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Oops
11:00am - Flick puts marrons glacés in Aga, and sets alarm for three hours.
1:00pm - Flick realises that the alarm will go off while she's being de-haired, cancels it and SMSs Mike to say "please take them out in an hour or two".
7:00pm - Flick thinks "I wonder if Mike took the marrons glacés out of the Aga? I don't remember seeing them on the worktop while he was cooking. Must remember to check." And then forgets, on account of being in a field at the time.
9:30pm - Flick remembers thinking the above when last in the field. And continues to remember for long enough to get into the kitchen and take them out of the Aga.
I wonder what that's going to do to them...?
(They are rather experimental, and made from windfalls. We shall see!)
(The sugar has, finally, all dissolved in the sloe gin, though, which I take as a good sign! Anyone know if I still need to keep periodically shaking it now or not? Am contemplating taking some carrier bags out and gathering fruit for a second, post-frost batch, but all the ones I'd been vaguely considering for that are now looking a bit old and withered, due to late frost.)
(I paraphrase only slightly when I say that one of the Aga cook books describes the process thus: "Making marrons glacés without an Aga is a horribly long and tedious process. With an Aga, it only requires three or four hours of initial prep time and then popping them in the simmering oven for two or three hours each evening for a fortnight while preparing dinner! So simple!")
1:00pm - Flick realises that the alarm will go off while she's being de-haired, cancels it and SMSs Mike to say "please take them out in an hour or two".
7:00pm - Flick thinks "I wonder if Mike took the marrons glacés out of the Aga? I don't remember seeing them on the worktop while he was cooking. Must remember to check." And then forgets, on account of being in a field at the time.
9:30pm - Flick remembers thinking the above when last in the field. And continues to remember for long enough to get into the kitchen and take them out of the Aga.
I wonder what that's going to do to them...?
(They are rather experimental, and made from windfalls. We shall see!)
(The sugar has, finally, all dissolved in the sloe gin, though, which I take as a good sign! Anyone know if I still need to keep periodically shaking it now or not? Am contemplating taking some carrier bags out and gathering fruit for a second, post-frost batch, but all the ones I'd been vaguely considering for that are now looking a bit old and withered, due to late frost.)
(I paraphrase only slightly when I say that one of the Aga cook books describes the process thus: "Making marrons glacés without an Aga is a horribly long and tedious process. With an Aga, it only requires three or four hours of initial prep time and then popping them in the simmering oven for two or three hours each evening for a fortnight while preparing dinner! So simple!")
no subject
I shake the bottles once a day for the first week then once a week until I strain and bottle them (about 2-3 months).
I freeze the fruit once it's strained out.
Don't know if that helps?
FF
no subject
What I've read says to strain it out in three months but that it's much better for drinking the next year, or several years later. We might crack open a bottle at NY, just to see....
no subject
How essential is sugar for the preserving process? Tried bottling our figs in brandy about 7 weeks ago, and that involved using both water (recipe said 50/50 with brandy, which sounded inadequately alcoholic - I adjusted to 25/75) and quite a lot of sugar. Given sweetness of figs, it did seem a bit much, but recipes all say they won't keep without the sugar. I've no idea if this is correct - ideally I'd like to just stuff them in pure brandy and leave it at that!
no subject
You also get a different flavour if you pit the damsons to unpitted damsons. More of an almond flavour in unpitted gin, obviously.
I prefer unflavoured gin for adding to fruit but that's hard to get hold of in the UK (Dutch Geneva is perfect if you can lay your hands on it) so I often use vodka, just because it's a cleaner flavour.
And, of course, you can use the cheapest spirit you can get, mine came from Aldi or Lidl this year, by the time they have had the fruit in them, they taste just divine.
FF
no subject
See you at Novacon?
no subject
No Novacon, I'm afraid, can't afford cons much these days, saving up for Worldcon.
FF