How to Make Your Own Cordials And Syrups

loads of easy recipes. lynn

I was leaning toward 3-star, but, mindful that I’m the first review, I don’t want to blow this book out of the water. It’s a decent book, and I can justify the fourth star by the fact that the author takes a stab at safe canning procedure. It’s a rather long universal processing time, suited to every single recipe, it appears, but so far in my search, no one else even TRIES. I asked Ball and they have no idea, and the National Center For Home Food Preservation (USA) didn’t even email me back. I’ve found no website recipe to be of help beyond the initial sterilizing of bottles, so this information, in the vast gap of any other availability (that I can find) is most helpful!Other than that... the pages are the quality of a cheap paperback and, unfortunately for me, this is a British book, with an understandably heavy leaning on produce found there.Produce I have no access to:Elderberry/Elderberry Flowers (several recipes; also would’ve been nice to include the fact that all parts of the Elder can be toxic if not cooked: her recipes seem to cook everything, but it’s nice to know. I also acknowledge that I could have missed a reference.)GooseberriesHawthornBeech LeavesBlack Currant (I’m invested in finding a frozen sack somewhere and trying it out, but I don’t like my odds.)Red CurrantCrab Apple (This one is pretty much all over, but obscure. Our tree never produced and we’ve been meaning to remove it for years. Maybe the Farmer’s Market? I have some vague hopes for Elder-anything there as well.)Medlar (I had to look it up.)Quince (To my everlasting canning-agony)Nettle (I’m just on the wrong side of the country.)This is BY NO MEANS the fault of the book, but I thought it helpful to let others know.One thing I am very excited to try is limoncello recipes! I adore limoncello.Obviously even the fruits I do have seasonal access to are largely not in season in April, but the orange and lemon St. Clement’s Cordial looks like a good place to get my feet wet, and I’ve newly rediscovered plums. Cordial Theory being relatively simple, I can’t think of a reason the recipes won’t work.There’s nothing wrong with the book that I can see, beyond paper quality, and I didn’t realize going in the regional fruits are really that different - that’s on me. It also didn’t occur to me to check where published.Live and learn.By the way, there’s also a very small Ginger Beer section, and a few Shrub recipes. I have other books more extensively covering these things, but still few enough that it’s nice to see another person’s take.

No picture which is disappointing would CV of ordered had I’ve know there would be some photo

Really good value

It's ok