Sunday Catch up

Currently in the kitchen there is two gallons of elderflower cordial soaking away to release all that muscat scent from the elderflowers.  Tomorrow evening is going to be busy.  I have the cordial to bottle and hot water bath in my baby steriliser so I will have a little production line on the go.  I am going through lemons like nobody's business at the moment.

I am supposed to be doing my first sourdough loaf tomorrow night but I cannot see that quite happening unless I get lucky and the bottling goes smoothly.  I hope so as this sourdough starter is really starting to grow and is looking very active which is a relief as I forgot about the last one and killed it which was not a very auspicious start but I am hopeful with this one as it is quite lively and bubbling away well.  I think I may well be doing this on Tuesday night - rather than push things too far tomorrow.[It will give me time to post up my original post on Sourdough which I should have posted by now but seem to have got ahead of myself a little).

I have also started off the Elderflower Champagne or at least the first bucket of about 4 gallons.  I have loved Elderflower Champagne since I was a little girl and first had it at my Nan's.  Anything Elderflowers I try and take advantage of as there are so many lovely things you can do with them.

I am also going to start some Elderflower wine off but I need another couple of brewing buckets to really take advantage.  I also love Elderflower wine.

I have enough Elderflowers to make a little Elderflower vinegar for use in viniagrettes and mayonnaise as well.

 

At some point during the week I also want to make some sweet chilli dipping sauce as I picked up a few chilli peppers to do a few bottles.

And I have to go to work and do all the other housewifely stuff when really I want to stay at home and play

I really want to get as much stuff as I can put down for the winter months whether that be in the freezer, in alcohol, home made wine and beers, liqueurs, pickles, chutneys, jams, compotes, home cured bacon, pastrami and salamis, gravadlax, gravadmax, potted crab and prawns, fruit leathers etc. etc. etc.  I had said that I was hoping to get some cherry tomatoes and bottle them with some basil a couple of weeks ago.  I didn't get but they are still on the list.  Then there are Apricots and Strawberries, Gooseberries and Raspberries, plums.  Its a lot of hard work but then it is a win win situation, I know what my family are eating and whereabouts it is from within reason, I can take advantage of good prices, and make sure my family are well fed throughout the year.  I am learning new skills and the more I do the more I want to do. What I am making you cannot always necessarily buy in the shops or if you can not always at reasonable prices.

I still have not managed to play with my dehydrator that is on the list too.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

x