What a difference a day makes...

Last year I planted some Iceland Poppies in a big planter pot to sit beside the front door. I've planted more of the same for this year, and they are coming along nicely but nowhere near flowering. Some of last year's must have seeded around, because this one is growing in the pot beside my rosemary...





Got to go - had a call from a friend the other day, asking could she and her son stay overnight tonight on their way up to Ikea. Luckily the spare room is still tidy from C's friend staying last week, but I had to get the second bed out and up, and make more strawberry icecream as we'd just finished the last lot off. I had a scribbled recipe that is years old - it came from the first freezer cookery book that I can remember my mother buying, and she made it once or twice. I'd tried on and off over the years, but until we got our icecream maker, it never turned out quite right. Over the last 3 years I've been working on it, and this is my final version.

Strawberry Icecream.
Just under a pound of strawberries
6- 8 ounces sugar, according to taste.
Juice of half a lemon
1/2 a leaf of gelatine (a scant teaspoon)
About a cup / 8 fluid ounces whipping cream.
Puree the strawberries and sugar and leave for an hour or so.
Sponge the gelatine in the lemon juice and then warm to dissolve(if powdered) or soaked the leaf in cold water and then dissolve in the lemon juice. Do NOT boil the gelatine.
Put the strawberry puree and gelatin into the icecream maker, along with the un-whipped cream. Churn till ready to freeze.
We have the smaller size of the Magimix ice-cream maker, this fills it. I dream of having this Gaggia one some time - when we have enough space to leave it out on the counter. I think that anything that has to be put away each time is never going to get as much use...I used one like this when I worked in a restaurant, and I'd love to be able to make more than one batch at a time without waiting for the bowl to freeze again.