By: Lauri Lee
Northside News
Stella Buckley, aka, Dairy Godmother, grew up living near the beach on the east coast of Florida. She had a tight relationship with her “Nanna” who taught her how to bake and assist her when hosting family events. These culinary and hospitality seeds stayed with Stella even after she completed her degree in environmental science at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania in 2018.
Madison’s reputation as a biotech hub and home to an amazing university brought her to our city. Stella landed a great job and worked for a genomic science company here for two years. She worked in a genetics lab and had an opportunity to follow recipes of science. When she came home at night, she made ice cream. In fact, being in the lab, felt a bit like the kitchen, a place to create.
Stella got her unofficial Dairy Godmother start when she purchased a KitchenAid mixer and the attachment to make ice cream. She credits her scientific background as helpful in making ice cream because it’s a scientific process that makes it taste good. There’s more that goes into it than most people realize. There’s a lengthy cooking and cooling process involved. When she experimented with new flavors, she always invited friends to be her tasting panel and vote for favorites.
Friends loved the ice cream which she began bringing for birthdays and dinner parties. It started to become popular. But it was taking up more of her time, so, she either had to scale back on ice cream production or quit her day job and go all in with ice cream. She competed in the annual food cart review, and she was easily the highest ranked newcomer, which confirmed her decision to choose the path of ice cream and gave her first choice of location to vend.
Stella is just getting started in this her first season of vending and she can be found at the Dane County Farmers’ Market on the corner of East Mifflin and Pinkney near the Children’s Museum. She has a library mall spot for weekdays when it gets hot. She also caters events, which is her primary business model.
In taking these steps Stella started working out of FEED Kitchens to meet her growing needs. She has found FEED to be a very collaborative environment and appreciates being surrounded by diverse food entrepreneurs with years of experience in how to work in a shared commercial kitchen and manage a successful food business.
Stella uses seasonal ingredients locally sourced to the extent possible and never with artificial flavors or preservatives. Summer Lavender with Blackberry swirl, dark chocolate sea salt, honey vanilla bean, strawberries and cream, almond brittle and cherry, and white mocha espresso entice you with some of them. She is always working on new flavors and loves meeting new farmers and building relationships with farmers in the Madison area.
Stella sells her ice cream in sealed cups. 6 oz, and 8 oz. For her catering events, the host or hostess can choose the size. To cater a party, email stella@dairygodmom.com or call 772-538-3122. She is also on Instagram @dairygodmom. “I love making other people happy and creating memories with their loved ones.”
