I have been meaning to blog, but every night, I go to bed thinking... oh darn.... didn't blog today. Somehow, the days have just filled themselves up.
At the start of the week, I was having a discussion with a friend on English and vocabulary. I showed her a recipe for a simply divine lemon sorbet I had found - I will post the recipe. She said, "Oh, sherbet." To me, sherbet is a tangy powder kids love to lick out of packets, which fizzes and tingles in your mouth. Sorbet is a frozen fruit juice. I wandered off to my bookshelf and hauled down the rather hefty Google. Apparently, a sorbet is what I think it is, while a sherbet may contain egg or dairy. Frankly, every site I land on seems to argue the toss. Apparently, my concept of sherbet is more of a British thing.
I found this:
Sherbet is a surprisingly easy sweet to make, with only three ingredients and no cooking involved. To make your own sherbet, you will need:
Sugar, usually caster or icing sugar
Bicarbonate of soda (aka sodium hydrogen carbonate, aka 'bicarb' or baking soda)
Powdered or crystalline citric acid (Note 1)The manufacturing process is quite simple: mix the ingredients together. Just make sure your equipment and ingredients are dry (this is really important). The citric acid usually comes as dry crystals or powder. If they offer you a liquid form (a solution), just say no! The sherbet begins to dissolve and fizz as soon as it comes in contact with liquid, so it must stay dry until it touches the tongue.
The hard part is getting the taste right. You change the taste by changing the proportions of the three ingredients. A good place to start is with two teaspoons of sugar, one teaspoon of citric acid, and half a teaspoon of bicarb.
One source suggested using jelly powder (jello) for flavour. I suggested that my friend makes some to keep her kids amused during the long summer holidays. I think she may have fainted, having visions of sherbet-coated sofas. (Another Englishism... to me, it is a 'couch', but everyone else seems to insist on calling it a 'sofa'). I then suggested playdough....
The idea of playdough on her couches got me a similar reaction, so I suggested that she shut her kids in the bathroom with a tub of playdough. More horror ensued. Do I know how boys and faucets ('taps' to me) mix?? I gave up at that point. Boys are as much of a mystery to me as speaking Portuguese. Basic communication is possible, but let's not get too deep ; )
Tat was raised on playdough. In the photo above, she is the grubby urchin in the middle clutching her Tupperware containing playdough. There was always playdough on hand in various colours to keep the kids amused. Here is the recipe I used (for those who have little horrors to keep entertained):
* 1 cup flour
* 1 cup warm water
* 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
* 1 teaspoon oil
* 1/4 cup salt
* food coloringMix all ingredients, adding food coloring last. Stir over medium heat until smooth. Remove from pan and knead until blended smooth. Place in plastic bag or airtight container when cooled. Will last for a long time.
Speaking of keeping entertained, here is the latest project I am busy on. It is a challenge, but I'm enjoying it. Sadly, the original wasn't very big. This comes from a photo album that got wet. The pages stuck together and ink from the opposite side transferred to the photo.
On Wednesday, Tat went for her endoscopy. Somehow, this must have gotten to me, as I dreamt the night before that she never woke up from the anesthetic. I've been having many disturbing dreams. The night before, I had a dream that could rival the horror movies I refuse to watch, complete with butcher's knives and gore. Thankfully, I don't remember much of that dream, but I remember the dream of Tatiana very clearly. Anyhow, the endoscopy went well enough. All the other patients wobbled out, supported by the nursing staff, while Tat did her Tigger thing coming out, chatting brightly to the nurse. That kid is weird. We will get the results in 20 days. It is a timing thing here. I'm not terribly surprised, as we had to wait over 6 months for the actual exam appointment.
My next task is to get my sewing machine repaired. It has never worked since our move. I don't relish hand sewing. I commented to Tat that there was a time when I was so very proud of my hand sewing, but now I'll avoid it at all costs. I hold my pc responsible for that, along with the downfall of my handwriting, which was never stellar.
Hope Tat's results are good news.
ReplyDeleteI had a friend (when we were 12) who used to make sherbet out of Eno's fruit salts and jelly powder. In the UK jelly's aren't powder. You get them as little rubbery lumps, like fruit gums. You just add the hot water to expand them. Actually... they taste like gums too and I kind of enjoy noshing them in their unmade-up state.
My sympathy with the pudding. When we were first married I messed up by putting too much milk into the instant pud (because the measurements were in ounces not metric!) Sounds silly, but when you're struggling and on a very tight budget losing the milk and the pudding was a huge tragedy.
I actually did manage to save it... by adding another pudding mix! The result (with 2 puds with 1 1/2 milk) was extra thick and fluffly and DELICIOUS. It became a favourite treat after that.
Hm... that pudding sounds good. I like eating jelly powder as is. Yes, I'm bad ;) Whadya know.... I just tossed a bottle of expired Eno's. I should have mixed it with jelly just for fun.
ReplyDeleteWe're lucky. We have metric here (thought the UK was metric now too?), but my grocery woes are more language based. Oh, we've had some interesting meals as a result haha!