Cordials and Cumquats

Last summer, at the height of the picking season, I picked a heap of blackcurrants. Some were turned into jam, some I froze to cook later and some I cooked and strained through muslin and then froze.. This strained liquid I turned into syrup a couple of weeks ago by bringing it to the boil with some sugar. Unfortunately I misjudged the time I left it on the heat and when it cooled down, it ended up as jelly! Luckily the same day, someone rang talkback radio asking Sally Wise what to do in exactly the same situation......put the bottle in the microwave for a few seconds. It was a bit of a job getting the jelly out of the glass bottle and into a smaller PET plastic one for easier melting but definitely worthwhile.
     Today I made some cordial with some of the box of Kiwi fruit mentioned in the last blog. It 's ok although it tastes a bit cooked and doesn't have the same zing or colour as the fresh juice of a kiwi fruit. At least it didn't jell.

On an overnight work trip to Hobart several weeks ago, I raided the cumquat tree in my daughter's back garden. There weren't many left on the tree and they were very small however I thought I would try putting them in a brandy and sugar mix for a few months. So they are still sitting in the cupboard biding their time. Ask me around Christmas how they turned out!