What's in that...Friday

Still life by Mother
Across the street from the cart, right after a good rain shower this morning

I've chosen a two parter for today's what's in that... I can show you the ingredients and the recipe, and I'll finish it up tomorrow. Because I got home late late late today, for all the right reasons. I could tell, because the cat was inside and didn't scold me at all when I finally opened the door to freedom.

I rarely ever make desserts. I have no idea why, except they weren't a big part of my growing up life - maybe that's it. If we did have sweets, it would be while watching the one or two shows we all watched in the early evening, a bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup on it, stirred to a perfect mush consistancy. Or maybe my Dad and I would make fudge for while we all played Scrabble or gin rummy (yes, I played gin rummy and liked it, for those of you who know I don't play card games - hey y'all never offered me FUDGE while playing!).

When I met my ex-husband to be and ate many, many meals with his mid-western family, they always had dessert. It was as novel as the seemingly Ozzie and Harriet sort of family they appeared to be, so of course I was enchanted with all things Dream Whip and strawberries. I didn't know it was Dream Whip; I'd never heard of Dream Whip (or Velveeta cheese or Spam, for that matter) so when I tried to re-create my mother in law's dessert using real cream it was never quite the same...until the day I actually read her recipe. Chemicals to delight the palate. No, I didn't ever use Dream Whip (or Velveeta cheese or Spam, for that matter).

But when I was looking for mango combos of mango and mint, which struck my fancy, maybe because I have a lot of both, I found this recipe that just seemed right. It's simple, it has only a few ingredients and I'm betting it's going to be delicious.

Mango Ginger Mint Sorbet

Serving: Serves: 4
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours

INGREDIENTS:
4 mangoes, peeled, halved, and cubed
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint


DIRECTIONS:
1. In a medium bowl, combine mango, lemon juice, sugar, and ginger. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours. Add mint and transfer to freezer. Freeze until hard.

2. Just before serving, transfer mixture to food processor in chunks. Puree until smooth. Serve right away. If sorbet is too hard to puree, allow it to defrost 5 to 10 minutes first.

Here are the ingredients, Culebra style - yes, Virginia, that IS fresh lemon juice. Or as fresh as I'm going to get it here, today.

I'll take more photos, but that will be a morning joy. It's been a long day and it's time to go watch darkness come over the yard.

Waving to you all in Vieques at the Coqui Fire Anniversary! Wish I was there!