Rebel, rebel

Oops!  It would appear that I have broken a cardinal rule of blogging in my first attempt. However, at least it means someone has actually read my first post (even if I did have to point them very clearly in the right direction - but thanks a million Becsini!)

Anyway, I blogged about the Root Ginger Quencher / Fiery Ginger Cordial that I had made to pass the time whilst my sewing machine is being fixed (on which note, still no word from the engineer) but failed to include the recipe. Apparently this is very bad blogging but at least it does give me a topic for my second post.  So, here it is:

Root Ginger Quencher

Makes approximately 350ml of cordial

Ingredients

• Rind of 1 unwaxed lemon
• 150ml golden caster sugar
• 150ml lemon juice
• 3 inch generous chunk of fresh ginger (no need to peel - it adds flavour)
• 1tsp chili flakes
• 50ml water

Method

1. Peel the rind off the unwaxed lemon, making sure you remove any of the white pith and put in a heavy based saucepan.
2. Add the water, sugar, lemon juice, chopped ginger and chili flakes.
3. Bring to the boil and stir until the sugar has dissolved and you have a syrup.
4. Carefully strain the mixture through a fine sieve or muslin into a bowl and set aside to cool.
5. When cool, pour into a sterilised bottle.

To serve

Add to ice, top up with sparking water and garnish with fresh lime (or whatever other combination of other mixers you fancy experimenting with).

I imagine that it is also good practice/blogging protocol to say where the recipe is from. I got it from an e-newsletter last summer from the wonderful Thali Cafe, who are based all around Bristol. If you are local and have never been, shame on you - go now! And if you are ever visiting this wonderful city, I highly recommend a visit.  I sincerely hope you won't be disappointed. You will certainly leave with a full belly and having not broken the bank - two very important features in my book!

Like Monty without his garden...

I was on a roll.

I'd put a new zip in a skirt for a colleague, patched up D's beloved sports bag, and had settled down to make myself a pair trousers.

I'd found a lovely charcoal grey cotton linen fabric (thank you John Lewis); I had a tried and tested pattern (thank you Vogue); and I was really flying through the construction phase. With just the back seam and the waist band to go I thought I'd pause and do a spot of edge finishing when disaster struck. The sewing machine broke!

I re-threaded it, I changed yarn, I de-fluffed it, I even followed sewing machine maintenance videos on YouTube but nothing was getting away from the fact that it could no longer link two threads together in any way that would constitute sewing. My trusty companion had finally had enough.

Reluctantly I packed everything away and made a cup of tea but all I really wanted to do was continue creating. That wonderful process of making something with my very own hands. And yes, it is the process that is the best bit because sometimes the results aren't always all that you had hoped! So, I looked at my projects list (yes, I'm a list person!) to see what else I could do but all involved the trusty sewing machine and I just felt more dejected - think The Lone Ranger without Silver, Monty Don without his garden - I was lost!

And that was almost two weeks ago.

I have finally found a sewing machine engineer that answered the phone/returned my call and the machine is now in his, hopefully expert, hands. However, my need to create *something* has resulted in me creating a blog. I've spent hours fiddling with layouts and colours without a clue what I'm doing and, as you'll see, decided to follow the KISS principle (keep it simple, stupid). So, what do you think?

Hopefully I'll actually be able to finish the trousers sooner rather than later, in which case I'll post a photo.  In the meantime, the only other creation of note was some rather fiery ginger cordial.  I'd had the recipe for months (years?) but a broken sewing machine makes a woman delve deep into her projects list. The recipe was actually titled 'Ginger Quencher' but I think I may have been a bit heavy-handed with the crushed chillies, hence my alternative name!

Ta-Da!  Fiery Ginger Cordial

So far it has only been tried with tap water but I feel the addition of bubbles may be a test that just has to be carried out (preferably Spanish or Italian alcoholic ones!)  Here's to my new venture in blogging - cheers!