kitchenMage's Reviews

One of the perks of being a member of the BlogHer ad network is the opportunity to review products. In this case, I was happy to be provided with an assortment of Fage yogurt to sample recently. This is a compensated review from BlogHer and Fage.

Let's start with the obvious: Greek yogurt is not like American (or French) yogurt. Richer, thicker, tangier than the sweet, almost dessert-like yogurt that is on the shelf in most grocery stores, your first taste of Greek yogurt is likely to be a revelation.

Fage yogurt, pronounced "Fa-yeh," is a Greek yogurt, made from only raw milk, raw cream, and live active cultures, and strained to roughly (or smoothly) the consistency of sour cream. Fage yogurt has a richer flavor and a more pronounced tangy hit than most of the yogurt I have gotten from any store.

In short, this is the good stuff.

The Fage Total 0% yogurt is is a bright, clear white, with a rich and creamy feel. One 6 ounce container packs 15 grams of protein into its 90 calories and there is nothing about the flavor or texture that belies the nonfat milk that went into the yogurt.

The plain 0% fat yogurt is thick enough to replace sour cream in baking. I made scones with it and they turned out meltingly tender with a subtle richness that complemented the lemon zest perfectly. (To use Greek yogurt in a recipe calling for plain yogurt, you may want to substitute milk for around 1/4 of the yogurt.)

Another container became chived yogurt cheese, although I had to really squeeze to get even a tablespoonful of moisture out of the mixture. When it was done, however, the texture was satisfyingly cream cheese-like.

The fruit and yogurt offerings come in a nifty package that keeps the fruit puree separate from the plain yogurt. This lets you mix your own fruit yogurt as you go, something I am guessing kids would particularly like. I am an instant convert to the fruit on the side style of packaging after I used half the plain yogurt to dress a salad for lunch and added the fruit to the remaining yogurt for a mini-dessert. Very cool!

Peach is my go-to fruit yogurt and the Fage peach yogurt was a lovely surprise. The fruit puree has bright, fresh, real-peach flavor, something that is more apparent when it is served on the side like this. The honey and yogurt combo is another winner, serving as a general-purpose companion for fresh fruit. The cherry was less of a winner, but the strawberry made up for it. Bonus: I made scones with one container of strawberry yogurt, using only the yogurt, and had strawberry "jam" on one of the scones. (Multi-tasking food rocks!)

One of the things I really like about Fage yogurt is what is not in it. No rBGH for a start, but also no added sweeteners, preservatives, or additives. As I mentioned, Fage yogurt is made from only raw milk and cream with live active cultures.That lovely texture and fullness comes from straining off the liquids, not the pectin or other thickening agents that some other yogurts use.

All in all, I really liked the various forms of Fage yogurt and only have one regret. The nearest place to buy it is an hour and a half from here. Luckily, the cooler my samples came in will hold a couple dozen containers so I can stock up when I go shopping.

Want to read more opinions about Fage yogurt? BlogHer has a roundup of all the participating bloggers.

Want some Fage yogurt of your own to taste and cook with? BlogHer and Fage are giving away a sampler assortment of Fage Yogurt daily. Enter to win your own sampler of Fage Yogurt here.

Have you tried Fage or other Greek-style yogurt? Share your favorite ways to eat it in the comment section below.

Picture Yourself sitting here and shopping...

I am not much of a traditional gift giver. In fact, the last time that I gave somebody a present on one of the "expected" occasions was probably something like the birth of a baby. My usual winter holiday for gifting is the solstice, frequently celebrated at a Saturnalia party where food and drinking are intermingled with much laughter, and the actual contents of the gift is not as important. My other regular occasion for gifts is when I finish writing a book. Getting the last edits out the door usually means chocolate for the editorial and production staff, home baked goodies for the friends and family who supported and/or tolerated me while I was writing, and something ~~indulgent~~ purely business for me. Like a new camera lens.

This time I thought I would try something new, so I "celebrated" finishing my cookbook by badly shattering a few bones in my right wrist --- my dominant hand, of course --- leaving me sitting on the couch with my arm propped up and immobile. Chocolate for the crew has slid by the wayside, I can't bake, and my camera is stashed on the shelf because I can't use it with one hand --- so I certainly can't justify buying a new macro lens. So much for excuses to shop.

The silver lining to the cloud of my broken arm has been that since I can't take care of myself very well, someoneElse has spent a lot of time at home making me endless cups of tea, ferrying ice packs between couch and freezer, and generally spoiling me rotten. Not such a bad silver lining, for me at least; someoneElse had to hold down a full-time job, complete with product rollout, while he was doing this. Meaning he's been a bit stretched for time. Me? I've just been bored. Books are heavy, I'm typing with two fingers, and I can only stare at video for so long.

So imagine my delight when BlogHer and JCPenney's offered me $300 for my own private shopping spree. Nothing like a little free shopping take your mind off things.

My first thought was to make a trek to the local mall and fondle merchandise...errr, I mean, contemplate the goodies I could buy. I even made plans with someoneElse for an excursion that included breakfast and a trip to Penney's with a fistful of gift certificates. Sadly, the amount of work required to get ready (wash hair, find pants I can put on with one hand, dig the sling for my arm out from behind the couch, pack pain meds...gettng ready was easier when theKid was a baby!) was just too daunting and I gave it up, heading instead for JCPenney.com.

When it comes to online shopping, I was an early adopter. From the early days of the World Wide Web, you could find me at the river of books, the place with a sock puppet puppy, or any of a number of other online only retail outlets. I never really thought of it as a replacement, however, for shopping at stores that had a brick-and-mortar presence. Silly me!

Shopping at JCPenney.com was a blast. The website is well-organized, with not only categories for types of products, but also specific manufacturers. Like Cuisinart, Henckels, Pfaltzgraff, Le Creuset, and Fiesta. I had to keep reminding myself I wasn't shopping for me, because... Fiesta! All those colors! (just in case anyone wants to know what I want for my next birthday…) I wandered the web site for far longer than sane people (like someoneElse) would have tolerated following me around the store. Nobody said, "But you've picked that up and looked at it a dozen times already!" and I could change my mind as many times as I want to. (I changed my mind daily for a full week, and it was much more entertaining than anything that came on my television.)

Another upside to shopping online is that I managed to buy something for someoneElse, which would have been much more difficult had he come to the store with me. Especially since he's currently hovering protectively lest I bump my arm and squeal in pain. I had noticed on our last trip to the doctor that he frequently pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and opened it up to look at the time. A dozen times, at least. While I can't give him more actual time, I can give him this beautiful Citizen watch so he will always know what time it is without quite so much work.

The other beneficiary of Penney's generosity is theKid, whose kitchen is going to have a number of extremely useful additions. I had to be a bit more devious to figure out exactly what she needed. I called her up and said, "I'm going through stuff from my kitchen and had some things I'm probably going to get rid of. So tell me what you need, and maybe you can have some hand-me-downs." (Feel free to steal this trick. It works).

The first thing on her list was an immersion blender --- she's been coveting mine for a while --- and I was fortunate enough to find this Cuisinart Smart stick hand blender with nifty attachments. On sale! Next on the list was a kitchen scale, something that made me very happy since we all know how I feel about weighing ingredients. I chose this Polder kitchen scale which is useful and will look good on her counter. Also from Polder, a digital probe thermometer will help her cook things to just the right temperature. A pair of roasting pans and a reversible stovetop grill/griddle round out theKid's gifts.

Finally (don't look, nice people at BlogHer and Penney's), I bought myself a set of purple nesting colanders. Yeah, I know I was supposed to buy gifts for other people, but you know what? I've had a rough couple of months. Besides, they match my cast.

Would you like to go on your own JCPenney shopping spree? BlogHer and JCPenney are giving away a $300 gift card each week for five weeks. Good luck and happy holiday shopping!