Playing with fruit

 

 

Remember the blackcurrant gin? Well it's now strained and bottled so I used the gin soaked blackcurrants to make Blackcurrant Gin Jam.  Just 2 and a bit wee jars so a proper gourmet batch of jam.  Tastes lovely, no gin flavour as such but definitely a slight tang of aromatics.  They're already earmarked for someone's Christmas hamper ;-)  I like the idea of giving something that you can't buy in the shops.

 

 

This batch is gooseberries in vodka (the gooseberries from my lovely mum's garden were in my freezer). Same method, 1lb of fruit, 1lb of sugar and 1 bottle of vodka.  The sugar is nearly dissolved already so once it's all gone I'll pop it in the cupboard for 2 months.  Just in time for Christmas!  Then I'll make Gooseberry Vodka Jam.

 

I love the idea of getting 2 different foodie gifts from the fruit :-)

Happy Valentine's Day

I haven't made a card for ages but dug out my supplies to make one for my OH.  I really do have a lot of craft stuff!!! I spent a happy hour sorting through boxes of inks, stamps and toppers.  No cost as I had everything. Hope he likes it. With a little bit of work I could save a lot of money by making cards again.  They seem to have shot up in price.  I saw a card of similar size in the shop selling for £3.99!!

I also baked him a cake.  He has a very sweet tooth!  It's a lemon drizzle cake baked in 2 wee heart shaped tins. I used my bargain eggs and lemons ;-)  I sandwiched it together with my home made apricot jam and drizzled the lemony syrup over it.  I also made some heart shaped cupcakes from the mixture for my other sweet toothed guy.

I saw an idea where you put a marble in the tin to create a kinda heart shape.  I used some baking beans.  They came out ok ish.  The hungry Teen won't mind what they look like!!

More bargains!

Sometimes it's just luck if you hit the supermarket at the right time for yellow stickers.  I love it when things are only 10p but I try not be disappointed if they're not at that price yet.  This little haul below was a lucky one costing me £3.50

 

 

 

6 half pint tubs of organic double cream (from a local dairy!) @ 34p each, punnet of apricots 39p, bag of organic rocket leaves 29p, mixed veg 24p and a pizza 54p

 

 

 

The cream was turned into butter and buttermilk.  Both nicely portioned out to suit my regular cake recipes and popped into the freezer. My banana loaf recipe is in ounces hence the 5oz tub but my Madeira cake is metric!! I haven't frozen butter before but know loads of folk do it so I'm giving it a go. 



 

 

And the apricots became jam.  The hungry teen  loves home made apricot jam especially on pancakes.  Not a big amount but enough to last us a wee while.

My new freezer is up and running.  I've never had a chest freezer before so it's taking a bit of getting used to.  I've been filling it up with turkey bolagnais sauce, sliced lemons, lemon juice and lime juice ice cubes (got a bargain bag after Christmas, 1 ice cube is 1 tablespoon) and a few other bits n pieces.  Today is going to be curry and pizza making day.  I'll make a batch of bases and sauce for freezing then putting a pizza or a curry together should take a few minutes whenever the teen feels peckish!

Keep Calm

Well what else can I do?  I am not going to waste time and energy on something I can't change so I'll carry on as normal.  I'm going to keep saving money, after all it will be useful for moving house.  Then when I'm in my new house I can reassess my plans and re name my blog.

So another late night raid on the supermarket scored some reduced raspberries, cherries and a large pineapple.  Not massive amounts but enough to make a couple of jars of yummy jam.  Some to use and some to gift.

And I've added a few more things to my Etsy shop, some wee Scottie Dog brooches.  They're about 5cm/2 inches in size.  They're perfect for using up all the wee end bits of tartan.  Bit fiddly but I can make one from scratch in 30 mins now.

I've sold a couple of things and have 2 special orders.  Like I said it won't make me fortune but I'm loving it and it's all mine :-)

Apricot jam

I picked up some reduced fruit in my local supermarket including 3 punnets of apricots, down from £1.99 to 80p.

There was nothing wrong with them, no blemishes just a wee bit hard.  Lots of fruit is now sold as 'perfect for ripening in the bowl' so buying them on the sell by date is a good option.  Now even I can't eat 1.2 kg of apricots, so I decided to make jam.  Some for us to eat and some to give as gifts.



My adapted recipe from Thane Prince's Jams and Chutneys book

1.2kg apricots, stoned and quartered
juice of 3 lemons
1kg of sugar
150ml liquid pectin (optional but I made my own)

Add fruit, lemon juice and 400ml water to a large pan.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 mins until fruit is soft.
Add sugar, stir gently to dissolve.
Bring back to a rolling boil and boil for 5 mins.
Add pectin (if using) and boil for 2 mins.
Test for set.
If not using pectin, then you need to boil for longer (about 15mins) to get to a setting point.
Pour into hot sterilised jars.

3 large jars, 2 wee ones and a tub for immediate use as I didn't sterilise enough jars!! One jar  has already been gifted :-)

Total cost £6