I'm Back!

Hi there! Back on line - let's just say June was a strange month.

One really nice thing about June is was we celebrated our 50th Wedding Anniversary! Yea, us!!!!  Below is a picture of me enjoying the fruit from a lovely bouquet of fruit - really yummy!

June also brings strawberries to NE PA and we were gifted with a nice large container of beautiful strawberries. Oh, what to make. Well, since I had gotten an ice cream maker for our anniversary I decided to use that... Here is what I did.

 First a bit of research. Sorbet is basically fruit and simple syrup. So first I made the simple syrup - equal amounts of sugar and water brought to a boil on the stove while diligently stirring. While that cooled, I started on the strawberries - first rinsing them and then stemming and cutting either in half or in quarters.

I then pureed them - 3 plus a bit made 3 cups of puree

After measuring out the 3 cups, I added to the puree 3 Tablespoons or 1 ½ oz squeezed lemon juice and 1 cup of the simple syrup that had cooled down while I was doing the berries. I then poured the mixture into the container.

Which was then "dropped" into the machine, covered and turned on.

This was really cool! The machine cooled the mixture and then it froze. The entire thing took about 50 minutes. The next day (I refrigerated the remaining berries on a large tray that I covered) I made a second batch that only took about 30 minutes - the berries and simple syrup were cold. 

The resulting sorbet was excellent!!!!  B and I really enjoyed it. Miss Honey was rather envious watching. 

Sorry, Honey, sorbet is for people! 

Rhododendron in Bloom

What a beautiful day today! The sun is out, the air is cool and crisp, many flowers are blooming and the grass was cut Thursday. We had rain over the weekend with heavy rain yesterday. This morning it was in the low 50s and is now in the low 70s. A strong breeze is ruffling the bushes and trees which are now green. Summer has arrived at the Park house and we are enjoying the day. I spent some time this morning weeding the flower bed by the driveway. All the rain has not only helped the plants but given the weeds a head start. I enjoy working in the garden and filled a bin with weed and clippings from the shrubs I cut back. Still a lot to do across the front of the house. 

When we bought the house two summers ago the front gardens needed some tender care but showed real potential. On one side of the house there are a number of rhododendron bushes that are now in full bloom. So lovely!

And in the back of the house, the shade of the trees provides a cool retreat.