A friend of ours came to visit last weekend which put us in an interesting position. She is currently not eating anything with dairy products in it–which is an incredibly difficult task when you think about it. No milk chocolate, no butter, no cheese, no ice cream, no sour cream….I seriously might starve if I had to go on this diet. Especially since I would have to go without cream in my coffee!! Or use soy milk. But after trying soy milk once while pregnant, I know my coffee would just never be the same.

While we were coming up with menu options for dinner, we had to be sure to avoid all things dairy. And as it turns out, she is also a rather picky eater in general. No shrimp or shellfish of any kind and usually no meats in their pure form. So usually nothing like a chicken breast or a steak…but bolognese, lasagna and other dishes where the meat is fairly well chopped up and disguised are ok. It’s the texture of the hunk of meat that is the issue…not the meat itself. (GC, I know you’re reading this so correct me if I get it wrong still…and what about something like tacos?)

You have no idea how relieved we were that she wolfed down the T-bone steaks we served with sweet potatoes (no butter!), fresh salad with homemade champagne vinegar and dessert. Yes, the selective vegetarian was craving the steaks after Stefan suggested them–a standard fair for friends who dine with us (before knowing about her dietary preferences). We were pretty shocked when she practically licked the bone clean. Must be her body trying to make up for the lack of dairy in the form of any animal it can find.

Anyway, when it came to dessert, we decided to make a fresh mango sorbet. As luck would have it, I found a PILE of mangoes on sale for €0.60 a piece which is a decent price in Germany…especially when you consider the ones I found at our local market for a whopping €3.49 a piece. I don’t know if there was gold inside those mangoes or not but I just had to pass.

I probably spent at least 5 minutes going through the mango pile as I hunted for the softer mangoes that hadn’t started to spoil. The majority of them were still rock hard but I picked out about 7 nice ones. Not only for sorbet but for Mack and us to enjoy as well. We’re all big mango fans in this house. Thankfully 4 of the mangoes I picked out ripened up even more while sitting on the kitchen counter for a day. It’s finally starting to show signs of spring around here so the kitchen wasn’t ice cold for a  change.

Sorbet is incredibly easy to make if you have an ice cream machine. It’s quick and can be rather inexpensive. Not to mention that making your own ice creams and sorbets produces awesome, personal flavors that just taste fantastic. Another gadget that makes life simpler when it comes to mangoes is a mango cutter (like the Oxo Good Grips Mango Splitter in America or the cheaper Fackelmann one in Germany). I’m not usually a fan of kitchen gadgets that only serve one purpose–but I seriously love that thing. You can slice a mango in half and seed it in about 30 seconds…VERY useful when you’re trying to get something into the hungry mouth of your little girl. 😉 I guess if you’re already a pro at slicing seeds out of mangoes you’ll hate the thing…but I always found that part of the process to be the worst.

This mango sorbet recipe produces a nice, fresh sorbet with a pleasant lime undertone. You could also use lemons if you’re not a fan of lime. Either will definitely bring the feeling of summer right into your mouth when you taste it. We paired the sorbet with some enormous strawberries that I found at the store on sale…but you can really pair sorbet with any sort of berry and even other fruit pieces for a wowing desert that takes hardly any effort at all.