We All Scream for ... Frozen Yogurt?

I have an ice cream maker and a swimming pool. Life is good.

I'm not sure how I became obsessed with getting an ice cream maker, but it was all I could talk about for several weeks. I told everybody. Then I went out and bought myself one. Many thanks to Ed and Jo for their generous graduation gift (from last year) that helped defray the cost of this lovely machine. It's a big brushed nickle box that takes up more counter space than any of my other appliances and despite learning that it just freezes the ice cream faster (yes, you could make home-made ice cream without it), I still love it. It has a big bowl that you freeze for 12-24 hours in advance then it turns so the ice cream is stirred and has the consistency of soft serve. So it's not exactly the same as if you just froze it in a container in the freezer.

So far, I've made 4 batches of ice cream, including one that was so unmemorable as to be not worth description, a coconut milk ice cream that was too sweet and rich (but delicious), a banana and peanut butter concoction that was pretty good and finally, the best so far, blackberry frozen yogurt. WOW! I never knew frozen yogurt could be so good. My batch was tangy, but sweet, delicious, delicate, and oh so cool and smooth. I'm interested in vegan ice cream, but I'm not sure that I can give up frozen yogurt now that I've discovered it. It's simply that good.

Here's the recipe I used, though I claim no credit for it - it's a melange of recipes I found online:

• 2 cups fat free yogurt
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 12 ounces fresh blackberries - frozen slightly then blended and strained to remove seeds - had to add some water to blend, so ended up with a lot of puree

Processed the blackberries then added all ingredients together, refrigerated until ready, then put in machine, turned the switch and 30 minutes later: voila! Fresh blackberry fro-yo. With my first taste, I was simultaneously thrilled at the tangy deliciousness and hopeful that my friends would also like it, but they assured me that they have learned that fro-yo is supposed to taste like that. They also recommended a fro-yo restaurant, but I can't find it online, so I'll have to go low-tech and get the address from them. More on my adventures in ice cream to follow.