she acts as if it's understood
So I had planned to write today. Ha. Hahahahaha. Well there's still time I guess. I can do it now.
But instead I read some and I figured out what I'm giving as Christmas gifts, which is infused vodka, or properly, berry cordials, but I think my family will be more amenable if I call it fruit-infused vodka. *hands* I did the cranberry and since strawberries(!!) were on sale and they smelled really good, I did strawberry. I figure I will also do raspberry - I have bags of frozen raspberries in the freezer - and maybe blueberry pomegranate, though I am just going to buy pomegranate juice, because I am not brave enough to tackle doing it with the seeds. And then I'll just get cute glass bottles and that is that - everybody gets two kinds (well, if I get the 16 oz. bottles; if I do the 8 oz. bottles, then everyone gets one of each. I think I will decide that in a few weeks, after I've tasted the results.) and hopefully they can use them or they can dump them and use the bottles. It basically costs me ~$18 for each bottle of vodka and whatever the glass bottles cost, because I'd be buying the fruit anyway in some form or another (and I already used the one bottle of vodka I had hanging around that I never drank).
For the cranberry, I used this recipe, though in addition to orange zest, I added a teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of ground cloves. I was tempted to try making simple syrup with honey and using that instead of sugar, but I figured I should test the things out the way they're meant to be before I start fiddling too much.
I did this one with the strawberries, and it's probably what I'll do with the raspberries too, though I added a splash of vanilla and a splash of lemon juice to the strawberries (and probably will to the raspberries too). For the blueberry-pom, I will probably experiment with 8 oz of pomegranate juice (or maybe 12 oz?) and a pint of blueberries, plus a splash of lemon. Maybe this is where to try out honey instead of white sugar? If I were going to attempt apple brandy, I might try maple syrup in place of white sugar, or maybe brown sugar. But brandy is more expensive than vodka so that is not going to happen.
Anyway, hopefully this all works out and tastes good enough to give away, or I will have to figure something else out, because ice cream is not feasible in my kitchen. In the past couple of years, I did it all at my parents' house, and they had an extra freezer in the garage. I barely have room in my freezer for my normal stuff as it is. Sigh.
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/700433.html.
people have commented there.
But instead I read some and I figured out what I'm giving as Christmas gifts, which is infused vodka, or properly, berry cordials, but I think my family will be more amenable if I call it fruit-infused vodka. *hands* I did the cranberry and since strawberries(!!) were on sale and they smelled really good, I did strawberry. I figure I will also do raspberry - I have bags of frozen raspberries in the freezer - and maybe blueberry pomegranate, though I am just going to buy pomegranate juice, because I am not brave enough to tackle doing it with the seeds. And then I'll just get cute glass bottles and that is that - everybody gets two kinds (well, if I get the 16 oz. bottles; if I do the 8 oz. bottles, then everyone gets one of each. I think I will decide that in a few weeks, after I've tasted the results.) and hopefully they can use them or they can dump them and use the bottles. It basically costs me ~$18 for each bottle of vodka and whatever the glass bottles cost, because I'd be buying the fruit anyway in some form or another (and I already used the one bottle of vodka I had hanging around that I never drank).
For the cranberry, I used this recipe, though in addition to orange zest, I added a teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of ground cloves. I was tempted to try making simple syrup with honey and using that instead of sugar, but I figured I should test the things out the way they're meant to be before I start fiddling too much.
I did this one with the strawberries, and it's probably what I'll do with the raspberries too, though I added a splash of vanilla and a splash of lemon juice to the strawberries (and probably will to the raspberries too). For the blueberry-pom, I will probably experiment with 8 oz of pomegranate juice (or maybe 12 oz?) and a pint of blueberries, plus a splash of lemon. Maybe this is where to try out honey instead of white sugar? If I were going to attempt apple brandy, I might try maple syrup in place of white sugar, or maybe brown sugar. But brandy is more expensive than vodka so that is not going to happen.
Anyway, hopefully this all works out and tastes good enough to give away, or I will have to figure something else out, because ice cream is not feasible in my kitchen. In the past couple of years, I did it all at my parents' house, and they had an extra freezer in the garage. I barely have room in my freezer for my normal stuff as it is. Sigh.
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/700433.html.
people have commented there.