East Side Elderflower Cordial!

 Hi Folks!

I hope you're all well and enjoying the Sunshine ...what a difference a month makes!

You'll be pleased to know I'm keeping up the good work and haven't bought a thing to wear so far this year ....coming up to my 6th Month! I even visited the West End the other day and went into John Lewis to buy some skincare products. As I looked up from the ground floor to the first floor, I could see all the best dresses cleverly displayed at the edges to tempt you up there. I gotta say it was rather liberating to just  go in a department store and come out only with what I actually went in there for!

I promise there'll be more clothing related posts soon, I've got several projects on the go at the moment ...all of which are not quite finished ( I'm a devil for doing that).

This is a local drink for local people

In the meantime I thought I'd share this absolutely scrumptious recipe with you. It's the time of year when all the Elderflower trees are in blossom and I've got a few trees down at the back of my allotment. It's a really recognisable tree and as soon as you smell the beautiful frothy white flowers ...you know it's an Elderflower. The scent is intoxicating and June is the month when these gorgeous trees come into full bloom. It also grows on the ground by the side of streams and brooks ...it's literally everywhere!

So easy to recognise and the smell ...wow!

The only thing to remember is,  try not to  pick all the flowers from one tree, if you leave some flowers on the tree, then later on those flower sprays will become Elderberries and these can be made into a stunning Elderberry Wine. And I'll be having a go at that most definitely!

Elderflower tree

Ground Elder ....it's everywhere!

As you may know, usually Elderflower cordial is silly expensive to buy in the shops. It comes in a posh 'organic' looking bottle and costs a fortune relative to other cordials, this even though the trees are everywhere and it's native to England. It's really very easy to make. I freeze lots of it in small plastic water bottles so I can enjoy this taste of Summer all year round.


This recipe makes 2 litres (3 1/2 pints) ... don't be shocked by the amount of sugar .... that's a lot of cordial which will be diluted probably 1 to 10.




What you'll need


1.8kg (4lb) Sugar
1.8 litres (3 Pints) very hot water
25 Elderflower sprays
1 tbsp citric acid (available from brewers shops and online)
3 limes
1 lemon

1. Put the sugar into a preserving (or big) pan and pour on the hot water, stirring till all the sugar has dissolved. Cool for 20 minutes.

2. Meantime, shake the flower heads over the sink to remove any dust or insects then swish them gently in a bowl of cool water. strain and shake until semi-dry.

Freshly picked flowers ..wow they smell amazing!

Snip off the stalks

3. Using small sharp scissors, carefully snip off all the main stalks as as many of the medium ones as you have time to do, leaving only the floral sprigs.

4. Push the flowers down into the warm sugar syrup and add the citric acid. Stir gently.

5. Pare one-third of the thin outer rind from the fruit and add to the pan, then slice the semi-peeled fruit and add that too.

Pare some of the Lemon and Lime rind

6. Stir everything together, cover tightly with cling film and keep it in a cool, dark place for 24 hours.

It looks like a trifle!

7. Strain through muslin into a clean pan and bottle!

Strain the liquid out

This cordial needs to be drunk quite quickly as it will ferment if left too long, so remember to freeze a load of it ...taking care not to fill the bottle completely as the liquid will expand when frozen.

I made this the other day and look how many bottles I got! Easily enough to last the whole summer.

Some for drinking now, some for freezing and some for giving as a pressie!

* Drink with Sparkling water as well as still

* Add peeled, thickly grated root ginger (2 1/2 inch) at the same stage you dissolve the sugar to add a peppery note to the cordial.

* Combine with a chilled dry sparkling wine such as Cava for a super tasty aperitif.

*Do as the Hubster did the other night and add to a Vodka Martini for a delicious twist or make Elderflower cocktails with cthe cordial and gin or vodka, plus a splash of lemon or lime juice and a sprig of lightly  bruised mint.

* You could make ice cubes to drop into drinks or use the diluted cordial to make lovely refreshing ice lollies for the freezer.

Get your posh glasses out and quaff with delight!

Now off you go, while the weather is so beautiful and have a go. It's really really easy and so tasty, much nicer than the shop bought cordial.

I'll be back soon with more Home made goodies!

Bye for now

Leona X

Let's talk about the Birds and the Bees!

It's a Wildlife Special!

Hiya Folks

I hope I find you well and happy ... if a little soggy...... I've not had a lot of time to spend on the blog in the last few weeks as I've been a very busy little bee! I've celebrated my Wedding Anniversary and had a plethora of house guests here at Casa Wollaston, so I'm sorry it's all been a bit quiet on the Bloggy front.

But here I am, in my fifth month of not buying any clothes, I have to say, it's been very hard going as the stuff in the shops is all my kind of style, 50's dresses, 60's shifts, 70's maxi dresses ..it seems like the high street has got the best of the last 5 decades all sewn up..... but... I'm being strong and secretly praising the heavens for all this rain. (I don't have to go out and see all the pretty new collections when it's a damp squib do I?)

So, I'm looking for ways to distract myself at the moment to keep my mind away from shopping expeditions, and one of my favourite ways of forgetting about retail temptation is to get out in the fresh air .. not easy at the moment with all this rain!

Rainy little flowers!

The garden and allotment are crying out for some much needed attention and I absolutely LOVE spending time outdoors but it's been rather cold and as we all know very wet so the planting will have to wait a little while. It's hard to believe that just a few weeks ago, I was under the Damson tree watching all the little bees busily doing their thing. I do hope they'll be ok and able to survive the cold, damp weather.

With this in mind, I wanted to share a little bit of my passion for Wildlife with you and maybe give you some ideas on how to help to protect and attract some cute and beneficial creatures into your garden! Starting with my favourite ... the lovely little Bee!

So, why are bees important? We all know that they spend their days collecting pollen from one plant to another, but why should we be bothered about this? Have a look at this link.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/banrock-station/importance-of-bees

We haven't seen as many bees this Spring and it's hardly surprising with the terrible weather... these little wonders of nature rely on all the early blossom and spring flowers to build up their stock of pollen and many of the flowers which would normally be up at this time of year are just not there. There's a lot you can do to help, planting the right kind of flowers in your garden can make all the difference, those plants we think of as 'weeds' and ruthlessly dig up out of our flower beds and lawns are quite often the very plants the bees love the most. Plants such as dandelions which we treat as the enemy, they are there for a reason. They are also often very useful in homeopathic remedies and treatments too but that's for another day! Wildflowers are especially good, as bees and wildflowers have evolved together. You can buy Widlflower mixes in most of the cheap pound shops now and all you need to do is scatter them in your flower bed and wait for the magic to happen! Look at the show I got last year!

A carpet of colour!

The best flowers to plant are the single petal layer variety ( the ones that look like daisies basically)

We also leave some of our veg down at the plot to 'go to seed' as the flowers you get on Kale, Cabbage etc are much loved by the bees. They love yellows and blues and purples, little Violas are perfect and can be bought just about anywhere. 

Cute Violas!

They love the flowers off Strawberries, Raspberries, and Lavender too. These are all beautiful plants, with the added benefits of being edible and very useful to us. Why not plant something that is not just pretty to look at but will benefit wildlife too?

Lavender 

Wild Rocket

Down at the allotment, we've decided to go one step further and actually get some of our very own bees! Now I know you're probably picturing The Hubster and I prancing around frantically while being chased by swarms of angry insects ( you know you were) but no, we've got ourselves a teeny little number of 'Red Mason' bees, they are solitary bees and very chilled out. They don't produce honey but they are fantastic pollinators. They've already been busy at work on the fruit garden and as long as we get some sunshine at some point, we're expecting a bumper crop of gooseberries, raspberries,currants etc this year. There are loads of websites around now encouraging people to keep bees, or at least to support the dwindling population, here are some links.



http://www.birdfood.co.uk/

http://www.hedging.co.uk/acatalog/Mason_Bee_FAQ.html


http://www.masonbeesforsale.com/

Bee and Ladybird 'House'

Together with our little bees which came in cocoons, we got a box for them to store their pollen in, they will fill it up, lay their eggs in the cocoon and pack it full of dirt to protect the next generation. Then we'll store the tubes away somewhere sheltered for the winter. Next Spring, we'll bring the box out and with a bit of luck from Mother Nature, they'll hatch and we'll have a load more!

I'm actually quite cute when you get to know me

Mason Bee House

So, why not have a look in your garden and see whether or not you've got any of the kinds of flowers that support our little friends? They are absolutely vital to our ecological system and food chain. we could all do a little bit to help.

Right, I'm gonna buzz off now (he he) I hope you enjoyed this post and didn't find it too 'preachy' I just wanted to share my passion with you and show you what all this not buying clothes can lead to ....you actually find the time to think about other stuff, and sometimes just a little can mean such a lot.

I'll be back with some more soon.

Lots of Love!

Leona X