Strawberry Sorbet Champagne Floats

On the 4th of July we have root beer floats; on the 14th of July we have champagne floats!  I made these with a simple, homemade organic strawberry & vanilla sorbet that I whipped together last night.  You could buy sorbet but I prefer to make it at home with organic berries and whole vanilla beans.  This is, of course, so I can control the quality of ingredients and assure it's safe for my daughter with food allergies.  (In other words, I have an allergy-mom's natural distrust when it comes to ingredient labels. That, and I'm a little neurotic about how the fruit in conventional sorbets and sherbets is handled.  Have you ever wondered if it's even cleaned before it's used?  I like to scrub the heck out of mine! )  Besides, sorbet is one of the the easiest desserts to make with an ice cream maker, so why not?  Make a simple sugar syrup, stir in the puréed fruit and churn in an ice cream maker, et voilà!

I garnished these with a skewer of fresh blueberries in honour of Bastille Day - bleu, blanc et rouge!  The kids had theirs sans champagne, naturally, with all the blueberries they could eat.

Luckily these blue, white and red floats happen to work just as well for Independence Day, too.  You know... if you need a reason to have champagne floats twice in two weeks. Cheers!

Potato-Green Bean Salad

I think I've made this potato salad at least five times in the last month.  Each time I start with the intent to switch it up a bit, but in the end the only thing I ever change is the onion - shallots one time, spring onions the next, even a little red onion here and there, depending on what I have in the kitchen - they all work perfectly.  Otherwise the recipe stays exactly the same time after time, and that's just how I like it!  I serve it cold, straight from the fridge, but it's just as good at room temperature, or even slightly warm.  And the leftovers are better the next day.

Whenever I make a vinaigrette with minced raw shallots, onion or garlic, I always let them soak in the vinegar for a few minutes or so before whisking in the remaining ingredients.  This mellows the garlic or onions and takes a bit of the bite out.  Then just whisk the remaining ingredients together using that same vinegar.