Strawberry Basil Sorbet

It's hot.

Summer arrived ten days ago but the heat has been here much longer. July starts tomorrow and the heat has settled in like a scratchy, buggy blanket. Since I have not [yet] figured out how to spend all day and night immersed in water I need other ways to deal with the heat. One has involved my ice cream maker and other frozen things. This week after thinking about it for years I have finally gotten around to making sugar free sorbet.

You don't need an ice cream maker for this one since the fruit is already frozen, a decent food processor or blender should work just fine. Whip it up whenever you need to chill, your amounts may vary by your taste and like all my recipes the variations are endless. Any way you make it, if the temp is above 90, it is sure to be wonderful.

Strawberry Basil Sorbet

1 1/2 cup frozen strawberries, whole or crushed
1 tablespoon fresh minced basil [trust me]
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup water stevia to taste, if your strawberries are really sweet you may not want it.

Blend the above in a blender or processor until smooth. Do not liquify, keep an eye on it.

Serve and enjoy!

This could be stored in an air tight container in the freezer if for some reason you had leftovers. That doesn't seem likely but it could happen. Perhaps you were full from dinner?

Summer Solstice 2012

Summer Solstice is here and the word I need to use is glorious.

It's been muggy and sticky most of the day, and now it is storming. The wet weather is adding a shine to all.  The cherries are not ripe although everything else is weeks ahead. I'm surprised but not disappointed. The cherries will come. I had the day off work, I had a massage, it's all been lovely. Heck I am even eating rice for dinner. It's a holiday after all and that's a time for treats. I spent a good chunk of the day reveling in sympathetic joy.

All of the above are lovely and I am grateful but glorious? Luminous even? They don't seem to match up exactly. But then the sum of the parts.... can be magical - luminous and glory-full.

There is a shift happening and I am opening my arms to it. Here we go.

Happy solstice [and summer perhaps] to all!

love letter to June

Dear June,  I am so very, very happy to see you. I don't know if I have ever felt this strongly about you before but right now I adore you dearest June.

Some people may say that I am comparing you to May which was an incredibly difficult month to have around and I suppose that's true. It can be hard not to compare. There were sweet things about May in the midst of the horrible. I remember them.

Still one result of the inevitable comparison is I am ready to embrace newness and change right now. I feel an eagerness and a trickle of energy along with normal apprehension.

So leaving May with a consoling pat and heart sigh,  and now sinking into you June. xoxox