Sloe Gin 2012

ooooooooooooh yes please amy!! thank you very much, looks pure heaven.

Your welcome Sticki .. The Sloe Gin is usually ready for Christmas we were late starting it last year , we will have a girly night in ;o)

i didnt make any this year, its lovely stuff. thank you! shall i bring something?

Just yourself Sticki unless that is you have any Chocies you are trying to get rid of since Christmas ;o))

I ate them all!!! but i would have brought them if i had any left. OH has some that i bought him ~ untouched ~ could bring those.
but im trying to be good so you can eat them!!!

I'm on my way Amy :-)),never tried sloe gin, we have so many sloes on the hedges here too, must give it a go next year, I still have a couple of christmas puds left, made my own and got my litres and pints mixed up oops, ended up with four puds, I was steaming them all day :-))), chocs all gone though.

i have christmas pud from last year, my sons dont like it!! sloe gin is delicious and sweet, so smooth simbad!

I think you had better leave the chocs for your OH Sticki he might be huffy and not buy you any next year , I have a tin of choccy biscuits left over we can have them .. the Pud will be welcome !
We are looking forward to your arrival Kathy you will love the Sloe Gin bring your Jim Jams 'cos you will have to stay the night or two , do the puds have alcohol in them ? we could pour some Brandy on and set it alight :o)

i dont think he will even notice amy!!

btw they are lovely labels ~ did you make them?

Well if your sure it's o.k you can bring them then ....
No I didn't make the labels I bought them from a kitchen shop where they sell wine making equipment ~~

looking forward to sitting by that fire, my feet are tired!!

You can make yourself comfortable in the recliner with your feet up Sticki , we will wait on you hand and foot :o))

well i have never had that happen before or even offered!! what a lovely hostess you are! thanks amy!

Your welcome , don't be long ;o)

I'm the only one who likes christmas pud in our house Sticki, ate a whole one to myself this christmas (not all in one sitting ,lol)
They have stout in them Amy so a bit of brandy would be good, make them a bit more alcoholic, best do the setting alight before the gin though :-),

OH and I like them but we only had a small one this year, as you say they make rather more than you expect!!

we also tried one of the puds that has a clementine in the middle.

I had better check the smoke alarms out Kathy , we could be in for a hot night LOL....

They were like gold dust Sticki was it nice ?

Oh yes please Amy.....let's have a toast to a real good 2012, still got choccies here and jelly babies, well the boxes anyway, maybe I should look inside......:))

thats a good one janey ~ just bring the boxes!!!

it was really nice thanks amy but we only had the little one, they were slightly easier to get hold of.

Oh Goody Janey I'm pleased you can come , we will surely have a toast to a good 2012 in fact more than one just to make sure , don't forget the choccies and Jelly babies , Empty boxes are always useful for sending out plants :o))
That was a nice treat Sticki I'm glad you enjoyed it !

i make most things myself but i have to say it was really a treat to have that, i enjoyed it.

It's always a treat when you don't make it yourself Sticki , My OH isn't much of a cook but even so I have enjoyed whatever he has given me this last week while I haven't been well , he has proved he can do it !

are you feeling any better today?

Yes I'm on the mend Sticki I'm just feeling weak apart from that I'm better , I need a few days to get my strength back .....

and a little sip of sloe gin wont do any harm at all.

I sampled it last night Sticki , I slept well too ;o))

excellent plan!!

just what the doctor would order for me right now,

lovely thanx Amy, must try :o)) cheers

What time shall we come Amy? Ive got the chocs sorted just need, a time and directions;0) pleased to hear you are feeling betterxx

That fire looks so cosy

should be quite a party tonight then!!

Those bottles look great, Amy. I still have some left from a year ago! I am the only one who drinks it - everyone else drives :)

Can you wait for me? All the flights have been full...........

Are you on the way Val / San / Carole ? your glasses are waiting .... Ooh lovely more chocs Carole head for the A47 keep right on it until you reach the town of Dereham it's beside the A47 give me a ring and we will all come out and guide you here .. if you reach the sea you've gone to far ! . :o)) it's lovely and warm Carol I have a bowl of chestnuts to roast , do you need a lift ?
Yours has lasted longer than ours Gill normally we would have a spare maturing in the loft but we haven't this year ,Gulp ! you don't need to drive here we will all have a go on your tricycle after we have had our Sloe Gin ... yes Sticki I think we have a party LOL...

Oh Gat , yes of course we can wait we wouldn't miss you out for the world .. get on the next flight ASAP ... see you soon :o))

Oh, I wish........ (Magari, as they say round here) I'll bring some home-grown walnuts and some nice mature pecorino!

Wow I can't wait , all my favourites , don't miss that flight wrap up warm it's going to be a cold night ......

oooooh they sound fabulous gattina.

I might make a huge bowl of Pasta to go with that , what do you think Sticki ?

Wow Amy, pull me a chair up next to your cosy wood burner and poor me a large glass please ..... added to your company - just perfect.

Didnt make any this year but your recipe last year worked wonders.

made pasta tonight ~ wholewheat with bit of lemon, peas, beans, broccoli and some prawns ~ trying very hard to be healthy!!!

do you know what i fancy ~ some nachos??!!

Your chair awaits you Dawn it wouldn't be the same without you ,just perfect , never mind if you didn't make any you can share with us .. ... No! no nachos Sticki not if you are thinking healthy save those calories for when you get here ... :o)

ok, i will be good.

dont know if you are as bad as me at buying magazines and storing them. i have rather a tall pile of them so im going thru pulling out the recipes and bits i want and trying to make a new recipe every day to try them out. some look very yummy.

I have a huge pile Sticki , My daughter bought me a years subscription of the Good Food Mag . last year I'm still wading through them ,all the recipes look so good and delicious .......

glad im not the only one!!

I was very, very virtuous a few months ago (doesn't happen often) - I was clearing out the attic, and found dozens and dozens of old Sainsbury's and Good Food Magazines, plus carefully cut out recipes in a ring-binder, and realised in a very liberating moment that I hadn't read or missed them for about four or five years, and therefore obviously didn't need them. I filled the local "paper and cardboard" bin in one fell swoop. That's taken the pressure off the floorboards up there! Go on, Sticki, you know you can do it!
Amy, you are going to have to find an awful lot of sloe gin, plates and armchairs, we're all on our way.

I think you have to be ruthless sometimes Gat to clear the rubbish accumulated also it's so easy to pick a recipe up on the computer these days if you want to copy a recipe you fancy on TV ...don't worry Gat I have chairs I love chairs and would get more if OH would let me every time I see one I like he says NO .....I'm making a Risotto today and could do with some of your Pecorino :o))

Actually, I wrote "mature pecorino", 'cos I like people to think I'm trendy (LoL!) but I really prefer the fresher, younger stuff - it has a lovely taste not unlike a dense sort of Caerphilly, and it goes wonderfully well with nuts and sherry (there, I've confirmed myself as a sad old, un-trendy woman - but you all knew that anyway, didn't you? You are all so polite!)

It sounds very nice Gat I will be looking to see if they sell it here I have some parmesan i'm using today I put Marsala in instead of sherry or is that a kind of sherry ? I don't know but I like the taste in Risotto .. we like untrendy and am fed up of being told what we should be doing / liking it's mosly rubbishy anyway ,they follow each other like sheep today with fashions etc.

Jolly good for you, Amy! A pioneer! I'm not so keen (whisper it ever so quietly - this is a parmesan-producing area) on parmesan, I much prefer pecorino - much smoother, nuttier taste. Marsala isn't sherry, and doesn't REALLY taste like it, but is in the same sort of category. I use dry marsala to cook chicken fillets - I coat them in seasoned flour, flash fry them in butter (or oil, if your cholesterol levels are a bit high), add a slosh of marsala, reduce quickly, add the juice of a lemon, reduce a bit more and serve with mashed potato and spinach. Corrrr! You can use sweeter marsala in trifles (fusion cooking there), so I see the connection with sherry. You also use it in zabaglione. I have to stop there, 'cos I'm dribbling on the keys.
P.S. NOBODY tells me what fashions to follow. Does no good, anyway.

marsala is the alcohol in tiramisu too, but i like it on its own too!!

risotto is delicious and a nice therapeutic thing to make i think.

isnt pecorino quite a celebrated cheese gattina ~ when the young new ones are produced. wasnt that the cheese that was sent to italians who had left home and wanted a taste of home ~ read that somewhere.

have you wiped up the dribble gattina?? it all sounds so delicious.

Gat that sounds delicious I wouldn't have thought of using it that way with chicken ... I've had an idea you can all bring your own ingredients and cook your favourite recipes ,we can have foods from around the world what a way to spend the weekend , that's if we can manage it after the Sloe Gin LOL....

I've never made a Tiramisu Sticki It would be a bit sickly for me I prefer savoury to sweet ......

I don't do tiramisu - it's got coffee in it which I can't stand. The chicken in marsala and lemon was originally a veal dish, and here you can buy veal quite easily and not pay too much for it. In the UK I think it seems to be a bit of a no-no, so I adapted the recipe for my more sensitive Brit friends.
I tell you what, Amy, I'll bring a bottle of my home-made ginger liqueur - it's supposed to be a "digestivo", to help after we've eaten all that rich stuff.
I went to the market yesterday to have a quiet little word with my friend Elton (yes, seriously - mother must have been a fan) and to order 5 litres of "sciroppo" (in other words, 85% fruit alcohol, but we aren't allowed to say the word out loud) OH is worried that it's distilled out in the back of the barn, and we'll all go blind, but since the whole neighbourhood gets their "sciroppo" (syrup) from him, and, to my knowledge, no-one has succumbed yet, I think it's the way forward. Well, I've got to plan for all these fruit liqueurs I plan on making this summer, (the raspberry one is like sunshine in a glass) so I can bring samples for everyone in time for next autumn, when the evenings start drawing in. I've been taking cuttings and planting new canes and bushes, so there should be plenty to keep me occupied. Oh Lor! I'm dribbling again! If we're going to keep this foodie thread up, I'm off to get a wodge of kitchen paper.
P.S. LOVE risotto!

woweeeeee!! all those fruit liqueurs ~ heaven!!

i would definitely be trying that.

please may i book a place in the autumn?

Oh Yes please bring a bottle of your home made ginger liqueur Gat I love ginger I use to make a nice ginger beer it use to stand in a bucket fermenting for ages with yeast in it I've forgotten the recipe Mother in law use to love it ( I don't know what she put in with it ) perhaps you will give me your recipe when you come ! the fruit Liqueurs sound fab . and can't wait to sample them "I can feel a headache coming on already " I must remember to get all my glasses washed and shiny !I can see we are in for a good jolly year :o))

shall i bring the tablets for the inevitable hang over?

I've had a couple of not terribly successful shots at making ginger beer, Amy. Great on the explosion front, rubbish on the flavour. (and a VERY sticky cellar) If you have a good recipe, I could definitely use one. I have what looks like a good one from Myron, but I'm going to wait until the temperatures pick up a little and start brewing, and then I shall compare and contrast and give you marks out of ten! The liqueurs are a totally different matter - VERY small glasses (Don't care if they're slightly smeary - after two, who's looking?) and lots of nibbles to go with them should mean you stay clear-headed but very, very happy and sociable! On second thoughts, Sticki, maybe the tablets would be a good idea. You know - just in case........

sounds like we all need some nice comfortable cushions, i could be quite sleepy if i have too many!!

we should plan a tasting round britain!! sloe gin here, ginger beer there etc etc.

Then you can all get on a plane and head for Italy!

round the world tasting!!!

Hooray!

Very nice :)))

I'll look out my Ginger beer recipe Gat I haven't used it for such a long time in fact since mother in law went on to pastures new and hasn't asked for it , it might have been consigned to the rubbish heap with your old books LOL...
You bring the headache pills Sticki I will find the cushions , I'm actually expecting the delivery of a new recliner one of those that you press buttons on the side and it goes up or down we could have fun with that after we have had a few , I can image us in a pile when we hit the wall after it shoots us out ...LOL...

how many recliners have you ordered?

It could be even more fun if you paint a big target on the opposite wall - points for the best launch.

Not enough by the sound of it Sticki we will have to have some floor cushions ..
I couldn't stop giggling when I read that Gat I can just imagine it! wham bam Splat ..." That's a bulls eye " LOL...
btw I manage to get some Pecorina , we went to a small country town today not far from us where they only have very expensive shops it's not far from Sandringham where the Royal family spend their Christmas holidays it's also where they do there Christmas shopping so you can see the kind of shops they are, they have a wonderful delicatessen with hundreds of cheeses to choose from the Pecorino Romano I bought was described as young and soft ,I haven't tried it yet ...... it's not fair as local people can't afford to buy homes there it's full of stars and people who have a second homes they use them for holidays and weekends ....It's rumoured that Johnny Depp is buying a mansion in the next village ! maybe we could get him to out party :o))

if he does make sure you invite me to Amy haha

Get behind me San! LOL. I have a feeling it would be standing room only .... he is lovely isn't he :o))

lol yes he is lovely Amy ;o)))

Back off, Girls! I saw him first! Well, me and Daughter have arranged to fight for him.....
Hope you enjoy your Pecorino, Amy!

Bad luck Gat , me and my daughter were here first and she has always idolised him he asked a couple in the village where he is said to be buying a property directions, they pretended not to recognise him they said what a perfect gentleman he is and his wife is lovely , Drat it he has a wife !!!

is that burnham market amy??

Two of my favourite things a log burner and sloe gin......any left by the way?

Yes Sticki you guessed that well It's called ' Little Chelsea ' because so many Londoners have homes there , Holt is another village not far away that attracts them as well ...

There's still some here Angela we have saved you plenty , Cheers :o))

I think i have heard of Holt, mum and my sister stayed in burnham market a couple of years ago and loved it.

They have a craft fair on the village green each year with top of the range exceptional works of art , we always try to go , they have Punch and Judy for the children usually a jazz band it's a lovely day a really nice old fashioned feeling .

you actually made the sloe gin? wow, i am impressed! nobody i know of here makes any of the wonderful sounding stuff you're all talking about...boo-hoo...

You can make it with other fruits Noah if you don't grow Sloes over there such as Damsons ,Raspberries etc, I can give you the recipe if you would like to try it ,it's quite easy to do all you need is Gin sugar and fruit plus a few weeks of patience .......

Oooh, at LEAST a few weeks, Amy, more like half a year in my book! Waiting makes it taste even better! I also think vodka is better than gin, 'cos then you don't get the flavour of juniper interfering with the flavour of the fruits. You are in for some fun, Noah.

We usually make enough one year to put away while we drink the previous years Gat so it's often a year old when it comes out at Christmas , I've never made it with Vodka I might try that next time .......