Getting Started with Sorbet, Yogurt, Juice

Got a sorbet maker yesterday and I made my first batch today.

Had sent a message on Chowhounrd:

Store-Bought Simple Syrup in Sorbet? – Home Cooking – Chowhound.

Received some useful answers but didn’t notice them until after I made my sorbet.

Here’s my follow-up:

Hadn’t noticed replies were added (thought I’d receive notifications). Thanks a lot for all the useful advice!

And… it did work.

My lemon-ginger sorbet was a bit soft on its way out of the machine, but the flavour profile is exactly what I wanted.

I used almost a liter of this store-bought syrup with more than a half-liter of a ginger-lemon concoction I made (lemon juice and food-processed peeled ginger). All of this blended together. The resulting liquid was more than the 1.5 quart my sorbet-maker can withstand so I reserved a portion to mix with a syrup made from ginger peel infused in a brown sugar and water solution. I also did a simple sugar to which I added a good quantity of lemon zest. These two syrups I pressure-cooked and will use in later batches.

Judging the amount of sugar may be tricky but, in this case, I decided to go by taste. It’s not sweet enough according to some who tried it but it’s exactly what I wanted. Having this simple syrup on hand (chilled) was quite helpful, as I could adjust directly by adding syrup to the mix.

One thing is for sure, I’ll be doing an apple-ginger sorbet soon. The ginger syrup I made just cries out “apple sauce sorbet.” Especially the solids (which I didn’t keep in the syrup). I might even add some homemade hard cider that I like.

As for consistency, it’s not even a problem but I get the impression that the sorbet will get firmer as it spends time in the freezer. It’s been there for almost two hours already and I should be able to leave it there for another two hours before I bring it out (actually, traveling with it). The machine’s book mentions two hours in the freezer for a firmer consistency and I’ve seen several mentions of “ripening” so it sounds like it’d make sense to do this.

Also, the lemon-ginger mixture I used wasn’t chilled, prior to use. It may have had an impact on the firmness, I guess…

As a first attempt at sorbet-making, it’s quite convincing. I’ve had a few food-related hobbies, in the recent past, and sorbet-making might easily take some space among them, especially if results are this satisfying without effort. I was homebrewing beer until recently (and will probably try beer sorbets, as I’ve tasted some nice ones made by friends and I have a lot of leftover beer from the time I was still brewing). By comparison to homebrewing, sorbet-making seems to be a (proverbial) “piece of cake.”

Dunno if such a long tirade violates any Chow forum rule but I just wanted to share my first experience.

Thanks again for all your help!

—

Alex

Among links given in this short thread was the sorbet section of the French Cooking guide on About.com. I’ve already had good experiences with About’s BBQ Guide. So my preliminary impression of these sorbet recipes is rather positive. And, in fact, they’re quite inspiring.

A sampling:

• Apple and Calvados
• Beet
• Cardamom/Pear
• Pomegranate/Cranberry
• Spiced Apple Cider
• …

It’s very clear that, with sorbet, the only limit is your imagination. I’ll certainly make some savoury sorbets, including this spiced tomato one. Got a fairly large number of ideas for interesting combinations. But, perhaps unsurprisingly, it seems that pretty much everything has been tried. Hibiscus flowers, hard cider, horchata, teas…

And using premade syrups is probably a good strategy, especially if mixed with fresh purées, possibly made with frozen fruit. Being able to adjust sweetness is a nice advantage. Although, one comment in that Chowhound thread mentioned a kind of “homemade hydrometer” technique (clean egg floating in the liquid…), the notion apparently being that the quantity of sugar is important in and of itself (for texture and such) and you can adjust flavour with other ingredients, including acids.

One reason I like sorbets so much is that I’m lactose intolerant. More specifically: I discovered fairly recently that I was lactose intolerant. So I’m not completely weaned from ice cream. It’s not the ideal time to start making sorbet as the weather isn’t that warm, at this point. But I’ve never had an objection to sorbet in cold weather.

As happened with other hobbies, I’ve been having some rather crazy ideas. And chances are that this won’t be my last sorbet making machine.

Nor will it only be a sorbet machine. While I have no desire to make ice cream in it, it’s already planned as a “froyo” maker and a “frozen soy-based dessert” maker. In some cases, I actually prefered frozen yogurt and frozen tofu to ice cream (maybe because my body was telling me to avoid lactose). And I’m getting a yogurt maker soon, which will be involved in all sorts of yogurt-based experiments from “yogurt cheese” (lebneh) to soy-milk “yogurt” and even whey-enhanced food (from the byproduct from lebneh). So, surely, frozen yogurt will be involved.

And I didn’t mention my juicer, here (though I did mention it elsewhere). Not too long ago, I was using a juicer on a semi-regular basis and remember how nice the results were, sometimes using unlikely combinations (cucumber/pineapple being a friend’s favourite which was relatively convincing). A juicer will also be useful in preparing sorbets, I would guess. Sure, it’s probably a good idea to have a thicker base than juice for a firm sorbet, but I might actually add banana, goyava, or fig to some sorbets. Besides, the solids left behind by the juice extraction can be made into interesting things too and possibly added back to the sorbet base. I can easily imagine how it’d work with apples and some vegetables.

An advantage of all of this is that it’ll directly increase the quantity of fruits and vegetables I consume. Juices are satisfying and can be made into soups (which I also like). Yogurt itself I find quite appropriate in my diet. And there surely are ways to have low-sugar sorbet. These are all things I enjoy on their own. And they’re all extremely easy to make (I’ve already made yogurt and juice, so I don’t foresee any big surprise). And they all fit in a lactose-free (or, at least, low-lactose) diet.

Food is fun.

Advertisement

Moving On

[I’m typically not very good at going back to drafts and I don’t have much time to write this. But I can RERO this. It’s an iterative process in any case….]

Been thinking about different things which all relate to the same theme: changing course, seizing opportunities, shifting focus, adapting to new situations, starting over, getting a clean slate… Moving on.

One reason is that I recently decided to end my ethnography podcast. Not that major a decision and rather easy to make. Basically, I had stopped doing it but I had yet to officially end it. I had to make it clear, in my mind, that it’s not part of the things I’m doing, these days. Not that it was a big thing in my life but I had set reminders every month that I had to record a podcast episode. It worked for ten episode (in ten months) but, once I had missed one episode, the reminder was nagging me more than anything else.

In this sense, “moving on” is realistic/pragmatic. Found something similar in Getting Things Done, by David Allen.

It’s also similar to something Larry Lessig called “email bankruptcy,” as a step toward enhanced productivity.

In fact, even financial bankruptcy can relate to this, in some contexts. In Canada, at least, bankruptcy is most adequately described as a solution to a problem, not the problem itself. I’ve known some people who were able to completely rebuild their finances after declaring bankruptcy, sometimes even getting a better credit rating than someone who hadn’t gone bankrupt. I know how strongly some people may react to this concept of bankruptcy (based on principle, resentment, fears, hopes…). It’s an extreme example of what I mean by “moving on.” It goes well with the notion, quite common in North American cultural contexts, that you always deserve a second chance (but that you should do things yourself).

Of course, similar things happen with divorces which, similarly, can often be considered as solutions to a problem rather than the problem itself. No matter how difficult or how bad divorce might be, it’s a way to start over. In some sense, it’s less extreme an example as the bankruptcy one. But it may still generate negative vibes or stir negative emotions.

Because what I’m thinking about has more to do with “turning over a new leaf.” And taking the “leap of faith” which will make you go where you feel more comfortable. I’m especially thinking about all sorts of cases of people who decided to make radical changes in their professional or personal lives, often leaving a lot behind. Whether they were forced to implement such changes or decided to jump because they simply wanted to, all of the cases I remember have had positive outcomes.

It reminds me of a good friend of mine with whom I went through music school, in college. When he finished college, he decided to follow the music path and registered for the conservatory. But, pretty quickly, he realized that it wasn’t for him. Even though he had been intensely “in music” for several years, with days of entering the conservatory, he saw that music wasn’t to remain the central focus of his career. Through a conversation with a high school friend (who later became his wife and the mother of his children), he found out that it wasn’t too late for him to register for university courses. He had been thinking about phys. ed., and thought it might be a nice opportunity to try that path. He’s been a phys. ed. teacher for a number of years. We had lunch together last year and he seems very happy with his career choice. He also sounds like a very dedicated and effective phys. ed. teacher.

In my last podcast episode, I mentioned a few things about my views of this “change of course.” Including what has become something of an expression, for me: “Done with fish.” Comes from the movie Adaptation. The quote is found here (preceded by a bit of profanity). Basically, John Laroche, who was passionately dedicated to fish, decided to completely avoid anything having to do with fish. I can relate to this at some rather deep level.

I’m also thinking about the negative consequences of “sticking with” something which isn’t working, shifting too late or too quickly, implementing changes in inappropriate ways. Plenty of examples there. Most of the ones which come to my mind have to do with business settings. One which would require quite a bit of “explaining” is my perception of Google’s strategy with Wave. Put briefly (with the hope of revisiting this issue), I think Google made bad decisions with Wave, including killing it both too late and too early (no, I don’t see this as a contradiction; but I don’t have time to explain it). They also, I feel, botched a few transitions, in this. And, more importantly, I’d say that they failed to adapt the product to what was needed.

And the trigger for several of my reflections on this “moving on” idea have to do with this kind of adaptation (fun that the movie of that name should be involved, eh?). Twitter could be an inspiration, in this case. Not only did they, like Flickr, start through a switch away from another project, but Twitter was able to transform users’ habits into the basis for some key features. Hashtags and “@replies” are well-known examples. But you could even say that most of the things they’ve been announcing have been related to the way people use their tools.

So, in a way, it’s about the balance between vision and responsiveness. Vision is often discussed and it sounds to some people as a key thing in any “task-based group (from a team to a corporation). But the way a team can switch from one project to the next based on feedback (from users or other stakeholders) seems underrated. Although, there is some talk about the “startup mentality” in many contexts, including Google and Apple. Words which fit this semantic field include: “agile,” “flexible,” “pivot,” “lean,” and “nimble” (the latter word seemed to increase in currency after being used by Barack Obama in a speech).

Anyhoo… Gotta go.

But, just before I go: I am moving on with some things (including my podfade but also a shift away from homebrewing). But the key things in my life are very stable, especially my sentimental life.

Why I Need an iPad

I’m one of those who feel the iPad is the right tool for the job.

This is mostly meant as a reply to this blogthread. But it’s also more generally about my personal reaction to Apple’s iPad announcement.

Some background.

I’m an ethnographer and a teacher. I read a fair deal, write a lot of notes, and work in a variety of contexts. These days, I tend to spend a good amount of time in cafés and other public places where I like to work without being too isolated. I also commute using public transit, listen to lots of podcast, and create my own. I’m also very aural.

I’ve used a number of PDAs, over the years, from a Newton MessagePad 130 (1997) to a variety of PalmOS devices (until 2008). In fact, some people readily associated me with PDA use.

As soon as I learnt about the iPod touch, I needed one. As soon as I’ve heard about the SafariPad, I wanted one. I’ve been an intense ‘touch user since the iPhone OS 2.0 release and I’m a happy camper.

(A major reason I never bought an iPhone, apart from price, is that it requires a contract.)

In my experience, the ‘touch is the most appropriate device for all sorts of activities which are either part of an other activity (reading during a commute) or are simply too short in duration to constitute an actual “computer session.” You don’t “sit down to work at your ‘touch” the way you might sit in front of a laptop or desktop screen. This works great for “looking up stufff” or “checking email.” It also makes a lot of sense during commutes in crowded buses or metros.

In those cases, the iPod touch is almost ideal. Ubiquitous access to Internet would be nice, but that’s not a deal-breaker. Alternative text-input methods would help in some cases, but I do end up being about as fast on my ‘touch as I was with Graffiti on PalmOS.

For other tasks, I have a Mac mini. Sure, it’s limited. But it does the job. In fact, I have no intention of switching for another desktop and I even have an eMachines collecting dust (it’s too noisy to make a good server).

What I miss, though, is a laptop. I used an iBook G3 for several years and loved it. For a little while later, I was able to share a MacBook with somebody else and it was a wonderful experience. I even got to play with the OLPC XO for a few weeks. That one was not so pleasant an experience but it did give me a taste for netbooks. And it made me think about other types of iPhone-like devices. Especially in educational contexts. (As I mentioned, I’m a teacher)

I’ve been laptop-less for a while, now. And though my ‘touch replaces it in many contexts, there are still times when I’d really need a laptop. And these have to do with what I might call “mobile sessions.”

For instance: liveblogging a conference or meeting. I’ve used my ‘touch for this very purpose on a good number of occasions. But it gets rather uncomfortable, after a while, and it’s not very fast. A laptop is better for this, with a keyboard and a larger form factor. But the iPad will be even better because of lower risks of RSI. A related example: just imagine TweetDeck on iPad.

Possibly my favourite example of a context in which the iPad will be ideal: presentations. Even before learning about the prospect of getting iWork on a tablet, presentations were a context in which I really missed a laptop.

Sure, in most cases, these days, there’s a computer (usually a desktop running XP) hooked to a projector. You just need to download your presentation file from Slideshare, show it from Prezi, or transfer it through USB. No biggie.

But it’s not the extra steps which change everything. It’s the uncertainty. Even if it’s often unfounded, I usually get worried that something might just not work, along the way. The slides might not show the same way as you see it because something is missing on that computer or that computer is simply using a different version of the presentation software. In fact, that software is typically Microsoft PowerPoint which, while convenient, fits much less in my workflow than does Apple Keynote.

The other big thing about presentations is the “presenter mode,” allowing you to get more content than (or different content from) what the audience sees. In most contexts where I’ve used someone else’s computer to do a presentation, the projector was mirroring the computer’s screen, not using it as a different space. PowerPoint has this convenient “presenter view” but very rarely did I see it as an available option on “the computer in the room.” I wish I could use my ‘touch to drive presentations, which I could do if I installed software on that “computer in the room.” But it’s not something that is likely to happen, in most cases.

A MacBook solves all of these problems. and it’s an obvious use for laptops. But how, then, is the iPad better? Basically because of interface. Switching slides on a laptop isn’t hard, but it’s more awkward than we realize. Even before watching the demo of Keynote on the iPad, I could simply imagine the actual pleasure of flipping through slides using a touch interface. The fit is “natural.”

I sincerely think that Keynote on the iPad will change a number of things, for me. Including the way I teach.

Then, there’s reading.

Now, I’m not one of those people who just can’t read on a computer screen. In fact, I even grade assignments directly from the screen. But I must admit that online reading hasn’t been ideal, for me. I’ve read full books as PDF files or dedicated formats on PalmOS, but it wasn’t so much fun, in terms of the reading process. And I’ve used my ‘touch to read things through Stanza or ReadItLater. But it doesn’t work so well for longer reading sessions. Even in terms of holding the ‘touch, it’s not so obvious. And, what’s funny, even a laptop isn’t that ideal, for me, as a reading device. In a sense, this is when the keyboard “gets in the way.”

Sure, I could get a Kindle. I’m not a big fan of dedicated devices and, at least on paper, I find the Kindle a bit limited for my needs. Especially in terms of sources. I’d like to be able to use documents in a variety of formats and put them in a reading list, for extended reading sessions. No, not “curled up in bed.” But maybe lying down in a sofa without external lighting. Given my experience with the ‘touch, the iPad is very likely the ideal device for this.

Then, there’s the overall “multi-touch device” thing. People have already been quite creative with the small touchscreen on iPhones and ‘touches, I can just imagine what may be done with a larger screen. Lots has been said about differences in “screen real estate” in laptop or desktop screens. We all know it can make a big difference in terms of what you can display at the same time. In some cases, two screens isn’t even a luxury, for instance when you code and display a page at the same time (LaTeX, CSS…). Certainly, the same qualitative difference applies to multitouch devices. Probably even more so, since the display is also used for input. What Han found missing in the iPhone’s multitouch was the ability to use both hands. With the iPad, Han’s vision is finding its space.

Oh, sure, the iPad is very restricted. For instance, it’s easy to imagine how much more useful it’d be if it did support multitasking with third-party apps. And a front-facing camera is something I was expecting in the first iPhone. It would just make so much sense that a friend seems very disappointed by this lack of videoconferencing potential. But we’re probably talking about predetermined expectations, here. We’re comparing the iPad with something we had in mind.

Then, there’s the issue of the competition. Tablets have been released and some multitouch tablets have recently been announced. What makes the iPad better than these? Well, we could all get in the same OS wars as have been happening with laptops and desktops. In my case, the investment in applications, files, and expertise that I have made in a Mac ecosystem rendered my XP years relatively uncomfortable and me appreciate returning to the Mac. My iPod touch fits right in that context. Oh, sure, I could use it with a Windows machine, which is in fact what I did for the first several months. But the relationship between the iPhone OS and Mac OS X is such that using devices in those two systems is much more efficient, in terms of my own workflow, than I could get while using XP and iPhone OS. There are some technical dimensions to this, such as the integration between iCal and the iPhone OS Calendar, or even the filesystem. But I’m actually thinking more about the cognitive dimensions of recognizing some of the same interface elements. “Look and feel” isn’t just about shiny and “purty.” It’s about interactions between a human brain, a complex sensorimotor apparatus, and a machine. Things go more quickly when you don’t have to think too much about where some tools are, as you’re working.

So my reasons for wanting an iPad aren’t about being dazzled by a revolutionary device. They are about the right tool for the job.

Funded Development for Touch Devices

• First Venture Capital Funded iPhone Apps: Whrrl, iControl – Mac Rumors

  tags: iPhone, iPod touch, iPhone SDK, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, venture capitalism, investments, software development, Touch devices, Apple, location-based, proximity, home-automation

  • Been waiting for more info about the Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers VCing of software development for Apple’s Touch devices (through the so-called “iPhone SDK”). Their decision to throw so much money in the Touch devices pot sounded like a rather radical move, especially in this climate. But it was possibly a move to wake up a whole industry. Unsurprisingly, the first two products are associated with well-known “Next Big Thing” concepts: location-based recommendations and home automation. – post by enkerli

It’s quite possible that these two projects are more radically innovative than they sound at first blush but they do relate to well-known concepts. I personally have high hopes for location-based services but I wish these services were taken in new directions.

Apple’s MacBook Pro as Windows Notebook

PC World – In Pictures: The Most Notable Notebooks of 2007

Is history being made when the fastest Windows portable reviewed by a PC magazine is a model made by Apple?

What’s more:

• PC World even makes Apple’s MacBook Pro its “best buy” in a list of ten “power notebooks.”
• The other laptop in that list which offers “superior performance” is priced much higher than the MBP.
• Some stores sell the MBP at what this magazine seems to consider to be “average” price for a “power notebook.”
• Vista is known as a resource hog anyway.

MBP FTW!

Techno Lust

Yes, I tend to be overly enthusiastic. Granted, I know exactly nothing about it yet. Sure, I’ve been influenced by the years of rumours. Not to mention the iPhone hype.

But I still feel like I really need one of these.

Apple – iPod touch

Really, I do.

I’m much less of a gadget freak people think I am. I just need several devices to do what I do. And this could be it.

Much more so than an iPhone. I don’t need an iPhone. I need an iPod touch. I need a WiFi enabled music player based on the iPod. I know why but I don’t need to justify myself. I’m just being honest.