Fro-Yo Friday has arrived in all its glory and it brought a friend….the weekend! We all look forward to a little bit of leisure time, and it seems like it never gets here quick enough. Not only is today Fro-Yo Friday, but it’s also the first day of spring. It’s been a cold and wet winter, so spring’s arrival is long awaited by many. This calls for a celebration and I can’t think of a better way to ring it in than by enjoying a cup of my favorite frozen delight. Zelda needs her Peanut Butter! There were various possibilities, but one really stood out. Last week I received a phone call from Gibson’s in the Stadium district letting me know that Peanut Butter had returned. Oh, how I love those VIP notifications! There’s nothing like answering the phone or email to find out that your favorite flavor is ready and waiting. That always makes my day! It’s been a few months since this location has had PB, so I’ve been patiently waiting for its return. Everyone here is so friendly and welcoming, and the atmosphere is really fun. It’s vibrant and it reminds me of an old fashioned soda shop or ice cream parlor. With PB on tap once again, a trip to “Gibbo’s” was long overdue!
I was immediately swept away and mesmerized upon my arrival. Today marks the first day of a week long Harry Potter celebration, and the shop has been transformed in honor of this fun event. There are all types of Hogwarts-themed props and decorations, so it was like entering another universe. I’ll be honest…I’ve never seen any of the Harry Potter movies so I probably can’t fully appreciate it like the die hard fans, but I was impressed. What a fun and enchanting way to liven things up! There will be various events during the week to include a nightly showing of each movie upstairs in the lounge, and the final night will host a trivia contest with a gift card to Gibson’s as the prize. Too bad I don’t have a chance at that! I’m sure there isn’t a prize for getting every question wrong, but that’s okay. Two of my favorite team members were working today and were busy putting the finishing touches on the decorations. They welcomed me in with a big hug and excitedly showed off their handiwork since they personally made a lot of the props. They put a lot of thought into everything and were even wearing their Harry Potter t-shirts to get into the spirit.
I chat with them for a while since I haven’t seen them in a couple of months, and then I finally made my way into the next chamber to see which flavors might entice me. The first thing I noticed was that one machine was in the process of being cleaned, so they only had six flavors today instead of eight. Their NSA flavor and their Only 8 offering were unavailable, but there were six others waiting to tempt me. The funny thing is that I didn’t recognize any of them because they were all relating to the movies. Chocolate Frogs and Troll Bogies? That can’t be a good thing! There was also something called Polyjuice Potion, so that was interesting. After doing a little bit of deductive reasoning, I was able to determine which flavor was disguised as Peanut Butter and took a sample of it to be sure. It just so happened to be in the same machine as Butter Beer, and I couldn’t even imagine what it would taste like. I was reassured from the team members that I would like it, though. I love a good mystery, and it’s fun to try a homemade flavor. It tastes a lot like Cinnamon Roll, and Zelda really likes her cinnamon flavors. I looked at the rest of the lineup to see if there was a good third option to be used as a divider flavor, and I came across Unicorn Blood. Hmmm…..was I to expect a red tinted fro-yo? That would have been really neat, but it was good old Alpine Vanilla. Maybe Unicorns have white blood, I’m not sure. Is there anyone out there familiar with Harry Potter who can enlighten Zelda on this mystery? Just wondering! After making my choices, I was ready to fill my goblet with a sweet magical potion.
Today’s trio consisted of Felix Felicis (aka Peanut Butter), Unicorn Blood (aka Alpine Vanilla), and Butter Beer (Cinnamon Roll with a hint of two other ingredients). Felix Felicis won my heart and received 60% of the cup, while Unicorn Blood was a modest divider at 10%, which left Butter Beer to make up the remaining 30%. All that was missing now were a few little trinkets! I wasn’t sure what to expect seeing as how all of the flavors had been renamed, so I didn’t know if I’d find any magic sprinkles or some sort of unicorn hooves awaiting me. That would have been an ambitious task! All of the toppings had their normal monikers, so that made it easy. I did happen to notice that there were a few jars of jelly beans which I haven’t noticed here before, and there was a fresh apple pie. Gibson’s usually offers some sort of fresh baked pie or cake from a local bakery, so that gives it a nice homey touch. I’m a creature of habit and stuck with some of my usual fare, so Felix Felicis was topped with miniature dark chocolate chips, Unicorn Blood received crumbled Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and Butter Beer was the happy recipient of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. The entire cup was decorated with a generous sprinkling of cookie dough bites (crumbs) and lots of fluffy whipped cream, and then this magical creation was complete. I had a discount today which gave me my dessert for free, so hooray for Free Fro-Yo Friday! I grabbed a magic wand (spoon) and prepared to delve into my special potion.
Butter Beer was the first flavor to exit the goblet, mainly because I didn’t want my PB to taste like Cinnamon Roll. Butter Beer had a nice flavor to it, but I couldn’t taste the other two ingredients very well. I know what they are, but they’re so subtle and all I could taste is cinnamon. I think they’re planning to alter the recipe on the next batch, so hopefully the other two ingredients will have a stronger presence. Today is just the first day of this week long event, so perhaps I can make it back for the next batch of Butter Beer. Felix Felicis was enjoyable, but it wasn’t as strong as I had hoped. Some days Peanut Butter is amazingly fresh, especially if it’s on the first or second day. While it tasted good today, it was a bit muted and didn’t rank quite as high on Zelda’s scale of PB perfection; I’d probably give it a 7 or 7.5. It was happily devoured while I chatted with the team members. They were mixing a Butter Beer beverage which they’ll be selling over the next week and Zelda was one of their official taste testers for this unique concoction. You know I love a task like that! I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I thought it tasted really good. I’d certainly order it! Hopefully it’s a big hit at the “tavern”.
Eventually my Hogwart themed adventure came to an end and Zelda said her goodbyes, but what a fun and unexpected way to kick off the weekend. I may have to return for some of the festivities later in the week! Don’t expect me to have a Harry Potter marathon in the meantime, though. I don’t think I’m that ambitious!
Until we eat again….
Z-
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