Our midsummer nights dream of decadent doings and dottiness found us, having a bit of a jolly here. A lunch time garden party that went on well into the evening. The following day a forlorn, redundant jug of keenly fruited Pimms cup and another of flat, dull lack-lustre lemonade (I use half and half cloudy and clear) was surely destined for that great Pimms paradise down the drain?

Well…..

  

Remove fruit, squidge through a sieve. The strawberries that bobbed about so luxuriously now looked tired, swollen and podgy, their boozy plumptiousness gifted a sunny red render to the liquid. The tired fragrance of mint, citrus and cucumber remained.
Resolve not to taste: Fail.

  

Combine the two liquids, slosh the lot into the ice cream machine.
Result: An icy saccharine sweet slush, tasty but watery.
Small batch test result: Win.
Note to self: the ice melted dopey
Resolve not to taste: Fail.

  

Combing equal-lsh amounts of slush with freshly washed and hulled, local strawberries.
The thinking: Sharp, juicy and naturally sweet and should add bulk, flavour and fibre.
Small batch test result: Win
Note to self: good idea deary
Resolve not to taste: Fail.

  

Make another small batch to share with third parties (The Tea Boy)
Small batch test result: Win
Note to self: Stop eating it!
Resolve not to taste: Fail.

  

Make yet another small quantity and actually share this with third parties.
Small batch test result: Win
Note to self: Don’t even think about it.
Resolve not to taste: Fail.

  

Make large quantity
Large batch test result: Fail
Note to self: Go shopping and buy more of everything, you’ve scoffed the lot.
Resolve not to taste: Win…. growls and mutters quietly as nothing left to taste. Waddles off to local farm shoppe …

  

Later, slowly heat damp strawberries with a little sugar. Add spritz and zest of fresh lemon. Remove from heat, allow them to sigh and self syrup, add a small amount of fragrant culinary rose-water.  Leave to cool and mascarate.
Note to self: No!
Resolve not to taste: Fail

  

Make small jug of Pink Sparking Rosè wine and Pimms No 1 and share a teeny tiny quantity with third parties.
Note to self: Stop now!
Resolve not to taste: Fail

  

Combine an equal quantity of softened rose fragranced strawberries with Sparkling Pink Rosè Wine and Pimms.  Process, half in an ice cream machine and poured the remainder in a suitable container choosing the scratch and scrape method at hourly intervals between snoozes. You do not require an ice cream machine for this.

Instead of the sliced fruit, cucumber, mint, borage etc going into the jug, the garnish became a plate salad using the usual suspects,  including segments of fresh lemon, lime and orange,  cucumber curls and finely diced deseeded cucumber etc..By magic if, the sorbet melts it ‘reconstructs’ to the drink or a cold summer fruit soup if you prefer?
Large batch test results: Win!

Resolve not to taste: Oops too late again!

  

  

The taste and texture evocative of a magical secret garden, the fruits and flavours have become the frozen elixir that exemplifies an English summer.

  

An absolute gem of a sorbet and paradise in a glass.

Resolve not to taste: As if!

Anyone for tennis?

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