Hot Toddy

Hot Toddy's can be really hit and miss. At best they are a soothing kick-up the arse for colds and at worse they are an over-spiced lukewarm horror with terrible whiskey. My dad made the best and my mum has now taken over the helm. When I lost my voice and felt near death with the worst cold ever whilst in early labour with Jim she made me one of these and I felt better than I had done in months.

My husband annoyingly always says 'how much lemon'. THERE IS NO LEMON IN A HOT TODDY YOU WALLY. 

Hot Toddy

A good measure of whiskey
A dessertspoon of runny honey
1/2 coffee spoon (small tsp) ground cinammon
1/4 coffee spoon ground ginger
Grate of nutmeg
A couple of cloves (optional)
Boiling water

1. Pour the whiskey into a glass.

2. Put in the honey and spices

3. Pour in the just-boiled water (leaving a spoon in the glass to stop it breaking)

4. Stir and drink as soon as you can

Pomegranate Vodka

This is a delicious present, really easy to make and although pomegranates are expensive I'm going to follow up with another recipe for Pomegranate ice cream so you use everything you can from the fruit and get maximum output. Both these recipes are by Nigella but they are from different books. This one is from Nigella Christmas: Food, Family, Friends, Festivities and although it's quite messy, it is really easy to make.

You need to have a 1 litre kilner or sealed jar to store the vodka in and then some bottles to bottle it into. You can use the empty vodka bottles with the label removed but I get my bottles from Lakeland because I LOVE IT. Nigella says she can get pomegranate seeds from her local supermarket. Well I couldn't so I bought them from my local market which did 2 for £1 which is much better than the £1.50 for one in the supermarket. I then tapped out the seeds into a sieve so I've added that bit to the recipe. You will need to wear a pinny...

Pomegranate Vodka

Makes 700ml

150g pomegranate seeds (about 1-2 pomegranates)
1 x 70cl bottle of vodka

You will need to sterilise your storage jar but this is going to steep for 4 days so you don't need to sterilise your bottle until you need it. I used a sieve lined with a muslin over a measuring jug for this.

1. Cut your pomegranate in half, hold it over your muslined sieve and whack the back of it with a wooden spoon. I then push them around in the sieve to get all the juice off - they need to be thoroughly drained.

Pomegranate seeds

2. Add the pomegranate seeds to the cooled, prepared jar, followed by the vodka. Keep the pomegranate juice to either make ice cream or to drink.

3. Seal the jar and give it a shake before putting it in a cool, dark cupboard, or anywhere out of the light.

4. Leave it for four days, shaking it any time you remember to, before sieving it into a measuring jug.

Pomegranates after four days

5. Sterilise your bottle, pour in the steeped vodka and put the lid on tightly before storing.

6. This will keep for up to 1 year.

Elderflower Cordial

I know it's not really very technical but I think making Elderflower cordial is one of my favourite things to do. We use a recipe my mother has had for years and it turns out yummy every time. I try and make as many batches as possible in the short time the flowers are out and it's best to make this at the end of sunny day when the flowers are most fragrant. I find that this recipe usually makes 1.5litres of cordial and I like to use cordial bottles from Lakeland but you can just as well use well washed wine bottles.

My sister and husband collecting the Elderflower

ELDERFLOWER CORDIAL


25 heads of Elderflower
40g citric acid
1 kg caster or granulated sugar
2 pints boiling water
1 lemon, sliced

Citric Acid 500g Pack is available online - I got mine from Amazon this year - you used to be able to get it from pharmacies. I'm not sure if that's still the case. You will need a large mixing bowls, your bottles, a sieve and a muslin or cloth to strain the cordial through.

1. Put the Elderflower heads in a large mixing bowl and add the sliced lemon, citric acid and sugar.

Elderflower, lemons, sugar and citric acid

2. Pour over the boiling water and stir.

3. Once it's cooled cover with clingfilm and stir whenever you remember for the next three days.

Coridial after three days

4. When you are ready to bottle the cordial then sterilize the bottles (I pour boiling water in and tip out), and strain the cordial into a measuring jug through the sieve lined with muslin.

5. Tip the cordial into the bottles - if you have a steady hand then you won't need it but I use a funnel for this. I can't bear to waste a drop!

Finished Cordial

I find that every bottle lasts differently but in a dark cupboard this should keep for sometime - we usually get through ours pretty quick. Shop bought is all very well but there's nothing quite like homemade.

Festive Fridge

We're having a sophisticated and grown up drinks party next weekend that will descend into a booze fuelled and ridiculous festive boogie at some stage and I went and stocked my fridge up for it yesterday and realised that nothing makes Joe more excited than me loading the trolley up with 7 packs of butter and nothing makes me happier than seeing this...

Note excess butter, cream and smoked trout