Yesterday felt like fall. The air was crisp, cool, and dry, with dappled golden sunlight. There were patches of yellow and red appearing in a few of the trees. With two weeks left of summer, my daughters are reviewing, crossing off entries in their summer lists. These include things like "go kayaking", "go raspberry picking",  and "make peanut butter buckeye ice cream".

One of the pleasures of summer is picking flowers at a nearby pick-your-own field. We make our way among rows of color with a pair of pruners; brilliant velvet cockscomb, papery strawflowers, ruffled cosmos on delicate stems, towering pale sunflowers, and the orbs of nodding dahlias. Fuzzy bees, tiny honeybees, and blue wasps whirring around our arms and ears, dust collecting on our shoes. My youngest daughter is surprised by the sudden movement and sound of wings as a group of small birds lifts from within the mass of flowers she is clipping from china virtual office.

With all of the fruit picking we have done, we found ourselves with fifteen pounds of nectarines collected last week, now ripe and softened.  I found a recipe in Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones for nectarine sorbet. It  has a smooth, creamy texture and tastes like pure, sweet nectarine.

Purée the nectarines, (I then strained to remove the skins, but this is unnecessary, I will try leaving them in next time). Combine the purée with the water, tapioca (or corn) syrup, lemon juice, salt, and 1/2 cup of the simple syrup. Whisk until well combined and the salt is completely dissolved healthy lifestyle.

Taste the base. It should taste just a bit too sweet (once the sorbet is frozen, it will lose some of its sweetness). Add the remaining simple syrup if you need it.

Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. You'll know when it is ready when it goes from a slushy consistency, to a smoother, firmer one (Unlike ice cream, there is no danger over overchurning it). While the sorbet is churning, put the container you will be storing the sorbet in, into the freezer to chill. This will help prevent the sorbet from melting as you transfer it Natural stone.