Cherry Bounce, Part II



From Mrs. F. A. Hagen, Atlantic St., Plymouth, Mass.



The finished product! It's now resting quietly in the cellar, ready in a few months to come out for a gala occasion.


Here is the recipe I used. There are several "out there", but this is the one that inspired me. It's in the Yankee Cookbook, 1937/1963.

Cherry Bounce

6 pounds cherries (as I couldn't get either wild or sour cherries, I used black cherries)
2 fifths whiskey (Berkshire Mountain Distillery NE Corn Whiskey)
3/4 lb. white sugar (down from one pound, as the cherries were sweet)
1/2 c. water (a gill)

Cherry Bounce, Part I



After four weeks...



Clear liquor poured off to set aside.



Pitted the cherries and cracked them.



Putting the cherries through the food mill.

The cherries. I did try mashing them by hand, but not enough juice was extracted. This was laborious, but it worked well. I also added a tablespoon of the sugar in order to get more juice from the cherries.

Allowing the cherries and pits (in separate jelly bags) to drain. An hour or so.

I went to the trouble of pitting the cherries because I wasn't about to throw out 6 pounds of cherries once the cordial was made! The cherries made a gorgeous black cherry-whiskey jam. I'll likely post the recipe some time soon.

Part II:

1. Pour off the clear liquor; set aside.

2. Pit cherries; add 1 tbl. sugar. Put through food mill. Scoop into jelly bag.

3. Crack pits in mortar and pestal. Place in a different jelly bag.

4. Pits at the bottom of strainer, cherries on top. Allow to drain until most of the liquid seems to be out. Save cherries for jam or other use.

Dissolve the remaining 3/4 pound of sugar in the half cup of water and bring to a boil. Stir in the drained juices and the reserved clear liquor. Bottle and let stand at least several weeks.

Just a little too much to fit into the bottles...no problem!

Enjoy!



7th Annual Steelyard Cruise Night: 2012



Ruby made her debut last night.

                                                    



That's me on the running board, knitting a sock.

                                       

My first car show as an owner! We had an amazing evening. Everyone was friendly and very helpful, and we got some good tips on polishing her paint (it's original) and other general advice. We saw some spectacular cars. My favorites were a 1956 baby blue Cadillac convertible and a 1902 Packard. One look at the Packard tells you why cars were once referred to as horseless carriages.

One more shot of my baby.

Very steampunk. Looked quite original inside, but loaded with every mod con you could think up.

 

 

1956 powder blue Caddie convertible.



Luxurious little touch under the hood!



1902 Packard

From the Pantry: Hamburger Roll

We've been on a bit of a binge lately--sort of. We had the back yard re-fenced. The squirrels are no longer able to snap off cheap plywood pickets as they scramble along. We've been nice enough to provide them with a highway


interspersed with hurdles. They seem to like it.

Then there's Ruby, our 1937 Plymouth. The coffers aren't empty, but as we're even going on vacation this year, a thing we seldom do, it's budget time.

You see one of the results, above. Last week I made a cinnamon apple custard pie with a pre-baked crust. As long as I'm going to make pastry, I figure that I might as well make two crusts. It doesn't go to waste in this house.

We had about half a pound of hamburger in the freezer, and a few other bits and pieces, so it was 30s / 40s style comfort food. My husband had seconds and finished off the leftovers the next day for lunch. I expect I'll be making it again!

Hamburger Roll

1/2 pound ground beef
8 thin slices onion, finely minced
1 tbl. tomato paste
Season to taste with grated Parmesan, Worcester sauce, sea salt, black pepper, and truffle oil


1 crust recipe for your favorite pie pastry (made ahead and allowed to rest at least an hour)


Let the meat cool. Roll out the pastry into a rectangle and spread the meat thinly over; press in lightly and roll up. Decorate with cut-outs and brush with light cream. Bake at 425 F until lightly browned--I think it took about 45 minutes. Let it cool 5 minutes, and slice with a serrated knife.
 
If you have meat and pastry scraps left over after making this, turn them into cocktail sized pastries. I used a ravioli cutter and got seven triangle-shaped bites. Bake them half-way, about 6 minutes, and then cool. Freeze them, and you'll have quick appetizers. They take about 10 minutes in a 425 F oven.

Cherry Bounce, Part I

Cherry Bounce. Have you ever heard of it? I hadn't, until I fell over a copy of the Yankee Cookbook, 1939 (1963). It's a cherry cordial, and dates back a bit...

You take 6 pounds of cherries, two fifths of whiskey or rum, and (after stemming the cherries), snuggle them up together in a gallon crock.

They mess around for three weeks.

Then you strain off the clear liqueur and...that would be telling.

I'm part-way into the "three week" period. The gallon crock sits on my pastry slab, in the kitchen, and at least every other day I find myself lifting its lid and taking a deep, appreciative sniff of its contents.

Sugar and distilled water figure largely in the end product. It's not an inexpensive experiment, but--cherry cordial!--and a recipe possibly centuries old...I could not resist trying it.

With luck, I will end up with at least three fifths of cordial, some happy gift recipients, and divine cordial for me, my husband, and our guests!

Almost a Cocktail: Aviation Sorbet

It's been hot. Sultry. Summer, in fact, and a lot of the food I've been consuming (and making) reflects that.

Late last week I was about to make a Lemon Daiquiri sorbet, courtesy of the recipe in the Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book (Workman Publishing, 1987), when I realized that we didn't have any rum in the house.

We DO, however, always have gin, Creme de Violette, and Maraschino liqueur. What would you do? I decided to adapt the recipe to one of my favorite cocktails, and so the Aviation Sorbet was born.

Aviation Sorbet (Adapted from the cookbook above, as stated.)

Juice of 3 large lemons
Zest of one large lemon
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup simple syrup (I used Clementine simple syrup, by-product of candied Clementine rind)
2 1/2 cups cold water
1 tbl. gin
2 tsp. Creme de Violette
1.5 tsp. Maraschino liqueur
3 drops each of red and blue food coloring

Mix everything except food coloring together until sugar is dissolved. It will be a bit grayish in color--the yellow of the lemon juice will dull the Creme de Violette's color. Add food coloring if desired.

Chill for at least four hours. I prefer a velvety texture without the zest; if you do, too, strain and remove the zest. Freeze according to the instructions with your ice cream maker, OR pour into a chilled shallow tray and every half hour for two hours, scrape up the crystals that form. (The granita will have a different texture but will taste just as good.)

Allow the mixture to "ripen" in the freezer, as right out of the ice cream maker it will still be somewhat liquid.

Serve two scoops per person, garnished, if you like. I used sugared pansies.

Toy Lamb

Orphan lamb, waiting to go to her new home!

She doesn't stand very easily, though drinking straws in the center of the leg stuffing would fix that.

Taking a well-deserved rest!

At long last...I sewed her together. It took quite a while--four hours, at a guess--but she's worth it. This is another one I don't want to let go!

She's going to the daughter of friends I met while swing dancing--haven't seen them since their wedding, which my husband and I attended. One of the baby's grandmothers has some sheep, so I thought this little critter would be appropriate.

Summer Collage

A Deco Cleopatra for a Chifferobe event.

Sheep-shearing at the Coggeshall Farms Fiber Festival.

Candied rose and mint petals.



More candied petals...



Bouquet for the opening reception for Suite Tart in Providence. All flowers from my gardens.



Meet Ruby (after Ruby Keeler); she's a 1937 Plymouth.



One of my newest roses. This is a David Austin rose: Gentle Hermione.

Lady Emma Hamilton.

Foxgloves and day lilies, now in the front garden.

Maraschino Cherries (Revisited?)

I made these for the first time last year, and let me tell you, they bear absolutely no resemblance to the nasty plastic things that are found in supermarket jars (thank goodness).

It's possible that I posted the recipe last year--likely, even--but making it for the second time I've got some details to add.


Maraschino Cocktail Cherries Makes (3) 6 oz. jars

1 lb. pitted sour cherries [or (1) 24 oz. jar canned]
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. water, or, liquid from jar
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 cinnamon stick
2 strips of lemon zest
pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1 c. Maraschino liqueur
1/2 tsp. each vanilla and almond extracts

Combine all ingredients but cherries, liqueur, and extracts; bring to a rolling boil. Add the cherries. Remove pot from heat and add liqueur and extracts. Discard cinnamon and lemon zest (I composted them).

Fill jars about 4/5 full of cherries; pour in liquid, leaving a generous 1/2" headspace. The cherries will expand during the processing--if you don't leave enough space, you will have to take out some of the contents and re-process the jars!

Process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath. Leave jars undisturbed for at least 12 hours. Remove screw lids, wash and dry jars and lids. Put lids back on and tighten. Add labels.

If you used canned cherries you'll have extra juice and maybe extra liquid from making these. I combined all of this with some simple syrup and boiled it down to make sour cherries syrup. Boiled, it amounted to just about one cup. If you add a teaspoon or so of vodka, it can be kept, in a tightly closed jar, at room temperature. Use it for sodas, cocktails, or anything that takes your fancy.

Better Late Than Never: Bridal Headpiece

I know it's been a while! However, (thanks to my husband, who found a working cord) I've just been able to upload camera photos.

This headpiece was made as a wedding present for a friend of mine. I designed it to coordinate with her gown, and she chose the shape.

It's entirely hand-beaded, and lined inside and out with white velvet. The beads are pearl, crystal, and rhinestone. It's fastened in with combs.