Fro-yo Finds at Marina Foods

Fro-yo girl here. This was my first visit to the new Marina Foods supermarket in Fremont and of course I was on the look out for fro-yo finds. They have plain fro-yo popsicles! They're called Yogo Bar and a pack of nine plain popsicles sells for $4.59. The box says no artificial flavors or colors. I definitely wanted some but I wasn't going to be home for hours.



I also found a new brand of mochi called Awon. Marina had two flavors, plain and green tea, $1.99 for a 10.6 oz. package. The package shows the mochi on fro-yo, in drinks and sprinkled on a dessert. Awon mini mochi is manufactured in Taiwan. The green tea mochi is soft and sweet, with a surprisingly strong green tea (and good) flavor. Yum. I'm going to put some on fro-yo soon.

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

* MARINA FOODS: 46196 Warm Springs Blvd, Fremont, CA

Haiti Relief Day at Menchie's on Friday, Jan. 15

Fro-yo girl here. Tomorrow, January 15th, is Haiti Relief Day at your local Menchie's.

"On Haitian Earthquake Support Day, Menchie’s locations will donate 5% of their end-of-day system wide sales to support the American Red Cross Haiti relief fund. In addition to the donation, each Menchie’s will display a relief collection box encouraging customers to donate clothing, blankets, canned goods and money that will be presented to local American Red Cross affiliates."

Visit http://menchies.com/locations.php#ca to find the Menchie's near you.

Fro-yo cares :-). Thanks Menchie's!

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

Fro-yo at O'Hare International Airport, Terminal 1

Fro-yo girl here. I missed the grand opening of Starfruit at Block 37 (which occurred during my visit) and endured three days without any fro-yo in the suburbs of Chicago. My first reencounter with fro-yo occured at O'Hare Airport, Terminal 1. My main goal was to find fro-yo. Before I found a directory, I spotted The Grove/Smoothie King (B7). I saw the fro-yo machines and pictures of fro-yo!



I thought they would just have sweet fro-yo but they did have one tart flavor (which was icy, runny and too sweet). They've been open about a year. The fro-yo is still primarily old school/classic sweet. They didn't have any fruit toppings and you can get the fro-yo blended with candy or cookies, as a banana split or as a sundae.

The vanilla ($2.99 for a small, $3.49 for a medium) was sweet, creamy and satisfying.



TCBY was on the directory but I walked by C19 and didn't see it. I also asked the Grove employee about TCBY and he didn't know about it. There is fro-yo in Concourse C, in the food court (C19) at Cafe Zoot. They serve Edy's ice cream and YoCream fro-yo (2 flavors). Perhaps it replaced the TCBY? I also saw another place with Edy's ice cream but no fro-yo in Concourse C.

I'm curious about Windy City Yogurt in the International Terminal but I don't think I'm allowed in that terminal (and it doesn't connect to the domestic terminals).

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

Siggi's Yogurt Review

Fro-yo girl here. I've found my favorite yogurt: Siggi's Icelandic style skyr strained non-fat yogurt. I didn't know about skyr (the traditional yogurt of Iceland) till I found Siggi's. Skyr is thicker and creamier than the usual yogurt. Siggi's is available in the following flavors: blueberry, orange ginger, plain, vanilla, pomegranate & passion fruit, grapefruit, and acai.

* Grapefruit: It's so thick that the spoon stands up easily in the yogurt! The yogurt is so rich and tart, with the sourness of grapefruit. I bet it would taste incredible in fro-yo form.

* Orange ginger: It's amazing with tiny chunks of candied ginger. Ginger and orange go so well together. Love the tartness. The ingredients list: skim milk, agave nectar, candied ginger, orange extract, live active cultures, vegetable rennet



The yogurt is made with a few choice ingredients, with no artificial coloring, no preservatives, and no gelatin. It's expensive at $2.49 each (makes fro-yo seem reasonably priced) but delicious. I found Siggi's at Whole Foods. See skyr.com for a store locator.

5 out of 5 stars

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

Fro-yo Shop Innovators

Fro-yo girl here. My last post about the new fro-yo hot spots (cities) in 2009 made me want to recognize a few special fro-yo shops that have been innovators in the field of tart fro-yo. These innovators offered something unique long before others in the area caught on. While they didn't invent fro-yo, they created something memorable and special in the field of fro-yo. In no particular order, the shops are:

* BERRYLINE (BOSTON, MA): Now with three locations in the Boston area, BerryLine creates unique flavors like Nutella, Banana, Oreo and Apple Cinnamon. They originally opened in September 2007 and brought tart fro-yo to Boston. You can even send your friend a cup of BerryLine via your cell phone at http://www.kangogift.com/SendGift.aspx?id=133
* STARFRUIT (CHICAGO, IL): They introduced frozen kefir to the US market. Currently Starfruit has three locations in the Chicago area. Frozen kefir looks just like soft serve fro-yo and Starfruit offers similar toppings. The concept was created by Lifeway, the country's leading manufacturer of kefir.
* SNO:LA (BEVERLY HILLS, CA): Sno:la's fro-yo tastes like no one else's - it's intense, sour and barely sweetened. It's made without any refined sugars, with organic dairy and seasonal fruits. The mochi can't be missed. Sno:la is eco-friendly and 1% of their gross proceeds go to the Slow Food movement.
* CULTURE ORGANIC FROZEN YOGURT (PALO ALTO, CA): Culture stays busy inventing new fro-yo flavors, fro-yo creations (Yo'wiches) and fro-yo toppings. They even had frozen kefir for awhile. Mary, the brilliant toppings-in-chief bakes up a storm including crumbles, mini meringue cookies, brownies, etc. She made marshmallow creme and flaxseed cones. Everything is organic and eco-friendly. No one else offers all organic toppings.
* FRAICHE FROZEN YOGURT (PALO ALTO, CA): They make their own yogurt with organic milk. And they make their own fro-yo. Though it took them awhile to offer mochi, their mochi was worth the wait. The new SF location is gorgeous and both locations also offer delicious baked goods. They're also famous for offering fresh chocolate shavings (shaved to order).
* MOCHII YOGURT (SACRAMENTO, CA): Mochii Yogurt brought delicious, handcrafted mochi and tart fro-yo to Sacramento back in 2007. The array of mochi flavors is awe-inspiring. Past mochi flavors included blackberry, mandarin orange, cherry, kiwi, peach, ume, and the list goes on.
* YOGIZMO (SANTA CRUZ, CA): YoGizmo brought mix-in style fro-yo and tart soft-serve fro-yo to Scotts Valley in 2007 and added a Santa Cruz location in 2009. The owner was inspired by the tart mix-in fro-yo she enjoyed in Canada. You can get also get soy ice cream, ice cream, and acai sorbet as the base for the mix-in. Choose up to three fruits and enjoy a custom blended creation.

Thank you, fro-yo shop innovators. You have my love and deep appreciation.

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

Fro-yo Hot Spots, Part Two

Fro-yo girl here. Back in January 2009, I selected four cities in the Bay Area as fro-yo hot spots. Based on the quantity of fro-yo shops, quality of fro-yo shops and innovativeness of fro-yo offerings, I selected (1) Palo Alto, (2) San Francisco, (3) Cupertino and (4) Berkeley. 2009 was a very busy year for fro-yo and I'd like to welcome a new batch of cities to the fro-yo hot spot list. This newer group isn't as innovative as the original four but they've come on strong in terms of quantity of fro-yo shops.

The winners are:

San Jose
Pleasanton
Fremont
San Mateo

1. San Jose became the first city in the Bay Area to get a Pinkberry. A long list of self-serve shops also opened their doors including two Yogurtland locations, Whimsical, Toppings, Sweet Soleil, Yogurt Village, Yogurt Paradise, Green Cup and Sweet Sundays. Downtown San Jose welcomed several fro-yo shops including Penguin, Cafe Yolicious and Chillfactor.

2. Downtown Pleasanton became the battleground for Yolatea, Cafe Delatti, and Yogofina. Tuttimelon opened its first location in Contra Costa County at Stoneridge Mall. Viva Yogurt Cafe and Yogoholic opened their doors as well.

3. Fremont is now home to Fro-ggie, YoSwirl, So Frais Frozen Yogurt Cafe, Cafe Verona, Yogurtouille, Sweet Orchid, Yogurtastic, Pink Swirl, and Yogurt Bees. Old s school Yogurt Delite is still around. I get the feeling more fro-yo is on the way.

4. San Mateo. There is no shortage of fro-yo in downtown San Mateo with Yogurtouille, Tuttimelon, Happy Yogurt and Clear Optometry all within a few blocks of each other. Snowee, Maqito and Harmony Frozen Yogurt opened their doors in 2009 in other areas of San Mateo. I still have a soft spot for Yumi Yogurt.

Support your local fro-yo shop in 2010.

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

Fro-yo Girl’s 2010 Wish List

Fro-yo girl here. A new year of fro-yo is upon us accompanied as usual with hopes and dreams for a better future. What does fro-yo girl wish for in 2010?

* More Yogurtland signature fro-yo spoons. These are the cutest spoons and I’m addicted to them now. If other places come out with super cute fro-yo spoons, I’d be even happier.
* Mobile fro-yo trucks. 2009 was the year of the mobile food trend and Washington DC has a fro-yo van but there isn’t one driving around the Bay Area yet.

I don’t have as many wishes this year because so many of my wishes came true in 2009. I think fro-yo popsicles will soon be in my hands, once Yolato finds a West Coast distributor. I already have dozens of fro-yo t-shirts, a fro-yo umbrella (thanks Tuttimelon), a fro-yo tote bag, fro-yo pins, and fro-yo candy. Fro-yo is at the airport (LAX) and it's probably too much to hope to find it and a toppings cart on the plane. Multiple people have mentioned wanting to see a fro-yo eating contest but I think that could be messy. I'll be content with watching Fro-yo Boy eating a Sumo Bowl at Tuttimelon.

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