Apple Pie Moonshine.

I belong to a few canning sites and see often that  many people put up wonderful photos of Apple Pie Moonshine.
They always look so lovely and have often been tempted to ask for the recipe but it wasn't until the other day  when a girlfriend had passed me on some beautiful preserving jars that she no longer needed(she only used them to store dry goods in her pantry) I started to think about what  i could do with them. I always say yes to free jars and then think about it later.

These were the jars, the four on the right are beautiful Italian ,one piece lid jars each holding  just shy of 2 litres and the smaller ones on the left were cheaper style  Coles supermarket  once piece lid  preserving jars. They all have lovely raised patterns on them  and are really pretty.
Soon afterwards I happened to see another canner who I am friends  with Bev Dobson, put a recipe that had been slightly adapted from the original American  to a more Australian way using readily available products that we can access easily.
Firstly It called for 8 litres of Apple juice,

I just used the regular home brand supermarket juice, next time I may try a different brand.
Next I added 2 cups of light brown sugar.

I then added 5 apples, peeled, cored and diced.

Next the recipe called for 5 cinnamon sticks broken in half and 1 grated nutmeg to be placed into a spice ball and added  to the mix. I decided to add straight to the mix instead as these are both flavours I love  .

I also added 2 teaspoons of  vanilla extract.

this was then placed on the heat and slowly brought up to a simmer  making sure that all the  sugar is dissolved. I divided it into two smaller pots as my large pot was up at the farm. I had to use a small portable stove we have as my glass top was out of action  awaiting a visit from an electrician.
After removing from the heat and allowing to totally cool, I then added  700mls of vodka.  used the cheapest I could find at my local bottle shop, I have heard since that you can use vanilla vodka and similar flavours to add even more depth to the mix.

I then bottled up into my  jars, adding some of the diced apples and a half cinnamon stick into each jar, and then capped with my lids. It then just needs to sit at least two weeks(if you can wait that long) in a cool dark place.Bev said that you can  also choose to omit the apples and use them with cream or ice cream as a dessert.
This does not  require processing as the alcohol acts  as the preserver. This will store 12 months on the shelf.

I haven't tried mine yet, and I can hardly wait, I am not normally a big spirits  drinker, but this smelled like heaven as it was being prepared, so I hope the taste matches that.
So maybe the next time we meet I may have indulged....time will tell.
Cheers to all,
and thanks again Bev.
Jane.

Cuppa Anyone ?.

Every year in a small  old town  about half an hour from where we live on the coast they hold a Tea Pot Festival.
I went to it many years ago with my lovely neighbour Rita and her daughter , sadly since then Rita has passed away, so her daughter and I make the pilgrimage every year up to the festival.
I thought I would show you a few of the displays of the weird,wacky and also some very beautiful tea pots and related bits and pieces.

The tea pots vary from the traditional, to the quirky to the totally ridiculous, but we have a lovely day wandering around the place. This was the first year that I have ever taken my camera to take some photos.They have many,many more than what i have  photographed, with beautiful traditional pots and sets as well. There  is something  to interest most people.

Morpeth, the town where the festival is held,dates back many years  and is on the hunter River and steam boats  in years gone by used to service the township to the coastal port of Newcastle.. There is a lot of history in the town, beautiful old buildings and a very good  town association which keeps events like these running every year. They do a tremendous job.
My companion  and I make the  day out so much more than the tea pots, we always have a lovely morning tea and then follow it up later with a nice lunch somewhere.

The  two  tea pot sets above  have a distinctive Australian flavour with tradittional  aboriginal designs on them.Every year there is also a Tea Pot  Cosie competition, and they always have many weird and quirky designs among them.

This year they had a Golly display, they are either loved or disliked, but I decided to include them as they were there on the day.

They also had a display of early Australian electric Jugs(Kettles), they have become quite a collectors item these days and can fetch a good price.

Something I also found   hanging around was  a lot of wind chimes made from old,pots, and milk jugs and sugar bowls ect, they were quite effective, or at least I thought they were.

This painted cow was there too, so thought I would pop him in just for fun.

We have a fun day up at Morpeth tea pot festival  each year, and hope to keep going  for many years to come. It will be a good excuse for me to head back down this way each year to keep up the tradition.
So on that note, I may just put the kettle on and make myself a cuppa,
So until next time,
Cheers,
Jane