The start of the champagne season

April and May have been rather wet, resulting in an explosion of growth at the allotment. I have two rhubarb plants, one is only a year old but the other I inherited with the plot and it produces the most enormous stems. Rhubarb likes rain and stinging nettles seem to grow really well around the rhubarb so with the huge amount of growth over the past few weeks, the nettles have kept the sunlight off the stems. This means that not only to I have giant rhubarb but the stems are a beautiful dark pink colour.

Last year the rhubarb champagne I made was not as explosive or as nice as the year before. I couldn't work out why until I checked my blog post from last year for the recipe and it was not the one from my recipe book. So I thought I should share the more explosive recipe because it is delicious and has been known to make holes in people's ceilings.

I am very proud to say that out of the 5 ingredients needed to make rhubarb champagne, 80% were sourced from the UK. Up until last night, I didn't even realise that sugar beet was grown in England. Apparently Silver Spoon only use sugar from British Farmers which I think is brilliant. It was only the lemon that didn't come from this country but Spain isn't too far away so I guess the food miles are still less than they could be.

The recipe

3 1/2 cups of rhubarb (which is about 1lb)

3 1/2 cups of sugar (which is about 1lb bag)

11 tablespoons of cider vinegar 

1 Lemon
20 cups of cold water

Chop up the rhubarb and the lemon, place in a large saucepan and add the sugar, vinegar and stir. Leave for no more than 48 hours, then stained and bottle. It should be ready in about 3 weeks. I recommend that you vent the gas daily, to prevent explosions!

This year however I was missing the small boy who usually does the stirring. It is the first time I have really missed him since he started school. Of course I miss both my children when they are at school but a Friday is the only day I don't work, I relish the idea of having some time to myself to get on with jobs without little helping hands. Today though I did truly miss my little helper and my lack of pre-school children at home. I was able to borrow the beautiful Matryoshka dolls measuring cups that Josie got for her birthday though and return them to her room without her knowing!

Comments

Ridgeway Cottage Anyhow - How to add social media buttons to your blog

I know not everyone is excited by learning code and techie stuff but in my quest for website geekiness, this post is just one step closer. For all my lovely friends and family who do not care one hoot about what goes on behind the scenes of Ridgeway Cottage, here are some lovely photos of October life. (Those who do want to know about the buttons, social media and coding, please read on.) Social Media Buttons Anyhow You will need. Your blog open in layout The URL of your social media places you want to link to Some lovely pictures of social media icons that you would like to use as your buttons A photobucket account which you can easily open here A small understanding of how the coding works A rather large smattering of patience unless you are super clever at all techie stuff What social media icons are you going to use? You can find some very lovely ones by searching on the internet or there are some here, here , or here . I liked these one because I do r

Granny square Christmas

When I was younger I fell in love with the granny square blanket my Nan had made. It was in her tiny little Welsh cottage near the mountains and was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. So many colours and combinations of colours, it was just truly amazing. I'm not sure if it's the happy childhood memories or my ever increasing passion for crocheting, but granny squares (and doilies) are something I could fill me life with. Even more delightful are the variations on granny squares. Star burst blanket, which used to be my favourite, but I have recently had a go at African flowers. They are quick and easy to make and so very pretty. Thanks to the brilliant free pattern that I found here , I have managed to make a little crochet Christmas stocking made out of 16 1/2 motifs. I am happy with the how the little Christmas stocking turned out and am now rather fond of African flowers, star burst and granny squares, well actually, all

The Pink Ladies

As we sat in our classroom inspired horseshoe, designed to encourage conversation, there was a slightly uneasy silence. Those of us who knew each other, stole furtive glances, others returned our smiles politely although they were not privy to the planning and discussion that had occurred in preparation for the evening. The time had slowed, 8pm seemed an age away. The silence was intermittently interspersed with brief attemps at small talk and the rants of a drunk outside on the city streets. The commanding presence of our WI advisor Dorothy, had the air of an experienced headmistress or well respected senior relative which in the event of such formalities made me feel foolish in my .....excitement. Some of us stifled giggles as advice was provided on the process, as we had already made the majority of our formal decisions but it was with noticeable nerves, that I raised my hand to the question of who wished to be President. So that's it, another new chapter has open

Ridgeway Cottage anyhow

Search This Blog