Thinking about Family, Food, and History

My first thought is: slacker! Where have you been since May 2010? My next thought was about family. There is the one we are born into, then one we might marry into, and the ones that we create through shared experiences. We have many in our lives: your work family, your Army buddies, the members of group that you've been involved with for years, a spiritual family, your teaching overseas family, etc. etc.

Today while the Noreaster whirls around outside I am thinking about the hot toddy I'll have tonight after re-shoveling for the third time and the kiddos are in bed. Since whisky or some other sort of spirit is involved be it brandy, bourbon, or rum I think back to when I learned how to make liqueurs at home. Fifteen years or so I started a new job, one that I am blessed to still have and love. I am a Librarian! At the time two of my colleagues were the librarians I would visit when I went there as a child: Mrs. Hutta and Mrs. Perry. Weird and wonderful at the same time to now be working with them. At my first staff Christmas party at the Hutta's home, after dinner Mr. Hutta produced a recycled spaghetti sauce jar full of a raspberry liqueur that he had made from his own fruit. It was a taste of summertime. Full of raspberry flavor with a silky-syrupy feel on the tongue. He explained how he made it and I was excited to try it myself.

Mr. Hutta's Rasberry Liqueur.
(This is more of a method than an exact recipe)

A pint or so of fresh raspberries
1/2 c - 1 c white sugar (this will depend on how sweet the fruit is by themselves and how sweet you want the end result to be.)
Vodka
A clean glass jar large enough to hold the fruit, sugar, and vodka

Wash the fruit and place in the jar, add the sugar and cover it all with vodka. I recommend using a mid-range vodka. No need to blow your wad on something like Grey Goose but don't get the cheap stuff either.
Cover the jar and agitate gently to dissolve the sugar. Put in a cool, dark place, and give it a little giggle every day or two. It will start to turn pink right away. Both the sugar and the natural pectins in the fruit will create that luscious liqueur-ness. I have come across in the years since, recipes that call for the addition of glycerine (from the pharmacy) to create that thicker/heavier feeling though I have never tried it.

I digress, after a week or so of giggling, leave the jar to sit for a few more weeks, up to 1 month. Then filter out the fruit using a fine sieve lined with a coffee filter or a couple layers of cheesecloth over a large bowl or measuring cup. The coffee filter will yield a clearer liqueur but does take a little longer to drip out. Rebottle in the jar you started with or find some other sort of pretty bottles (cleaned well, of course) if you are planning to give as gifts. You will have friends for life if you do!

I have done this with other fruits: blackberries, strawberries, pear, peach, Chinese star anise (one of my favorites; gorgeous brown color, licorice-like flavor; cinnamon, even cloves. Careful with that last one it makes a good cough syrup as it numbs your tongue. I tried rose petals from my grandmother's garden one summer - organic, pesticide-free of course! You don't want to be drinking poison. It was the palest pink and delicately scented with roses. I brushed it on vanilla cake before glazing. I've even played around with different sugars and alcohols too. Pineapple and brown sugar, peach and spiced rum. The combos are endless. Just use your imagination.

The one batch that I was disappointed with was a creme de menthe recipe that I tried once that called for the combination of vodka, white wine, sugar and oil of peppermint. Minty but strange because of the wine. Now that I have a small herb garden and an abundance of mint in the summer, I think that I'll try again following Mr. Hutta's method. I bet it will be so much better. Think of the mojitos!

My sister Tasha is a huge fan of the blackberry liqueur. When she first converted to Judaism she was sad that she couldn't have it anymore. Then after years of researching and a couple conversions later she learned that I could make it for her it would still be Kosher.

Fresh fruit, rinsed with water and bug free.
Sugar (check your bag for the OU or other kosher signifier.)
Absolut vodka (unflavored please, the flavored ones are NOT Kosher)

This is a good list for Kosher alcohols:

http://www.kashrut.com/articles/liquor2/


Proceed as Mr. Hutta directed. Make sure your jar hasn't been used for anything else such as a new canning jar that you have cleaned well before using.

Phew, that's a doosie. There is more to the story that joins my work family to my own but I'll save that for another day.

I'm a What?!

I've made it into the 21st century. I have my own blog!

The plan is to interview my families and record the dishes that stand out in their gustatory memory and that recall a certain time, place and person. I also want to consider the history of that dish and how it came to us. I say families because I want to include all of the components that brought me here: my mom and her adoptive family(The Jagiellos) that were my experience in youth; then her birth family(the Bergerons), found later; my dad and his large family(the Friedrichs)... he has 6 siblings; the step family that gave me another mom and 3 more siblings where before I had only 1; and the family(the Belangers)that I married into. Then there are the vast branches off of the tree: cousins. I feel that it will be interesting to see the variety in our tastes and tales.

Now that I see this written out it seems to be a daunting task. Especially for a mom with two little ones, hubby, house & home, and a great part-time job. Your patience will be appreciated, and please don't hold the occasional typo against me. I may have been typing with only one hand.