It's been a slow week at the market this week. The weather has been awful. It's been really wet and windy which always seems to discourage people from venturing out to the market. Not that I blame them, quite frankly, if I could have stayed at home and hibernated on Thursday and Friday I think I probably would have! Saturday, however, is entirely another matter. I love Saturday at the market. On Saturday, we eat. On Saturday, we each bring something along to the market and basically we spend the day eating. It's lovely. It's the only time that I don't have to cook for myself and it's bliss. Yesterday we had croissants with plum and rum jam for breakfast. The jam is from AJ's, one of the ladies from market makes it and it's delicious. She makes loads and loads of different flavours of jams, marmalades and chutneys and a whole variety of delicious cakes. For lunch we had home made leek and potato soup with rolls and then home made lemon and raspberry roulade washed down with a taster of raspberry vodka which one of the other market ladies, Bridget, has been making for a few weeks now and she wanted our expert opinion on how it tasted and whether or not it was ready to drink. The verdict ....... delicious and totally ready for quaffing :-)
Lemon and Raspberry Roulade ...... Delicious
How cute are these teeny little cups!
I will most definitely be having a go at making raspberry vodka ..... which actually tastes nothing like vodka, it tastes like raspberry cordial and is totally delicious with a real kick. I found this recipe on the internet and it's very similar to the one that my friend Bridget used. I'm sure you can use strawberries or blackberries instead of raspberries, in fact, I'm sure you could probably use lots of different fruits to make delicious flavoured vodkas. I'm not sure I will be able to wait 3 months to try it though :-)
Makes 1 large bottle
Shopping list
1 x 1kg Golden Caster Sugar
1 x 70cl Medium Quality Vodka
1 x 195g Raspberries
1 x Clear glass bottle with stopper or a mason jar or similar.
Method
1. Sterilise your airtight glass container either in the dishwasher or for 20 minutes in an oven (130C).
2. Weigh out 200g of golden caster sugar.
3. Pop all of your raspberries into your container.
4. Pour your sugar and vodka into the bottle.
5. Shake well and leave in a cool, dark place for at least 3 months. (Give it a jiggle every now and again to dissolve the sugar.)
6. Strain the mixture to remove the fruit and decant into a freshly sterilised bottle or jar and enjoy :-)
I know how you feel, we are self-employed and for me after years with a pretty good income from a career, having an income as variable as the British weather takes some getting used to!
ReplyDeleteIt sure does! Even though it's almost December people just don't seem to be spending much which does make things quite stressful :-)
DeleteAnd me too .. yet today although 'slow' .. not may people about .. we had good takings. You can never tell!
ReplyDeleteVicky x
It wasn't just slow it was pretty much non-existent I'm glad you had more luck though :-)
DeleteA friend of mine makes so many delicious flavoured vodkas - the variety of flavours is as wide-ranging as her imagination. And they are all made in exactly the same way as you describe.
ReplyDeleteCram the jar/bottle with Werthers Original sweeties . . . or toffees . . or Maltesers . . . or chunks of Mars Bars . . . etc., etc. All taste superb!!!!
Mars Bar favoured vodka ........ now there's a thought!!! :-)
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