I've discovered that a bee's knee...

Is the perfect antidote to a long week at work. Inspired by Not Without Salt and my patient bottle of Hendricks gin I created my very own honey, lemon and gin concoction. In the cooks way: a bit if this and a dash of that. Lush!

Sorry for the dodgy photo. Unfortunately I was feeling too impatient to go look for my proper camera and my HTC phone was more interested in the flowers than the drink. Screwed up priorities for a Friday evening if you ask me!

Discovering Hendrick's gin and other things

Sunday brought glorious sunshine and high temperatures. Light relief after the typically British weather we've been having. T and I spent the morning boxing off odd jobs in the garden.

At the moment we are mostly tackling the garage cum potting shed at the end of the garden. It has potential to be a cute little hide-away (although I'm maybe leaning more towards a cheeky shisha den for double apple delights), but right now it's a bona fide dumping ground for junk, scavenged furniture and tools. That's all for another post though.

Bristol was hosting Foodies Festival.

Was this ripe foraging grounds for two DIYers in need of good food and refreshments? Alas no, not really. But we did discover some gems that are worth talking about.

First up were swordfish patties care of this amazing lady. No, sorry no photos. We were too hungry by far and wolfed those patties down!

I followed this with bay leaf ice cream. Dangerous... I'm seriously thinking about getting an ice cream maker so that I can try this again.

Post-prandial drinks were our next prey... and we snagged some fine ones care of the "Hendrink's Kiosk of Curious Concoctions". A little oasis of civilised drinking in amongst the mediocrity.

Gin infused with cucumber and rose petals was music to our tastebuds.

Here's to some bloody fine tipple!

A bottle may have somehow found its way home. Really not sure how! I found it nestled between some vinho verde, white port and game pies. A happy coincidence as I read this homage to Hendrick's over at "Not without Salt" later in the evening. I now have an urge to try a Bee's Knees. Honey, lemon and gin? Sounds like a winner to me!

Crème de cassis: part 1

My blackcurrant bush on the allotment has been generous this year.

To honour its offering I have decided to turn these little fruity gems into one of my favourite liqueurs: crème de cassis. This stuff can turn even the most boring house wine into something a little special - a kir.

After a bit of hunting around I settled on this recipe in the Telegraph. Although this one over at Figs, Bay & Wine caught my eye as well. I love the idea of having a small bottle of cassis in your handbag for emergencies.

The process of making cassis is in two stages. First, the fruit is steeped in vodka*. Then after a few months, the vodka is poured off (and saved), the fruit whizzed to a pulp, strained, and returned to the vodka. You then make a thick sugar syrup. Add this to the fruity vodka until the sweetness is just right, and then voilà! you have crème de cassis.

I've still got to add leaves from the blackcurrant bush to the jar, but it's raining so they can wait until later in the week!

To be continued. I'll post part 2 in 4-5 months when it's time to finish the process...

* Ideally you would use eau de vie. But trying to buy eau de vie in a UK supermarket is like trying to buy rocking horse shit. Our Italian friends are always bemused by how hard it is to get hold of - they use it all the time to cook up home-made limoncello. I think Big Brother believes that us Brits can't be trusted not to over-indulge in the pure stuff.