Making Elderflower Cordial and Elderflower Champagne

Now is the time to get out and pick some elderflowers on a hot dry day if you want to make some elderflower cordial or elderflower champagne.  I made some a few days ago, already drinking the cordial and will have some lovely elderflower champagne in a couple of weeks. Don't forget to only pick elderflowers from trees that are away from roads.
Here are some simple recipes to follow:

Elderflower cordial (Adapted from a recipe in "The Selfsufficient-ish Bible by Andy and Dave Hamilton):

25 flower heads,
1.5kg (3lbs) sugar,
2 pints of water boiling water,
The juice of 2 1/2 lemons and the grated zest of 1 lemon,
1 cinnamon stick.

Place layers of flowers and sugar in a bowl or pan, pour over boiling water, add lemon juice and zest, ad cinnamon stick and leave overnight.
Next day, strain through a muslin and pour into sterilised bottles. Will keep for a few months in a cool place, once opened will last or about a week.

Elderflower Champagne (Adapted from a recipe in The new complete book of self-sufficiency by John Seymour):

15 flower heads,
1 1/2 lbs (0.7 kg) sugar,
4 litres of water,
Juice and zest of one lemon,
2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar.

Put the flowers in a bowl and add lemon juice and zest, add the sugar, vinegar and 4 litres of water.  leave for 24 hours then strain through a muslin and poor into sterilised bottles.  Leave for two weeks, drink before it is 3 weeks old.

What are you reading?

I am always reading.  I literally always have at least one book on the go; I read before I go to sleep, it helps me relax and sometimes, if the book is really good I will read while I am having my breakfast.  If I am ever out in the car for a long journey and my husband is driving, I read then too.  But recently I haven't been able to really settle into a book.  I have partially read an Alison Weir novel, then I started to read a book called "Last Child in the Woods"  I couldn't really get into either of them, not because they aren't good books but it just wasn't what I wanted or needed to read at this moment in time.  So I picked up a book off the shelf that I have read before called "Living the Good Life".  If you have read this blog a long time you will know that I am really into self-sufficiency, I have my own allotment and like to fantasise about having a smallholding, giving up work and doing it ourselves.  This book by Linda Cockburn is about her life of self-sufficiency in Australia and it is really great (like reading while I eat breakfast great).  I am in full on fantasy mode when it comes to self-sufficiency,  watched a couple of episodes of the Good Life this week and went to the allotment today to plant some broad beans.  All because of a couple of chapters of this fab book.

So what have you been reading recently, anything get you really inspired?


op.s. if you are interested Linda Cockburn has a blog about her life of self-sufficiency in Australia, read about it here.