Culinary Mill Market & Deli

As early as the 1880's construction began on the factory building that today make up Coppes Commons in Nappanee, and while there is no longer furniture being made in this factory, it offers plenty of other treasures in it's many shoppes ( Remember Rocket Science Ice Cream? http://albertassessment.blogspot.com/2012/11/rocket-science-ice-cream.html ). One of the shoppes located in the former Coppes factory is Culinary Mill Market & Deli, which is part small town grocery store, part deli, and entirely delicious! We entered the shoppe to find lots of bulk snacks, and moved through the aisles to find locally made pickles, jams, and sauces, cheese from the Guggisburg Cheese Factory, lots of candy, even sugar free, and a gluten free section (including bulk bags of GF flour); I haven't even made a dent in what the market side of Culinary Mill Market & Deli offers, but I can assure you that there is something for everyone. When you find yourself at the deli there is much more to offer than just sliced meat and cheese, between 11am and 2pm, be sure to check out what is being smoked for lunch, we were lucky to find that the lunch specials were pulled pork and spareribs, plus there is a list of sides for a dollar each including chips, macaroni salad, coleslaw, and several other options that go great with barbecue. My Hubby chose the pulled pork sandwich with a side of cole slaw, the sandwich was ample and smothered in barbecue sauce, my husband isn't always the biggest fan of barbecue sauce, but he did like this sandwich and got his money's worth at just over $4.00 for the sandwich.

I am a sucker for ribs and couldn't resist a half rack for just $8.00, the ribs are served dry rubbed, and while the seasoning had a little kick, I still thought they were delicious, and were VERY well smoked...there is just something I love about seeing that beautiful pink ring on smoked meat. Culinary Mill also offer's three different BBQ sauces, I truthfully couldn't pick one favorite because they were all scrumptious and complimented my already delicious ribs nicely.

Not only did we have a delicious lunch at Culinary Mill, but we also picked up one of their take and bake pizzas for our stay at home date night, I couldn't tell you the exact size, but it was huge and well worth the $10.00 we paid for it. We chose the 4 meat pizza, which we were pleasantly surprised to find had real meat on it; actual salty ham, big chunks of bacon, rich pepperoni, and tasty hunks of sausage and lots and lots of cheese. We baked the pizza straight on our oven rack and were incredibly happy with how crisp and tasty the crust came out, truthfully my only complaint about this pizza is that it was so chocked full of toppings that it became a little rich, which ultimately meant I could only eat one slice, so I suppose in the end that turns out to be a plus (at least for my waist line, anyway!). So next time your family is begging for pizza, head to the cooler at Culinary meal, because you won't find a better deal on delicious pizza, with gobs of real toppings anywhere else.

Culinary Meal Market & Deli might be a small shoppe, but they have a lot to offer so do what we did, browse for groceries, sit down for a hot lunch of delicious barbecue, take home a pizza for dinner, and embrace the pace of Nappanee.

Rocket Science Ice Cream

With traditional places like Dairy Queen, local places like Flavor Freeze, handmade places like The Chief, and buffet's like Honey's  it's easy to think that we have seen it all on the ice cream front, but today I had an experience that disproved that notion. Rocket Science Ice Cream in Coppes Commons in Nappanee, is serving up a unique ice cream experience that you can only find a handful of places in the U.S.; Steve Helmuth is serving up delicious ice cream that is flash frozen using liquid nitrogen, an idea born from hearing about the use of this super cooled element in science classes.

He starts with an ice cream base and adds syrups, fruit, nuts, candy, and other goodies; you can choose one of the special recipes like Almond Joy, Key Lime Pie, or Peanut Butter Bash or you can dream up your own creation with their extensive list of ingredients. The list consists of 16 syrups including caramel, hazelnut, maple, and orange;  a dozen fruits and nuts like almonds, raspberries, peaches, and pecans; and lots of candy and sweets such as cheesecake, gummy worms, peanut butter, cookie dough, and M&M's. After your ingredients are all mixed up they go through the magic of the liquid nitrogen that turns them into a smooth, frozen treat.

Very few people get the opportunity to try ice cream frozen by liquid nitrogen, but if you are reading this in the Michiana area, you can have this unique experience! A late morning excursion to Nappanee has reiterated the importance of exploring your community, because you might just get lucky enough to find an out of this world experience like Rocket Science Ice Cream!