YaYa's Frozen Yogurt: "A Healthy Twist on the Square"

I arrived in Oxford, Mississippi via the City of New Orleans Amtrak line on Sunday evening. We spent much of the afternoon happily staring out the train window at the varied and breathtaking countryside of Louisiana and Mississippi. There was a smooth and seemingly effortless transition from the Louisiana bayou with its bright green spring vegetation to the deep green foliage of Mississippi's forests (who knew nature could be so subtle?)

I'm staying with my colleague Sara in her chic apartment just a few blocks off of the main square. I'm in Oxford for the Southern Foodways Alliance's Gathering the Stories Behind the Food -- a workshop on how to conduct oral histories (note: I'll abbreviate Southern Foodways Alliance as SFA). Our program began in the late afternoon on Monday, so I had the early morning and afternoon to explore the town square. I originally set off to find Bottletree Bakery, which Sara recommended for its "tasty" homemade pastries, but alas, it is closed on Mondays! After turning back from the Bottletree Bakery, I took my time exploring Oxford's famous book shops: Square Books, Off Square Books, and Square Books Jr. What a fabulous family of bookstores: my academic mouth was watering as soon as I stepped into the spacious Square Books shop. Many of their books are signed by the author, so if you have any inclination towards "collecting" books, this store is addictive. I happily flipped through some of the most recent monographs released on southern culture and southern foodways in particular, and picked up a copy of Jessica B. Hariss' High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey From Africa to America (I couldn't resist!) After touring the other book shops and a few of the dozen or so designer boutiques peppered around the square, I headed into YaYa's yogurt shop for some frozen yogurt...

The icy air felt really good! Once I got my barrings, I noted that I was in a pleasantly lit Pinkberry-type frozen yogurt shop. But YaYa's is self-service, and had that "family owned" flare to it that mega-franchises like Pinkberry lack (I believe there are two YaYa's locations: one in Oxford, and one in Asheville, NC). I helped myself to a bowl, skimmed past the yogurt dispensers: Banana, Chocolate Mint, Vanilla Bean, New Orleans Pecan...I settled on "Original." You can never beat the beautifully complicated tart-sweetness of original flavored frozen yogurt! I dressed my dessert with a dash of granola, a good helping of fresh berries, a sprinkle of pecans and a drizzle of honey (I love when honey gets cold and sort of crystallizes over top of the frozen yogurt so you have to break it up with a spoon as you make your way through the dessert). The yogurt hit the spot (as frozen yogurts tend to always do).

After meandering around the city, I headed back to Sara's place. She fixed some potato salad for the SFA potluck dinner later that day, and I got ready to head into our introductory session in the Observatory at Ole Miss. Amy Evans Streeter is directing the workshop, and she introduced us to some of the work that the SFA has been doing over the past 13 years with their organization. Amy is the oral historian for the SFA and has conducted a significant portion of the SFA oral history projects (which are absolutely wonderful--check them out at southernfoodways.org under the documentary tab, and then under the oral history index).

The potluck dinner that evening was lovely. We got to know the other workshop participants and many SFA staff members including John T. Edge and Mary Beth Lasseter. We dined on BBQ pork and baked bean tacos, deviled eggs, potato salad and a delicious strawberry cake that Amy made. The cake was my favorite part: moist strawberry cake with a creamy semi-sweet tart strawberry icing...delicious!