Boiled Cider was not something I'd heard of until I ran across this recipe on the foodiewithfamily blog.
Boiled cider is a traditional American product which has been made for at least 400 years.

Some clarification of terminology is needed here...

Lemon cordial is a refreshing summer drink, and making your own using this recipe is surprisingly simple.

It would be a great recipe to do if you ever find crates of lemons being sold off cheap, as can happen on markets towards the end of the day. It's also a good choice for making early in the year, before the elderflowers are ready for  elderflower cordial.

We're still preserving our way through a lot of damsons, most have had their stones removed and have been frozen for later use, some have been made into chutney. A quick (apart from the maturing) and easy way of creating a warming winter drink is to use some for damson gin.

The method is very similar to sloe gin, and the result has the same deep purple colour. One benefit of using damsons is you can use the fruit afterward for a boozy fruit crumble.

We've been drinking a lot of elderflower cordial recently, and stocks are getting low, so I've been looking round for other cordials to make.

Using the gooseberries from the garden seemed to make sense, they're just starting to ripen and taste wonderfully fresh.

The elderflowers are bursting out of the hedgerows at this time of year. The best time to pick them is on a dry, warm day when the blooms are newly open and white. Try to find a bush that is away from a main road (to avoid exhaust fumes), and remember to keep to public footpaths. Their fragrance gives a wonderful summery flavour to the following recipes.

 

Elderflower and Rhubarb Jam
A combination of the best two early summer flavours.

Now is the time of year when rhubarb is readily available. Why not get the preserving pan out, celebrate this most English of vegetables, and try some of the following recipes:

Last spring's rhubarb schnapps was one of the great preserving successes of the year, so I have been keen to make some more from the moment the rhubarb in the garden started sprouting

As well as making a jar of the original version this year I have also tried a jar with added ginger. Ginger always works well with rhubarb, rhubarb and ginger jam also being a favorite, so this schnapps should be good with a extra bit of spice.

With the sloe gin sitting under the stairs being regularly shaken, thoughts have turned to making other sorts of warming drinks which will be ready for Christmas. Also, as our neighbours have been supplying us with quantities of apples, it would be nice to be able to repay them in a few months time.

The obvious conclusion, especially after the successful making of rhubarb schnapps,  was to try and hunt down an apple schnapps recipe, maybe with the addition of cinnamon for that extra warming taste. I found just what I was looking for on the canadianliving.com website.

I've been looking around for some inspiration for sloe gin labels, as some of ours will probably be and parceled up for Christmas presents. This example from the 1920's is a beauty, the original can be found at the International Poster Gallery.
I rather like the idea of putting superior quality on my own sloe gin labels.

I have discovered sloes in our garden hedge, which I am very excited about as I had forgotten I'd planted blackthorn as part of the native hedge mix put in 5 years ago. I shall have to make some sloe gin.

Until a few weeks ago the stretch of hedge was inaccessible, but as part of landscaping the garden to create a lawn I reached it and gave it a well needed trim. Amongst the hawthorn and hazel I found six bushes of the small purple berries, which were confirmed as sloes by a experienced gin maker who happened to be visiting at the time.