Great Scoops: Recipes from a Neighborhood Ice Cream Shop

About Amelia RyanMarlene Haley

Teacher-turned-businessperson Marlene Haley is the owner of The Merry Dairy Ottawas first ice-cream truck business dedicated to nut-free original-recipe frozen custard and premium ice cream. Since 2012 The Merry Dairy has become a favorite among locals serving more than 100000 signature frozen-custard cones from their shop on Fairmont Avenue and their fleet of Grumman trucks. Numerous publications and media outlets including Ottawa Magazine CBC Radio and CTV News have chronicled the evolution of the business from a single ice cream truck to its increasing involvement in Ottawas amazing community scene. Marlene lives in Hintonburg Ottawa with her husband and two children and can often be found at the shop greeting first-time customers and loyal fans. While growing up in Richmond in the Ottawa Valley Amelia Ryan observed how food brings family friends and neighbors together. As she completed her major in business and communications she saw a fork in the road ahead: was she to choose a corporate life in front of a computer or grab that fork and whip up a life of culinary creation? She decided the food door and hasnt looked back. As the creative director at The Merry Dairy Amelia leads the companys effort to make beautiful ice creams by developing recipes with new flavors and formulating recipes that serve specific diets. She loves how simple pleasures such as a cone of ice cream can create everlasting memories. Amelia lives in Ottawa with her husband Sam.