Hello old friend: Sangria sorbet. And a call for thoughts

Years ago, I bought David Lebovitz' first book "Room for Dessert." He's published several more books since then, but this one is still my favorite. The copyright date on the book is 1999, so that's when I first made the dessert I'm gonna talk about here. I can't believe it was that long ago. And I used to make it often. Then I stopped. Why, I don't know. Sort of like getting so comfortable with something that you move on, maybe? Who knows. In any event , the thought of the dessert came back to me the other day, and I pulled out the recipe.

It was easy to make then and it's easy to make now. And for those of you who don't have ice cream makers, I'm gonna make a few suggestions because this is one you should make. It's terrific.

First, you have to pick your wine. Something fruity, like a zinfandel (I always make it with zinfandel, but use what you like), and about 1.25 cups of it. You also need a scan two cups of citrus juice. David calls for orange or tangerine juice, but I like to mix it up. Most of the juice really should be in the orange family, but I add lemon and lime juice too, because that's how I remember sangria. Squeeze till you have enough juice. Pour that in with the wine. Then, make a simple syrup of a cup of sugar and half a cup of water, and mix that into the other liquids.

Did that seem hard? I didn't think so. Now let it cool.

If you have an ice cream maker, churn away. You'll get this soft, dark purple mixture that will make you think of frozen sangria (By the way, if you can get a frozen margarita, you should be able to get a frozen sangria . Come on restaurant folks. Get on this).

Now, if you don't have an ice cream maker, do this one of two other ways. One way: freeze this in an ice cube tray and when you're ready to serve, put the cubes in a food processor and pulse. Or, for the granita fans, pour this into a 9x9 inch METAL pan (you need metal here, for the cold conduction and also for the sturdiness). Every twenty minutes or so, as ice crystals form, go in and stir it up to break it up. You'll get some much more "flinty" than with the other two methods, but equally good.

This is great as a cooler in the middle of the day (sort of like Venetian sgroppino), or as a refresher after a heavy meal and before the "real" dessert, or just as something to sit down and enjoy, when you're sitting on the roof, and watching the sunset. It has that kind of color, too. It will remind you of that.

OK KIDS. Annalena has a request. This is post number 496. We are coming up to a very serious number: NUMBER 500. So, let's have some requests. I cannot promise honoring any of them, but what would you like to see for this milestone? No reasonable request refused. And if it doesn't make it to number 500, maybe it will show up later.

Annalena is a girl of mystery. You never know...