You know how it is! You want to give a present, haven't a clue what the recipient really wants, needs or might like, it has to be cheap to post. While searching you just happen to pass a little shop or a stall selling odd, unusual and inexpensive goodies. A little packet catches your eye! Ah, ... Read recipe
Advantages: tasty, no additives, cheap Disadvantages: takes time and vanishes too quickly
You know how it is! You want to give a present, haven't a clue what the recipient really wants, needs or might like, it has to be cheap to post. While searching you just happen to pass a little shop or a stall selling odd, unusual and inexpensive goodies. A little packet catches your eye! Ah, this'll do nicely.
So, here we are, on the receiving end. It's close to Christmas. A small sealed and carefully wrapped package arrives. Behaving ... ...by peeping before the day, the gift is taken out of the stout brown envelope (just in case there's a letter inside) and is popped under the tree, where it looks splendid in its Christmas paper. On Christmas Day, in between stuffing and eating the turkey there's a glorious lull, the ideal time to unwrap gifts from family and friends. The little package is opened to reveal ... a strong brown envelope!
You know how it is! You want to give a present, haven't a clue what the recipient really wants, needs or might like, it has to be cheap to post. While searching you just happen to pass a little shop or a stall selling odd, unusual and inexpensive goodies. A little packet catches your eye! Ah, this'll do nicely.
So, here we are, on the receiving end. It's close to Christmas. A small sealed and carefully wrapped package arrives. Behaving properly, after all there's no point in spoiling the surprise by peeping before the day, the gift is taken out of the stout brown envelope (just in case there's a letter inside) and is popped under the tree, where it looks splendid in its Christmas paper. On Christmas Day, in between stuffing and eating the turkey there's a glorious lull, the ideal time to unwrap gifts from family and friends. The little package is opened to reveal ... a strong brown envelope!
OK! So it wasn't a plain brown envelope. I've still got it. On the front are black line drawings and writing revealing the contents to be a Ginger Beer Plant. On the back are full instructions to make, apparently, about 35 pints of ginger beer. Just add water, sugar and lemons it says, and the resulting brew will make others exclaim, "Gosh! It's super!" and, "Absolutely Smashing!"
Produced by Tobar Ltd. of Harlseston, the kit contained a small cellophane pack of dried yeast and a much larger pack of ground ginger. The clear instructions for making ginger beer are printed on the back of the envelope. Greeted by "Ooh, that's unusual!" from hubby and me, and viewed with total suspicion by the pre-teen offspring, all too well aware that ginger beer comes from the supermarket, not Mums kitchen! The pack was tucked away in a cupboard perhaps to be used another day!
Somehow it survived various cupboard declutters and stayed hidden away until last summer when it was given its last chance and I decided to have a go. Nothing lost to begin with except a little sugar, and everything to gain because our, now quite a bit older, children do indeed drink lashings of ginger beer during the warmer months. Hoping to continue in our quest to reduce e-numbers and synthetic flavourings, we saved a few fizzy drink bottles to wash, sterilise and use for our own home-made ginger beer.
I rarely follow instructions exactly and precisely. I've made wine and beer so have a fair amount of experience of home brewing. Admittedly not always successful, but we learn by, and drink, our mistakes!
I decided to have a look around. The Internet is a very useful place to look for information and I found several sites with various recipes, they all seemed just about the same. So I decided to stick, almost, to the instructions I had.
I used a large (400g) coffee jar, sterilised with just-boiled water because I hadn't got any sodium metasulphate. Made sure there was a metal spoon in the jar to stop it cracking. As instructed, I mixed the yeast with a pint of cooled, previously boiled water, added two teaspoons of ground ginger and two teaspoons of granulated sugar. Gave it all a jolly good stir, popped the lid on tightly enough to stay put, yet loose enough to allow any gases to escape. Then waited, expectantly.
The next day, according to the instructions I added the same amounts of sugar and ground ginger. Err, nothing happened. No froth on the top, no bubbles, nothing. I wondered if the yeast had died, whether the water had been too hot and had killed it. I decided to be patient, living things have the strangest way of surprising us.
Yeast is a single celled organism. At the right temperature it 'eats' sugars, uses oxygen and divides to make more individual yeast plants. The by-products of growth are carbon dioxide and alcohol. We benefit from the gas; it makes dough rise and beers fizz and froth. The alcohol in varying concentrations enhances many popular drinks. Yeast occurs naturally as the bloom on plums and grapes. It is capable of surviving, dry and dormant, for many years, waiting for a suitable food supply to come along. This is what I think had happened to mine. After three days I noticed a bubble or two and after four a lovely froth had developed on the top of the liquid. We were in business!
I decided to count the "week" from when the bubbles started appearing in earnest, carried on adding sugar and ground ginger daily and gave it an occasional stir, not because it said so but because I felt like it!
What's next? >> Filter the brew through muslin into a large bowl. I hadn't got any muslin so used a coffee filter, resting it in the inverted cut off top of a lemonade bottle and strained the liquid into the bottom part of the same, sterilised, container.
>>In a second, sterilised, 8-pint container, place 2 pints of pre-boiled water and dissolve one and a half pounds of sugar. I bought some budget 'baby equipment' sterilizing tablets and carefully cleaned everything I would need. I used a large plastic mixing bowl.
>>Then add the juice of two lemons and the strained liquid. Top up with a further five pints to make a gallon. >>Pour into sterilized bottles and leave to mature for a further week. Leave plenty of head room, the drink will fizz violently when the bottle is opened. >>Put the yeast residue back into its jar and start the process all over again. After the next brew divide the yeast and give some to a friend or start a second plant
A week after bottling the family were still rather suspicious, it didn't look like ginger beer, was almost clear, but they were willing to have a go. It was pleasant, fizzy, very sweet and lemony rather than tasting of ginger. Success! The whole lot vanished in a couple of days and they were eager for the next brew.
Since then I've experimented quite a lot. I no longer use ground ginger, instead, while the brew is filtering, which takes ages, I grate a large chunk of scrubbed but not peeled fresh ginger into my largest saucepan, fill the pan with water, bring it to the boil and let it simmer until I need it. I sieve this, use some to make the ginger beer and the rest as the basis for fermenting. For us it's nicer, adds a little more bite and makes the ginger beer cloudy.
"My" recipe is as follows: -
~Starter kit~ *Ingredients* 25 g (approx 1 ounce) of yeast teaspoon cream of tartar 100 g (around 4 oz) root ginger, washed and grated. 500g (around 1 lb) sugar 2 lemons, or equivalent bottled juice.
*You will also need* A large lidded jar A large mixing bowl A large saucepan A sieve Fizzy drink bottles, smaller ones are best, to hold 5 litres (about 1 gallon) of liquid, with plenty of headroom. Sterilising tablets Coffee filter papers A funnel A jug
~What to do ~ >Sterilise the jar. >Add about half a litre of cooled boiled water >Mix in the yeast and add a spoonful of sugar >Add a teaspoon of cream of tartar
>Stir, cover loosely but securely, and put to one side on a worktop or draining board. The first day or so there may be a fairly violent reaction but it will calm down.
>During the following week continue to add a 5ml teaspoonful of sugar every day.
~After a week, although you can leave it longer if you want~ >Filter the yeast liquid through a coffee filter; this may take a couple of hours.
~While waiting~ >Sterilise all glass and plastic equipment, including the bottle lids. >Coarsely grate the scrubbed ginger, add to about 1½ litres (3 pints) of water in a large saucepan. Bring to boil, cover and simmer until needed. >Rinse bottles.
~The action~ >Sieve the ginger mixture and put 1 litre (2 pints) of hot liquid into the large mixing bowl. >Dissolve about 500 g (1 lb) granulated sugar in this liquid. >Add the juice of 2 lemons. >Add the sieved fermented liquid >Top up to make about 5 litres (1 gallon) >Leave to cool, cover with a clean tea towel. >Using a jug, pour into the sterilized bottles; make sure you leave plenty of air space and screw the lids on securely. >Put the bottles to one side and leave for a few days to mature, a week is best, but ours rarely lasts that long. I keep the bottles in a cardboard box on the larder floor. >Put the yeast back into its jar; add 500 ml (a pint) of the now cooled ginger solution and a teaspoon of sugar.
After making two 'brews' halve the 'plant', either start two new ones, throw one half away or give it to a friend.
~Beware~ The drink is likely to be lively, so open bottles with care. If you leave it to brew for too long it won't hurt, but there will be some alcohol content.
~*Some ginger facts*~ Ginger has been used as a successful aid for digestion. Ginger tablets are taken by some to reduce joint inflammation and symptoms of arthritis. Ginger beer was sold from barrows on London streets during Victorian and Edwardian times, a cottage industry offering safe soft drinks. Cod bottles, now collectable, were developed to keep the fizz in ginger beer. The case of Donaghue v Stevenson, 1932, when Mrs Donaghue apparently drunk ginger beer containing a decomposed snail which made her unwell, was an important development in the law of tort and duty of care.
Looking online I've discovered that you can buy a newly packaged kit like the one I was given, costing less than £3, from Hawkins Bazaar in Basingstoke, Bristol, Canterbury, Cheltenham, Exeter, Milton Keynes, Norwich, Salisbury, Southampton, Tunbridge Wells, Winchester and Windsor. However, bakers yeast is just fine to use, as is ground ginger, both are available from almost any supermarket.
Happy brewing! Cheers!09/06/2005 Review resubmitted, unaltered, due to site software problems.
Advantages: Helps enhance the mood for any occasion Disadvantages: Full Blooded Alcoholic Heaven
...In the following recipes and in all others 1 Oz of a drink = 25ml. ( 2 Oz 50ml etc )
SECTION 1 - General Cocktails - (not originals)
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Cocktail 1 - Woo Woo
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Ingredients:
1 Oz Archers peach schnapps 1 Oz vodka 3 Oz cranberry juice
Method:
Put a reasonable amount of ice in a highball glass (a normal tall thin glass would suffice) the name (PICTURE ... ...Hope you Like the recipes and good luck trying them out yourselves….. I recommend the TVR and the woo woo is great.
A final tip however is to place your glasses in the fridge to keep them cool and make sure your ice supply is plentyfull.
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Thanks for reading and Good Luck!
Sam
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THE_ELITE13 17.06.2008
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Ciao members have rated this recipe on average: very helpful Recipe of Recipes for Drinks
Advantages: healthy and refreshing Disadvantages: can be fattening if you add too much sugar!
No, I'm not talking about putting Lassie in a blender to drink! God Forbid I'd ever eat the nation's favourite celebrity dog or any other dog let alone drink one!
No folks, lassi is a cool and refreshing Indian non-alcoholic drink which can be made to be either sweet or salty. I'm going to tell you how to make both so you can choose which one you prefer.
In India lassi is the most popular drink apart from tea. Indians love their tea but tea is ... ...(especially South Indians) is lassi. There are several ways of making lassi and you can choose which way you prefer; being lazy I prefer the easier way without having to get the blender out and then having to wash all the bits up afterwards. Some of the more adventurous of you may have tried this drink in an Indian restaurant already and if you liked it, this recipe will be of use. Of course, if you've tried and hated it, stop reading now :) LASSI ...
anonymili 14.09.2006
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Ciao members have rated this recipe on average: very helpful Recipe of Recipes for Drinks
Advantages: Warming, sharp and sweet taste Disadvantages: Fairly strong, drink in small quantities
---Introduction---
Earlier today I posted a recipe for a jelly made from Rowan berries and apple and this reminded me of another Rowan recipe which I wanted share. Contrary to what many think, Rowan berries are not at all poisonous and indeed can be used to make a variety of preserves, wines, liqueurs etc. Rowan is the red berried fruits of the Sorbus genus, and most people are famililar with these small trees which seem to grow everywhere these ... ...bright red/orange berries, and as so few people use them you can easily gather them from the wild if you don't already have a rowan tree in your garden. They are a great favourite with birds however, so don't leave off your gathering for too long. For most purposes they are best gathered when fully coloured and firm, before they go mushy. Leaving then until the first frost is also a good idea as frost gives them a milder, sweeter flavour. However, ...
cladach29 02.09.2006
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Ciao members have rated this recipe on average: very helpful Recipe of Recipes for Drinks
Advantages: All you need is a fridge Disadvantages: Far too easy to drink quickly
So you thought summer drinking was all white and rose?
Rather than a Sauvignon Blanc or a jug of Pimms, how about pulling out of the fridge a bottle of red wine? And if you thought serving a rose to your friends was avant guard, read on very carefully. What would you say to a glass or two of Burgundy - red Burgundy - well chilled to go with your summer barbecue or supper al fresco?
No need to grin and bear the white stuff in hot weather just because. ... ...you can cut a dash and create a point of conversation. Here's what you need to know about summer reds.
It's a case of picking fridge-friendly reds. The key is tannins - you want to chill those reds which are low on tannins. Tannins are known for giving red wines their flavour, structure and taste. And, because of their antioxidant properties, they contribute to long and graceful aging of wines.
Wines that are less tannic are therefore best drunk ...
KatherineA 13.08.2004
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Ciao members have rated this recipe on average: very helpful Recipe of Recipes for Drinks
...up three of the best recipes I could find for Christmassy drinks. If you decide to make any of them, I hope you enjoy them as much as I always do. If you decide not to make any of them, heck that’s up to you, but you don’t know what you’re missing.
•●• •●• •●• •●• •●• •●• •●• •●• •●•
Mulled Wine
Mulled wine was a favourite in Victorian England, and was even served to children on their birthdays. ... ...Mulled Wine
1 Bottle of Red Wine 1 Lemon, quartered 6 Cloves 1 stick of Cinnamon A small pinch of Ginger Powder
3 tbsp brandy 12 fl oz Orange Juice
Sugar to taste Stud the lemon with the cloves. Place all the Ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
Reduce to a simmer for a couple of minutes.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly before serving. Remove the Lemon chunks and the Cinnamon stick.
Taste the Mulled wine and sweeten ...
stuleg 01.12.2003
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Ciao members have rated this recipe on average: very helpful Recipe of Recipes for Drinks
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Advantages: taste nice Disadvantages: have to wait for them to cool
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Advantages: Easy To Make, Very Tasty , Rich In Chocolate Disadvantages: no , nothing
Hi All,
Thank you very much for reading my these two little recipes. These recipes are very easy and also very cheap. You will like its taste. I mostly Use these recipes in Breakfast so here we go with the recipes.
~~~~~~~Chocolate Milk Shake~~~~
:::Serves Two::::
This is a very easy and simple recipe. Here are the ingredients you will need.
(1) 2 Cups of Ice-Cold Milk
(2) 3 Tbsp drinking chocolate powder
(3) 3 scoops chocolate ice cream
(4) Unsweetened cocoa for dusting
So follow the simple steps below to make this tasty milk shake.
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No scary chemicals in and it tastes like angels tripping over your tongue
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