Elemental Grace

Getting into the Christmas Spirit…

I am well and truly getting into the Christmas spirit.

Work are having a Christmas fundraiser for a local hospice (a great charity – they looked after D a year ago) and asked for donations, so I thought that instead of sticking in the obligatory bottle of wine and some chocolates to do something a bit different.

I have a few bottles of homemade blackberry vodka chez moi so I thought I’d put them in some nice glass bottles, put on some pretty labels and send in a few bottles for the fundraiser. Of course, it would be a devastating shame to put them in if they weren’t ready for drinking or tasted horrible so a little bit of a tasting was called for .. *hic* … as it happens, they turned out rather well and I’m really quite pleased.

We have a humdinger of a family recipe for sloe gin, which can be adapted to accommodate any liquor and any fruit. Here’s the recipe as passed down to me from D:

Ingredients

• Get about 1 1/2 – 2lb of sloes. The more the better, but for 2 litres of hooch 2lb will do. (Sloes are the fruit of the Blackthorn, and are in the hedgerows in Autumn. Verybitter so don’t eat straight off the bush)
• White sugar, about 1/2 the weight of the sloes.
• Gin. Lashings of it, as cheap as you like, provided that it IS gin!
• Empty 2L bottle (Coke, Lemonade etc) Can you guess that I never weigh anything? I simply use my eyes.

Recipe

• Wash the sloes, and either sit in front of the TV with a little paring knife and slit the skins or just put the fruit in the freezer. This will split the skins for you and save you some trouble.
• Place split fruit in bottle. Add sugar. Add gin to near the top. Close bottle and place in dark cupboard.
• Take it out once a week and shake it.
• Three months later taste it, just to reassure yourself. Add a little more sugar if you want to. (I have never done so.) Continue to leave it in the cupboard, and to shake it once a week. (Yes, for a year if necessary!)
• There are those who serve their sloe gin after 3-4 months. I am not one of them, believing that it improves with age in a dark place. I never produce it before 12 months, although I do admit to reassuring myself just occasionally.

So far, I have some sloe gin, blackberry vodka, blueberry vodka and blueberry gin. I have plans to expand but I’m currently experimenting and I’ll let you know how it goes. Until then … seasons greetings and all that.

Be well.

2 Comments November 19, 2008

Back to basics

Well, subject to the survey coming out ok (fingers crossed) I’m buying a house! Well, it’s actually a little cottage, just as I always wanted. The details from the estate agent were incredibly unflattering, as were the photos but once you get there, it’s absolutely lovely. It’s just round the corner from a farm, right on the edge of some of the loveliest countryside in the Mendips and a short walk away from the centre of town. Absolutely perfect in every respect.

There is lots to be done inside house. I want to rip out the downstairs bathroom and move it upstairs and replace the existing kitchen with something a bit more in keeping with the character of the cottage. I have my eye on a lovely kitchen from www.neptune.co.uk which would work really well in a cream colour.

As with everybody on the first rung of the property ladder, it’s my chance to actually furnish the place the way I want it, which is quite exciting. I havelists upon lists of things I’m taking, things I need, links to stuff I like the look of. The budget is kept meticulously, with contingency funds. It’s awfully exciting.

Since part of me is stingy, and another part creative I wanted to do a lot of things myself. I can easily do cushions and cushion covers, update bedspreads and pillow cases and that sort of thing. I have been developing patterns and identifying colour schemes that I think will work. (I’ll add some photos later of the fabrics etc)

It’s been ages since I dusted off my sewing machine and did anything apart from turning up the odd pair of trousers to it will be quite exciting to get back into the swing of things. It’s surprising how easy it is to slip into the habit of saying that you can’t or you can’t be bothered and just go out and buy something. With food, cooking, sewing … I really fancy a bit of getting back to basics and I think this will be the perfect opportunity.

2 Comments November 18, 2008