Elderflower cordial......

I love this time of year, everything is growing practically as you watch it & the hedgerows are looking lovely, lush & full of life. It is the perfect time to go out & pick some Elderflowers  & make fizz or cordial (not from the side of busy roads as this affects the taste) there is a River cottage recipe for fizz in an older blog post, but here is one for everyone, try it with some little flowers frozen into ice cubes for a pretty summer party drink.

This recipe for Elder flower cordial is from Sarah Raven’s  Garden Cookbook (Bloomsbury).

This recipe makes two 750ml bottles.

1.35g granulated sugar

Flowers from 15-20 elderflower heads

2 oranges, thinly sliced

2 lemons, thinly sliced

2 limes, thinly sliced

30g tartaric (or citric) acid

Put 1.15 litres of water and the sugar in a large saucepan, and dissolve the sugar completely before bringing to the boil. Add the flowers and return the water to the boil.  Remove from the heat immediately.

Thinly slice the fruit into a large bowl or jug. Add the tartaric acid to the fruit and pour over the hot syrup and flowers. Stir well and cover loosely. Leave for 24 hours.  Strain into warm sterillised bottles and seal.

Elderflower fizz take 2!

It's that time of year again, we have been looking forward to making our Elderflower wine as it was so lovely last year, we are making a bit more this year to hand out to friends & family as gifts.

We use the 'River Cottage' recipe as it is so simple to do & tasty.

We did go down to the lane behind the allotment last week on a lovely sunny day but the flowers were not quite out.

So we left it a week & went back on a not so sunny (rainy) day to gather the flowers.

As you can see we did Ok this time! There are still lots out there for you to give it a go, 

Enjoy it with some home grown strawberries, heaven!

Here is the  recipe...

• 4 litres hot water

• 700g sugar

• Juice and zest of four lemons

• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

• About 15 elderflower heads, in full bloom

• A pinch of dried yeast (you may not need this)

METHOD

How to make elderflower champagne

1. Put the hot water and sugar into a large container (a spotlessly clean bucket is good) and stir until the sugar dissolves, then top up with cold water so you have 6 litres of liquid in total.

2. Add the lemon juice and zest, the vinegar and the flower heads and stir gently.

3. Cover with clean muslin and leave to ferment in a cool, airy place for a couple of days. Take a look at the brew at this point, and if it's not becoming a little foamy and obviously beginning to ferment, add a pinch of yeast.

4. Leave the mixture to ferment, again covered with muslin, for a further four days. Strain the liquid through a sieve lined with muslin and decant into sterilised strong glass bottles with champagne stoppers (available from home-brewing suppliers) or Grolsch-style stoppers, or sterilized screw-top plastic bottles (a good deal of pressure can build up inside as the fermenting brew produces carbon dioxide, so strong bottles and seals are essential).

5. Seal and leave to ferment in the bottles for at least a week before serving, chilled. The champagne should keep in the bottles for several months. Store in a cool, dry place.

Light up my life!

Col has just quickly spruced the yard up as we have just moved into this house, and we do love to have the outside space lovely, we do plan to sell this house & buy somewhere with a garden (well, thats the plan) My Mum is baby sitting all of my plants until we get settled in here so the yard is looking a little empty but a lot tidier that it did a couple of days ago.

I love these vintage *roof tile lanterns* so much I have decided to hang a couple of them in the yard, it really finishes it off nicely, they are available at Urban Eden Boutique & made from old French & spanish roof tiles, with a hand made glass storm cover.

The place doesn't feel quite like home yet but once I surround myself with plants again I'll feel at home, only got the olive tree with me so far, which I love all the more for surviving that cold winter!!

But at least for now we have somewhere to sit & enjoy our homemade Elderflower wine, which has worked a treat again, although it is rather lively when you open it!!