I can now point to a time when Twitter actively changed my life. My internet pal/fairy blogmother Evelyn Lamb tweeted a few months back about how great homemade yogurt is, and she sent me her recipe for it (future post). Then she mentioned that it also makes great HOMEMADE FROZEN YOGURT. I love frozen yogurt and what other people spend at Starbucks, I spend at frozen yogurt joints. I asked (this entire conversation is somewhere on Twitter) if it’s worth it to get an ice cream machine, and she said yes, so I added it to our crate and barrel wedding registry, not thinking anyone would get it for us (we had 25 people at our wedding). Turns out people who don’t come to your wedding still like buying you gifts, so now we have an ice cream maker! WOOHOO!
Speaking of gifts, husband got me some flowers as a welcome-home present from that conference I went to in Ann Arbor (more on that later).
This is the least flour-y photo ever put on a baking post in this blog
I loved the arrangement, and I especially loved that they put fresh mint into it! Immediately after getting me from the train station we went grocery shopping, and I picked up a cantaloupe and a lemon. I came home to that new ice cream maker, and knew what had to happen.
Sugar and water might be a great match, but their parents are traditionalists- they can’t elope.
Sometimes it’s hard for me to tell if I’m joking, or if I mint every word in my captions
Sorbet is actually pretty easy: make a sugar syrup (or use honey or agave), and blend it with your fruit+ flavors. I boiled a cup of water with a cup of sugar, then let it simmer while I cut up a cantaloupe.
Mmm… melons
He’s water. And boy, he’ll (BO-IL)
be excited to see his SWEETheart.
Let’s give them some privacy to mix
I have yet to figure out a reasonable way to cut up a melon. I just sort of hack it into chunks. That’s fine for this, because you just throw it in a food processor/blender with the juice of a lemon and some mint leaves until it’s pureed.
Water might start getting jealous- cantaloupe is looking very (c)hunky!
Did ya hear there was a breakout at the Spooner grove? Jemons on the loose! Err… Lemons on the juice!
Then you mix in enough sugar syrup to taste. I made a cup of simple syrup, but only used about 3/4 of it. You want to make the mixture a little bit sweeter than you like, since freezing it makes it less sweet (ice crystals… science… stuff…).
I sometimes wish I’d been born two weeks early so I could be a Torus, sign of the bowl (wow that doesn’t make any sense! Worst bowl ever!)
Then throw it in your ice cream maker and let it run for 20 minutes or so! I’ve never used one before so it was pretty amazing to see it go from complete liquid to this thickened substance stuff.
Everything was mixed up earlier. Glad we got it SOR(be)TED out.
By the time this was done, our steak was resting and salad on the table, so I scooped it into a tupperware and put it in the freezer until we were ready to eat it. I love the brightness of the mint and lemon popping out of the sweet taste of cantaloupe (which I evidently love from that smoothie post).
Missed the sorbet this time…
Cantaloupe-mint sorbet, adapted to be an easier version of this Better Homes and Gardens recipe:
1 cantaloupe
1 c sugar
1 lemon
5 sprigs of mint
Bring 1 c of water + 1 c sugar to a boil. Reduce heat to low and let simmer until thickened while you dice the cantaloupe, leaf the mint, and slice the lemon.
Turn off the heat under the simple syrup, and if you have electric, move the pot to let the syrup cool. Meanwhile, puree the cantaloupe, mint, and lemon in a food processor (you will probably have to do this in batches) until smooth. Then add cooled sugar syrup to taste (somewhere between 1/2 c and 1 c, depending on your melon).
Refrigerate while you do other stuff, or don’t (I put in a load of laundry, read a bit of math, and started dinner, which took about two hours).
Throw it in your ice cream maker and let it whir for 20 minutes until it looks good. Put in an airtight container in the freezer. It’s so good.
Baking and Math 
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