Wonderful Wales!

I have Just spent three days in lovely Wales. My visit was for business this time and I was in Wrexham which was pretty and friendly. Naturally there was time for a little leisure so I went walkabout with my camera. Here is the result....

Welcome to Wales - certainly was!

We took a walk Tuesday evening through the woods near Erddig Hall. Pretty with wide green vistas and crystal water trickling along and refreshing the countryside.

View through the green valley.

Pretty Wrexham.

The view towards the church. Boy was it hot - and regular readers may know that I am no fan of sunlight!

Magnificent Chirk Castle. This is the edge of the estate.

A walk up through the woods very early in the morning led us to the castle itself. Thank you to John for allowing me to explore before the hordes arrived! This was the first day of the hols after all but at 8.30am, all was calm...

Love the Welsh flag. Not enough breeze to lift it though. I had this picture in my mind's eye.......

I finally had to admit that it was time to leave beautiful Wales for the time being. Just before we crossed the border we stopped to cycle down a tow path beside the Ellesmere Canal and watched the canal boats. 
This beautiful canal has one foot in england and one in Wales so Husband Rob and I were pleased to childishly take photos of each other in different countries. Well maybe you had to be there but after living in Australia for so long, cycling to another country is a buzz! Just give me this one folks....

That is a definite earmark for a future vacation idea. Actually, rather stupidly, we had packed our folding bikes and then almost forgot about them as we set out on a 1.6km walk to the aqueduct! The car was pretty loaded with things. Remembered the bikes just in time, spent the requisite few minutes feeling silly and then cycled off on the nicest ride I have taken in a long time.

The aqueduct is a beautiful structure, opened in the nineteenth century it was built by Thomas Telford. It is 70ft high and has some of the best views around. The picture shows the railway viaduct is the one which can be seen in the photo and I am standing by the canal on the original Thomas Telford construction. That was quite a bike ride actually. There is a 70ft drop on one side and water on the other.. The path is around the width of a dining table. I am not great with heights so lots of concentration was required. 

I miss you already, lovely Wales. I will be coming back soon too.

(C) Debbie von Grabler-Crozier 2014

Sort Of Mango Sorbet

This recipe is one of the biggest sneaks that I have ever set eyes on! It is a complete fraud as far as a sorbet goes – it doesn’t even have any added sugar in it. Everyone knows that sorbet is loaded with sugar so what’s this all about? 

Well, it goes like this, mango has a lot of lovely natural sugar and if you have chosen a really ripe specimen, you do not need to add more. But one tiny warning - don't ignore the sugar thinking that because it is natural that it is all good - sugar is still sugar and this still counts on your daily intake tally.

Sorbet has a pretty special texture and trust me, you will have it without the hefty calorie price tag. And it’s easy. Let me show you what I mean.

Makes: 6-8 servings

Takes: 10 minutes plus freezing time

Nutrition: The best taste in the world and no added sugar means that this is a better choice as a slimmer’s dessert. You can have a scoop of this and know that you are only eating whipped, frozen fruit. Try it for fibre rich children’s ice lollies too.

Gather These Supplies:

3 large ripe mangoes of any variety

Here’s How:

This recipe does require some forward planning but that is usually not a problem – I am actually only referring to five minutes before bed. Grab a flat tray with a bit of a lip or a shallow cake tin and put just enough water in it to cover the bottom. Lay a piece of baking paper over it and press down so that the surface tension of the water holds the paper in place. Put it into the freezer and keep it level. Now go to bed. The rest can wait until tomorrow.

When the water is frozen, take the flesh from 2 of the mangoes, dice it (that’s the easiest way) and put it in a single layer over the baking paper. Pop it back into the freezer and leave it until it is quite solid.

When it is frozen, blend it in a blender until it is chopped up then add the diced flesh of the remaining mango and blend until it is smooth and creamy (looking!). Scrape down the sides of the blender if you have to and it may need a little fluid in the form of orange juice or even strained passion fruit if it is too dry. This can be a seasonal variation and it is quite unpredictable.

Put it back into the freezer to almost solidify and then serve it in decorative bowls. It will be too hard to serve straight from the freezer. Always remove it to a room temperature spot like a bench top at the beginning of the meal, it needs about 20 minutes to soften to usable consistency.

Variation:

Try an orange and mango version by proceeding as above but when you blend the frozen mango cubes, add a generous tablespoon orange zest and a 1/3 cup good quality unsweetened orange juice.

Remember, this is not a no sugar recipe. Fruit has sugar. But it has no added sugar so it is as good for you as it can be. Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by.

Debs

xxx