Raspberry Cordial : Childhood Book Recipes

I spent quite a bit of time this weekend baking and cooking. Never had any intention to do so, it just sort of happened. I had lemons and blueberries that needed to be used up, I woke up at 3:30 am Saturday morning and could not fall asleep again, despite my valiant efforts to sleep in, so I made bagels. However, the inspiration for this mornings quote came in the form of a sweet nectar that I finally got up the courage to make.



I've long been a fan of Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. The writing in the books makes you feel as if you were there experiencing Prince Edward Island with Anne: the sights, smells, sounds and tastes. How could you not feel for her when for a time she loses her "bosom friend" Diana because she served Marilla's famous Current Wine instead of the Raspberry Cordial as was intended? Marilla's Raspberry Cordial and Current Wines have always fascinated me.

After thinking about it several times through the years, I actually remembered I wanted to try making Raspberry Cordial while I was at the grocery store and able to pick up what I would need. I stuck to a non-alcoholic version similar to what Anne and Diana would have had, assuming they grabbed the right bottle. I used a bit less sugar than what is called for by most recipes, but it was still plenty sweet. Oh and so delicious!

The books of Enid Blyton also hold countless treats I'd love to find recipes for sometime. Jane Brockett wrote a book of recipes for treats found in childhood books called Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer, it's been on my wishlist for a while and sounds like it would be a treat to match the descriptions from stories with the treats themselves. What treats from books have always fascinated you? Anything I should try?

Raspberry Cordial

INGREDIENTS

36 oz frozen raspberries
8 cups water
juice of 1 lemon
2 1/2 cups sugar

64 oz container
cheese cloth for straining

DIRECTIONS

Bring water, raspberries and lemon juice to boil in 6 qt stock pot.
Simmer for 45 minutes, reducing to between 4-6 cups of liquid.
Strain through cheese cloth, returning liquid to stock pot.
Puree raspberries left in the cheese cloth in a blender or mash with a wooden spoon to get most of the juice out, strain through cheese cloth, adding liquid to the pot. (Reserve berries for raspberry syrup!)
Add sugar to liquid in pot, simmering until dissolved.
Pour liquid into 64 oz container, add cold water until full, cap and shake to mix.
Keep in refrigerator.

Good Things - Beautiful Books

T

his book is almost an "obvious" choice since it's a Martha Stewart Living publication. Although, with all the books she's put out I only have 4. Can you guess which ones? I actually think the choices tell a lot about me, and not necessarily who I am, but who I want to be.

Kiy, a dear friend of mine, made a comment earlier today, which made me realize that she thinks my house is spotless and I'm perfectly organized. My dear Kiy, my house is not spotless... and I'm not perfectly organized. I will even share proof! My office looks closer to the before than to the after right now. Shhhhh, it's a secret! Now that I've shared it, I'm motivated to clear the desktop this week. Besides, I have a few projects for this month to share and I have to get going if I plan on finishing them.

My trick is to never let it get to the point where you just give up. Yes, life gets busy, rooms get cluttered... and even dirty. Creativity breeds messes... snippets of thread or paper, light layers of flour, stacks of books and post-it's. If I cleaned it all up every time I was done for the day until I had time to get back to it, I'd never finish a project. I'd spend too much time in setting everything up and getting comfortable! So I leave it, until I finish... sometimes this is a matter of a day, sometimes it's a few weeks. It all depends on how detailed the project and how busy my life is at the time. Eventually it all gets picked up and put away, but you can ask my hubby. A clear surface is just begging to be covered with a new project in this house! Especially a clear kitchen counter, it's just begging for a light dusting of flour.

What does all this have to do with beautiful books you wonder? Well, Good Things keeps me inspired to cover every surface with projects, as opposed to getting them put away!



I love books that are not only beautiful, but also serve a purpose and are practical. I do have some that are simply beautiful, but they don't get pulled out and looked through nearly as often as ones that inspire me to action of some sort.

Good Things is a "best of" compilation categorized into seven overall topics: entertaining, cooking, celebrating, giving, gardening, decorating, and homekeeping. Given the content of my blog, this is perfect.



Each section is filled with little projects and things you can do, and the basic instructions needed to accomplish each project.



One of my favorite ideas is the dinner kit from the Little Luxuries page in the Giving section.

Next time you're a weekend guest, give your host one less meal to worry about. Line a galvanized-steel pail with a dish towel, then fill it with everything needed to make dinner: spaghetti, tomatoes, fresh basil, crusty bread, mozzarella, and Parmesan, and flowers for the table.

I absolutely love this gorgeous hanging bouquet of roses and think it would be lovely hanging from the door of the guest bedroom when company is coming to visit. You will need to nestle a container of water in the base of the cone for the flowers.

Roll a piece of fine-mesh brass screen into a cone shape and secure the seam with straight pins. Add a loop of wire for the handle.

I will be working on organizing recipes next week, which is why I have the book out in my peruse pile this week.



There are so many ideas and projects in this book, I'd never be able to do everything that I want to try, but it's great to have around, bookmarked for a rainy day.

Oh, the four Martha Stewart books I currently have... Let's see... a book on organizing, a homemaking bible, a cookbook, and a book of pretty projects... that about sums it up! (Back to the question)

Falling Cloudberries - Beautiful Books

T

his is the third book I'm sharing, and by the same author as the first book I shared. It's not intended to be favoritism, although, in a way it is just that. I happen to have both of these in my peruse pile right now, since Apples for Jam is a recent acquisition. They are both cookbooks, but they are gorgeous! I love reading the snippets of her life that are interspersed throughout the books and flipping through the photographs.

"Finland still remains a dream; a faraway land where Father Christmas lives and glides here and there with his sleigh, ducking through falling cloudberries and past my mother ice-skating to school....."

Falling Cloudberries contains a very interesting collection of family recipes organized by heritage or origin. A non-traditional layout for a cookbook, but it works perfectly with the stories and photographs she shared. If you are a cookbook purist, you may find the organization of both Apples for Jam and Falling Cloudberries annoying. If, like me, you are drawn to blogs like Orangette and Smitten Kitchen for not only the recipes, but also the gorgeous photographs and narrative about that particular recipe, then you'll love it!

Chapters
Falling Cloudberries (Finland)
Oregano, Oranges & Olive Groves (Greece)
Cinnamon and Roses (Cyprus)
Monkeys’ Weddings (South Africa)
Washing Lines & Wishing Wells (Italy)
Suitcase of Recipes (World)

Recipes and their pictures

are interspersed with personal anecdotes and their pictures.

I'd love to know what you think if you own either of these cookbooks or what your favorite recipes from them are. If you are interested, Who Wants Seconds has an interview with Tessa where she shares her Lentils, Rice & Red Onion Salad recipe.

The Gentle Art of Domesticity - Beautiful Books

I

absolutely love Jane Brockett's blog, long before I have flowers blooming she's sharing gorgeous tulips and flowers from her garden. It gives me a bit of spring while I'm still waiting for it here in North Dakota. So given my Spring post earlier this week, I'm sure you can see why I love all the tulips she shares. Yellow tulips are my favorite.

Her book The Gentle Art of Domesticity: Stitching, Baking, Nature, Art & the Comforts of Home is a bright, colorful, beautiful book to peruse. I could spend hours reading, baking and analyzing every little detail.

The organization is quite interesting, there is no real index, just a bare wisp of an index at the end pointing you to the recipes and a few of her projects. Really this book isn't really a "resource book", it's more of a rainy day companion... and sunny days, and snowy days, and windy days... you get the point. The chapters are broken up in an interesting manner titled Inspiration, Color, Texture, Patterns, Practical, Style, Comfort, Luxury, Sharing, Sharing, Nature, Travel... Looking for her Rock Buns recipe? You'll find it under Comfort.  Want to force Hyacinths in the Winter?  Look under Practical.

Jane is also known for her fairy buns and the brilliant fun icing colors that she manages to achieve. Fairy buns, isn't that a much more fanciful name than cupcakes?

And last, but by no means least, I had to share a pic of her tulips! Every spring while I'm still waiting for my snow to melt, I indulge in a little spring vicariously through her blog. I'm always grateful for the glimpses of bits of green with gorgeous crowns of pinks, reds and yellows.

Apples for Jam - Beautiful Books

M

ondays always feel a little blah in the winter. Everything seems gray and cold, not at all inviting. After a weekend of cuddling in bed, playing with puppies, watching movies, and cozying up with cocoa, I'd love to make it last just a wee bit longer.

I thought I'd share a few of the books that I've been cozying up with recently each week. Now that the Christmas decorations are put away and the long wait until spring has begun, I like to distract myself from the temperatures with pretty pictures and bright colors. The beautiful photography and vivid colors in my recent reads are just the thing for dreaming of spring.

The first book I've been coveting for a little over a year, since I first saw a mention of it in Posie Gets Cozy. I picked it up this November when I stumbled across it in a bookstore and finally got a chance to peek through it firsthand. I couldn't bear to put it down, so it came home with me. Apples for Jam: A Colorful Cookbook has a very apropos subtitle, as it's arranged by color. It is a gorgeous cookbook full of lovely personal anecdotes by the author. I don't keep it with the other cookbooks, even though at it's heart that's what it is. Instead I keep it in my "Peruse Pile". My pile of pretty books that I love to linger over with a cup of coffee.

I wish I had had the courage to order this book on Alicia's recommendation alone a year ago, but I'm glad I have it now. I tend to want to see a picture of the final outcome before I'll make a recipe, this cookbook more than delivers. There isn't a photo of every recipe, but the photos it provides are so enticing!

Unusually organized it provides a feast for the eyes


Each chapter starts with a memory




And personal photos are also interspersed within

Tessa Kiros has written a few other cookbooks, I also have Falling Cloudberries which will be shown soon.

Gift Idea for Kids

My niece, nephew and my best friend's daughter are so far away, so this year I put together packages of the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and then read the story to be burned onto a CD [Download Here]. It's a great way for them to hear my voice and read along. I like to add special effects, so I did the crunch with a Dorito and just inserted it for each page turn. You can find free special effect .wav files online too.
Simply the Best has quite a selection

This works well with any Children's Books, you can use the free audio editor Audacity.

Here are a few Audacity Tutorials to get you started.

I've been tagged... Page 161 Meme

Monique tagged me for the page 161 meme.

So here are the details, pick up the book you are currently reading, turn to page 161, what is the 6th complete sentence?

Well I had a snag, the book I'm currently reading (City of Glass - Douglas Coupland) doesn't have 161 pages, nor does the last book I read (Souvenir of Canada 2 - Douglas Coupland), so I grabbed the next book I'm reading...

Wade said, 'OK. Sure. But why would we make duplicates, then?'

From All Families are Pyschotic - Douglas Coupland (ordered 6 of his books from Amazon to play catch up...)

Tamy consider yourself tagged, you can wait til you are back from vacation.

Daring Book For Girls

I'm eagerly awaiting The Daring Book For Girls which will be released on October 30th.

I purchased The Dangerous Book for Boys shortly after it came out and pored over it for days, calling out to hubby every so often "Come look at this", "This is pretty neat", "I can't wait to go through this with our kids someday".

The book for boys covered so many things necessary for childhood fantasies: building a treehouse, making slingshots, folding the best paper airplane, tying knots, morse code and so much more. I wouldn't limit yourself by the titles, since I liked treehouses and strong knots as much as my brother ever did. I'm hoping The Daring Book for Girls covers as many adventurous things as the boys book, and it's not too girly-girl. As long as it isn't a dissertation on tea parties, it should be just about perfect.