When my father went through chemo he lost weight as if it were falling off him. The chemo dulled his appetite to the point that he didn't want to eat anything. I'd imagine George is experiencing something like this: He probably just can't bring himself to eat right now. It has nothing to do with what his priorities "ought" to be. If I were Leone (hi, Leone!) I'd be "into" anything that helps George put the weight back on. Those sorbet and ice cream experiments sound fab to me. Wouldn't mind having a sample of all of them right now! Karen

I have seen Champage/Atauflo mangos out of Mexico that are not bad...very edible in a pinch. Have seen Tommy Atkins mostly....they are an insult to mangos. I have seen some under ripe Kent and Keitt grown outside the US, that I have tried only to be disappointed compared to the fruits from my yard with the same name. Regarding Haden.......a bit heavy on the fiber for my preference, but as far as the flavor, many people feel it is one of the best. Most of these people are admittedly of somewhat limited mango experience. However, Haden was the state of the art mango here in the US for many decades. At tastings that I have it is never in the top five but always in the top 15. These tastings that I do can be somewhat deceiving though. There might be a mango that you taste that is wonderful, great, really enjoyable. Then you put it on a platter with some other varieties and it all of a sudden turns to mediocrity. And there is variation between tastings depending on the perfection of the ripeness. It is very difficult to have a tasting that really allows you to make fair comparisons based upon that one tasting. You have to compare over a season to really get a complete evaluation and it helps to have multiple people tasting the same fruit. So numbers become a problem. That is why when you go to the Fairchild Mango Festival....as great as it is....you really can't get a true sense of which is better than what. There are too many people tasting the meat from different mangos (all in the same bowl, with the same name) which may each have a different level of ripeness. One mango can have portions of itself which are more or less ripe affecting the flavor. The time that passes between cutting the mango and eating it can affect the flavor. Refrigerating and or freezing can affect both the flavor and texture of the fruit. On top of all of that, there is what I call mango tongue overload. At some point, if there is too much to try, you need a salty intermezzo to be able to even appreciate the subtle diffences between mangos. I still say, when it comes to a perfectly tree ripened mango that you can just slice open and eat on the spot, right off the tree.....there isn't a bad mango....they are all delicious.....even Tommy Atkins.....is worth eating.

I have a cuisinart icecream maker and while it works alright it's sometimes convenient for me to make icecream by itself (without an icecream maker). Here is one such recipe that you can try. It comes out absolutely sublime. Mango Icecream 1 can evaporated milk 1 can condensed milk 1 can mango puree (available at Asian or Indian stores). If you cannot find it, then puree the mangoes yourself (you can slice and cut up mangoes and blend them with a tiny bit of water or milk, the lesser the liquid the better). I would use 3 cups of freshly pulp if you can't find the can 1 16 oz container of coolwhip topping In a large bowl, add the mango, evaporated milk, condensed milk, cook whip and pureed mangoes. Beat it all with a hand mixer until the ingredients are well mixed. Pour in an airtight container and freeze for 2-3 hours. Remove, stir (to break ice crystals). Cover surface with seran wrap, put the cover and forget about it. Remove 15-20 minutes prior to serving to soften it a bit. It makes a creamy and delish icecream. You can substitute other fruits for mangoes. I have used canned lychees to make a delicious lychee icecream.

As Linda mentioned, you can make sorbet just by freezing the sorbet, scooping it into a food processing and whizzing it a couple of times, we did the Limoncello sorbet in Chicago that way. I have the same Cuisinart posted above, and I've made mango sorbet, prickly pear catus sorbet and a lime/kiwi sorbet. It's all good and works fine. Annie