Blueberry Cream Cheese

The other morning when I went to Whole Foods, I noticed a container with a blue cream colored spread, and I was immediately intrigued. As I went over to inspect the container, I realized it was Blueberry Cream Cheese. The Cream Cheese appears to be prepared in house (or is made for Whole Foods by a local company), and was being sold in 8 oz containers.

I love fruity cream cheeses, but I've only really had flavors like Strawberry, Pineapple and Raspberry. Intrigued, I decided to buy one, and for only $3.87 for the container I couldn't really think of a reason not to try it. I'm definitely glad that I did, it was by far the best fruit cream cheese I've ever had. Obviously, since it's prepared fresh, the quality is far superior to the standard grocery store varieties. But it was also better than the in house versions that the local bagel shops offer. It also had whole blueberries inside of the mixture, which added a great burst of flavor when eating a bagel with the spread. I will definitely be buying this again, and I truly hope that Whole Foods starts to expand their cream cheese flavor selection.

Wallaby Yogurt - Strawberry Guava

Yesterday while picking up some groceries, I selected a few assorted yogurts. One of them was the Wallaby Organic Yogurt brand, in the Strawberry Guava flavor. Unlike those around me, I LOVE guava. I'll buy almost anything if it has guava in it, so I was very anxious to finally try this flavor.

I was unsure how strawberry and guava would go together, so I was pleasantly surprised by how they complemented each other. The yogurt was delicious, and the fruits were both noticeable, they just seemed a bit too...weak.

Although you could definitely taste them, I would have preferred a stronger flavor. However, since this is not a fruit in the bottom style yogurt, the flavor strength was about where one would expect it to be. I will definitely be buying this yogurt again, though next time I think I'll eat it with fruit slices.

Gaga Rainbow Sherbet

As a child, I never was all that crazy for ice cream. I mean, sure I loved getting it at ice cream stands during the summer, and I enjoyed the over the top flavors of Ben and Jerry's (what kid didn't?!), but it never held a special place in my heart. Sherbet,  however, did. My cousins and I shared some nearly every weekend, usually watching some of those (now) nostalgic TV shows of the 1990's, like Flipper.

So, yes, sherbet is definitely a fond memory of mine. But the problem is just that, it's mostly just a memory now. I may not have minded the flavors of sherbet when I was a kid, but now I tend to prefer high quality foods, and sherbet brands don't exactly focus on such matters. So at a recent trip to Whole Foods, I was pleased to notice Gaga. I was a little confused, since it referred to itself as "Sherbetter," and seemed to imply it was some sort of cross between Sherbet and Ice Cream. But, since it was being sold at Whole Foods, I chose to consider that a good sign (it's not like Whole Foods would be selling the mass produced sherbet items from the local grocery store, which tend to taste like chemical enhancements and artificial flavors that resemble anything but fruit).

There was a few flavor options, but I opted for the Rainbow (Orange, Raspberry and Lemon). It was priced at $4.99, which is pretty standard for pint sized frozen treats at Whole Foods (on the lower end, actually). As soon as I opened the pint, I noticed the pale (natural) looking colors swirled together, which I found reassuring. The taste was obviously the more refined version of sherbet  and you could really taste the citrus zests in the citrus flavors, as well as the fresh raspberry puree.

But sadly, it definitely didn't remind me of sherbet. It was definitely milkier than sorbet, but the consistency was more akin to frozen sorbet than it was anything else. It definitely was not smooth and creamy like sherbet, or ice cream for that matter. I wouldn't buy this item again, although the taste was pleasant, I'd prefer fresh sorbet personally. But this would be worth a try for those that want some sort of healthified sherbet replacement in their diet, or for kids.

Jeni's Pink Grapefruit Frozen Yogurt

I've recently gotten into the habit of always checking the Whole Foods freezers for Jeni's Ice Cream, before heading towards the checkout line. There's always at least one new flavor there, that I simply *MUST* try.

During my latest Whole Foods trip, this turned out to be  one of their newest flavors (at least new to me, it may be a seasonal item that returns yearly), Pink Frozen Yogurt.

One of my favorite sorbetto flavors is pink grapefruit, and whenever my favorite gelato shops offers it, I always have to have a scoop. But I've never really gave much thought to grapefruit anything beyond sorbetto, although I have momentarily pondered what a pink grapefruit gelato would be like. However, I'd surely never even pondered the idea of a grapefruit frozen yogurt.

I was instantly intrigued, and confused as to how it would work out. I was a bit worried that the tartness of a high quality frozen yogurt may be problematic with the sour of the grapefruit, but I was quite pleased with how the flavors melded together. The pink grapefruit flavor was authentically tart, which actually worked perfectly to offset the creaminess and slight richness of the frozen yogurt. It's definitely not the sort of flavor that citrus haters would enjoy, but it's definitely the sort of flavor that those like myself would go crazy for. I definitely will be buying this again, although next time I'd prefer to eat it during warmer months.

Wallaby Yogurt - Mango Lime

As a child I absolutely loved yogurt, but as I got older things changed. Around the age of 20, my taste buds drastically changed, and suddenly those artificial flavors sickened me. Suddenly, standard grocery store yogurt didn't do it for me. And back then high, quality yogurts and Greek yogurts weren't yet readily available at the grocery store, so for a few years I went without yogurt.

And then I discovered imported yogurts, farm fresh yogurts, and Greek style yogurts, and everything changed. Not only did I love yogurt once more, but I had a whole new appreciation for it. I then began to try a large assortment of yogurts, and soon stumbled onto Wallaby Organic at Whole Foods, a yogurt line that refers to itself as "Creamy Australian Style."

I can't say I'm familiar with Australian style yogurt, but the consistency is actually eerily similar to most standard American grocery store brands. However, unlike those yogurts, there is never any separation to be seen. The Wallaby yogurt line offers fruit on the bottom flavors, as well as flavored yogurts. They offer a great selection of flavors, including several non-standard fruits (at least when it comes to yogurts). I recently tried the Mango Lime, which had an excellent flavor that reflected both fruits nicely, sweet with a lovely brightness from the lime. The individual yogurt cost $0.99 (the standard price is $1.19 but the yogurts are regularly on sale for $0.99). Although this may be rather high for an individual yogurt, I think it's worth the extra quarter or two, and will continue to buy the Wallaby yogurts.