Strawberry Rhubarb Frozen Yogurt

The recipe made with raw fruit (L) and roasted fruit (R)

The bounty of late spring (now early summer) is upon us- the farmers markets are full of all the green vegetables we have been craving this long winter.  Rhubarb (along with those oh so trendy wild ramps) is one of the first signs of spring.  Luckily rhubarb sticks around long enough to overlap for a brief glorious moment with the advent of ripe strawberries.

Rhubarb stalks have a bright and tart taste which needs to be tempered with sugar to make it palatable.  The plant contains the toxin oxalic acid so never eat the leaves!  There are luckily smaller amounts of the toxin in the edible stalks.  Interestingly enough, its qualities are those of a vegetable, but we consider it a fruit because of how we use it in desserts.

Market fresh strawberries and rhubarb stalks

One of the best pies, in my fair opinion, is a strawberry-rhubarb one.  Strawberries are naturally sweet and balance the tartness of rhubarb.  The bright red color is cheery and reminds us that warmer weather and longer evenings are on the way.  With two fruits and  strained yogurt, it’s easy to tell yourself that this is a “healthy dessert” (almost- if there wasn’t two forms of sugar and all the delicious cream).

Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream and Yogurt

Tom was born in Youngstown, Ohio and he remembers family trips to Dairy Queen and Scooper’s in Canfield. Those places bring to mind memories of chocolate milk shakes and scoops of butter pecan from Dairy Queen (yes, they had scoops back then) and the black cherry rum from the now defunct Scooper’s. A more seldom treat was ice cream from Handel’s Ice Cream and those occasions typically ran parallel with little league baseball.

Now when Tom returns to Ohio, Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream & Yogurt is the only choice. He does not even have to travel to the scoop shop to get it…his family brings it to almost every family function. Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream is now a franchise with locations in six states (if you live in Ohio they are all over). But Handel’s truly is a Youngstown establishment with its original location on the South Side of Youngstown (their headquarters is still in the suburb of Canfield).

The Euphoria- Lock: Is Your Pint Safe?

Ben & Jerry’s Euphoria-Lock via aspiringauteur / brain-food. 

To most people ice cream is not a big deal, but others will defend the frozen treat with their life.  Ben & Jerry’s has come up with what appears to be a simple solution: the Euphoria Pint-Lock.  This is a plastic three digit pad lock that protects your precious pint from roommates and children that might be scheming to eat all of your delicious ice cream in the middle of the night.

But how well does it work?