Tangerine Dreams or My Darling Clementine

My husband can't resist a farm stand. That is if the farm stand is run by actual farmers or at least their relatives.

A few weeks ago he was in the central valley of California south of Chico when he just happened to pick up 50 (that's right fifty) pounds of satsuma tangerines. They came into my life and kitchen in two very heavy, battered brown paper grocery bags.

Now all four of us like satsuma tangerines. They are sweet with just the right hint of tartness and the kids appreciate their ease of peeling and lack of seeds. But 50 pounds!

The tangerines were a bargain. I think he paid $10 for the lot. They were a mix of sizes and plenty of them didn't look too pretty, but my they were tasty. But 50 pounds! Well, I thought, if we can't use them all, I can always ask the food blog world for recipe suggestions. But I never had to. And I never did get to make the couscous with tangerines, the chocolate-tangerine tart or any of the other recipes the satsumas inspired. The four of us just ate them.

We juiced them. Then we would peel them and eat them with dried dates and nuts. Or we just would pack a few for a snack. Then we would juice some more. Then peel more.

I did make a tangy sorbet from their juice, and now that is all we have left of our tangerine dreams. Just yesterday someone ate the last one. I went to the fruit bowl and it was full of apples and pears but no tangerines. I was actually disappointed. I really wanted another tangerine.

Tangerine Sorbet
1 1/2 cups simple syrup (We like our sorbets on the very tart side so I use about 3/4 cup of sugar to 1 1/2 cups or so of water depending on how sweet the fruit is. You might like to use a bit to a lot more. Remember, things taste LESS sweet when they are frozen. Stir and boil until sugar is dissolved in the water.)
1 1/2 cups tangerine juice
ice cream maker

Chill simple syrup. Combine with juice in bowl of ice cream maker. Plug in ice cream maker. Let her rip. When frozen and slushy, remove and freeze for an hour or two. If frozen very solid, let stand 10 minutes or so before serving.

No ice cream maker? Put mixture in a 9 x 12 metal cake pan or similar. Cover with plastic wrap and put in freezer. Beat with a wooden spoon every so often as it freezes to break up the crystals. Before serving, put chunks in the food processor or blender and give it a little whirl. Don't have one of those? Let it soften a bit and then beat again with the wooden spoon.

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(about the photo - my camera was borrowed and I made do with an old one around the house with less than sharp results, but it does have a "dream-like" quality)