2010.06.13 My Day Part 1

Have had a lovely walk down the river with Missy and OH. He went off ahead with the dog and I lost him, but I had a lovely stroll anyway. Very peaceful just being at one with nature and letting the madness of the week evaporate. These photos show part of my journey on foot and I came across some swans as well

And this is how you walk the dog;

But then I was picking elderflowers to bring home to indulge in some of the recipes already recorded. I am going to make some elderflower cordial to start with, dry some for use in the winter months for making elderflower wine, making tea, and home made beauty products, but I want the fresh products as well. If you want to make elderflower cordial and don't have any processing equipment to help keep the product longer there are other ways. You can make the cordial and freeze it in individual ice cube trays then use straight from the freezer diluting with cold water to taste. There is also a version that you can keep in the fridge which uses Tartaric acid but this is not as long keeping.

Whilst out I also collected some wild dog rose petals with which to make wild rose petal jelly. This will be an experiment so will come back under a separate post as to whether this worked or not.

Hope yours was a lovely afternoon too. I am now going to get on with the cooking we are having roast pork for tea tonight and I have the elderflower goodies to get started as well as the rose petals to process. Catch up with you all later on.