 2

Next Page »