Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy

I have to tell you, people, I never intended to publish this post. Ever hear of Murphy’s Law - If anything can go wrong, it will? Well, that’s how it was for me from the first moment I decided to make this Coconut Fro Yo. First of all, when I took the tub of yogurt I’d bought out of the fridge to make the base, I noticed that it had expired. Actually, it was already expired when I bought it the day earlier, only I didn’t notice. I’m usually a very diligent label reader, but on that particular day I was in a hurry and didn’t check the expiration date. My bad. Except the %*#@ing supermarket employees shouldn’t be stocking expired items on the shelves. This was not the first, second or even third time I have seen this. I think that they’re so worried about the bottom line, that they keep those old products out, banking that most shoppers that get one won’t bother to take it back. Either that or the stock guys just can’t read. I know we’re in a recession, but poisoning your customers with spoiled dairy products is not the way to boost sales!

I did return the yogurt. And then when I went to get another tub – they were completely out of the kind I needed. UGH! So, I had to drive out of my way to another store to find it. Now keep in mind, that the yogurt I was looking for was just regular Greek yogurt, and not some fancy, gourmet kind. Just any old brand of plain, whole milk, Greek yogurt.

By the time I finished driving around looking for the yogurt, I was too aggravated to make the fro yo. So, I put the Greek yogurt in the fridge for later. The next day, when I took it back out for my second fro yo making attempt, about a third of it was gone. Yes, gone. As in someone ate it. And of course, no one would admit to it either. Not even Bella. I’m not pointing any fingers, but I know for a fact that it wasn’t me.

Hmmm. Come to think of it, Bella does look a little guilty, doesn’t she.

So, off I went again to the grocery store to buy another tub of yogurt. I went back to the same place I had gotten it the day before, and guess what? They were now out of it too. I kid you not, people. While reciting the Serenity Prayer to myself, I drove back to the first store again, hoping that they now had the yogurt. They did. And, the expiration date was three weeks away. So, I grabbed two tubs and ran.

I finally had plenty of yogurt, and went to get a can of coconut milk out of the pantry. Only now guess what? No coconut milk. How could this be? I always keep a stash of coconut milk! I never don’t have any coconut milk! Except for last Thursday, apparently.

ARGHH!

I hopped back in my car and drove back the the market for coconut milk. I bought three cans. I also bought a bag of flaked coconut. I was pretty sure I already had one at home, but I wasn’t taking any chances.

Finally armed with all of the necessary ingredients, I whipped up a batch of the most indescribably delicious coconut frozen yogurt ever – and promptly ate half of it on the spot. Did I mention I was a stress eater? The other half went into the freezer to firm up.

Later, when I was trying to photograph the fro yo, was when things really started to go wrong.

I decided to go for a “tropical” feel for the shots. I toasted some coconut to sprinkle on top of the fro yo. I dug out a brightly colored bamboo mat and bowl, as well as a cute, pink, paper drink umbrella like you might find at your friendly, neighborhood tiki bar. I set up the first shot, taking great care to get the light just right. The sunlight was streaming in the window at two o’clock, and my foil covered foam board was positioned directly opposite to bounce the light at just the right angle. The finishing touch was a matching spoon jauntily perched on the side of the bowl to make the suggestion that the fro yo was about to be consumed. I took a few test shots to make sure that all of my settings were spot on.

And then…

Kerplunk!

The foam board fell over on top of the fro yo, and the smushed fro yo toppled over. I scooped it up and threw it in the sink. And then, I went shopping.

Two days later, I looked in the freezer and there was still some fro yo left in its container. I got this crazy idea that maybe I could still get a few decent shots of it. Maybe the tropical theme idea wasn’t meant to be. Maybe an Asian theme would be better. There was coconut milk in the fro yo. Yeah! An Asian theme was the ticket!

I shifted gears and set up a new coco fro yo scenario. I used some pretty little black bowls that I’d picked up in San Francisco’s Chinatown last Fall. I found a blue drink umbrella and a sweet little matching blue spoon. This time, after I scooped the fro yo into a bowl, I froze it so that it wouldn’t fall over so easily – just in case…

Again, I set the shot up just right. This time I used a black background to eliminate the need for sunlight and the foam board. I placed one of my studio lights on one side of the bowl and took a few more test shots. I liked what I saw! Then, I stepped back, steadied my tripod and…

Bella ran in, bumped the tripod, which bumped the light, which fell on top of the fro yo, which knocked it to the ground, which mashed it into the carpet and chipped my beautiful bowl. The last thing I remember as I ran out of the room screaming was Bella licking the fro yo off of the rug.

And that, my dear readers is why I never intended to write this post.

But, then I realized that it just wasn’t fair of me not to share this super rich, smooth and luscious frozen treat with you. Especially not in the dead of summer. No, no, no! I couldn’t have that on my conscience. So, here it is – the most incredibly scrumptious coconut frozen yogurt made with just three ingredients. There are no thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers or any other additives. It’s a cinch to make, and you don’t have to drive anywhere or wait in a long line to get some. A series of unfortunate events and blurry, mismatched photos aside, I think it was the right thing to do. Don’t you?