Spending lots of time creating anything we desire in the kitchen, it’s rare that we pass over one of our favorite foods. Sometimes we just have to leave it to the professionals. Recently we had a chance to meet these professionals in person. Our trip to Michigan was worth the drive as we got the inside scoop on Hudsonville! Hudsonville Ice Cream is even more spectacular with their Naturals line. All natural ingredients and all natural flavor!
We really can’t pass up ice cream and if you’ve ever tried making it on your own, then you know it can be a challenge to get the flavors good enough even for add ins. Ice cream is definitely a science in our book and we certainly loved seeing where it all happens in Holland, Michigan.
There is possibly nothing more frustrating than going down a food label and not knowing exactly what something is. Sure I’ve studied chemistry and I can pronounce some of those words, but that doesn’t mean I understand what I’m eating. So, finding that one of our favorite treats has ingredients I recognize is beyond amazing. I know that I can’t replicate it but I know not only what I’m eating but I have already got a sense of what the flavor will be. The strawberry is going to taste like strawberries.
Another discriminating factor is the fact that they can call their product ice cream. Think about that for a second. When you reach in the freezer case and you pull out a sqround (yes a very technical term I learned, a square round tub) and you read the label beyond the flavor what does it say? Does it actually say ice cream? Or does it say something that sounds suspiciously like my parents might have had? The 50s style of food that when you open those cookbooks you wonder why someone would want hollandaise on their bananas or jello with everything? Clearly someone did, but that doesn’t mean you have to go along with it. This is the chance to reject all the new flavor combinations and stick with what’s good. Choose something natural.
That wholesome mouthful of strawberries well it’s delicious and pink. The interesting part is that they don’t force the color. They aim for quality, but you can expect every scoop to be varied in flavor and color because nature isn’t uniform. Each strawberry tastes slightly different and has a different hue. You can actually tell from one sqround to the next that each batch isn’t exactly the same just like you can tell when you make the same recipe. Your fresh ingredients will change the flavor slightly each time. My guacamole depends on how juicy my lime is or how strong the jalapeno. There’s not weird science going on just nature.
We even got to see one of the local dairy farms. Hudsonville Ice Cream sources locally. Pyle Dairy Farm is within 10 miles from Hudsonville. Their 130 cows have free stalls and are milked twice a day by Paul and his sons Nate and Dave. Six generations of farmers and they deliver to Hudsonville every other day. I’d be surprised if you could tell me where all of your food grows. Although Alison might have been more interested in the cow kisses and kittens than the running of a dairy farm. Having grown up in farm country, we know that fresh is best. Knowing that the cream you’re eating comes from healthy cows means you can focus on enhancing that raw cream into something even tastier. Which is good because they’re using that cream within about 12 hours of delivery and within at least 72 hours. You’d be hard pressed to find that level of freshness in your store bought gallon of milk.
We definitely recommend Hudsonville Ice Cream’s Naturals line. You will only find the goodness listed on the label inside each sqround. There are currently four flavors: Chocolate Cocoa Bean, Vanilla Bean, Strawberry and Salted Caramel. Luckily, you don’t have to take our word for it because you have your own mouth! Enjoy your own sqround of Hudsonville’s Naturals! They certainly have plenty for you to find if you’re near Michi-cago.
