Cafe Schwang: Ice & Cucumber Rose Sorbet

It seems like we are always on the search for the perfect dog treat. Some treats have been too expensive,some have been too messy, and some have just smelled too bad. It was only recently that we realized we've always had the perfect free, clean, and odorless treat. And it's the only thing that can make her go from the above photo, to showing the whites of her eyes:

Our pooches absolutely love ice; they love it as much as any of the other treats we give them. The moment they hear the ice dispenser that will leap from a dead sleep and come rushing into the room. Miss M will perform her full repertoire of tricks, and Mr. B can down a bowl of ice in mere minutes.
I had read about some good frozen dog treat recipes that I thought the dogs would enjoy, but then I figured why bother if they already love ice so much; it's free and pre-made. So, I concentrated my efforts to making sorbets that we might like.

Using some of the herbs from our garden, I figured out how to make a trio of sorbets: Lemon-Basil, Cucumber Rose with Mint, and Mango-Lime with Cayenne. I used a variation of this recipe, then I figured out that you can just add different flavors by putting herbs or zest in the simple syrups. We don't have an ice-cream maker, but I just blended it with a bit of ice, added a small amount of alcohol so it wouldn't crystallize, and froze it in an airtight container. The cucumber was my favorite. A lot of the restaurants here serve water with cucumber, and it tasted as crisp and fresh.Of course, Miss M wanted to try some too:

But she was actually happy to stick with ice. It's just too bad this is another thing I've discovered at the end of summer.