More Fro Yo

Tried Bleuet tonight after searching for the longest time to find it. My friend knew the name was blue spelled funny, then the guy at Active Cultures told me that it was pronounced "Blu-ette," but I still could find it online or through texting Google. After a movie in NW, A and I just kept searching until we finally found it because we knew we were so close.

Success. Sort of.

The fro-yo was okay. There were only three flavors: plain, cinnamon and mint-lime. We tried cinnamon and-mint lime and they were both good and interesting, but nothing that made me jump up and down wanting to get more. We ended up getting cinnamon and adding a hemp-ginger granola over top. I didn't know granola was so good and definitely will consider adding it to fro-yo in future for the crunchy balanced goodness, but that's about all I can say that is good.

Here's the rundown:
1. Hard to find online (local froyo searches did not return this place)
2. Good location, but empty when all the other dessert shops on that street were jumping and it was 100 degrees
3. Terrible service - the girl behind the counter got us samples, but didn't seem excited about her job. Granted, she doesn't have to jump up and down, but I would have appreciated some suggestions.
4. Fro yo that really tastes like fro yo - it's more like my homemade than the stuff from Active Cultures - a little icy, less creamy and more tangy, which I usually like, but somehow didn't here.
5. If I believe the guy at Active Cultures, which I do, because he was well informed, animated and very helpful (even if he was wrong), Bleuet may have misinformation on their wall about the benefits of yogurt crossing over to fro-yo since probiotics may actually die during freezing.
6. Expensive! We got a kids size which is plenty (2 oz) for 1.50$, but the small (too big!) is usually around 3$ and it's 1$ for each topping. On the kids size, that's a lot less topping than on a bigger size!

In the end, I probably won't be going back. Mio and Alotto are right down the street and I like my own fro-yo better (although I will be buying some granola!).

Peach Frozen Yogurt

It rocked.

Peaches: 6-7 peaches with bad spots cut off and pits removed (FREE)
1 c. Plain Fat Free Yogurt (FREE)
2 Tbsp brown sugar
Blend in blender. Freeze in ice cream maker.

Delicious, pretty much free ingredients (and you know how I love that!) and A says it was the best I've made so far.

I loved it, but I still am dreaming about Active Cultures which is so delicious I might faint. The fellow who helped us (one of the co-owners) was telling us about how their yogurt cultures are heated slightly to form spores so that the probiotics don't just bust open and die during freezing, so that you are actually getting the benefit of eating yogurt, even if it's frozen. That combined with the amazing texture and flavor means I'll probably be back - OFTEN!

He also helped me figure out the other fro-yo place Ree had mentioned and we saw another one on the way home, so I'll be tasting at those too. Fro-yo seems to be enjoying a come back and I'm glad to be a part of it. I just wish I knew how to keep my cultures live in freezing so that my home made fro-yo would also be live.

Speaking of frozen treats, I tried a couple more Haagen Daaz Reserve flavors - the salted caramel and the honey. They are both delicious and definitely interesting, but pomegranate chip is still the favorite. And I'm thrilled to know that this flavor is also available in a non-dairy version. Okay, it's too early in the morning to eat ice cream, so I better eat some brekki and get to work.

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.