The Big Dipper's tale began in Portland, where Sami and Brian worked on a chestnut farm. It was during this time that Sami had her first encounter with small-batch, locally made ice cream. She worked at a local ice cream shop in 2012, and it was there that the inspiration and passion for the Big Dipper were born.
Although the seed had been planted, the season was not yet right. Sami and Brian moved to Viet Nam and Morocco for several years, where they taught English. Thanks, in part, to the bustling markets with their locally sourced foods, Sami learned a great deal about culinary tastes and how to pair recipes to seasons. She developed a love for the art of cooking and found a joyous opportunity in the array of unfamiliar ingredients.
Fast forward to 2017, back in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Sami is teaching kindergarten, but there's a stirring sense of adventure that never entirely left her. That seed of the Big Dipper from so long ago was still growing. And now, the time had come to give it a chance. Sami bought a 3-quart batch freezer off the internet and dove into the creative culinary process. Coming from a family of restaurateurs, her budding career was close to home and lovingly supported by her family.
Sami made her first batch of ice cream in a spare bedroom with a 30-year-old, 200 lb. batch freezer. Like most new endeavors, there was a learning curve. One that eventually led to a rental kitchen where she could house the freezer and pursue her art. Kitchens are much easier to clean than bedrooms if ice cream ends up everywhere. But more importantly, this allowed Sami to begin her professional career as a confectioner. It was here that her ice cream cart business began.
Making small-batch at the Kitchen 66 in downtown Tulsa, Sami would bring the ice cream and her cart to local events and the farmer's market. It was far more work than money, but it paid in the coin of dreams that she would own an ice cream shop one day.
And now, that dream is a reality. Welcome to the Big Dipper.
