Saturday Musings

Yesterday I bought some lovely Strawberries from M & S and one lot have been used in some Vodka and already the colour is starting to seep into the Vodka.  So that's another jar of flavoured vodka on the go.  The other Strawberries will be for tea this evening after we have had another lot of Mussels for tea served simply with crusty bread and butter. Yum.

This morning I ran out of milk and went to the shop first thing and while out called at the Charity shop.  Nothing much for me this week although I did get a couple of bottles to be used for elderflower fizz/apple pop/ginger beer.  £1 each and when you are charged over £3 a bottle for me its cheaper to either get the bottles of fizz from M & S and then recycle the bottles often for less than £3 a bottle or keep my eye out at the Charity shops.  You can get the little seals from Kilner to replace the seals on the bottles.

At the moment I am enjoying a few cherries that OH got from Mr T's yesterday when he went for the mussels.  He says that they were only £2 a bag and they taste absolutely delicious they are full of flavour so I am hoping he will take me to see if I can get some more for squirrelling away in the pantry.  I am thinking brandied cherries, Black Forest style cherries in Kirsch, some to go into the Rumptopf, some to be dried in the dehydrator for use in dried fruit mixes come the winter months.  The one thing you do need when processing lots of cherries is a good cherry stoner and a bit of time to process them.  I sit on my Nan's old kitchen stool, radio on or just in the quiet processing them and end up with purple stained hands.   I always have a bowl for the pits and a bowl for the cherries and a bowl for the processed cherries so I tend to have a bit of a routine in place.

For a Morello Cherry Jam recipe

http://tarragonnthyme.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/morello-cherry-jam.html

I also managed to get some more Strawberries this time from the Co-op and a bit cheaper than M & S which are going into the Rumptopf and also to make the first batch of crushed Strawberry jam.  Haven't tried them yet so do not know about the flavour.  I have a suspicion that M & Ss will be superior but will have to wait and see.

 I do so enjoy this time of year when you get a plethora of fresh fruits and so much choice.  A great delight after the lack of colour during the winter months.

There are also lots of ways of using the fruit fresh and also in puddings etc.

I might make some lemon barley or home made lemonade later and store it in the fridge ready for getting a nice cold drink over the next few days and not much sugar in.  There is also the option below which is very refreshing.

http://tarragonnthyme.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/whole-lemon-drink.html

Oh and I nearly forgot this is the recipe I have used for the Lemoncello.  Home made of course.  I have two litres put up. These are the lemons that I actually used.  They were massive and the peel on them was lovely.

http://tarragonnthyme.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/lemoncello.html

the flesh etc went into making lemon chutney and lemon curd.  They were nice fat lemons which peeled ever so finely with the aid of a sharp potato peeler.  made the room smell lovely as I was peeling them.

Peeled

And in the Vodka steeping

I also intend to make some summer berry vodka

http://tarragonnthyme.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/summer-berry-vodka.html

I have also been to the veggie shop and come back with a couple of pineapples not sure whether having these fresh or turned into pineapple jam.  But the tops of the pineapples I am going to try and grow.  No use wasting anything.

I have also bought some cooking apples to process into apple sauce either for having warm with cold ice cream or as apple sauce for roast pork or putting in mini pies or a large apple pie with both puree and apple slices.  Gives a bit more texture.  There are always lots of way you can use apple.

Some tomatoes to make home made salsa.

Some nectarines to make nectarine chutney the recipe is the same for peach chutney.  Or they may get turned into nectarine slices in syrup.  Not sure which yet.

Some Italian red sweet peppers at 50p per bag which are going to get chopped and put into the freezer.  I like sweet pepper.

I have also made some more Raspberry vinegar with some more reduced raspberries.

I also notice that peaches are out and about. Might make some peach preserves and also some peach and raspberry jam.  You have to make the most that comes your way and if it means a little hard work to do it I just get on with it.

I have also purchased Apricots which are going into syrup and be bottled and also some pears I think they are going to get the same treatment.  So it looks as though I am going to have to drag Big Bertha out of the shed sometime tomorrow to hot water bath the bottles.  The beauty of this is that it is independent and I can leave it on in the shed as it has a timer and a thermostat and bulk processes a lot of jars and saves time.

So back into the fray of preserving.  I couldn't be happier when I am doing things like this. 

We have had mussels again for tea done in a little water and garlic and dressed with butter and served with chunks of French bread stick washed down with a glass of cider.

Went down very nicely it did.

Catch you later.

Pattypan

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