Friday, October 03, 2008

Watermelon Sherbet

Eight months ago we were renting a place that had a tiny strip of grass for the kids to play on. Across the fence, there was an empty field littered with trash and weeds. After 18 years of living in rental apartments and huge cities, we wanted a garden--badly. As a family we decided to try to grow a few things in the empty lot nearby and hoped no one would steal the bounty. We worked for days on that little plot of land. It was about the size of a large bedroom. 




Remember the story of The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss ?


Well, nothing came up. We waited and waited. Still, nothing came up. And then, one day... we went outside and checked again... But, unlike the the sweet ending of The Carrot Seed, NOTHING CAME UP.

That was the end of that.

Who would have thought that in less than a year, we would move to the United States, buy a home on 14 acres, acquire 6 cows, 22 chickens, 18 goats, 2 dogs and 3 cats and plant a 1/2 acre garden, harvesting so much food we wouldn't know what to do with it all? We've spent much of the summer canning and freezing apples, corn, many kinds of squash, okra, pumpkins, cantaloupe and watermelons.





We have given much away and the rest we are feeding to the animals. We harvested about 100 watermelons and got tired of eating them every day, so when my daughters came up with this sherbet recipe, we welcomed the change. We have made several batches and it is REAL good. ; )

Watermelon Sherbet

INGREDIENTS
· 3 cups cut-up, seeded watermelon
· 1 cup real whipped whipping cream
· 1 cup buttermilk
· 1/2 cup sugar


DIRECTIONS
· 1. Place 3 cups of the watermelon in a blender container or food processor bowl. Cover and blend or process until smooth.

· 2. In a large mixing bowl combine watermelon puree, whipping cream, buttermilk, and sugar. Stir the mixture until sugar is dissolved. Cover and freeze for 2 hours or until almost almost firm in a a 9x9x2-inch pan. Break the frozen watermelon mixture into small chunks. Cover and freeze until firm. Makes about 2 quarts.


13 comments:

  1. Upon reading this and the posts you linked to, I feel as if I know your family! What an amazing story y'all have! I am glad I became acquainted with your daughters on our own blogs. We can definitely share some "culture shock moments" as we get to know each other more. We used to live in Haiti (for a much shorter time than yours in Turkey), and though the two countries are drastically different, I think we would find many similarities in our experiences.
    Again, its nice to meet y'all.
    Everly

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  2. Anonymous3.10.08

    I'll give it a try before the watermelon harvest is completely done this year.

    You have the life that my husband and I so wanted for our children.

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  3. Your bounty is beautiful! And the sherbet sounds divine!

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  4. What a blessing. It is our dream to someday have some land. Grow our own food and to just let our kids just run!!

    Lori

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  5. I just love your pictures. The farm looks great!

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  6. Carol4.10.08

    that is just crazy. I can't believe that not one seed sprouted! I'm glad for your blessings now!

    Carol

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  7. God is so good !! What a bountiful year, and a fantastic return to the United States.

    God Bless.
    MomToCherubs
    http://www.becksbounty.blogspot.com

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  8. Oh Carol, a few little straggly things came up but died right away.

    Lori et al, we feel very blessed. I will say that such a life is also a very busy life. We work really, really hard. I'm tired much of the time. By the way, that's why it usually takes me a week or two before I can reply to comments now and I rarely have time to visit other blogs anymore. So there is a price...But I wouldn't trade it for the city.

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  9. Linda, What are you doing with all the cows and goats. Are you milking them or raising them for meat?

    I'm so glad for your family.

    Elisabeth

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  10. Linda,

    We do not have a pecan orchard but have cleared off about an acre of land to plant apple trees. I don't know if that's going to happen but it's there if we should want to pursue it.

    We have about 12 goats - all dairy. We did buy a lot of Boer's but have sold them off to Mexican's. Once they know your around they want them!

    I know a lady that has probably 100 Boer's. She's hoping they can become her primary business. She's getting ready to take her goats to a church campground so that the goats can eat the underbrush, reducing fire hazard. She'll be moving them every few days, using electric fencing or wire (I'm not sure which) to keep them contained.

    We do not really live in the middle of nowhere but our nearest neighbor is 3 miles away. We make our own power using generator, wind mill and solar. We love it.

    Have you heard of The Return of the Daughters? Vision Forum sells this video for $20. I would even be willing to loan it to you if you didn't want to spend the money for it. (You have helped me in so many ways through your blog, so I would love to do something for you in return. :)) Let me know.

    The video is so inspirational, not only for parents but for daughters as well. I highly, highly recommend it.

    Elisabeth

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  11. Linda,
    Have you tried watermelon lemonade? Use watermelon juice and mix it with fresh lemonade. Yummy.

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  12. Linda,

    Are you saying to whip the whipping cream?

    Elisabeth

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  13. Helen,
    We have made it a few times as well and LOVE it.

    Elisabeth,
    You should whip real cream. I haven't seen the video you spoke of. Do you think I could rent it through netflix?

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