elderflower/gin/lime/sparkles

elderflower! it is the taste of summer, if you are british. or the taste of the countryside. or spring? something like that. i think it tastes like citrus-y apple juice, with (perhaps obviously) kind of a floral thing going on.

i had some time to kill before picking my moms up at the airport the other day, so i went to ikea. the ikea in portland is right by the airport, which is not that close to anything i go to regularly, so i almost never make it to ikea. even when i do go there, i am usually picking up some sklosvangs or glovbrniks for around the house and i never remember to check out the food part of the store.

this is unfortunate, because as i discovered the other day, it is a wonderland of weird foodstuffs. there were like 8 kinds of jarred herring, several varieties of caviar spread in tubes, lots of crisp bread things, and interesting candies and drinks, among other treasures. well, i don't know about the herring. i couldn't bring myself to buy that.

i did get some elderflower syrup concentrate, however, and immediately started making plans.

there is an elderflower liqueur that i've seen around at the kind of bar that also features homemade bitters and bartenders sorry, mixologists in dandy little waistcoats. i have had drinks made with it and it is tasty and all, but i don't necessarily want to spend $40 on flower liqueur to have in my very own house. the syrup was like $4something. at 1/10 the price, it would have to be pretty bad for me to disavow its utility in my drinks cabinet.

so. the cocktail. i had some gin (as always. gin = summer, it is currently summer, so i have gin around. it's an easy equation) and some limes and some sparkling water. and now i have some elderflower syrup. so i mixed them together and discovered an eminently quaffable bevvie (ha!) that would be a hit at any drunken garden party to which you might be invited.

i don't like things too sweet, so if you have a drinks sweet tooth, you may want to change the proportions of this a bit. but really, it's just gin (a drink's worth - follow your heart), lots of fresh lime juice (i am not going to go on another rant about this, but seriously, squeeze your own limes. it is 1000% worth it), a couple of tablespoons of elderflower syrup, and sparkling water (or club soda).

it's so dreamy and is also quite refreshing. aside from garden parties, it would be more than welcome at a late morning brunch (i think? i don't normally drink gin at brunch myself, but it could be good if you like that sort of thing) or a lazy picnic.

or you can do as i do and have it with the weird toffee laces candy that you also bought at ikea and at first didn't care for but are now kind of obsessed with.

*ingredients*

gin!

elderflower syrup, to taste

juice from 1/2 a lime

sparkle water

very cherry hand pies with ginger and lemon

don't those little pies just make you swoon? there's something so summery about little baby pies you can eat out of hand. they are perfect for picnics, since you don't need utensils. however, they are also perfect for eating at home or at work or really wherever you might want a tiny pie pick-me-up.

luckily, they are also quite easy to make, since the crust is simply store-bought puff pastry. of course, technically one could make one's own puff pastry, but really it's kind of too hot for that nonsense.

these are very similar to the ones in this month's bon appetit (see recipe here). however, i took the liberty of adding the zest of one lemon and a couple of tablespoons of finely diced crystallized ginger. i also used frozen cherries for the most part but added a few fresh cherries at the end of cooking the filling. next time i might try using a little less cornstarch, like a tablespoon instead of 1 1/2, because i felt like the texture was a little gummy. but when you use less cornstarch it will make the filling set up less, so they may be more messy. i think i would also use lemon juice to mix with the cornstarch instead of water, just to add a little more acidity and flavor.

i do think that the lemon and ginger were great additions, since they added a little brightness and spice. however, i'm sure that making them as the recipe is written would result in excellent pies as well. also, our grocery store didn't have all-butter puff pastry, so i used the prole pepperidge farm kind. luckily it still worked. it actually made more pies than the recipe states as well - bonus!

follow the basic recipe for the filling, adding the grated zest of one whole lemon and a couple of tablespoons of minced crystallized ginger when you add the cherries. i don't think you have to use the dried cherries, but i definitely think it's a good idea. they have a different texture and more intense flavor than the fresh or frozen ones. you could also use other dried fruit such as cranberries or blueberries for a different berry boost.

if you use the pepperidge farm puff pastry (it seems to be the only one available in many stores), let it thaw and then roll it out when your filling is cool - i rolled it on a large cutting board, which makes cleaning up easier. when you unwrap it, it is folded over a couple of times so when you unfold it there are three rectangle-y sections. i cut the pastry along the fold lines and then cut each of those in half so that instead of three long rectangles, there are six shorter ones. then follow the recipe and brush with egg (i used a whole egg with a little water because what are you going to do with just an egg yolk?) around the edges so it will seal more easily. if you don't have a pastry brush, you can do as i did and just dip your fingers in the egg and brush it like that.

then just dollop on some filling, fold one end over, and press the tines of a fork lightly around the edges to seal. then brush the egg wash over the top and sprinkle with some sugar. the recipe calls for fancy sugar, which would definitely be a little prettier and more sparkly, but i used regular-people sugar and it was totally fine.

i put them in the freezer to cool (because our fridge was too full - it wasn't out of some kind of ideological impulse - but it worked well) and waited until after they had chilled to cut the vents in the top. i think this made it easier to cut them, because otherwise the pastry is soft and it's hard to get good cuts. then just bake those puppies as the recipe suggests and bring them to a picnic!

our picnic sadly lacked a piñata, but we did have a bunch of pies, so i guess it evens out...

you can also eat them at home and use a plate, but where's the fun in that?

actually, it's still pretty fun, even indoors and on a plate.

gin/ginger/mango/pineapple punch

punch is a fun thing to make for any gathering of friends. it can be as complicated or simple as you want (i am fond of the idea of having sherbet in punch, but it seems like that doesn't happen as much as it used to).

the genesis of this particular punch was the fact that mangoes and pineapple were both on sale at safeway. it's not much, as creation myths go, but it is the truth.

first you must get some jars together (or, if you are fancy, get out your pitcher) and then you should cut up some coins of ginger (i just wash it and cut it up with the skin still on). for three largish (like spaghetti sauce jar-sized) jars, i used perhaps 2 inches of ginger root, cut in pretty thin slices. then cut up the pineapple (for instructions on that, see rhubarb-pineapple crumble) and the mango.

mangoes seem to intimidate people sometimes. when i was buying this one, there was an elderly fellow in front of me buying like a dozen of them and he was talking to the cashier about what a pain they were to cut up. apparently he was peeling them first and then trying to cut them, which to me sounds like an exercise in slippery fruit, futility, and sliced fingers. it is much easier to cut them up with the peel still on them, then cut the pieces out of the peel.

mangoes are sort of flat on two sides and if you use a sharp knife and hold the fruit so that the stem is facing up, you can cut down on either side of the pit. these are the larger oval pieces above. then there are just the two smaller side pieces and you're almost done! then just make hatch marks as above, push the skin in so that the flesh goes out as in the bottom part of the picture, and use a small knife to cut the little cubes off. so easy! and it's already cubed for you! i used a whole mango and almost half of a pineapple.

then just put the fruit and ginger in with some gin to soak. i let it soak on the counter for a good couple of hours - this infuses the gin with the fruit flavor and infuses the fruit with the gin. i used about a liter of gin in total - just try to get all of the things evenly distributed, if you are using more than one vessel.

after a couple of hours (and i'm sure it would be fine if it was longer than that), add some soda or similar. i used one bottle of grapefruit italian soda and then added some sparkling water to each glass as it was poured (the picture at top is post-italian soda addition). this made for a not-too-strong and very refreshing summer cooler.

we enjoyed it while picnicking and playing bocce ball, which is the preferred way to enjoy it, but it wouldn't be too bad if you sipped it at a cookout or similar.

isn't summer just the best?!