Drinks from a loving kitchen

I am of the opinion that the best traditions have to do with food and drink!  Countless times this family has come together to cook, eat, and enjoy each other's company.  Though we are scattered to the winds lately keeping traditions is a good way for my husband and I to bring back warm memories of times spent together on the farm.  

One of those traditions has to do with the making of various beverages, including so called adult beverages.  Now that it is cranberry season I have commenced the making of my cranberry cordial.  This particular drink is not awfully popular with my boys but I have wonderful memories of sitting with my daughters, Mary-Kate and Melissa by a warm fire sipping cordial and knitting.

Since it is such a good and easy recipe I thought I would share it here for those who would like to try.  Caution, once you try it there is great difficulty waiting for it to fully mellow and mature before you take a drink.

Cranberry Cordial 

3 cups fresh cranberries (one 12ounce bag), picked over and washed

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 1/2 cups 100-proof vodka

2 teaspoons grapefruit zest

Coarsley chp cranberries in food processor or blender and transfer to a clean 2-quart container.  (I use a 2 quart canning jar)  Add sugar, stir, and let stand for 1 hour.  Add water, vodka, and zest. Cover tightly and let stand in a cool, dark place for 1 month.  Shake 2-3 times a week to prevent clumping of fruit.

Use a coarse sieve or colander to strain out solids. Discard. (I have frozen the mash in lumps on a cookie sheet to use over ice cream.) Strain again using a fine-mesh strainer. Transfer to clean container and let stand for 1 week.  Rack or filter into final container. Cover and age for at least 1 month more before serving.

Here's today's batch waiting for the liquid and zest to be added.  When I strain I often use multiple layers of cheese cloth since it does the best job.  I also do the final rack into screw cap wine bottles that I have saved.  Remember to keep lids screwed tightly on so that the alcohol doesn't evaporate away.  

This has a beautiful ruby color that is pretty served in a cut glass cordial glass.

Hints, tidbits, and a little looks inside.3 November 2014

Outside my window...it is COLD!  This morning I listened as my husband scraped the ice from his car before he left for work.  Though I am hardly used to him leaving for work in the morning, hearing him scrape the car on his way out is not an unusual happening.  When we were still on the farm, this man who loves me so much, used to scrape the car clean on his way past to the barn.  He cleaned it off in anticipation of any errand I might have to run that day.  He did it out of love for me.  It didn't matter if it was cold and windy, snowy, or there were inches of accumulation, he did it anyway.

I am thinking...about love lately.  Not the silly, syrupy stuff that fills the movies and novels of the day, but the real stuff.  The love that scrapes the ice off a car that may not be leaving the driveway that day, the love that chronicles the lives of grandchildren for a grandma hundreds of miles away.  This type of love, self-sacrificing, giving, and joyful is the kind of love that my days are filled with and surrounded by.  I live in a glorious world that is defined by love and it humbles me.

I am thankful...for sunshine, oak leaves falling, wood smoke, and breezes.  

I am remembering...cool Sunday evenings spent cooking hot dogs over a fire, listening to my children as they played together, and the smell of the apple wood as it burned and lighted up our nights.

I have been working...trying to finish orders and build up a supply of things for sale.  The embroidery machine has been running constantly creating lovelies to please the eye.  I truly enjoy searching for designs that will make people happy and then incorporating them into my creations.

From the kitchen...sweet potato soup is on the menu! Lately I cannot get enough of those lovely orange vegetables.  Maybe I will bake some chicken to go with it and possibly some pumpkin bread on the side.

I am reading...CS Lewis' Mere Christianity, again for the gozillianth time!  This time of year, the cooler weather, the end of the Liturgical season all seem to inspire me to reread old favorites and discover new truths in them.

A few plans for the rest of the week...ignore the pain in my hips and legs brought on by the cold and Saturday's rain and drive into a fresh week of creativity, care for my mother, and loving my husband. All of that will be punctuated by chats with MK and Melissa, glimpses of Christopher and Layn, Stories of Savannah and Kaycie as told to me by Kim, and prayers for all of those that I love.

Here is a picture thought that I am sharing with you....

This morning's view out the window of my workroom.  If I don't focus on that shed back there I can almost imagine that I am living in the woods...almost.