Ciao Bella!

One charming thing I experienced while living abroad in Florence, Italy was hearing those words [ciao bella] pretty much everyday. It's an "Italian guy sees young American girl" thing, I know, but I still enjoyed it. Who wouldn't want to be addressed as "beautiful" everyday?! Anyway, I also enjoyed my fair share of gelato while I was there, so when I saw these pints of Ciao Bella gelato in the Whole Foods freezer section I was curious. How could freezer gelato even compare with the real deal?

For months, I have strode past the gelato, liking the packaging, but not willing to fork over the $ for a pint of gelato that I was convinced wouldn't come close to real gelato. Well, this past week, there was a guy handing out samples of Ciao Bella. I am convinced that whenever the samples person sees me and my two kids walking up to the sample station they must cringe, knowing that we are going to wipe them out of samples - especially with something like ice cream. Of course my kids want to try every flavor! I was pleasantly surprised by the texture and taste of the gelato [I tried Chocolate Hazelnut]; it's not exactly like the real thing [because of the whole freezer thing] but it comes close. They started a national "discover-savor-share" tour this month, so look for them at a market near you!