Isn’t it amazing how things can change in the blink of an eye? Next Wednesday we were supposed to be flying out for our much anticipated holiday to the United States, but alas, an accidental injury means we’ve had to cancel.
When we woke up on Thursday morning I excitedly said “13 days to go!”. I’d been counting down the days for the last few weeks, such was my excitement at our holiday, in which we were going to visit San Francisco, Las Vegas and New York. Later that morning my boyfriend headed outside to put out our rubbish bins for collection. Our front garden and drive way are on a slope, and as my boyfriend was wheeling the rubbish bins down the driveway one of the bins started to run away. He tried to stop it with one foot and as he did so his other foot slipped off the curb and as he fell he heard an almighty crack.
A trip to the hospital confirmed our worst fears, what we hoped was a sprain that would recover quickly still enabling is to go on our holiday, was in fact a break, and a break that required immediate surgery and an end to our holiday plans.
This holiday was supposed to take advantage of my time off, before starting a new job, where getting a months leave would be difficult. While we can certainly re-use the itinerary I spent a month researching and putting together, it will probably be sometime next year before we will be able get leave from work at the same time again.
Given our disappointment at cancelling our trip, I wanted to share something bright and cheery. Bright red and luscious strawberry sorbet is enough to cheer anyone I think. For this recipe, I turned to the ever talented David Lebovitz and his recipe for Strawberry Sorbet from his Perfect Scoop book, which of course, I tweaked a little to suit our tastes. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Have you ever had to cancel a holiday you were looking forward to?
Strawberry Sorbet
Recipe adapted from David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop
Makes about 750mls
Ingredients:
- 450 g (1 pound) fresh strawberries, rinsed & hulled
- 3/4 cup (150g) sugar
- 1 tbsp Vodka
- 1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- pinch of salt
- pinch of freshly ground black pepper
Method:
1. Slice the strawberries and place in a bowl with the sugar, black pepper and vodka. Stir so that the sugar starts to dissolve.
2. Cover the bowl with plastic cling film and refrigerate for one hour, stirring every so often.
3. Purée the strawberries and their liquid together in a food processor, along with the lemon juice and sea salt until smooth.
4. P ass the mixture through a sieve in order to remove the seeds and ensure a smooth silky consistency.
5. Place the pureed strawberries back into the bowl and refridgerate for a couple of hours, until thoroughly chilled.
6. Pour the chilled mixture into your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturers instructions.
