STRAWBERRY SORBET

·   A refreshing start to your day, and also a great way to use up strawberries, which should be used within 2 or 3 days of purchasing

·   Blender; metal 8" pan is helpful; small serving dishes

·   5 minutes prep time; 1-2 hours freezer time; another 5 minutes finish time; another 1-2 hours freezer time

·   This recipe makes 2 servings; easily doubled

·   Team with Swedish pancakes, orange juice and coffee

IT'S THE BERRIES! FREEZE LOTS OF THIS AT THE END OF BERRY SEASON,

AND YOU'LL HAVE THE TASTE OF SUMMER FOR MONTHS AFTERWARD

1 C. strawberries, washed, cut in fourths, green tops removed

½ C. sugar

1 tsp. lemon juice

This is a fun one, because you get to use one of your toys - a blender!

You also get to pretend it's a French blender, because a sorbet - pronounced sor BAY - is a French concept. A sorbet is kind of like sherbet - ice cream without the dairy ingredients.

Simply dump all ingredients into your blender, and run 'r up to Puree. Keep 'r going for a minute or two.

Some girly-men strain out the seeds, but why?

Now pour the pureed strawberry mixture into am 8" square metal pan, or maybe a metal loaf pan. Why metal? They freeze the fastest.

After an hour, check the sorbet. If it's almost hard all the way through, take it out. If it's still pretty mushy, leave it in. Check every half-hour. It should be firm almost to the center of the dish.

Once firm enough, scrape the mixture back into the blender for one more whirl - about one minute on puree. This brings air into it, which gives it that fluffy texture.

Now pour into individual serving dishes, as small as you have. Little juice glasses, custard cups, or parfait glasses are great, but you can just fill a cereal bowl one-third of the way up and that'll be good.

Return to the freezer for 1-2 hours. Eat with a spoon - and smile after every bite!

By the way, if you double or triple this recipe, you can pour it into a loaf pan to freeze, and then serve slices of it, at breakfast time or as a light dessert.