Fro-Yo

Our family recently made a trip to Los Angeles for a friend’s wedding. We had a great time visiting friends and family.  We were determined to try some frozen yogurt, which is apparently all the rage now. 

And rage it is!  Those little fro-yo places are as popular as Starbucks – one on every corner.  We were particularly set on trying Yogurtland, at the suggestion of our new friend, Roddy Chong. 

The two shops we visited were pretty similar -- self-soft-serve frozen yogurt in a variety of flavors, with do-it-yourself toppings.  Yogurt flavors range from decidedly non-upstate New York flavors like lychee to the traditional chocolate.  The toppings are anything you can imagine – from fresh fruit to malt balls to rainbow sprinkles.

The two places we tried each had giant bowls for you to fill with whatever pleases you.  You pay by weight, so keep that in mind!

We tried the Lotus in Hermosa Beach after lunch with Esther’s cousins.  We were really full from lunch, so the girls shared their fro-yo.  Here are S6’s thoughts:

We tried Lotus on our vacation.  We ate frozen yogurt.  Me and my sister ate Irish Mint [yogurt].  But my family is not Irish!  We got gummy bears [for our topping].  I loved it! [G8 was not quite as enthusiastic about the mint-gummy bear combo.  She commented that they were better separate.]

On our last day in California, we tried the famed Yogurtland with some friends.  Here’s what G8 had to say about it:

During our recent trip, we went to Yogurt Land.  My sister and I got Rootbeer Float flavored yogurt.  Are you wondering what topping we got?  If you are, we got chocolate chips!  By the way, the chocolate chips took over the Rootbeer Float part.  It would have been better without them.

So, the moral of the story is…the girls need to pick toppings that actually complement the flavor of their frozen yogurt. 

What’s your favorite fro-yo place?  (Or if like us, you don’t live in an area that’s overrun with frozen yogurt, what’s your favorite flavor?)

Frozen Faves…

Like our new look?  We added a banner behind the title of the blog, depicting our favorite ice cream flavors.  G8 colored the center 2 cones, and S6 colored the end cones. 

And now, presenting our frozen fave’s…(The kids wrote their own descriptions.  Anything in brackets is part of the “editing”)

Mike: Who doesn’t like Chocolate ice cream? It’s true there are many flavors to choose from – almost too many! Sometimes ice cream flavor listings resemble a laundry list…literally. Muddy Sneakers? Dirt?

There are precious few ice cream flavors ice cream I wouldn’t try at least once. Chocolate is the old standby. It’s the flavor you feel bad ordering because there are so many other exotic combinations to try. But, you know that if you can’t chose from the 39 flavors scribbled on the chalkboard quickly enough,  you won’t be disappointed by chocolate.

Esther: When we go out, I often order something I love, but no one else in the family enjoys.  That way, I get to enjoy the flavors I like and don’t have to hear all the complaining. 

One of those flavors is pistachio.  I love nuts, particularly pistachios.  The nutty flavor and the little crunch goes great with the creaminess of the base.

But the real reason I included it in the banner? I thought a little green would zest up the picture a little! (My true favorite is coconut ice cream.)

G8:  Hi! My ice cream cone is the blue[one].  It’s on the right and is the third one.  It is blue because [the flavor] is called Smurf or Cotton Candy.  [I first tried it] at Chuck Hafner’s Garden Center  in North Syracuse. [Hafner’s has an ice cream stand right inside the garden center.]

[By the way, G8 doesn’t even really know what a Smurf is.  They’re not on TV anymore!]

S6:  Hi! I did the orange one [at the end].  [I chose this] because it is mango sorbet.  It is good!  You have to try it!

[Check out our Mango-Ginger Sorbet]

Your Turn…What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?

Mango-Ginger Sorbet

We love mango.  Well, the girls in the family love mango.  We made regular mango sorbet before and loved it. 

But I found a mango-ginger sorbet recipe in Sweet Scoops by Shelly Kaldunski.  As a ginger lover, I had to try it.

It definitely matched my expectations.  The combination of cool and hot (spicy) was definitely tantalizing!  This would be good after an Asian meal, particularly one with curry and/or coconut.  

I added a bit of crystallized ginger to my little bowl of sorbet and that only made it yummier!  In fact, the added heat from the candied ginger brought out the sweetness of the mango all the more. 

I must be honest, though and tell you that the rest of the family doesn’t love it.  The kids said, “Well, hmmmm…we like it.  But not really eat-it-all-the-time like it.  Maybe just once in a while.” 

Mike was not as diplomatic, “I don’t like this one.  I’ll stick to chocolate.”

Well, for those of you with more refined tastes, try this recipe!

(We’ll likely be making the pure-mango version soon…the kids would eat that all the time!)

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Mango-Ginger Sorbet 

(according to the recipe in Sweet Scoops, this yield 1 quart, thought I only got half of that when I made it)

3/4 cup sugar

2 ripe mangos (about 2lbs total wt.) – I had a bunch of the smaller yellow mangos, so I used 4 of those. 

1 tbs peeled adn grated fresh ginger (do not substitute ground ginger)

2 tbs fresh lime juice

pinch salt

1. Combine sugar and 3/4 cup water.  Boil, stirring occassionally to form a simple syrup
2. Peel and dice mangoes.  Place mango in blender and add cooled syrup, ginger, lime juice and salt.  Blend until very smooth
3. Pour into a bowl, cover and refrigerate until very cold (I did it overnight)
4. Pour the cold mango puree into an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. 
5. Cover tightly and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.

Freezing Joy

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.

And why not?  Cold, creamy and sweet, each bite is frozen joy!

Our family loves ice cream.  Anytime, anywhere.  It doesn’t matter how full we are, we have room for ice cream…it just fills in the cracks in your belly!

Which is why we are starting a blog to chronicle how our family is freezing pure joy. 

We’re going to share about the ice cream (and other frozen treats like frozen yogurt, sorbets, etc…) we make and the ice cream we buy…and anything else about ice cream!

So, go ahead, scream for ice cream!