Yuletide Traditions

Another Yuletide is looming fast and the stormy weather has been perfectly suitable. We have been busy with all the normal preparations and arrangements. We cut our own Christmas tree from a local quagmire (nursery) and this has been a fun, and inevitably muddy, tradition in our family for years. Then we spent about 2 days in the loft hunting for the lights, which were actually buried, deep in my son's bedroom.

Venus has been shining brightly in the East each morning. I'm far from superstitious, but I'm sure that this will be bringing love into our homes. Although, just in case, we did also pop out and harvest a big carrier bagful of mistletoe, to hang around the house. This also always makes a welcome gift to friend and neighbours.

I have also been siphoning & bottling this season's cider, and I'm pleased to report that it is tasting mighty fine already, and will only improve with time.  We are looking forward to adding some spices and mulling several bottles, to take to parties.

We also have 2 gallons of fine rose wine to bottle, this is the produce of our grape growing escapades this year. Obviously, this needs more time to mature but all the signs are good and I have high hopes for it being drinkable!

Christmas is Coming, Apparently!

Christmas is coming, apparently. I'm sure nobody had noticed, so, hopefully this post will be a timely reminder... Don't forget to make a note on the 25th (December) on your calendar. You might, for instance, want to consider some kind of preparation in advance.

I have been busy creating Sloe Gin; Sloes seemed thin on the ground this year but fortunately I stashed a load in the freezer earlier on. With gin, it occurs to me that we gathered the Juniper Berries during the Summer, so no one can accuse me of not planning in advance.

I harvested some Green Walnuts in June and this was the beginning of my Vin de Noix, which is now bottled and ready for those cold Winter nights. I added some spices this year to make it even more seasonal.

During July my son and I gathered a bucket-load of Elderberries and then kickstarted my Elderberry wine. This is the perfect archaic, alchemical brew for spicing up into Mulled wine for friends and festive gatherings. Mulled Cider also always goes down well at parties, and this has all now been safely bottled and stored.

My favourite Chunky Pear & Walnut Chutney makes a nice home-made gift and my wife has now added a batch of Sweet Chilli Jam to our cupboard bound cannon.

All that remains now is to forage some Mistletoe and create some Xmas door wreaths. Hopefully the family will be kept so busy making and distributing things that they won't even notice that their are no presents under the tree yet... Actually, that reminds me, we need a Christmas tree!

Finally, while we are talking about presents, don't forget that the Urbane Forager book is the perfect gift to buy for virtually everyone!

Super Solstice, Cool Yule & Natural New Year

Christmas is coming and thanks to our virtually Paleo diet (that bit is probably a lie), we hopefully won't get too fat.

We chopped down and decorated a small tree; the children gathered plenty of greenery and made a wreath for the front door.

We also harvested enough mistletoe to bring the love into our house during the Halcyon days and well into the New Year. We spread plenty around our neighbours and friends too.

I have been very industrious in my bottling of Sloe Gin, Taybury Gin, Mullberry Gin and Cherry Vodka. It all looks very stylish in neat square little bottles.

Meanwhile my wife was making mincemeat with the children and we soon had a tray filled with hot mince pies to add to the mix, this made the house smell very seasonal.

I made several bottles of Mulled Wine. This time I used 2013 Elderberry Port as a base and poured it over the Sloes that were left after bottling the Sloe Gin. I added some nutmeg, cinnamon, all spice and cloves and left it to soak for a couple of weeks. I then strained off the resultant potent brew and bottled it.

This archaic alchemical potion won't just warm the cockles of the heart, it will blow the bloody doors off it! Perfect with Mince Pies when visiting friends...

Have a Super Solstice a Cool Yule and a Happy New Year! x0x0

Now, That's a Christmas Tree!

Don't forget to put, the Urbane Forager book on your Christmas present list. 

Order your copy now!

You can buy this lovely book for your friends and family from all good book-stores or Amazon.

the Urbane Forager: Fruit and Nuts for Free

Author: Alan Gibson

ISBN: 978-1-78507-300-7

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Walk Out in Winter

I hope all our readers got what they deserved from Santa this year. We were busy making wreaths for the home and even found Mistletoe on the local Pitch and Put golf course. Our Mulled Cider and Elderberry Wine seemed to go down very well at various Christmas celebrations.

After a while though, I was getting cabin fever and so we had to get out for a couple of hikes, to blow away the cobwebs and burn off the mince pies. The New Forest is always very convenient for us and we ended up marching out for a brilliant frosty walk with friends around Bramshaw.

We also braved a blustery day and scrambled up and around Old Winchester Hill in the fantastic Meon Valley. This ancient place was once a Bronze Age Enclosure, then later an Iron Age hill fort. It has burial mounds on top and the incomparable view stretches for miles, out over the Solent to the aforementioned New Forest and the Isle of Wight.

There is an abundance of interesting landscapes to be enjoyed on the South Downs but the Meon Valley and especially the area around Old Winchester Hill, are too interesting not to explore in greater depth. Our trip took in beautiful villages, fields of Watercress and the meandering Meon River that was once the main transport route to London from the South coast, before the silting up of the estuary (now an important nature reserve) allowed Southampton to take the lead.

On the way up the hill, we took refuge from the wind's icy blast by spending a while clambering around in a grove of  Yew trees, which for all I know, could have been there since the first human occupation. Then it was out onto the crest, to admire the view and attempt to cling on to a wildly flapping kite.

While the kids were enjoying being dragged about by the howling gale, I discovered a plantation of Juniper bushes, hunkered down and clinging resolutely to the side of the hill. These shrubs are the only native UK fir trees and are now seriously endangered due to disease and also because of their spiny leaves being nibbled up by sheep and rabbits. Interestingly I also found Juniper on Danebury, another local Iron Age hill fort. 

I gathered a pocketful of ripe, black Juniper berries to take home; their exotic aroma adds a unique spice to many meat recipes, as well as being the main flavouring in Gin. It was a good job I was wearing gloves, as the needles of this bush are quite savage. By the time we got home, we were thoroughly tired and all of us had a ruddy glow in our cheeks.

So readers, what have you resolved to do differently in 2015? Personally, I'm going to finish and publish, the Urbane Foragers Field Guide. Actually, I think I'm going to need a more snappy title for this forthcoming book, so please, send in your suggestions...

Perfect Perry and Mulled Cider

the Mayors Pears

Christmas is coming (in case you hadn’t noticed) and I decided to turn our surplus Pears into scrumptious Perry! First I had to dig out the cider press, which I had not thought we would use again this year.

Looks Messy but Tastes Delicious 

Then we smashed them to tiny pieces in a bucket, using a branch of a tree and squeezed out all the precious juice. I gave the children a taste of the plain juice but they were not overly keen and preferring the gallons of apple juice that we have stashed away. So the obvious thing was to get it fermenting.

Pearly Pear Juice

Pear Juice ferments very vigorously, so I did it in a bucket and then transferred it to a demi-jon once it had calmed down a bit. A month or so later it finished bubbling, cleared beautifully and tasted remarkably drinkable, so I bottled it up.

Hubble Bubble

At the same time I decided to make some Mulled Cider and Wine, in readiness for the Xmas season. I always find that a simple recipe is best for these things. Here is what I use…

• Cider or Wine (home-made of course)
• 1 x Nutmeg
• 1 x Stick of Cinnamon
• 6 x Cloves
• 1 x Star Anise

The wine/cider is placed into a large saucepan with the spices and gently heated to simmering. Do not allow it to boil, unless you want to drive off the alcohol. By this time the whole house takes on a very Christmassy aroma.

Home Made Drink

After 20 mins turn down the heat and leave the mixture for an hour or so then re-heat and strain off the herbs and spices and bottle. The drink can then be heated up again prior to serving; you can add a few white almonds and raisins as an extra treat. 

Elderberry Port: 2011 a Good Vintage

I processed my Cider first and then reused the soggy spices on some of last year’s Elderberry Port. I stored the mulled alcohol in Kilner jars. The Cider proved very popular at our first festive get-together.

Delightful (Home-Made) Drinks

The British Government has made a proposal for minimum unit prices on alcohol. This legislation is not about abstinence but is designed to turn the tide on the reckless drinking culture that exists in some groups of people, for health reasons. Although this regulation is not designed to punish responsible drinkers, a new era of prohibition might persuade more people to try home brewing and start making their own country wines.

I have experimented, with making my own wine, beer and cider for many years; like a young boy with a chemistry set, I relish the alchemy of it all. So, I thought it would be useful to create a simple guide here, to show how easy it is to accomplish and also how entertaining it can be.

Cost-wise, there are obvious clear savings to be made; a basic starter kit is inexpensive and much of it can be found for free or will be available from your local recycling centre / Freecycle site. Always make sure all equipment is Food Safe.

Essential Kit List...

• Large Bucket
• Wooden Spoon
• Funnel
• Siphon tube
• Demijons & Bubblers
• Sugar
• Yeast
• Fruit/leaves etc for flavour

You may want to buy an inexpensive hydrometer, although this is not actually necessary, it does give you more control over the flavour and alcoholic content of your hooch.

A full demijohn will produce one gallon of wine, which amounts to about six bottles. However, as with home baking, producing your own drinks is not only about saving money, I simply enjoy the process. You will be unlikely to create something that tastes exactly the same as what is available in the shops but this is part of the fun. As well as being exciting, wine making is also easy, recipes and advice are readily available all over the internet, I tend to rely on the spirit of adventure as much as heavily stained archaic books.

Your friends and family may playfully mock your endeavours - mine do - but you can guess what I’m going to give them for Xmas!

Always Drink Responsibly J

Some strange and interesting drinks we have made are listed below...

• Plum wine
• Cider
• Perry
• Blackberry wine
• Sloe wine
• Elderberry port
• Apple wine
• Crab apple wine
• Medlar wine
• Beer
• Ginger wine
• Ginger beer
  
• Elderflower Cordial
• Elderflower Champagne
• Vin de Noix
• Walnut Schnapps
• Raspberry liquor
• Sloe Gin
• Sloe Wine
• Cherry brandy

Chestnut Stuffing

Halloween is on the horizon and Sweet Chestnuts are ready for gathering. I’m sure that last year the kids and I were wrapped up in scarfs and gloves for this activity but this year things are different.

Can't Touch This!

You can easily spot the places where they fall because of the spiny cases and crushed nuts on the pavements. The best way to avoid the prickles is to trap the cases using the edges of your shoes and squeeze downward until the nut pops out. Having said this, somebody always gets spiked on this kind of expedition – just the same as when you pick blackberries.

The Tell Tale Signs

I tell the children to only collect the very biggest nuts; otherwise you end up with far too many and end up composting some. We normally have a bit of a contest to see who can find the largest chestnut or draw the most blood.

This Could Hurt But It's Worth It

It’s always best to cook your chestnuts as soon as you can after collecting them as they don’t tend to keep too well, although you can freeze them. I like to roast them on a barbeque of burning twigs and let the flames actually burn the cases and skin, which makes them far easier to remove. They do not take very long under these conditions and generally as soon as they start hissing and bubbling (or exploding if you are unlucky) they are done enough. You can also bake them in a hot oven or by an open fire.

Always cut or pierce your nuts before cooking them or they will explode in a spectacular and possibly dangerous way. This cutting also helps to ease the removal of the pith (the bitter tasting skin between the shell and the nut).

A Small Amount of Big Brown Beauties

You can bake all kinds of things using chestnuts; on the continent they are used for making flour and chestnut stuffing is common in the UK. For many people the preparation required and the time this takes is prohibitive but chestnuts roasted on a fire are always a winner on a cold night.

Quick, Get The BBQ Burning.
Hang on, There's a Hazelnut in there too.

The quintessential autumnal feast, involves, cold air, steamy breath, rosy cheeks stuffed with roast chestnuts, possibly backed up with potatoes or apples baked in hot ashes of the fire on Guy Fawkes Night; all washed down with homemade mulled cider (mulled apple juice for the children).

Then it’s time to break out the sparklers before bedtime.