Peaches And Cream...

Do you ever wonder how we came to have so many ridiculous "holidays?" Today, for instance, I discovered earlier, is National Peaches and Cream Day. Who decides these things? Besides anal-retentive foodies, who even follows these arcane food holidays, or commemorates their passing? What is the point of having them at all? Their silliness notwithstanding, it turns out that the observance of National Peaches and Cream Day just so happens to coincide with my preparation of a batch of peach frozen yogurt. Now, yogurt isn't exactly cream, but it's still a dairy product, so I'm going to count it anyway.

Today also happens to be the summer solstice, which, aside from being the longest day of the year, is also the official first day of summer. With stone fruit finally making its appearance at the grocery store, and temperatures steadily creeping into the 90s, there can be no doubt that the season is already in full swing. Hence, I decided to pull out my ice cream maker for the first time this summer, and take advantage of the bounty of the season. After discovering a love for the flavor combination of peach and yogurt last year, I became determined to expand its presence in my frozen dessert repertoire. An abortive attempt at peach frozen yogurt late last summer in my old, hand-crank ice cream machine was a major part of the impetus behind my purchase of a modern, electric model.

Now that peaches are back in season, I was free to try again, however, the results were still less than stellar. I tried to reduce the caloric impact of my dessert by substituting 2% Fage Greek yogurt for the regular, full-fat version. Big mistake. Reducing the fat content significantly diminished the creaminess of the finished product. Although it still tastes like a bowl full of sweet, delicious sunshine, the frozen yogurt's texture is decidedly lacking. In the future, I think I'll just stick to my favorite peach and yogurt ice pops -- their texture doesn't matter as much, and they dirty far fewer dishes to prepare...