When sitting down to write this post, I felt the need to include a disclosure up front. You see, I am not a food blogger. I am not even close to being a food expert of any kind. All I know is what I like, and what I like is Menchie's Frozen Yogurt.


A few weeks ago, Mary Luz Mejia from Sizzling Communications invited me to attend an event called Blogurtfest to take place at the new Menchie's on Bloor St. With the opportunity to try some delicious frozen yogurt and to finally meet Mary Luz in person, how could I afford to say no? I was originally planning on taking my daughter with me, but I was kind of glad that I didn't. There were 15 blogger teams crammed into a small dining area and an anxious little 5 year old might have driven me bonkers. Speaking of insanity, the endless number of possible combinations of creamy yogurt and delectable toppings was enough to drive me crazy.


Clearly, I was out of my league. Many bloggers in attendance already had a flavour combination in mind. At least one of the bloggers had attended the opening day, so this was not his first sampling. I, on the other hand, decided to try pretty much every flavour of frozen yogurt and a mish-mash of ingredients. Our mission: to explore strange new toppings, to seek out new flavours and new combinations, to boldly go where no blogger has gone before. (Cue Star Trek theme song.) Oddly enough, my Canadian Yo-Jita medley was out of this world. But not in a good way. You see, our concoctions were judged by a panel of food specialists which included Adell Shneer and Anabelle Waugh from Canadian Living. When they began to stifle their giggles and widen their eyes upon sampling my strange creation, I sunk into my chair knowing mine was probably the worst of the bunch. Perhaps the Piña Colada and Irish Mint yogurt topped with roasted coconut could have been passable but I did the unthinkable and added some other toppings, which shall remain nameless. I should have stuck with my instincts and prepared a chocolate based yogurt with caramelly and chocolatey toppings. Cause if there's anything I do know, it's chocolate.



In the end, I was so grateful to have been able to take part in the first ever Menchie's hosted Blogurtfest. So I didn't win the iPod Shuffle with a grand prize winning Tropical Thunder, but I did leave with a happy tummy. And I did get to meet some fabulous and inspiring foodies. I also bumped into Carrie from KitchenVixen.ca and her beautiful babe Xander, who was such a well-behaved little guest and made me regret not bringing my kids. They would have loved to have seen Menchie the Mascot!

Menchie's is definitely a great place for a yummy treat. The cost is calculated by weight so you need to be careful. I saw a couple weigh in both of their large cups and end up paying a total of over $18. My suggestion is to go with the smaller cup or go easy on the topics. The frozen yogurt is so delicious on its own. Plus, the toppings rotate so you can visit each day and still come up with a totally unique combination each time. My favourite feature is that they use real milk instead of powdered bases and it contains healthful live and active cultures. They also offer fat-free, Kosher, no sugar added, gluten-free and calorie-reduced options so everyone can enjoy the palate-pleasing sensation that is Menchie's.

For a list of other bloggers in attendance, check out Chronicles of a Food Junkie which also includes her review of the Bloor St. location and some fantastic photos as well as links to her reviews of other fro-yo shops in the US and Montreal.