June is National Frozen Yogurt Month (February 6th is National Frozen Yogurt Day), and our arms don’t have to be twisted to celebrate.

Here are some ideas to make your indulgence a bit more special. But first:

> The history of frozen yogurt is below.

> The history of yogurt.

> The different types of yogurt.

> The different types of frozen desserts: a photo glossary.
 
 
DIY FROZEN YOGURT PARTY BAR

For family fun or a party, buy a few quarts at your favorite yogurt shop and set out bowls of toppings. Then set out bowls of fixings for a do-it-yourself sundae. Ideas for toppings:

 
 
YOGURT PIE OR CAKE

Yogurt Pie: Spoon frozen yogurt into a graham cracker pie crust and decorate with favorites from the toppings list. Freeze until ready to serve.

Yogurt Cake: Slice a plain cake into two or three layers. Use frozen yogurt as the filling and frosting; decorate with toppings. Freeze until ready to serve.
 
 
FROZEN YOGURT ICE CREAM SANDWICHES

Sandwich frozen yogurt between two cookies—chocolate, chocolate chip, raisin, snickerdoodle; you can even use a different type of cookie on the top and the bottom. Trim the edges of the yogurt with a knife or spatula. Dip the edges into a dish of mini chips, nuts or other topping, wrap in wax paper and freeze until ready to serve.
 
 
FROZEN YOGURT POPS

You can buy frozen yogurt pops in most supermarkets, or you can make your own in custom flavors from kiwi to lychee. Purée the fruit and blend with the frozen yogurt; you can stir in one or two of the toppings. Add to the ice pop molds and freeze.
 
 
WANT YOUR OWN FROZEN YOGURT SHOP?

There are turnkey packages, as well as custom solutions, for the yogurt shop of your dreams. Frozen Yogurt Solutions is one of the industry’s leading and frozen yogurt consultants, a one-stop-shop for frozen yogurt equipment and supplies. Call 1.888.350.8083 or visit FrozenYogurtSolutions.com.

 
FROZEN YOGURT HISTORY

While frozen yogurt seems ubiquitous today, it is only some 40 years old. The first brand, Frogurt, was a soft-serve introduced in New England in the early 1970s by H. P. Hood.

No doubt inspired by Frogurt, Brigham’s, a Boston-based ice cream and sandwich shop chain, introduced the first packaged frozen yogurt around 1978. It was called Humphreez (both the beloved chain and the yogurt brand are long gone).

[1] A rainbow ice cream cake. Here’s the recipe from Tesco (photo © Tesco).

[2] Frozen yogurt with fruit, mini chips and a wafer cookie (photo © Pinkberry).

[3] Put your favorite frozen yogurt flavor into a graham cracker pie shell (photo © MikisRecipes.com [now closed].

[3] Guess the flavor (photo © 16 Handles)!

These early products were marketed as a healthy alternative to ice cream, but too many people didn’t care for the tartness, which deliberately emulated the then-standard flavor profile of cups of packaged yogurts. This led manufacturers to further sweeten the product and make it ice cream-like, such that few people could tell if they had been handed a dish of ice cream or frozen yogurt. Supermarket sales took off in the 1980s thanks to these reformulations and the growth of soft-serve chains like TCBY.

As everything old is new again, Pinkberry established in California in 2005, and Red Mango, which followed in 2007, revived the tart soft-serve. A new generation of yogurt eaters has embraced the tartness.
 
 

We’ve been enjoying our Bialetti Mini Express espresso maker every day for the last six months. So if you’re looking for a great gift for an espresso-loving dad, check it out.

A no-mess capsule machine with a modest footprint—7.5″ wide x 10.5″ deep—it fits easily onto the kitchen counter. At $149.95 on Amazon.com, it’s much more affordable than other options.

We like the different espresso blends, and decaf is one of the choices (great for that midnight latte!). We also like that:

It’s a gift that keeps on giving every day, at breakfast, after dinner and for a cappuccino or latte in between.

Get creative with your preparation. Although a conventional recipe combines sirloin steak with fried eggs, select from the variety of steak cuts and egg styles to create a signature dish—and name it after Dad.

Add a green vegetable to set off the plate (and the cholesterol), and pick a “signature condiment”: anything from chimichurri sauce or chutney to curried ketchup or homemade wild mushroom and red wine sauce.

START WITH THE STEAK

Sirloin is a popular cut; a petite sirloin makes individual portions easy. But if your budget allows, go for a New York strip or rib eye. You can employ other favorite cuts as well.

A Father’s Day favorite. Swith the homemade potato chips for something green. Photo courtesy Peach Valley Cafe.

DECIDE ON THE EGGS

Fried eggs are popular, and the yolk provides a “sauce” for the steak—as do poached egg yolks. But you can serve any style of eggs that Dad prefers: scrambled, boiled, hard-cooked and sliced, a mushroom omelet, a frittata.

Our signature steak and eggs recipe was inspired by the clever renderings of Chef Thomas Keller (his Oysters and Pearls is a sabayon of pearl tapioca with oysters and sturgeon caviar [caviar eggs are called pearls}):

We designed our steak and eggs as a filet mignon served with boiled potatoes. The top of the potatoes is scooped out (with a small melon baller), filled with crème fraîche and topped with caviar (i.e., the eggs) and garnished with a hard-cooked quail egg, halved and garnished with chive mayonnaise.

Most restaurants serve steak and eggs with a side of hash browns or other potatoes. But the dish needs more of a balance than that provided by a pile of fried beige simple carbs.

So go for something green. We like:

 
FINISH WITH A HERB GARNISH

Nothing picks up a dish better than fresh herbs. Sprinkle your creation with a favorite herb or two: a basil chiffonade, chopped chives, cilantro, parsley or rosemary.

Check out these solid chocolate golf balls from artisan chocolatier Edward Marc.

Clear packaging displays three golf balls atop faux grass, in your choice of dark, milk or white chocolate.

Order at EdwardMarc.com.

Some people we know have given the white chocolate golf balls as wedding favors!

Not into golf?

Give Dad a box of seven chocolate neckties: different designs in Dark Honey Coconut, Milk Peanut Butter Mousse Truffle, Milk Salted Caramel and White Mocha Truffle.

ABOUT EDWARD MARC CHOCOLATIER

Edward Marc has been an artisan chocolate shop since 1914. That year, a young Greek couple arrived in New York City to pursue the American dream. They settled in Pittsburgh, and set up shop making the same delicious handcrafted chocolates they made in Greece.

This young couple—Charlie and Orania—became the great grandparents of today’s owners, as the business was handed down from generation to generation.

The great grandchildren proudly continue the family tradition. We look forward to sampling the specialties of the company’s 100th anniversary next year.

Anton Nocito, proprietor of P&H Soda Co. in Brooklyn, New York, has assembled his techniques and ideas into a new book, Make your Own Soda: Syrup Recipes for All-Natural Pop, Floats, Cocktails, and More.

All you need is a bottle of seltzer or a Sodastream and you’re on your way to becoming a great soda maker—and to enjoying real soda, without ubiquitous artificial colors, flavors and questionable sweeteners. You’ll:

Cherry Lime Rickey. Photo courtesy Make Your Own Soda | Clarkson Potter.

Then, relax with your creations. Natural sodas are vibrantly flavored: the zing of just-squeezed citrus juice, the intensity of ripe berries, the subtle perfume of fresh herbs.

And the ability to customize a drink that’s as sweet (or not) as you like, with conventional or low glycemic sweeteners (we successfully substituted agave nectar for the sugar).

Handmade syrups make all the difference in recipes for all-natural soda pop, floats, cocktails, punches and more: The book has a total of 70 recipes, simple and fun. Beautiful photographs make you want to make every one. This is cookbook that any soda lover will love.

Anthony Nocito is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute and was an executive sous chef in the Union Square Hospitality Group. Artisanal soft drinks are obviously one of his passions. They may become one of yours, too.

CHERRY LIME RICKEY RECIPE

To show you how easy it is, here’s a sample recipe from the book. If you remember Brigham’s and Bailey’s casual restaurants in the Boston area, you remember the Raspberry Lime Rickey, as seductive a soft drink as ever graced a soda fountain—brightly colored, sweet and tart, a favorite of kids adults alike. Nocito’s version is a cherry lime rickey—very satisfactory. But you can always make a batch of raspberry syrup and relive the memories.

Ingredients For 1 Drink

 
Preparation

1. FILL a tall glass with ice. Add the lime syrup, lime juice, and citric acid solution.

2. ADD the seltzer, float the cherry syrup on top and garnish with the lime wedge.

LIME SYRUP RECIPE

 
1. BOIL water in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the zest and remove the pan from the heat. Steep for at least 1 hour. Let cool.

2. STORE in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 14 days.

CHERRY SYRUP RECIPE

 
1. COMBINE cherries, sugar and lemon juice in a medium saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

2. STRAIN the syrup through a fine-mesh strainer; discard the fruit solids.

3. STORE in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.