Stone Ridge Creamery Frozen Yogurt (Part 1)

Lucky you, readers! I am catching up on a bunch of posts that have been queued on my agenda for a while -- posts to which I haven't had the time to commit the full focus they deserve.

Mid last summer, I got an email from a PR firm that represented Supervalu. They asked us if we wanted samples of Stone Ridge Creamery Tart Frozen Yogurt and Culinary Circle Chocolate Truffle Gooey Fudge Brownie Ice Cream Dessert. Um, yeah!

Like many readers, she was taken with the guest post by my husband, Kevin, who had written about his astronaut ice cream.

I told Kev we would be getting samples in the mail, but since he was such a hit as a writer and analyst, he would have to co-write this blog with me. However, since we can't seem to coordinate our schedules, he'll be following up with Part 2 in the near future).

Coincidentally, the samples arrived on a Thursday that kicked off a long weekend in Vermont with my parents, my older sister and her husband. I packed up the frozen treats and the dry ice in a cooler and we drove up to Vermont. When we got to Vermont, we opened the door and flipped the light switch. Nothing. My first concern was in fact, my cooler of ice cream and no power. We decided to put the frozen goodies in the freezer along with the dry ice and hope for the best. When my sister and brother-in-law arrived, we thought that it would be safer to break out the Culinary Circle Chocolate Truffle Gooey Fudge Brownie Ice Cream Dessert. Yum. The power came on as we took our first bites. Ah, the magic of ice cream.

We saved the frozen yogurt for the next day -- a treat we would enjoy with my parents when they arrived the next day. With four quarts of frozen yogurt, we were quite sure there would be enough for all six of us to enjoy. With spoons in hand, larger spoons in the carton, and large dishes, we proceeded to taste and discuss.

We ranked our favorites (from favorite to least favorite)

• Brother-in-law, Liam: vanilla, strawberry, pomegranate blueberry, peach
• Dad: vanilla, peach, strawberry, pomegranate blueberry
• Kevin: peach, strawberry, vanilla, pomegranate blueberry
• Mom: vanilla, pomegranate blueberry, peach, strawberry
• Sarah: vanilla, peach, strawberry, pomegranate blueberry
• Me: vanilla, peach, strawberry, pomegranate blueberry

I have to say, the biggest surprise was the number two ranking of the peach fro yo by my father. Below is a scenario that used to take place when I was younger:

There's been a middle school concert and on the way home, the family stops at Friendly's. I don't remember what anyone orders, except my older sister, Sarah. Peach. As is tradition, we pass our cones around, tasting each others' flavors, just to confirm we chose the right flavor...the chunk of conversation I recall ensues.
Dad: "Lemme try peach, Sarah..."
Sarah: "Ok. Here."
Dad: "It tastes like dirty socks." (Clearly, this is not a reflection of Friendly's but of my dad's own taste buds, because people ordered it enough to put it on the menu, and Sarah certainly enjoyed it.)
From the peanut gallery of the three of us sisters: "Ewww!" "Dad!" "How do you KNOW what dirty socks taste like? Gross, Dad!"

To this day I can't see peach ice cream without automatically thinking of a pair of dirty socks. Thanks, Dad.

Here are some thoughts from the night:

• It has a cultured taste
• Kevin: "I'm eating strawberry, but it tastes like lemon."
  Dad: "No, strawberry tastes like strawberry...I like the strawberry."
• Dad: "I like the tartness of it, Bethany." (As if I were the one who whipped it up.)
• Kevin tastes tart. He comments that he can't really taste the difference in the flavors, he can only taste the tartness. (I'm wondering if we should count his ranking above...?)
• Dad: "I like the vanilla."
• Dad: "Peach is the most distinct."

Overall, there was a feeling of liking it, though no commitment to buying it in the future (with one exception, to be discussed below), but this is perhaps because I do come from a family of ice cream purists, who would choose ice cream over frozen yogurt any day. Besides, the dirty sock review from years before kind of ruins my dad's taste bud creds.

Sarah and I (who have never once compared any frozen treat to dirty socks) polished off the vanilla over the weekend, with a promise of buying Stone Ridge Creamery Vanilla Frozen Yogurt again in the future. We had made a fruit salad earlier in the day, and fell in love with the vanilla topped with a mix of peaches, strawberries, cherries, blueberries, and cherries. Summertime perfection.

Additionally, all agreed that any of the above flavors tasted good topped with the family tradition of sugared summer berries.

Looking out the window at the rain that has been falling heavily for the past three days, it's hard to imagine spring is days away, but since it's not snow, the future looks warmer. This being the case, I see cartons of Stone Ridge Creamery Vanilla Frozen Yogurt piled high with fruit just around the corner.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this review by Kevin, the newest member of our blogging team!

Celebrate the Fourth With Red, White, and Blue!

A couple of days ago, Edy's® posted their new flavor: Red, White, and No More Blues!

While we always like to be the first with a big ice cream story, I thought I would hold off because this is the perfect July Fourth flavor.

Of course, Edy's® describes their ice cream the best:

At Edy's®, we have a history of lifting spirits. In 1929, we introduced a new flavor of ice cream to bring a smile to people during the dark days of the Great Depression. That flavor was Rocky Road. Now 80 years later, we’re at it again. To brighten the summer, Edy's is proud to unveil a new Slow Churned® Light Ice Cream Limited Edition Flavor: Red, White & No More Blues! Creamy vanilla ice cream with fruity swirls of blueberry and strawberry throughout!

Who knew that Edy's® invented Rocky Road -- to lift spirits in the Great Depression, nonetheless!

Visit their site for uplifting stories of how people made lemonade out of lemons -- er, um, ice cream out of eggs, cream, and sugar. And finally read the story of the $100,000 winner of their Taste of Recovery Contest.

I have yet to try it, but it sounds wonderful -- and very summery!

Happy Fourth of July!

[Scoopalicious is celebrating National Ice Cream month with a Post-A-Day throughout the month of July!]

Happy National Peach Ice Cream Day!

Happy National Peach Ice Cream Day! To celebrate, I tried something a little different and I infused rosemary into the cream as I was warming it, and made a Rosemary Peach Ice Cream.

This was not as sweet as I usually like, but I loved the mixture of flavors -- it has a very rich taste. As with many of my recent fruit ice creams, one churned and put in the freezer, this was a bit icier and froze harder than I would have preferred. However, once I let it sit and soften for for a bit, I liked the creaminess of the concoction

Unfortunately, I don't have time to post the whole recipe today, but I promise I will post it very soon!

In the meantime, you can take your favorite custard-style peach ice cream recipe, and while cooking the milk, add two sprigs of rosemary while it simmers. Continue following the recipe by adding the whisked eggs, cooking it until the sppon is coated and when it comes time to strain this custard mixture, strain out the rosemary as well.

Promise when I return from lack-of-internet-land, I will post the recipe, but until then, have the most wonderful National Peach Ice Cream Day!

[Scoopalicious is celebrating National Ice Cream month with a Post-A-Day throughout the month of July!]

Shirley Temple Ice Cream, Take 2

Sister Sarah (who runs ReBook, Inc., and yes, I need to update the site!) and I made Shirley Temple Ice Cream last night -- take two. (For take one, visit here.) Sarah wants to call is Sarah Temple Ice Cream or Sarah's Shirley Ice Cream -- Any opinions?

Soooo, without further ado, here is Take 2...

Shirley Temple Ice Cream, Take 2

2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons of butter
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
7 1/2 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons grenadine (this time I used the syrupy sweet bottled kind)
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup skim milk
1 cup of halved maraschino cherries

Combine the first four ingredients plus 1/4 cup of the grenadine and 3 tablespoons of the lime juice in the top half of your double boiler. Place over simmering water and heat, while beating constantly, until the mixture thickens. This took us about 17 minutes. Allow the mixture to cool slightly, and add the milk, and the cream, as well as the remaining 3 1/2 tablespoons of lime juice and 3 tablespoons of grenadine. Cover and refrigerate overnight (or until cool).

Place the chilled mixture in your ice cream maker and freeze according to the ice cream maker manufacturer's directions. Add the cherries during the last few minutes of churning. Enjoy!

The results? Well, like the last recipe, this didn't freeze as hard as other ice creams I have made. In fact, it pretty much had a soft serve consistency, even after having had sat in the freezer overnight.

On first tasting Sarah and I both liked the final result but agreed it still didn't taste like a Shirley Temple. Even with very little lemon juice and no extract this time, it still tasted lemony. But the cherries were a nice addition -- and with the bottled grenadine syrup (which we tried because both Sarah and I used to Shirley Temples with the bottled, no-pomegranate-juice-included grenadine syrup) the color was much more appealing.

I have to say though, when I scooped it into the bowl for photographing, I had to eat the prop, and that time, though still very lemony, the lingering flavor reminded me very much of a Shirley Temple...hmmm...either way, it's closer than the last time.

Next step? Try making this with flat ginger ale or sprite. Ohhh, or maybe we could try a Shirley Temple Sorbet!

Big thanks to Stef over at Cupcake Project for her inspiration and homemade grenadine recipe!