{"id":354,"date":"2018-12-04T09:24:21","date_gmt":"2018-12-04T17:24:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/?p=999929649"},"modified":"2018-12-04T09:24:21","modified_gmt":"2018-12-04T17:24:21","slug":"the-scoop-on-the-mayors-nuptials-family-cat-inspires-wedding-dinner-ice-cream-with-a-topping-of-generosity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/pets\/the-scoop-on-the-mayors-nuptials-family-cat-inspires-wedding-dinner-ice-cream-with-a-topping-of-generosity","title":{"rendered":"The scoop on the mayor\u2019s nuptials: Family cat inspires wedding-dinner ice cream, with a topping of generosity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tommy Garcia-Mendez will likely not attend the wedding of his parents\u2014Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia and his fianc\u00e9, Matthew Mendez.<\/p>\n

Tommy, however, was the inspiration for a just dessert that will be served at their wedding on Dec. 22. It\u2019s called Purrfect Wedding, an ice cream crafted by Long Beach Creamery<\/a>\u2014it\u2019s a fitting name for a treat inspired by a fine orange tabby cat.<\/p>\n

In Tommy\u2019s name, $5 from the purchase of each pint will go toward The Little Lion Foundation,<\/a> a local nonprofit whose focus is pulling orphaned newborn kittens from shelters, providing neonatal and medical care for them, finding loving homes, and educating the public about how they can do the same.<\/p>\n

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His nibs: Tommy Garcia-Mendez. Photo courtesy of Tim Patton.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI really give all the credit to Dina,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cWe go to Long Beach Creamery all the time, and we wanted to do something related to Tommy\u2014that was Matt\u2019s idea. We wanted to donate to charity, and Dina suggested Little Lion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDina\u201d is Dina Amadril<\/a>, Long Beach Creamery\u2019s creator, owner and formidable ice-creamist. Amadril is familiar with Little Lion\u2019s work, and she herself welcomes visits from her neighbors\u2019 cats. She and her label designer, KD Maleki, whipped up the feline-inspired treat and its packaging after sitting down with Garcia and Mendez to conceptualize the special sweet.<\/p>\n

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Mayor Robert Garcia and Matt Mendez got engaged last summer. Courtesy photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe were going to do superheroes, because they\u2019re both nerds in that category,\u201d Amadril said. \u201cBut Matt came up with the idea of honoring Tommy, who came from the shelter. He also came up with name, Purrfect Wedding, and KD’s drawings provided the rest. It all came together organically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mendez and Garcia have a thing for ice creams that have a little cake in them. When Amadril mentioned the idea of butter-cake ice cream with strawberries in it, there was an audible \u201cooh!\u201d Amadril, more or less figuratively speaking, put the icing on the cake by blending in mascarpone cheese and roasting the berries into a jam and putting that in there, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a strawberry shortcake, but the butter cake is made with cream cheese and the mascarpone is in the base,\u201d Amadril said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of cheese in that baby!\u201d Be still, your beating hearts. And loosen your belts.<\/p>\n

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KD Maleki’s label design commemorate the Garcia-Mendez union, honor The Little Lion Foundation, and present an ideal marriage of ingredients. Photo courtesy of The Little Lion Foundation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Getting one taste of ice cream\u2014particularly ice cream this good\u2014for an article throws all objectivity to the wind. I wanted to throw the tasting knife to the wind, hurl myself into the display case, and attack the container with a large spoon. Purrfect Wedding needs no crumbled walnuts, no syrup, nothing. If you believe, as is printed on novelty kitchen towels and magnets, that cat hair is a condiment, you\u2019ll have to provide your own at home. I bought several pints and shared them with the neighbors.<\/p>\n

Little Lion founder Claudia Marie was awestruck over the choice of her organization for the couple\u2019s benevolence.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, geez, we\u2019re always in the red. Every penny goes for the kitties, kitten food and vet bills,\u201d Marie said. \u201cWe\u2019d been trying to do a fundraiser with Long Beach Creamery, but we were so busy. So when we found out about this\u2014Dina messaged us from Facebook\u2014we were in shock.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perfect Wedding will be sold throughout December in both scoops and pints at both Long Beach Creamery locations: 4141 Long Beach Blvd.\u00a0<\/a>and 222 East Broadway Ave., both in Long Beach.\u00a0<\/a>Each pint is $11.75, $5 of which will go help those little neonatal kittens.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongratulations, and congratulations to Tommy, too\u2014I\u2019m glad they picked us!\u201d Marie said. \u201cNow I gotta go get some of the ice cream.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tommy was the inspiration for a dessert that will be served at the mayor’s wedding on Dec. 22\u2014and also raise funds for a good cause. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":65880,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[35],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pets","tag-pet-post","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=354"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}