Swirl Art Poll Results

Fro-yo girl here. With the dominance of self-serve frozen yogurt shops, I wondered how the freedom to swirl your own fro-yo had affected attitudes towards swirling. That is, when you’re swirling your own cup of fro-yo, do you try to make it look nice? The results are in and only 14% never attempt to swirl a nice cup of fro-yo. Perhaps some of the 14% aren’t able to swirl their own fro-yo because they don’t live close to a self serve fro-yo shop.

As for those who care about the appearance of their cup of fro-yo, 42% always try to make their swirl look nice and 42% sometimes make the attempt. I’ve noticed that my own swirling has improved quite a bit over the years, since I’ve had to swirl many cups of fro-yo. While I’ve always wanted a nice looking cup of fro-yo, I didn’t feel capable of it when I first started swirling. I can now take pride in the appearance of my cups of fro-yo. I’m also more disappointed when I go to a full service frozen yogurt shop and I get an ugly cup of fro-yo (e.g., Jamba Juice needs to train their employees on swirling Whirl’ns frozen yogurt).

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

My Attempt at Making the World’s Tallest Yogurt

Fro-yo girl here. Here’s a look at my attempt to make the tallest cup of fro-yo at Yogurtland Burlingame’s World’s Tallest Yogurt event today. 

First I checked in at the table outside and received a 4 oz. cup for $1. I decided to attempt to put one fro-yo flavor on top of another (raspberry tart, blue lychee bliss) since there was little room for side by side swirls. The fro-yo seemed stiffer than usual which made it a little more challenging to swirl. I could feel my fro-yo tipping over to the side, so I knew it was time to stop. I think I got 10 ounces worth. It was really difficult to add any toppings. Sorry, Yogurtland for being messy and leaving a trail of Fruity Pebbles and mochi balls.

After completing the survey, I went upstairs and found an image of a black & white Yogurtland cup on the wall. People were decorating the image. Cute.
I noticed some Yogurtland people around and a photographer. He only seemed interested in little kids eating fro-yo.

The event continues tomorrow from 12 - 4 PM. Remember to take the survey and be entered to win a $100 Yogurtland gift card.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* YOGURTLAND BURLINGAME: 225 Primrose Rd., Burlingame, CA

First Day of Fro-yo Summer

Fro-yo girl here. It’s summer, the prime season for frozen yogurt. It’s also the perfect time to try some new summery frozen yogurt flavors, including:

* TCBY: TCBY has partnered with Dole to bring you fruity flavors like Strawberry. The new flavor is made with Dole fruit.
* PINKBERRY: I tried Pinkberry’s Summer Strawberry and it’s excellent. It’s smooth, rich and creamy with a little tartness.
* YOCREAM: Their Strawberry Lemonade Sorbet is tart, juicy and extra refreshing. I love the combination of lemon and strawberry.
* BEN & JERRY’S: Try Strawberry Shortcake from their new Greek frozen yogurt line.
* JAMBA JUICE: The new summer flavor, Wildly Watermelon Whirl’ns frozen yogurt is available for a limited time only.
Don’t forget, June is National Frozen Yogurt Month. Keep those spoons active!

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

World’s Tallest Yogurt Event at Yogurtland Burlingame, 6/23 - 6/24

Fro-yo girl here. Get your spoons ready for the World’s Tallest Yogurt event at Yogurtland Burlingame this weekend! You’re invited to create your own fro-yo masterpiece for $1. Whatever you can fit into the 4 oz. cup is yours for $1.

David Lee, manager of Yogurtland Burlingame, says, “The key to this event is to bring people together to enjoy new taste combinations in a creative way. We use natural ingredients from all over the world to create our yogurt, and we will have more than 15 innovative varieties of sweet, tangy, silky, and/or chocolaty options at this event to choose from. We can’t wait to see the extreme creations as patrons fill their cups as high and wide as possible. For instance, if you haven’t had a toasted coconut blue lychee tart and red velvet yogurt lately, you’re missing a fantastic explosion of flavor experience.”

• EVENT DETAILS: Saturday and Sunday (June 23-24) from 12 - 4 PM get a (4 oz. size) cup of fro-yo and toppings for $1
• FEATURED EVENT FLAVORS: Almond Midnight Mocha, Kona Coffee, Toasted Coconut, Red Velvet, Cookies & Cream, Pecan & Pralines, Blue Lychee Tart, Taro, Plain Tart, Raspberry Tart, Vanilla Bean, Pistachio, Strawberry, Dulce de Leche, Chocolate Mint Cookie, Dutch Chocolate.

Share your comments with Yogurtland Burlingame during the event by taking a one minute survey and be entered to win a $100 Yogurtland gift card. That’s a lot of fro-yo!

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* YOGURTLAND BURLINGAME: 225 Primrose Rd., Burlingame, CA

For more information, visit the Yogurtland Burlingame Facebook page or follow Yogurtland Burlingame on Twitter at @Yogurtland_BG

Happy Father’s Day Fro-yo Style

Fro-yo girl here. It’s back...get free small fro-yo (cup or cone) for father’s at TCBY on Father’s Day.Call ahead to make sure your local TCBY is participating in the promotion. Other fro-yo shops with Father’s Day promotions include:

* YOGURT MOUNTAIN: 10 free ounces of fro-yo for dads at participating locations
* YOGURT TWISTS (Hoover, AL): Get up to 10 ounces of free fro-yo for dad with a purchase of another fro-yo of equal or greater value
* JOSIE’S FROZEN YOGURT (Fairfax, VA): Buy one, get one free for dad
* SWEET FROG (Danville, VA): Free 12 ounces of fro-yo for dads
* YOGURTINI: Buy one, get one free for dad at participating locations
* YOGURT YETI (Lynchburg, VA): Free 8 ounces of fro-yo for dads
* TWIST FROZEN YOGURT (Portland, OR): Free 4 ounces of fro-yo for dads

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Woman’s World You Deserve the Best Frozen Yogurt

Fro-yo girl here. I was recently approached by Woman’s World for supermarket fro-yo recommendations for their You Deserve the Best Frozen Yogurt feature. One of my picks appear in the June 25th issue, on sale on newsstands from June 14 - 20. A woman in a pink bikini is on the cover. You can find my pick in the article entitled “You deserve the best frozen yogurt.”

Here are the rest of my favorite supermarket frozen yogurt products:

• BEST ORGANIC FROZEN YOGURT:  Julie’s Organic Vanilla, it’s sweet and gelato-like with a clean, pure flavor
• BEST TART FROZEN YOGURT: Double Rainbow Strawberry Tart has that creamy, firm, smooth texture that I look for and it tastes more natural than competitors. It’s a cross between a good strawberry sorbet and strawberry ice cream with a nice tartness.
• BEST SWEET FROZEN YOGURT: Haagen Dazs Vanilla Honey & Granola is very sweet but also really good. It still has a hint of real yogurt flavor. I love the flavor of the honey and the slightly crunchy granola bits.
• BEST GREEK FROZEN YOGURT: Ben & Jerry’s has a good smooth texture and real yogurt flavor, plus the add-ins (fudge chunks, graham crackers) are very flavorful

I tried Blue Bunny’s frozen yogurt bars after I provided my picks to Woman’s World. Blue Bunny’s frozen yogurt bars are better than Jamba Juice’s (the product I picked in WW).

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Open Nature Greek Frozen Yogurt Review

Fro-yo girl here. While looking for Ben & Jerry’s Greek Fro-yo at Safeway, I noticed Open Nature Greek Frozen Yogurt. Open Nature is a Safeway line of 100% natural products. Open Nature Greek frozen yogurt is available in three flavors: Vanilla, Strawberry and Honey. The fro-yo is made with live and active cultures and has more protein than your average frozen yogurt.

* HONEY GREEK FROZEN YOGURT: Visually, it looked appealing. It’s white with no honey swirls. The frozen yogurt scoops easily, like ice cream. It’s thick and creamy. While I found it too sweet, I did like how it was rich, smooth and had real yogurt flavor. The honey flavor is very pronounced. It tastes good but it needs something to reduce the sweetness, maybe some roasted almonds and lightly sweetened crunchy cereal or granola.

A quart of Open Nature Greek frozen yogurt was $3.99 on sale, $5.49 regular price.

4 out of 5 stars

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* SAFEWAY: 5290 Diamond Heights Blvd., San Francisco, CA

Blue Bunny Naturally Frozen Yogurt Bars Review

Fro-yo girl here. I’d heard of Blue Bunny the ice cream brand before but I didn’t think their products were available in California. Recently, while looking for TCBY frozen yogurt products at Walmart, I noticed that Walmart also carried Blue Bunny. And they had Blue Bunny frozen yogurt products! 

I bought a box of blueberry & vanilla bean frozen yogurt bars. One box comes with 6 popsicles. The popsicles are all natural. One bar is 110 calories with 4 grams of fat. The main ingredients are milk, sugar, cream, blueberries, cane syrup, egg yolks, etc.

* NATURALLY BLUEBERRY & VANILLA BEAN FROZEN YOGURT BARS: The popsicle features a beautiful swirl pattern, since the blueberry and vanilla flavors are kept separate. It’s thick and about the same size as the Yasso Greek frozen yogurt bar. The bar has visible vanilla bean specks and bits of blueberry skin. The popsicle is really good! Creamy, smooth, sweet but not too sweet, not bitter. You can taste the vanilla and the blueberry. It’s not bland and it has yogurt flavor.

Blue Bunny Frozen Yogurt Bars also come in one other flavor: Chocolate & Vanilla Bean (Swirl).

5 out of 5 stars

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* WALMART: 2001 N Rose Ave., Oxnard, CA 93030

Happy National Frozen Yogurt Month

Fro-yo girl here. Happy National Frozen Yogurt Month! With summer around the corner and temperatures rising, it’s the beginning of peak fro-yo eating season.

Google Trends shows that frozen yogurt search volumes continue to climb. Each year, search volume peaks in June. The majority of searches for frozen yogurt continue to come from the U.S., followed by Canada and Australia. California continues to dominate as the metro area with the most searches for frozen yogurt. The popularity of search activity in Denver and Seattle corresponds with the explosion of frozen yogurt shops in those two metro areas.

The best way to celebrate National Frozen Yogurt Month is to eat more fro-yo.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.