blackberry whiskey

This is a variation on sloe gin - and is better because it doesn't use sloes and doesn't use gin.

I made some last year and wrote about it on the blog. It is a delicious drink: not too strongly flavoured with whisky, the taste of the blackberries makes it dangerously 'moreish'!

4 lbs of big juicy, organic, home grown frozen blackberries go into a washed sweet jar with 8 oz of sugar and a bottle of cheap whisky.
Shaken regularly so that the sugar is thoroughly mixed, it is then left for the sugar and blackberries to work their magic on the whisky before the blackberries are removed and the drink is bottled.

The bottled whiskey may be left for up to two years and it does get better the longer it is left.

Creme de casis is a rich, blackcurrant flaovoured spirit from France. I prefer our own, homespun blackberry whiskey.

Cheers.

Beaten by blackberries

The blackberries have won!
This year our oregon thornless blackberries have reached maturity in a year that has been amazing for soft fruit. We have picked the fruits until our freezer is bursting. And still they ripen!
These end-of-season blackberries lack the strength of flavour that was such a feature in August and September. So, we're waving the white flag at the blackberries and leaving the last fruit on the plants for visiting birds and insects to enjoy.

comfort ..........

I'll be the first to admit that pastry is not my strength.
But when a bag of cooking apples appeared on the front door handle yesterday, the mood took me. And here it is.
One of England's greatest comfort foods - apple and blackberry pie - ideally served with lovely yellow custard.
This years apple crop has been as amazing as the blackberry crop. We needed a team today to help us pick the blackberries and raspberries and the freezer is now stuffed.

Blackberry and apple crumble

The golden autumn days begin to arrive.
And with them windfall apples and gorgeous, sweet blackberries. All so abundant this year!
And what better to do than make a blackberry and apple crumble - with custard.
This is the pudding that St. Peter will have waiting for me if I've led a life of virtue.
This crumble looks slightly darker because I used muscavado sugar which is dark brown and gives a distinct, rich taste to the crumble topping. I used muscavado, not because I'm especially pretentious, but because I'm challenged in the 'finding things right in front of you in the cupboard' department. It was pointed out that the other sugar was where it always is - and in the usual container too.
Who cares - flippin' delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blackberry Oregon Thornless

The wet summer has continued - with no chance to get out for an entire week!
No rain today in Nottinghamshire, but serious flooding continues in southern and central England. Power and drinking water have been lost to thousands of people whose homes and lives have been destroyed. Farmland has been ruined for cropping this season in large parts of England. More rain is forecast!


I have now lifted all of the summer onions and brought them home for drying. Their hollow green stalks had become a reservoir for rain water and their stems above the bulbs were showing signs of rot.

Onions need a good baking in the sun to store properly. I have some in the greenhouse and others being stored in the garage overnight and brought out into the sun - when it shines!

Ripe soft fruit has been affected by the rain, but developing fruit has enjoyed the lashings of water. Our blackberry Oregon Thornless is showing great promise for an excellent crop. The berries are shaping up nicely. Oregon Thornless is a vigorous, heavy fruiting blackberry but as its name indicates, is without the nasty thorns that make picking ripe blackberries a scratchy business. We first saw and admired it at the Garden Organic garden at Ryton, Nr. Coventry.

The July garden is usually bursting with growth. This year, for the first time, we have bare soil where crops have finished too early. The challenge will be to find crops that fit into our rotation system so that we can use the ground productively.