Cordial 101

When the boys were little I used to make our own 50:50 cordial....and it was lovely. Over the years I have been rather slack and only making cordial for 'special occasions', having settled on the bought stuff. Blehhck!! Now I remember why I made my own. Because it's by far, heaps better in comparison! (and much more healthier too, I'm sure).
I also made a batch of Pineapple Sage Cordial from the flowers of the Sage which you can view here.


Aunty Milly's Lemon Cordial OR  50:50 Cordial 
(Aunty Milly is one of my Nan's sisters)


The rind and juice of 6 lemons OR (for 50:50 cordial use 3 lemons & 3 oranges)
4lb (800g) Sugar
1 ounce Tartaric Acid
2 ounces Citric Acid
1 ounce Epsom Salts
1 litre of Boiling Water

Put all ingredients into a basin, Stir well until sugar is dissolved. Strain overnight and bottle. Makes approximately 2 1/2 litres.

Rhonda also makes her own cordials using sugar water. I recently used her method as a guide to make a quick batch of cordial after finding some strained passion-fruit juice in the freezer 

Looking at the photo: I just realised I wrote Pineapple...lol
It was definitely Passion-Fruit

Fruit-Cup Cordial 
1 cup of strained passion-fruit pulp  
Juice and zest of 3 oranges
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 kg sugar
1 litre water

Make the sugar water, by boiling the water and dissolving the sugar. Allow this to cool slightly before adding the other ingredients.
Leave to steep overnight, then strain and bottle the cordial. I recommend storing the straight cordial in the fridge. Dilute to 1:4 or 1:5 cordial to water.

This recipe made just over 2 1/2 litres of cordial.

You bet I will be freezing the leftover pulp for some muffins

 

I think I might use some papaya pulp from the freezer to make my next cordial

or maybe some mango pulp..........

Do you make your own cordial? What's your favourite flavour?

If you haven't tried making your own,

Will you? Now that you've seen how easy it is?

Award winning Home-brew

A few weeks ago, a lovely lady sent me an email regarding her working near the HR department within the mining department...we have had computer trouble back and forth since....with bad timing, as I never got to send you a reply...I'm sorry I haven't contacted you, and unfortunately I lost your email as we had to get a new motherboard for our computer.....Could you please send me another email if you read this......


Today's post is all about Hubby...I have to give my hubby a huge big plug..while he isn't much into all the work involved in keeping things simple, he sure does love the good food and all else that comes with the work I do. It takes a team effort to make a house-hold work. It doesn't matter who is part of that team, as long as you all work together and that includes the children, even from a young age....and you will find that within your own team, there will be different skills held by each member.....One of Hubby's many skills is making a good batch of brew.

First Prize - Bitter

While I can make fruit cordials, and Kefir fizzy, and Rhubarb Champagne...I don't have, nor do I need the skills of making beer. That's because my husband makes his own beer. Hubby has been experimenting with brew making for at least 20 years....with that comes experience! For the last few years hubby has been entering his beers in the local show with some very encouraging results.

Second Prize - Lager

Second Prize - Pale Ale

************************

Sponsors for the 

home-brew section for 

Dapto Show 2012

************************

Longboard

Centre: Hubby with two of the judges
of the Homebrew Section
for Dapto Show 2012
LONGBOARD BEER

Longboard beer

********************************

Illawarra Brewing Company

What a lovely home-brew display at the Dapto Show

 ........and an even better display at home.....

Seeing the judging took place days before the show, we already knew in advance....and on helping Richard celebrate his birthday on Saturday at the garden course....Hubby gifted Richard with a 6-pack of the Prize Winning beer...which I'm sure he enjoyed....and I made him a birthday cake.

Here is a photo of the birthday cake I made for Richard...of-course it had to be garden related....lol

While we were waiting for the judging to finish and the presentations to begin....I couldn't help but wander a round the pavillion to look at the lovely dahlias which were entered.  I took many many photos..but here is just a small taste of what I saw. Aren't they lovely?

Have you ever made your own batch of brew? How did it turn out?

NOTE: Hubby is looking for some Hop Seed to have a go at growing his own hops....if you have any spare, and would like to exchange using a barter set-up...I would be ever so happy to chat with you.

Pineapple Sage Cordial

It's that time of year when the Pineapple Sage is reaching for the sky...towering over every other herb in the garden....I met for the first time yesterday, a lovely lady who I have known for quite some time....I finally met Sonia...my Freecycle friend. Sonia is a lovely person with lots of enthusiasm....Walking around her garden with her she was so keen to offer me any cuttings I would like....After lots of hunting and digging, I came away with lots of plants to add to my garden....including a huge bunch of flowering Pineapple Sage.

I'm sorry, but I didn't take a photo of the bunches, but this is what I did with it....
I separated the leaves from the stalks and they are drying in the shed...I also kept the flowers, to make Pineapple Sage Cordial.

PINEAPPLE SAGE CORDIAL
1 Cup of Pineapple Sage Flowers
3 cups of water
3 cups of sugar
juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons of tartaric acid

In a saucepan, add the water and sugar, and heat until sugar is dissolved.

Add the flowers and lemon juice and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5-10 minutes....Stir the mix then add the tartaric acid.

Now strain in a colander over a cotton cloth

...bottle and keep in the fridge...

Will store well for 2 to 3 weeks.

Dilute with water before drinking. Serve to your friends when they come visiting. They will certainly be impressed.

For diluting amounts..It comes down to ones own taste. I personally like 1 cup of water to 40mls of cordial...
Serve with ice, and you will be reminded of the lovely summer days.
Oh so quick, and Oh so yummy.

RHUBARB CHAMPAGNE-Alcoholic or not, its up to you

Recipe - Rhubarb champagne

2lb rhubarb
1 sliced lemon
8 pints of cold water
1 lb sugar
1 dessert spoon of vinegar

bottles
nylon curtain to strain it.

Wash rhubarb and cut up roughly, add sugar, finely sliced lemon, vinegar & water...Let stand for 24 hours, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.

Strain through nylon curtain. Bottle and seal tightly. Screw-top coke bottles are good because they allow for expansion from gas...

The champagne is ready to drink in a few days, but becomes alcoholic after 2 weeks....The drink is very sweet the first few days, this is when my kids drink it as it is not alcoholic yet.

I prefer it sweet, and we generally drink it chilled. After bottling, I taste it every day until I get the flavour I like, then pop it in the fridge to stop fermentation. All of it must go in the fridge if you like a sweet wine.....

Over time the sugar is converted to alcohol with fermentation. The longer the fermentation the dryer the 'wine' due to less sugar.......

For a sweet wine, once it reaches the desired flavour, store all of it in the fridge to stop fermentation.
For a dry wine, store at room temperature in a cool place to allow a longer fermentation . Once again, when it reaches the desired flavour place it in the fridge. Bottles will expand greatly with this method, hence the plastic coke bottles.....

Remember if wanting a dry wine, the bottles can warp and explode....The gas needs to be released once in a while....

you will be amazed at the lovely pink coloured drink you get....
very yummy.