on a hot day, all i think of is sorbet.

it's quite hot in sydney today and miss c's friend hik asked if i could help with the food for her birthday party. after some thought, that sorbet might be fun thing to bring to the party. people don't usually bring iced confections along, so this can be the novelty. since i only have 2 thermoserves, that would be the limiting factor; i would be able to bring close to 5 litres of sorbet and that would have to be enough.

i decided that i would make the sorbet with what i had to save myself a trip to the supermarket unnecessarily, so i went with 3 flavours - lemon, orange and apple. i made them separately so the flavours could remain pure or mixed if desired.

i used my thermomix to make them, and it didn't take much time at all.

150 grams raw sugar
2 lemons/oranges/apples (peeled and cored)
1 egg white
700 grams ice

pulverise the citrus rinds (if using) with the sugar on speed 9 until you hear a change in the sound of the thermomix (this takes several seconds).

add the fruit, egg white and half the ice and slowly turn the speed dial up to 10 and process until there is another change in sound. use the spatula to help any ice cubes into the mixture to grind up. add the remaining cubes gradually and again use the the spatula to help any ice cubes into the mixture so they can be ground. continueon speed 10 until all the ice cubes have been ground. serve immediately or place into the thermoserve for later.

ambrosia

ambrosia is food of the gods or the heavens, depending on which definition you find.
in the food world, it's the name they give to a fancy fruit salad normally made with canned pineapple and canned mandains with sour cream and marshmallows. sometimes it's sprinkled with marachino cherries and or shredded coconut.
mine's a bit different. i like to put all the different fresh fruits i can lay my hands on in mine.

this is a list of fruits i'd put in:
apple
pear
banana
orange
lychees
grapes
peach
nectarine
pineapple
apricots
blueberries
strawberries
plums
cherries
mango
watermelon
rockmelon
and whatever other fruits you can think of.
sour cream
marshmallows

wash and prepare the fruit and cut into pieces. spoon over the sour cream and add the marshmallows. mix very lightly so as not to bruise the fruit.
chill in the refrigerator until required.

lyn's spiced fruit compote

my friend, lyn, and i go back some 22 years now. i met her in april, 1986, so in a way, more than 22 years. when i was first getting to know her, she made this for dessert when i had her over to my place. i've enjoyed it over the years, with lashings of cream. make sure you also eat the orange slices, rind and all. that and cream.....yum.
more recently, in 1996 (march 28, to be precise), i made this, and in an effort to give the impression of being "healthy", i bought yoghurt from harris farm fruit markets. at the time, really thick, heavy yoghurt was new on the scene and the selling point was that it only had 4% fat and it still had a rich and wicked mouthfeel. so there i was flogging this fantastic, low fat, good for you yoghurt to people at the table - "have this with the compote; it's low fat".

1 cup dried apricots
1 cup prunes
1 orange cut in thin slices
1 cooking apple, peeled and sliced
1 stick cinnmon
3 whole cloves
1 cup red wine (not too heavy or dry)(i often use 1/2 cup muscat or port)
2 cups water
1/3 cup honey

microwave on high for 15 minutes and stand for 15 minutes.
remove cloves and cinnamon before serving.