Elderflower Cordial, The Taste Of Summer
This summer I promised myself I’d explore other things to drink. This was partly inspired by Victoria Moore’s excellent book, How To Drink. In it she explores different drinks through the seasons. There are a lot of cocktail recipes and sections about ore unusual spirits. I really enjoyed it even though I don’t really drink spirits, her writing is excellent. It was the non-alcoholic sections that really interested me, from how to make a proper coffee to tea to lemon presse it gave me loads of ideas. I’m not a fan of sickly sweet artificially flavoured fizzy drinks at all so when not drinking alcohol I like to try something different. Obviously now that I’m pregnant I really have an incentive to seek out interesting non-alcoholic drinks. She also talked about fruit cordials which really interested me so I resolved that when the elderflowers bloomed this year I’d make elderflower cordial.
Luckily Dave works near a load of elderflower trees so last week he arrived home with a large bag full of blossoms. I cleaned them off by shaking them lots. There were some small flies on them so I made sure that they were all gone. I used about 35 flower heads. I looked around on the internet and found this recipe from Ashridge Trees. This recipe uses camden powder to preserve the cordial, I had some from home brewing so I used it as the recipe makes quite a lot and I didn’t want it going off before I had a chance to drink it all. The cordial was surprisingly easy to make.
Ingredients:
35 elderflower heads with the stalks pulled off
2 sliced oranges
2 sliced lemons
1300g of sugar
1 heaped tbsp of citric or tartaric acid. I used a mixed acid blend of citric, tartaric and malic acid that I use for brewing
3 pints of boiling water
Method:
In a large pot I boiled the water and dissolved the sugar in it. I then added the acid and the orange and lemon. Then I stirred in the elderflowers. I covered the pot with the lid and left it twenty four hours. The next day I decanted the liquid into a demi-john, if you don’t have one you can just decant it into another pot. I used a sieve to catch any stray bits. I added a tsp of camden powder to the demi-john and swirled it to dissolve the powder. I then left it for a few hours. I used two slom bottles from Ikea to bottle the cordial. I cleaned them using brewing sterilizer. I also used another smaller bottle for the last bit of cordial which we gave as a present to a friend. I then decanted the cordial using a funnel and some muslin fabric to make sure any bits were gone.
The smell of elderflowers and fruits in the kitchen was fabulous. I love the smell of elderflowers. The next day I had some cordial diluted with water and ice. It is fabulous even if I do say so myself. It’s really refreshing and the smell of elderflowers really leaps out at you. It’s not too sweet and I feel like I have bottled the summer. I have two big bottles and I don’t think they will last until the end of the summer. This evening I tried some mixed with sparkling water and ice and that was great too. I hear it’s also lovely when mixed with sparkling wine or champagne. I was really impressed with the results of this cordial and I think I’ll be making more cordials. They are easy to make and the results are quick too, none of the waiting around that you get with brewing beer.
Like this:
Gardening
I’ve never really been much into gardening. I do like flowers but have never been so into them that I could be bothered growing them and tending to them. Our garden here has a few pots, hanging baskets and a raised bed down the end of the garden that looks nice and is easy to look after. Westley the dog likes to dig up and eat flowers so the pots mostly have hardy plants like roses in them. He keeps away from roses after he once tried to eat a rose at my parents house and he ended up with a mouthful of thorns. He’s a silly dog but not that silly.
My Mum and Dad on the other hand like gardening, their garden is a riot of colourful flowers in summer. My Dad grows lots of fruit and vegetables in his patch and greenhouse at the back of the garden. There are apple and pear trees, plums, redcurrants, onions, lettuce, herbs, potatoes and much more. When I go home I usually get a bag of lettuce and tomatoes to bring back with me and they taste great. I also love using fresh herbs in cooking as they taste so much better than dried ones. This all started me thinking that I would like a small vegetable garden where I could grow easy stuff like lettuce and herbs.
The main problem is Westley, he is left alone in the garden and a bed of vegetables would be too much temptation. He would dig it up just from curiosity. I have even caught him trying to jump up to eat the flowers which overhang the hanging baskets. Also the soil in our garden is terrible, we paved most of the garden as it gets completely water logged as the soil just doesn’t drain. So I started to think that a raised bed would be a good way to solve the soil and dog problem in one foul swoop. My Dad was enlisted to see if he could make something from wood that would be high enough to keep the dog out. He arrived shortly after my birthday with an amazing raised bed.
I started a thread on the Irish Knitters forum on Ravelry to see if anyone had any advice. Of course knitters know everything about everything and soon there was a great discussion about what to plant and everyone’s gardening plans. I set to work pottering about in my shed and I planted a load of seed in pots. I wasn’t terribly hopeful that they would germinate since I have rather black thumbs but to my surprise they did! I got a few starter packs from Erin, they contained seeds, compost and fiber pots that eventually break down. I planted mixed lettuce, rocket, spring onions, chives, parsley and thyme. We filled the bed with some sort of compost for vegetables, I know loads about this can’t you tell? I planted some chives and lemon balm that my father in law gave me, he’s also a dab hand at this vegetable growing lark. I also put in some scented stock, marigolds and geraniums for some colour. Dave painted the wood the same colour as the shed and it looks really great now.
I’ve been surprised by how much fun it’s been. Dave has even gotten in on the act and planted some potatoes in a grow bag that has been left at the bottom of the garden, surprisingly Westley has left it completely alone so maybe he is getting some sense. The lettuce and rocket are almost ready to eat at this stage and I’ll have to plant more soon. The parsley has raced ahead and has been transplanted to it’s own pot. I also planted onions and some garlic. Since the photos were taken everything has gotten a lot bigger since we’ve had plenty rain recently. I’m looking forward to being able to go out and chop my own herbs when cooking. I also grew some chilli plants inside and these have taken off really well. I’m slightly concerned about how much I am looking forward to having real chillis that I have grown from seed. It’s a short step from there to becoming a complete chilli nerd and sending off for packets of seeds of all the different varieties. I’ll report back with more progress later in the summer.
Lace Flower Brooch
It’s all quiet here on the blog. Work continues on my never ending Summer’s End cardigan. I’ve started the second sleeve so the end is in sight. I’m not knitting anything else until I get it done. Then I can cast on a baby hat and cardigan and start making some small quick things like toys that I’ve been planning. I’m a slow knitter which usually it doesn’t matter too much to me, I knit for the enjoyment of the knitting, working out a lace chart or a new technique pleases me and the end result isn’t my main goal. However when I knit a garment like a cardigan I really see how slow my progress is. I want to be wearing this cardigan for the summer so I’m going to plug away at it and finish it as if I leave it again I know it will never get done.
However I did cheat on the cardigan last week and make a quick flower brooch for my Mum. She wore my Captiva wrap to my cousin’s wedding last week. However it needed a pin to help keep it on. So I had look and there in my copy of Brave New Knits was the perfect brooch, the lace flower pin. I used the remainder of the yarn used to make the Captiva to make the bottom of the brooch. On top I used some leftover kid silk haze to make the lace flower. Luckily the leftover kid silk matched the grey of my Mum’s dress. It’s a very easy but effective pattern. There are many gorgeous patterns in Brave New Knits, it’s a lovely book. I also liked the fact that it includes interviews with the designers of all the patterns. A knitting book that you can also have a read of is a win for me.
Back to the pin. The knitting and assembly of the brooch took only an evening or two. I liked that the base was composed of short rows of garter stitch as that echoed the construction of the wrap which is also short rows of garter stitch. I presume nobody else but a knitter would notice that. The beading you see on the centre took a bit longer as I’m not terribly good at beading. Eventually twelve swaroski crystals and a load of seed beads were sewn to the middle of the brooch. I’m glad I did the beading though as it really sets it off and completes the look of it.
I also have to report the arrival of some new stash! This was unexpected as I won a prize on Undermeoxter’s blog. Last year she had an Easter hunt on her blog and she did it again this year which was great as it’s a lot of fun. She laid a series of clues asking where she was. I’ve visited Carrowmore megalithic tombs before, my photos are here. So I recognized Listoghil tomb straight away. She sent me a really fab prize, a lace shawl kit from Easy Knits. The colours of the yarn are gorgeous, the purple is just my thing and I love the buttons. Thanks D!
Expecting
I did promise to explain why I hadn’t been posting here recently so I better do that. So here goes, I’m pregnant! I’m due in October, I’m really excited and utterly delighted as is Dave.
It relates to the blog because not only was I incapable of writing blog posts I didn’t have anything to write about. I had an awful lot of nausea and was really really tired in the evenings. I tried to knit and it wasn’t happening. I tried to crochet another square for my blanket which I’ve decided will be for the baby if I ever get it done. I think I ripped out the same row about five times before I just gave up. I couldn’t concentrate enough to work it out. I then tried spinning as usually when I not feeling the love for knitting or crochet I spin. Nope spinning made me nauseous, like being really really car sick. I still haven’t tried it as I don’t want to associate it with being sick.
I started the lovely ruff shawl by my favourite lace designer Kieran Foley as it is not too complicated and I hoped that it would cheer me up. I made some slow progress and was happy with knitting a row or two now and then. The start of the shawl is very simple, there are eyelets on the edge and it’s a half circle so there are a few increase rows. I looked at the shawl more closely yesterday and I have discovered that it is full of mistakes, I forgot the eyelets on a few rows and no I can’t live with it so I’ve ripped it out and I will try again when my brain is co-operating. I also started a very simple chunky cowl using yarn I got in France that isn’t going well as there is something about the yarn that I really don’t like, it made me ill to knit with it. Maybe it was just the nausea colouring my view of it but now I can’t finish it.
In the last week or two I’ve started to slowly feel better and I find I can crochet so I started designing a shrug using some gorgeous shiny drops cotton viscose. I’m using the simplest mesh stitch and it seems my poor addled brain can cope with that so I’ll keep going on that. I also finally managed to do a few rounds of the crochet blanket square which was great as I was starting to fear I had gone craft stupid! I’ve also finally started the sleeves on my summer’s end cardigan which I think I will stick with and finish this time so I can finally get to wear it. I seem to be able to knit it as the pattern isn’t new to me.
As a knitter and crocheter people have been asking what I’ll knit for the baby and if I’ve made anything yet. I haven’t made anything yet but what plans I have! I love baby booties and will definitely be making some of the very cute ones I’ve seen on Ravelry (Ravelry link). I’m also loving pinterest for baby planning. Our spare room is a very bright sky blue and I think it will be staying that colour as my baby room board has shown me that I love clouds and rainbows. I didn’t use pinterest much before now but it is very good for putting decorating ideas together. That’s all for now, hopefully I will be back soon with something finished!
I’m not drinking any beer at the moment, I don’t even want any. I do plan on trying some alcohol free beers and making some cordials and whatever other homemade drinks I can think of. I’m not keen on sugary fizzy soft drinks so need some tasty alternatives for summer drinking. Any reviews and experiments will be appearing here.
Frankfurt March 2011
At the start of March we headed off to Frankfurt for a few days. I already blogged about our trip to Paris, we booked the trip to Frankfurt at the same time. It was chosen as the flight was on sale and the times suited best and neither of us had been to Germany before. We didn’t have any idea what we would see or do while there. Once the trip was booked we discovered that a friend of ours lived near Frankfurt. Dave also realized that an internet friend of his lived near there too, he had known him for years online but had never met him. Suddenly we had lots to do in Frankfurt.
We arrived in Frankfurt and checked into our hotel, it was a boutique hotel so all the rooms are different. It was quite quirky and I liked it. We went into Frankfurt just in time to catch some of the carneval parade which seems to be an excuse for normally sensible Germans to be silly, many did look uncomfortable about being silly though. Then we met up with Bernd and headed off at breakneck speed down the autobahn to visit his house. When I say house I mean computer museum… This is Bernd’s house, the analog computer museum. He has another house where he actually lives with his wife just up the road as the computers have taken over. I loved looking at all the old analog computers. I loved electronics in college and have a fondness for op-amps and analog computers, they make sense to me. Dave’s article about the museum is here. It turned out that Bernd’s wife R is a knitter and spinner so we had plenty to chat about over the delicious cake she had made for us while the guys nerded away about computers. She’s a really talented spinner and her house is filled with lovely knitted and crocheted throws and other lovely stuff.
The next day we went to the zoo. Frankfurt’s zoo is quite large and was well worth seeing. I will admit to eyeing up a lovely grey alpaca for his impressive fleece. There were also vicuña, they are believed to be the wild ancestors of alpaca, their hair is very fine and is one of the most expensive fibers in the world.
There was a small amount of yarn shopping. In Frankfurt the department stores still have proper haberdashery departments which is great. There was a good selection of yarn, fabric, buttons, notions, sewing stuff in both Karstadt and the other department store we visited. I got some crochet cotton and some fabric in Karstadt. I was also really impressed with all the lovely home stuff in the shops. They really go in for easter in Germany and the shops were filled with cute chickens, bunnies and flowers.
On the last day we were hanging around and wandering around the town when we passed a shop with baskets of yarn outside. The shop was Wolle Rodel and it had a really nice selection of yarn. Lots of Regia sock yarn and their own brand stuff which looked really nice. It was well laid out to with many nice colours. I left with these lovely sock yarns but they aren’t for socks. The plan is to knit Kieran Foley’s lovely wrap fleece with them. The version shown in Knitty is more for winter but I think the blue and green and the shifting lace pattern will look a little like waves on the sea. Well at least I hope so.
I also got some lovely fabric which you can see below. I have no idea what to do with this, it was pretty and I bought it. Frankfurt was a nice place to visit, there isn’t loads to do in terms of visitor stuff but it’s a nice place to hang out. We had an advantage in that we met up with people we knew on Saturday night and they brought us to dinner. I really liked German food, there’s a lot of sausages and potatoes. I also liked the apple juice mixed with sparkling water called Apfelschorle. In my next post I’ll explain why I haven’t been posting here so much the last while.
Metalman Brewing Launch Their Pale Ale
It’s exciting times for Irish microbreweries. Last year saw new breweries Trouble Brewing and The Dungarvan Brewing Company fire up their kettles for the first time and this year sees the launch of another new Irish brewery. It’s called Metalman and it is run by Grainne Walsh aided and abetted by Tim. I have to say I love the name of the brewery which is very fitting as they will be based in Waterford close to the Tramore home of the real metalman which is a statue used to mark the harbour and a ships navigational aid. The design of the logo is also very distinctive and will help set them apart. I love art deco so I very much approve of the metropolis vibe.
I emailed Grainne and asked for an interview before the launch of Metalman pale ale in the Bull and Castle last Thursday night. (Apologies for the washed out photo, it’s dark in the pub!)
How did you get into brewing?
Probably the same thing that gets a lot of people into brewing beer – a desire to drink beer! When I first started visiting the UK regularly over 10 years ago, I was amazed by all the different types of beer available and the variety from pub to pub – it was a far cry from the same 5 or 6 draft beers available in every pub in Ireland back then. There was a little activity on the Irish micro-brewery scene, but it was very early days, and not easy to find their beers in your local pub. I subsequently lived in the UK for a while, along with spells on the continent, so I continuously sought out and found different beers in different places. I then moved back to Ireland in 2005, and it was a bit of a shock to the system to be back to those same 5 or 6 beers everywhere. Even some of the micros that seemed to have been on the up back in the late nineties were gone by the wayside (Dublin Brewing Company RIP), and it seemed only those that also had their own pubs had survived. So I started brewing at home so that I could have a choice of beers that I actually wanted to drink, rather than those that almost every bar, off-license and supermarket wanted me to drink.
How did you learn how to brew?
Initially, mostly by reading books, searching on the internet, and making terrible beer! Then one winter evening, the other half and I came across a website called “Irish Craft Brewers”, which was a community of like-minded people who were interested in all things beer and brewing related, who met up every month in a pub very close to where we lived in Dublin to taste each other’s beers, swap advice and information, and give constructive feedback to anyone seeking it. When we went to our first meeting, we didn’t realise it at the time, but it would change the course of our lives considerably. I can probably say with confidence that if we hadn’t stumbled across ICB at that time, Metalman Brewing would not be in existence today.
Why is that?
Lots of reasons, I guess. Mainly, I suppose, we were amazed at the quality of some of the beers that we got to taste on that first ICB evening. We were making very mediocre beer out of kits at that time, and ICB really opened our eyes up to the fact that with a little research, practice, and experimentation, you really could make excellent quality beers at home. Secondly, they were just so supportive – it didn’t matter that we were rookies, we were welcomed with open arms, given tons of very welcome advice, asked about what it was we were brewing (and with more than just feigned interest!) and encouraged to strike outside our comfort zone, to try new and different things. Before long, the beer kits were dispatched with, and we progressed to all-grain brewing within about a year.
What kind of beer were you making?
Everything and anything, really. I love to experiment, so we rarely made the same beer twice – American pale ale, English bitter, Irish stout, German lagers….and anything that you can throw a bit of chilli into! Porters are especially receptive to chilli, I find. (Much to the dismay of the other half.)
What made you decide to set up a commercial brewery?
I’m not sure there was any one single reason, it really seemed more like a culmination of years of inadvertent research 
Over the last 12 years, anytime himself and myself would travel together, we found ourselves seeking out different beers, looking for breweries to visit, trying to theme our weekends away around good beer opportunities. Once we started brewing ourselves, and understanding the scientific aspect of it a bit more, we also started looking at the commercial aspect of it a bit more as well, in particular with a view towards the growing Irish craft beer market. At the same time, I was looking for a career change from I.T., and much to my mother’s dismay, beer seemed to be the obvious answer.
How are you finding it different from home brewing?
It’s still early days, so you should definitely ask me this again in 12 months time! Consistency is key – when you’re making a beer at home, for primarily your own consumption, you don’t have to worry about whether it tastes the same (or even similar!) to the last time you made that particular beer. This clearly isn’t the case with a commercial beer, because if people buy Metalman Pale Ale because they liked it the last time they had it, then they expect it to taste the same as last time as well. Reproducing the same beer repeatedly is going to be a challenge, and something that we’re going to need to be really careful with when we move production from the Templemore brewery to our own brewery in a couple of months. Aside from that, I guess brewing is such a small part of the whole brewery programme, when you sit back and think about it – so much of my time is spent on organisational work, financials, planning, selling – much more time than I can spend on the brewing side, regrettably! It’s all good fun though. (And very essential.)
Can you tell me more about the name Metalman?
The name of the brewery is inspired by a navigational aid on the Waterford coast. The figure of the Metal Man was erected in 1823 after a military transport ship called the Sea Horse was wrecked off the Tramore coast, resulting in a significant loss of life. The Metal Man stands on one of three pillars overlooking the bay, and is a well known local landmark. Not many people know this, but there were actually 4 figures of the Metal Man cast during this time, one of them being commissioned for the Tramore pillar, and another for a similar landmark in Rosses Point in Sligo. No-one seems to know where the other 2 ended up though.
Also the graphic design is fabulous for the logo. Maybe tell me something about that design as well.
When we first started working with the designer, the brief I gave him was “Art Deco”, and to his credit, that’s exactly what he delivered. The reason I chose Art Deco as a style is probably due to spending a good deal of my time in Seattle with my last job – I really admired the architecture and found the influence very visually appealing. I had also seen and liked what some American breweries had done with this style, and given the lack of any significant Art Deco influence in Ireland, I felt that branding in this way would really help Metalman stand out. So nothing to do with the Metalman himself, I’m afraid, just a purely selfish desire for an attractive logo!
What is first beer going to be? Can you tell me more about the style and your thinking behind creating it?
Our first beer is going to be a pale ale, influenced by the American pale ale style, but not as strong as some of the American versions tend to be. It comes in around 4.3% ABV, and is bittered with Magnum and flavoured with Cascade and Amarillo hops. As it is golden in colour, we felt that heading into spring and summer this was a good style to launch with, giving people an alternative to lagers to drink as the weather warms up. (We hope!)
Many people are surprised that there are women brewers but women are increasingly involved. Are there any societies like the American pink boots society in Ireland and UK? Do you think women bring something different to brewing?
There are none that I know of yet, but things seem to be changing so quickly in the beer industry, that I think it’s only a matter of time. In March, I am heading over to a UK brewery called Brewsters for a female collaboration brew under the Venus UK project. The plan is to do a 4-nations type brew – we’ll agree on the recipe, then a female brewer each from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales will each brew the beer in their own brewery, starting with Brewsters in Lincolnshire, England. More to come on that next month!
So there you have it, exciting times ahead! I wish Grainne all the best and every success with Ireland’s newest microbrewery. I had a taste of the pale ale at the Bull and Castle at the very busy launch night. I really liked it as it’s light but it has a nice crisp bite of hops at the end with a long bitter finish. I think it will do very well for them in the coming months as we hopefully get some sunshine. The Beer Nut has more wisdom on the beer here. Keep an eye on Metalman’s twitter stream or faceook for more updates on stockists and upcoming events.
Well Done Dave!
Here’s a post which has nothing to do with my blog at all. This one is about my husband Dave’s blog which you can find over at Live At The Witch Trials. His blog was nominated for an Irish blog award and it is now in the final! It’s one of only five finalists in the best science/education blog. So well done Dave! He’ll be at the awards on Saturday night and I’ll be cheering him on and hoping he wins because his blog rocks.
