Chocolate.. chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream!

So I was twittering yesterday because all the cool kids are doing it and I saw "pinkcupcakegirl" say she hadn't heard of chocolate, chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. I thought... me either! and why not? It's chocolate and cookie dough.... what's the deal! So I thought we better make some and find out whats behind this little mystery.

First, I made the chocolate sauce which is dark cocoa powder, organic vanilla extract, organic sugar.

I put all three in a bowl together and add just a small amount of hot water. (I know you great chefs out there are probably yelling at your computers right now like a construction worker watching a football game) but trust me it works really good. No heating or cooking needed.

I wisk all the ingredients together till it's a thick chocolate sauce. I make my own because if you buy ANY chocolate sauce to make ice cream with... it's not even close.


Now, if you taste this sauce before you add the ice cream mix you won't like it! It's not sweet. If you make it sweet now, it will be too sweet as an ice cream or gelato.

Next I pour in an equal amount of ice cream mix... I like dark chocolate and I like mine strong. I want to know I'm eating chocolate no question.

Next, I froze the mix using liquid nitrogen in the G4.. yes I just happened to have one of these machines sitting around...:)
Last, I mixed in the cookie dough, I mix the cookie dough and frozen ice cream together for only 2-3 seconds. I want cookie dough chunks in chocolate ice cream not chocolate cookie dough flavored ice cream... make sense? Good..

Also, I was lazy and used store bought cookie dough.
Your freezing process will probably be different than mine so if you try this recipe let me know how it turns out for you and how you froze your mix. I would like to hear about it.

This whole process took less than 5 minutes from start to finish. That includes making the chocolate, adding the ice cream mix and freezing. I made about a pint.
I know all ice cream makers are different so the freeze time will vary.

End result..
It tasted Fantastic! I mean really fantastic, better than the vanilla version. I think it should be in the stores for sale!

Here's to you "pinkcupcakegirl".

Our Press Release

Yesterday, we sent out our first press release through PRWeb.. and with the amazing work and assistance from Ria Romano at RPR Public Relations, Inc. it has been very exciting. You can check out our PR right HERE.

Making scary ice cream at the Gilda Club in Seattle.

Ok so one of our moments of giving back is making ice cream for men, women and children living with cancer. This last Halloween was our second year doing this and we always have a great time.
Gilda Club;
Named in honor of Gilda Radner, provides meeting places where men, women and children living with cancer and their families and friends join with others to build emotional, social and educational support as a supplement to medical care. Free of charge and nonprofit, they offer support and networking groups, lectures, workshops and social events in a nonresidential, homelike setting.

Each Halloween, the Gilda Club holds a Noogiefest Halloween Party. So Ward and I donate our time and supplies and we pack up our G4 machine, ice cream mix and goodies, and we drive 175 miles over the Cascade Mountains from Wenatchee to Seattle so that we can make ice cream for everybody at the party. It's a cool event, and we have a good time doing it. The children and adults dress up, they have food, games, activities, and a little haunted area. Afterwards Ward and I grab a bit for dinner around 10 pm and then we usually get back home around one or two in the morning.
I did get a parking ticket this last time because I didn't realize I was in a paid parking spot... Anyway, I called to ask if they would waive the fee since I was doing this event for charity. They dropped the ticket to $5.. that was fair I thought...:) Thanks!

This last Halloween we made Oreo ice cream using the orange Halloween Oreos.


This is Rob in action.

Halloween Oreo Ice Cream

Busy Weekend

Oh, what a busy weekend we had. We spent hours shooting pictures of our machines on Saturday and then on Sunday we started at noon shooting video and finished editing at 10:30 at night.
Thank you Ward, Kristen, Karl, Kelly, Julie and Derek for all your help.
During the shoot we made the classic vanilla ice cream, then we used the fresh strawberries and blueberries pictured below and made some gelato. Afterwords, we took the whole piece of chocolate cake in the picture below with sliced banana... and made an ice cream with it. Oh, yeah it was really good!
I know, it's a tough job... make ice cream, taste it. Make gelato... taste it. Make sorbet... taste it. But somebody has to do it!

The newest G4 Ice Cream Machine

2008 Up north there is a cool little fruit stand (Orondo Cider Works) that makes there own own apple cider, doughnuts, and salsa. Two years ago they added fresh made ice cream and gelato to their menu by leasing a machine from us and then a year later, they decided to purchase the newest version. Ward and I went to work and here it is; the 2008 G4.

Building the bowl bracket.

Tapping the handle.

Cutting, bending, welding, sanding the head.

Bolting and welding the unit together.

A nearly finished product.

Red to match Cider Works and then ready for delivery.

Bailee's Birthday

May 31st 2008 was Wards daughters 4th birthday. And since we do what we do.. you better be ready for some ice cream. In the picture below we have a machine outside at Ward's house making ice cream at Bailee's party. One batch of ice cream was homemade dark chocolate, which you can see in the second picture below. We made 3 or 4 different ice cream flavors at the party. I believe we made a Baileys Irish Cream for the adults... and yes, we use the real stuff.. it's sinfully good!

Making Ice Cream at the Alpenhorn in Chelan WA

Ok, so in April 2008, the Alpenhorn cafe in Chelan Washington opened under new ownership. With our portable cart, Ward and I set-up in the beer garden to make ice cream during their live music night outside. We spent the evening with friends and family jammin out and making ice cream. We created a few way cool ice creams that are unheard of.. perhaps we'll share them in a later story. Til then, here's a pic of Ward and myself with our portable cart.

Before you Quit or Give Up........ Read This!

12-02-2003 I filed for a Patent pertaining to our liquid nitrogen ice cream machine and Process.

12-02-2005 We filed a "Request for Status of Application". (Yes 2 years later, I hadn't heard a thing)

08-10-2006 We received a six page "Non-Final Rejection" letter from Examiner at United States Patent TradeMark Office. (2 years 8 months later)

12-11-2006 We file a four page "Arguments/Remarks Made in an Amendment" to Patent Examiner. (3 years later)

09-13-2007 I received "Final Rejection" letter from Examiner at United States Patent TradeMark Office. I remember this day well... even with "Final Rejection" I gave thanks for the patent and I visualized it in my hands. I didn't know how it would happen but I knew it would.

At this point we didn't really know what to do. The option came up that maybe, just maybe we could meet with the Examiner to show the difference of our machine and process. It was kind of a long shot but it seemed like our only option..... if it would even be allowed.
After a day or so, I received a phone call from our Patent Attorney saying that the Examiner was going to allow us to meet. (3 years 9 months later)


02-02-2008 I started to disassemble the G4 ice cream machine and stuff it in a carry-on size suit case. Now, what are the odds I'm going to just walk on the airplane with a 50 lb. carry-on full of steel, motor, electrical parts and a smile! Not to mention I was going to send a liquid nitrogen dewar as luggage. What if it gets lost, or damaged, or removed for some weird safety reason? Our trip would be a disaster! And yes my carry-on was tested for bomb residue going through security. (4 years 2 months later)


02-03-2008 We are scheduled to fly out of Seattle to Washington DC with a plane transfer along the way.
We leave Wenatchee about 6:30 am to drive 180 miles over the Cascade mountains to Seattle so we can catch our 12 noon flight to Washington DC. We make it over the pass about an hour before it closes which would have caused us to miss all our flights.
SNOQUALMIE PASS –Crews closed the road in both directions between Cle Elum and North Bend around 10:30 this morning. They prepared the helicopter for take off and it was finally airborne with Avalanche Control Supervisor, on board.


02-04-2008 We assemble the G4 ice cream machine in our hotel room and put the liquid nitrogen dewar together. Then we set out to get liquid nitrogen and ice cream mix so we can show our process to the Patent Examiner. Later this evening we meet with our Patent Attorneys and we discuss our options. After a few hours of throwing out every option we could think of... we still didn't seem to have a way around the prior art we were up against. Fianaly, we called it a night and went to eat dinner. After dinner, Ward, Kelly and myself went back to our room and studied the other two patents in an attempt to find a way around them.. we only had one shot at this and we knew that somehow we had to find a way.
After a few hours of joking around and some very careful reading and rereading and rereading, we felt as though we had found our answers!

Ward reading over the opposing patents.


Kelly reading over the opposing patents. (I was busy taking pictures!)


02-05-2008 We met with the Examiner, I still don't know how we found this place, found a parking spot or made it through armed security with a tank full of mysterious liquid and our wild looking machine!
After all said and done, our patent attorney said that in all his years it has never gone this smooth with an examiner. It was a total success and yes we made fresh Oreo ice cream on the examiners desk right in front of him!



02-07-2008 (Thursday) We fly back home to WA state. We arrive in Seattle at midnight, got our luggage, got the car and headed towards home over the Cascade Mountains. I had heard through out the day that the passes were closed but somehow I knew we would make it home... I could see it. We arrived home at 4 am. I don't know how Kelly stayed awake but he did and drove us home the whole way!
I-90 SNOQUALMIE PASS - Eastbound and westbound Interstate 90 across Snoqualmie Pass opened to traffic about 12:15 a.m. Sunday, February 10, after being closed since Thursday due to heavy wet snow on the roadway brought down by avalanche control work.
I don't know how we got through but we did and the pass closed just minutes behind us and remained closed for days!


04-08-2008 We receive "Notice of Allowance" (4 years 4 months)

05-23-2008 I received a phone call from my patent attorney saying "Rob, I have some bad news.... I've only seen this happen one other time. Someone had submitted a letter and what they claim to be "prior art". This could end me getting a Patent, I could be required to start over or I could be allowed to continue with a new "Allowance"... it's was up to the Examiner.
It wasn't easy but for days I remained positive... I could visualize the patent in my hands, I could feel it. I only shared this news with one other person, I didn't want everyone to worry and stress about possibly losing the patent we had waited and worked so hard for.

06-25-2008 We file a "Arguments/Remarks Made in an Amendment" to Patent Examiner.

06-30-2008 Examiner reviews all information and issues a new "Notice of Allowance". (4 years 6 months later)

10-15-2008 Another letter is submitted to stop our Patent from being issued.. with "Prior Art"

10-28-2008 Examiner reviews references and gives us a new "Notice of Allowance.

11-05-2008 We receive Issue Notification

11-25-08 Patent Issued!

12-20-08 Patent Received! (5 years later)
Five years later, after a "non-final rejection letter", a "Final rejection letter", a trip to Washington DC to meet the Examiner, and two more letters to stop us from receiving a Patent.... Our Patent was issued!




Here are a few more photos of our trip to WA DC.

Releasing nitrogen in our hotel room. Boys will be boys!




Rob at the United States Capital Building.

Custom Made Ice Cream Machines for the High Net Worth Individual

2008 Alright, so some time back, Ward and I decided that we were going to design and build the world's most exotic and expensive ice cream machines. The idea wasn't to just throw some crazy price tag on a machine but to create a one-of-a-kind piece of art. Now depending on your taste, we can build you a machine that represents your interests, whether it's Gold, Platinum, Silver, Custom Paint, other Exotic Materials or Skins, Exotic Woods, Diamonds, Jewels or Custom Engraving. We can design a style to fit your luxury apartment in the city, cabin in the mountains or for your beach home get-a-way. The possibilities are endless and what you end up with is a true working piece of art like no other.
Designing and fabricating each custom machine can take well over 300 hours depending on the detail and complexity. Each custom machine is numbered, signed, and personally delivered anywhere in the world. So for the ultimate ice cream connoisseur, who requires only the best or the person who just seems to have everything.... There's NitroCream's Custom Machine.

The N2-3000 Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream machine

2005 Ward and I built the N2-3000. It was a tilt head version that for the most part worked quite nicely. It could be mounted on a portable cart or on a permanent counter. Each machine ran off it's own liquid nitrogen dewar and could make a custom ice cream, gelato, frozen yogurt or sorbet in about 60 seconds based on your desires.
Each machine is made by hand. We get the metal, and cut, bend, weld, grind, drill, re-cut, re-weld, re-drill, get a band aid, sand, polish, plate, assemble, and test.

Here are a couple of pictures.

The 2nd picture shows my son Rosten running the machine with his broken arm.

Our new car the Dodge Nitro

2009 Ok, so the other day we went to test drive a Dodge Nitro and what do you know we drove it home!
Yeah, I know.... we have a company called NitroCream and we buy a Dodge Nitro..... ironic isn't it.
Anyway, it's pretty cool, it has a v6 engine, it's 4 wheel drive and has plenty of room to haul five people.

Here's a picture.

A girls first ice cream

2003 I remember working one afternoon when a family came in for some ice cream. As the family ordered we found out that their daughter (probably 6 yrs. old or so) couldn't have any ice cream because she wasn't able to digest sugar or dairy. This young girl had never had ice cream before! I asked what she ate because I had never heard such a thing before and the mom said that they have a special liquid formula that she drinks.
Well, being that we could freeze anything, I asked if they had any formula with them and if so, we could freeze it into an ice cream if they wanted. The young girl was excited! They ran out to their car and came back with a bottle of what looked like baby formula. The girl asked if she could have some sliced almonds added to it and with that we went to work. Within a minute or so and through a cloud of fog we handed the young girl her very first ice cream! That right there was one of my favorite moments...
After the family left we all looked in the bowl in which the girls ice cream was made, like it was from another planet or something. Wonder what it tastes like I said as I scooped a small bite off the side of the frozen mixing bowl... horrible! Just horrible! It was one of those moments when you need a sink and something to wash your mouth out like 10 seconds ago! But for that one girl it was bliss in a cup, and a day I will remember forever..