Since the weather is turning and we wanted to try some winter crops we decided to harvest the last of our tomatoes (green or not), and our carrots that were in one bed.  Our hope is to build a cold frame using the posts that held up the tomatoes and grow salad greens in there!  Yummy, fresh garden greens all winter long?  Yes it is true!  If we can find some starts.

So there were a ton of carrots and tomatoes.  We kept the tomatoes on the vines and they are ripening on cookie sheets in the garden room.  There are quite a few, so we’ll have to see if they all turn or not, otherwise…fried green tomatoes anyone?  Some of them are starting to turn already.  It is promising.  Maybe enough for another batch of sauce or soup?  Still haven’t been able to locate a food mill though!  You would think somewhere would have one.  Bed, Bath and Beyond says they normally have them but they are out.  I will have to check again, I have a 20% off coupon too, so cross your fingers.  Plus I can use it for the carrots and make some babyfood for Lauren and can that for when she is older.  Plus there is always applesauce.

YEA!  Finally!!  After waiting and waiting and waiting, we finally have ripe tomatoes!  I have had three of the romas already they are really tasty.  We also have a bunch more strawberries and raspberries that have ripened in the last few days.  Lots of red fruits ripe in the garden this week.  Now I can’t wait to make something with the tomatoes.  If only our basil had done something this year, I could have made pasta caprese.  It was so yummy with our fresh ripe tomatoes last year.  Tomato sorbet?  Just kidding.

I am loving my new ice cream maker.  Not that I have made ice cream yet, but the sorbets are so easy and tasty!

My latest creation is Banana Coconut sorbet.  It is so tasty!  Nathan helped me make the batter yesterday morning when we were waiting for guests to come down for breakfast and then I put it in the machine yesterday afternoon and we had some last night for dinner.  It is so creamy and flavorful.

Here’s the recipe I used:

4 ripe bananas
1 can coconut milk (14.8oz or something strange like that)
3 cups water
1.5 cups sugar

Bring water to boil; add sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved, return to boil for 5 minutes.

Peel and chop bananas into food processor or blender. Add coconut milk. Process until well mixed, smooth and creamy.

Stir banana coconut mixture into cooling sugar mixture.

Place resulting mixture into refrigerator for 2+ hours.  Make sure it is completely chilled or it will take longer to set up in the ice cream maker.

Prepare ice cream maker and pour mixture into ice cream maker. Process/freeze according to ice cream maker instructions.

I have a 2qt maker and it was full to the maximum line and I ran it for about 35 minutes.  It probably could have stayed in a little longer, but I wasn’t eating it right away so transferred it to a freezer safe container and put it in the freezer to set up the rest of the way.

The reviews last night were very good, there was a suggestion of opening a sorbet shop, and all the different flavors I could have.  Blueberry, Raspberry, Strawberry, Blackberry, Plum, Banana Coconut, Lemon, Key Lime, Orange, Pineapple, Watermelon, Apple, Grape (those two I am not so sure about), Kiwi, Akeebia, Kumquat, Mango, Pina Colada, Screwdriver (orange and vodka), more adult beverage flavors…and the list went on, especially when you start combining flavors.

I like the fact that they are easy and can be accommodated to just about every food allergy.  They don’t have any dairy (coconut milk isn’t really milk I found out yesterday), no wheat, no eggs, no nuts, no animal products for our vegan guests.  The only ingredients are the fruit, sugar and water, so if someone was allergic to a specific fruit, you just pick another!  So far I haven’t met anyone that is allergic to ALL fruit, so it works really well.

I think the sorbets might become a staple in the summer here.  It is a bit too cold to do them all year round I think.  In fact we decided it was a bit too cold this morning to serve the Banana Coconut one, and tonight we just have one room so I will probably use the last of the strawberry tomorrow and then the Banana Coconut on Sunday morning when we have a full house. 

I can probably make another batch of strawberry, the strawberry plants are going nuts, and I might have found some blackberries too!  And there are still plums on the tree, and all of our guests commented on how deliciously plummy the plum sorbet was.  Several of them commenting it was the best sorbet they had ever had.  I am still planning on harvesting plums from our neighbor and making a large batch of plum butter, it is one of the key ingredients in our kielbasa glaze and makes an impression on guests when you tell them the plums are from your own garden.  Especially during the winter when you don’t have access to as much fresh fruit.