Half Pint is a small, owner-operated homemade ice cream company based out of Seattle, Washington. Our ice creams are made fresh weekly with local dairy and eggs and other local ingredients when possible.

Here at Half Pint, all of our ice creams are made completely from scratch. At the height of the summer, each week we will be crackin’ over 500 eggs, working with gallons upon gallons of milk and up to our elbows in sugar, cocoa, fruit, nuts…..you get the point.

There is a lot of time and lot of love that goes into making Half Pint ice cream. Here’s a few photos of the process, courtesy of photographer extraordinaire, Tiffani Jones:

It all starts with milk from local dairy Smith Brothers Farm.

Cracking eggs. Lots n' lots of eggs. Endless eggs. Infinite eggs...

Using the Hobart mixer to mix the custard base.

Pouring hot milk into the egg and sugar mixture.

Cooking the custard.

Straining the custard.

Adding cream.

The custard is then chilled and later poured into the ice cream machine for churning and freezing. Photos of the machine to come…

Now that you’ve seen a little bit of the ice cream-making process, come sample the goods at your local farmers market! Spring is in full swing and ice cream weather is upon us. See you there.

Check out the new Half Pint Canvas Tote Bag! Perfect for carrying your farmers market booty, or, as seen here, for toting camping gear. Get yours at http://www.cafepress.com/halfpintic

Tickets for FareStart’s Guest Chef on the Waterfront event on July 15th, are on sale now! If you purchase before JUNE 1st, you’ll receive a reduced ticket price.

FareStart’s Guest Chef on the Waterfront event is a fabulous food and beverage tasting event held every July at Bell Harbor’s Pier 66 and Elliott Hall. It features booths from over 70 restaurants, wineries and breweries all ready for you to taste their delicious creations. All proceeds benefit FareStart, a local non-profit that provides job training in the food service industry for homeless men, women and youth. So, not only do you get to sample food, wine and beer from some of the best chefs, wine-makers and brewers in the state, you also get to support a fantastic cause in the process!

Half Pint Ice Cream will be participating in this year’s Guest Chef on the Waterfront. We’ll be scooping up some mini ice cream cones and would love to see you there! For more information visit FareStart’s special events page at:

http://www.farestart.org/help/events/index.html

We look forward to seeing you at the event!

We now have an online store where you can purchase all kinds of cool Half Pint gear! Everything from t-shirts and sweatshirts to hats and tote bags to stickers and buttons, there is something to please everyone! Here are some of our personal favorites:

Half Pint Hoodie: Because Seattle isn’t always as warm as we would like it to be.

Half Pint Canvas Tote Bag: Perfect for hauling home pints of ice cream and other farmers market goodies.

Half Pint Trucker Hat: Admit it, you want one.

These are just a few of the sweet Half Pint duds that you can purchase online. To check out our online store, you can click directly on one of the items you see here, or visit:

http://www.cafepress.com/halfpintic

If you love Half Pint, then show us the LOVE and sport your Half Pint gear all over town.

Love,
Half Pint

It’s been a loooooong winter. Rain, snow, sleet and hail–and LOTS of it! Half Pint has been chomping at the bit in anticipation of sunny days, warm weather and FARMERS MARKET SEASON 2009! And it’s almost here. This summer you will be able to find Half Pint Ice Cream at four weekly markets: Thursdays at Lake City, Fridays at Phinney Ridge, Saturdays in Edmonds and Sundays at Broadway. See the website for start-dates, market locations and times.

During the winter months, we’ve been thinking a lot about Half Pint and how we can make our product and services even better for our loyal customers. One big change is that we are in the process of purchasing a big ‘ol industrial ice cream machine. Whereas last year we spent HOURS upon HOURS making batch after batch of ice cream on teeny tiny little Cuisinart ice cream makers, this year production will be on a somewhat larger scale and definitely on a faster timeline. Batch sizes will still be quite small in the grand scheme of things, thus retaining the quality of our ice cream. But having this machine will allow us to do a whole lot more with Half Pint; more events, more parties, more markets.

We are also going to be switching to local dairy Smith Brothers Far for all of our milk, cream and eggs. We already try to use local ingredients in our ice cream when possible (berries from the market, coffee from local roaster, Victrola, etc.) and we are very excited about adding dairy and eggs, the main bulk of our ingredients to the local list.

Another exciting tidbit is that Half Pint will be participating FareStart’s Guest Chef on the Waterfront event on Wednesday, July 15th from 6-9 pm. For those of you who don’t know what FareStart is, it is an amazing local non-profit that provides job training to homeless men, women and youth through job training in the food service industry. Check out more information about FareStart at www.farestart.org. The Guest Chef on the Waterfront event is an annual fundraiser that FareStart holds. It is a food and beverage tasting event in which over 80 Seattle-area restaurants, breweries and wineries participate. More info at http://www.farestart.org/help/events/waterfront/index.html. Half Pint will be scooping mini ice cream cones at the event, so be sure to check it out! It’s a blast.

That’s about it from the Half Pint home-front. We’re so looking forward to seeing you all at the markets this summer and will keep you posted on any other events in which we will be participating!

Hi everyone,

It’s been an incredible farmers market season for Half Pint! The Lake City, Phinney and Broadway Farmers Markets were a huge success and we’ve met so many wonderful people, customers and fellow vendors alike. As the weather turns to Autumn and the leaves are changing color, Half Pint is shifting with the season. In addition to churning out seasonal ice cream flavors such as Pumpkin and Apple Spice Swirl, starting this Sunday, October 26th, we will also be selling homemade hot cocoa! This week look for a plain cocoa flavor (plain but not boring!). As weeks go by, we will be bringing you different flavors of cocoa, topped with delicious homemade whipped cream and other goodies.

For all of you cold-weather-ice-cream-eaters, you will still be able to purchase Half Pint’s homemade ice cream. We will continue making ice cream even as the temperature drops. But if you just can’t bring yourself to eat a cone of ice cream, then treat yourself to a steaming cup of rich and creamy hot cocoa. Soy hot cocoa will be available as well.

See you at the market!

In the upcoming September issue of Sunset Magazine, you will find a fantastic article all about Chris Curtis, who founded and oversees the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance (NFMA). Curtis began the organization in 1993 and today there are seven neighborhood markets that are part of the NFMA. They are vibrant, lively markets where one can purchase everything from colorful, fresh produce, to wild Alaskan salmon caught by the very woman who is selling it to you!

As part of the Sunset article, Curtis chooses her pick for her favorite vendor at each of the seven markets. Her pick for the Broadway Sunday Market? “A cone of homemade ginger-peach ice cream from Half Pint, made with market fruit.” Peaches are finally in season, so check the Half Pint website to see when ginger-peach ice cream will be available.

Once the Sunset website is updated with items from their September issue, I will post the link. For now, you can pick up a copy of the magazine at newsstands to read about farmers markets near you and to see what gems to look for there!

Starting this Friday, August 15th, you can get your ice cream fix at the Phinney Farmers Market from 3-7 pm.

In addition to incredible fruits, delicious veggies and beautiful fresh flowers, you can also find fresh pasta, cheeses and wood-fired pizza! Come by after work, browse, have a slice of pizza and enjoy some ice cream.

See you there!
Half Pint

One of the most common questions I get at the farmers markets is “where do you make your ice cream?” The answer to that is: Cookspace!

What is Cookspace, you ask? Cookspace is a commercial kitchen space in lower Queen Anne where lots of culinary entrepreneurs make their goods. Owners Sam and Wendi have created a fabulous kitchen space that is open, spacious, well-equipped and very conducive to the sharing of culinary knowledge and ideas. There are six workstations, lots of fridge/freezer and dry storage space, as well as Hobart mixers of various sizes, a fully-equipped dish pit, lots of ovens and ranges. For me, it’s been an ideal space to work in and to meet other culinarily-minded small business owners.

I work at Cookspace a few days a week. Typically the first day is spent making the custard base for all of my ice creams for that week. This process involves cooking down a mixture of eggs, sugar, and milk or cream (and, depending on the flavor: coffee grounds, cocoa powder, shredded ginger, coconut milk–you get the point), and then chilling the mixture overnight. Over the next couple of days, I spend hours in the kitchen with my four–yes FOUR–ice cream makers making batch after batch of ice cream. The ice cream is made in 1.5 quart batches, so it takes almost an entire day to make ice cream to last the week. While ice cream is freezing, I have great opportunities to talk with the other business owners in the kitchen. Many of them have been doing this much longer than I have and they have great ideas and advice for me as I begin to grow my business.

Working in a kitchen with a communal atmosphere has been so exciting. Business at all stages of growth exist here and it is so cool to watch as someone lands a new wholesale account or is booked for a great catering gig. Plus, hardly a day goes by that someone doesn’t use me a guinea pig for a new recipe they are trying out. I never leave the kitchen hungry.

Thanks to Tiffani Jones for some great photos of Cookspace!!