Bottling Bits and Bobs
At the moment, I am slowly wading through the things I have to do to accomplish a general sort out in the house. It is very slow going. One of my problems is that I get distracted quite easily from doing something, usually something associated from real life that takes me away from "playing" and sometimes finishing off projects.
As a result, a big pile of UFOs covering a variety of different crafts and projects has amassed and it needs sorting. Particularly regarding my home made liqueurs that were put for steeping into jars and which have not been strained out of their jars as yet.
All is not lost however and getting these sorted will clear up a little more space and a little more clutter and mean that the bottled liqueur/preserves can be stashed together in a big box until I can strip out the under-stairs cupboard, wash and paint it.
The cupboard also needs to be re-organised as some of the fittings (i.e. wine racks) need putting in a better location. The shelves need to be covered/lined in readiness for re-stashing all my home preserved products.
There are a lot of filled jars of different products at the moment that need "homing" as I have been busy. I tend to have my shelves organised with jams, pickles, chutneys, bottled and canned goods where I can (excuse the pun)! It is not always possible to keep things organised but there is a rough plan as it were to make things easier to find. The UFOs have left me with a couple of steeping jars to sort out and strain. Jars with alcohol and wild fruit, or not so wild fruit and alcohol laced with sugar which need straining off. There are a couple of jars of Limoncello in there as well. Yum cannot wait to try that. It is a good one for packing into a Christmas hamper.
Therefore, the steeping jar contents need to be liberated and bottled so that my main soaking jars can be pressed back into service for a selection of new goodies yet to be made in this coming year. In any one year I make Sloe (if I can get them), Limoncello, Cherry Brandy as well as Strawberry, Raspberry, Blackberry, Rhubarb and Mixed fruit. The only downside of that is having a number of large steeping jars to wash. Because they are wire framed closures on top they need to be hand-washed.
I therefore need to deal with the "finings/sediment" and strain this off. For any kind of liqueur, I use coffee filters initially to take the thick off the "liqueur". Sometimes it needs a second coffee filter straining if the sediment is quite thick and then after that I run it through some fine muslin afterwards. You want it to look its best. You have to let the drip through take its time as pushing things through can sometimes end up with a cloudier liqueur type drink.
Invariably what happens in my kitchen is that I tend to have "sessions" of straining and the contents are left to strain through a coffee filter in a nylon sieve over a jug on the work top in the kitchen. This is left for a good couple of hours to run through naturally. As soon as everything has gone through and stopped dripping I then set up a separate sieve lined with very fine muslin and strain it again. This should run through far quicker. I then bottle into sterilised bottles, seal and label. You have to label as forgetting to can sometimes cause quite a bit of confusion. Something I admit to doing in the past! It is easier to make your own "liqueurs" than to pay an absolute fortune for the manufactured or artisan product. The only time I will consider buying such product now is if I get it on offer. I am particularly fond of Botanics Gin (this costs about £40 a bottle)!
Because of the trend for Gin and Vodka this has seriously put the price up for said product. However to make your own you only need a standard cheap Gin or Vodka to start with. Making your own can give a lot of pleasure and in this way you can have days out foraging for the wild stuff and dream away at the kitchen table preparing infusions from fresh fruit, alcohol and sugar. And of course the parties and celebrations where the liqueurs are "liberated" and imbibed all add to a wealth of memories, happiness and special people and a good way of living.
When it comes to any type of preserving most of the containers used are jars or bottles of one type or another for either making product in or storing in. In the case of wine-making the use of Demijohns and for jams, pickles, canned goods etc. some sort of jar or bottle. You even store dehydrated goodies in jars. Because I am so into preserving and have been for many years, needless to say I have an extensive stock of jars and bottles. I also recycle any suitable jars or bottles that come my way. I like it this way as it means that if the fancy takes me to make something on the spur of the moment I can just set to and start creating something.
In order not to waste things every so often I look at what I have to hand in the house and what needs using up and set too and make a useful preserve. At the moment I have dried fruit, some cooking apples and some cans of Guinness.
I have plans to turn this into a chutney as per the recipe here:
Sometimes, if I get a net of onions that is getting past its best, I will turn what remains into an onion marmalade or an onion relish. I am also thinking about creating my own stock of dried onions although to date this is something that is on the list to do and which I have not yet tried. We not only like lots of onions, we like garlic, spring onions, leeks, shallots etc. and use them extensively.
Under seasonal rules for preserving there are set periods throughout the year when you make this or you make that. Usually when that particular item is at its peak and can be cropped readily. However, due to the availability of goods through supermarkets etc. It would be a dereliction of duty if you as the "Chatelaine" of your castle and family did not take advantage of any produce that came your way and turned it into something tasty and then "squirrel" it away for when times are leaner and produce not as prolific. Bargains come in all shapes and sizes and if you manage to find a load of stuff drastically reduced in price then it does not matter that the stuff is not "in season" you have to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself. It is at the end of the day our responsibility to feed our families in whatever way we can. This year, and as mentioned in previous posts, I am going to (and have been) getting a "wriggle on" with preserving generally across the board. Putting up stuff for the pantry shelf, using various preserving techniques is par for the course in this household. Utilising dehydrating, jam making, pickles, chutneys, jellies, pastes, curds, the freezer, canning etc. are all good well trodden methods of preserving.
This year I am going to do more than I have done with the dehydrator. The more I do the more I am finding to do. It also saves pennies and fits into my "Waste Not, Want Not" philosophy. I am lucky in that I have two dehydrators. One a cheap one bought for drying herbs and little bits and bobs in and the other the all singing all dancing 9 tray Excalibur which I am tending to use more for batch preparation. I am putting stuff away that you cannot necessarily buy on a supermarket shelf. That is one of my main reasons for having the dehydrators in that you get more for your money by doing it yourself. I was unable to get the Seville Oranges from the veg shop theother day. The oranges were not of a good enough quality (that is what I have been told). In any event I have managed to find another source so I shall in the next few days get the marmalade made. Sometimes things are sent to try us.
The Vin D' Orange will also be made. Last night I liberated a couple of bottles of Cote de Rhone Red from the under-stairs store. I have a couple more bottles somewhere so once I find those they will get made up into a batch of fortified wine ready for Christmas 2020 and other special occasions. You can also make this with Rose and white wines although it is traditionally made with red. In any event there will be a couple of batches of preserved Seville Oranges going into the freezer ready prepared in order to make marmalade later on in the year.
Some busy and happy days ahead and lots of dreaming, plotting and planning as well.
Catch you soon.
Pattypan
x
Comments
Post a Comment
Hello, thank you for popping by