A Frugal Concoction of a Day

Chairs, Cucumbers and Fruit Fizz

Today has been a mixed sort of a day - web work, some research and updating on a long-standing challenge I once set myself to make a huge piggy bank and fill it... but that tale will keep for a bit longer.

 

This morning, I had a surprise awaiting me in the shape of another three new chairs! Did I show you the two I got yesterday?

 

Here they are - an old pair of deck chairs that a neighbour would otherwise have taken to the tip. A bit of a scrub and a coat of metal paint should see these as good as new and ideal for entertaining on the patio. Normally, I need to borrow extra seating from next door when visitors arrive for barbecues etc.

 

This morning, I found myself the proud owner of a further three chairs from another neighbour who is scaling down on surplus furniture.

 

This lovely pair of dining chairs will be incorporated into the sitting room come guest room in place of the huge office chair I have in there at the moment. After my cousin arrived for a few days' holiday last week, absolutely weighed down with more offcuts of fabric, sewing materials and an electric sewing machine, making some seat and cushion covers can now be added to my 'to do' list. There's some lovely red and cream material that should do just the job!

 

Finally, on the seating front, there is this handy, comfy, space-saving, sturdy little folding office chair that, once recovered, should make a fantastic addition to my bedroom. Having been spurred into further action during the Home Improvement Hero challenge, I continued into the next room - my bedroom - to give it a budget makeover. Again, I'll save this for another blog post, as it's a total makeover on a tiny budget.

 

So that's the tale of the chairs, now what's all this about cucumbers and fruit fizz?

 

I had meant to bottle the champagne-style fizz yesterday, but somehow time slipped away from me and I ended up doing other things. Today became bottling day, so I rinsed and scalded everything in preparation. (See post here for how to make this for pennies per bottle.)

 

 

The liquid got strained through a sieve and returned to the bucket before ladling it out with a jug and pouring it, via a funnel, through a coffee filter. So far, I have done 5 bottles, but there's enough left for a sixth if I can find a suitable bottle soon enough to use it. The photo of the bottled fizz doesn't reflect the true colour, as this is a real rosy pink and has already started fizzing and fermenting.

 

And now for the cucumbers...

 

I know I said we were going to have a good crop of courgettes this year, but the cucumbers are also growing at an alarming rate. I popped out to water them while waiting for the fruit fizz to filter and the closer I looked, the more cucumbers I saw. We've already picked and eaten a couple and I gave cousin one away with her for her sandwiches, as she's going off on a frugal campervan expedition this week, but I think I'm going to be looking for ideas of what to do with surplus cucumbers very soon. Some will get traded with neighbours, some will get pickled and as many as possible will get eaten - they are so good - but if they all grow to an edible size, I may need some help!

So that was today's adventure in Frugaldom - 'bottling the fruit fizz' got scored off my 'to do' list, several new items got added and I didn't manage to get out cycling or walking. I priced up the spare parts to get my old bread maker back into full service and compared the price with buying another second-hand one via eBay. The second-hand one for spare parts looks like the money-saving option, so that's also been added to my list.

Until tomorrow,
Frugaldom.

How to Make Frugal Fruit Fizz

Simple, Delicious and Ever so Slightly Alcoholic

It's the time of year when we find fruit and berries aplenty. The orchard fruits may not quite be ready for harvesting but many of us have accumulated a glut of rhubarb, raspberries, currants and even strawberries so we need to preserve what we can for the winter months.

My poor gooseberry bushes succumbed to the nasty little Sawfly caterpillars, so the berries I did have were added to blackcurrants to make jam. All of the above can be used to make jam and jelly but it's nice to bottle up something with a bit of fizz for the festive season.

 

WHAT WE NEED

• A clean bucket
• 1kg berries or fruit
• 1kg sugar
• Lemon (or lemon juice)
• Small cup of vinegar
• 5 litres of water
• Suitable bottles - screw top fizzy drinks bottles work fine

Sterilise the bucket as best you can - I rinse everything with boiling water before using it. Rinse the fruit and place all of it in the bucket along with the lemon (washed and sliced, not peeled) or lemon juice, sugar and vinegar.

I prefer to boil my water before adding it, but many people don't bother doing this. Pour the water over the fruit and stir until all of the sugar has dissolved. You'll find that most of the fruit floats but it doesn't take long for the colour to begin flowing. This one looks a rich red, as it's made up of rhubarb, blackcurrants and raspberries.

My bucket of choice this year is one that came with a resealable lid and originally contained 50 seed/fat balls for the wild birds. (These are also ideal for holding laundry 'gloop'.)

Cover your bucket with a tea towel or similar to protect the contents from flies, dust etc and then sit it aside for a few days to infuse. I give mine a stir each morning. The resulting liquid can be bottled from as early as day three.

 

Sterilise your bottles as you would jam jars, I like to rinse mine out with boiling water then dry them in the oven - a job best done after having finished cooking dinner so you don't need to go to the expense of heating the oven specially.

Again I use the boiling water method to clean a large jug, sieve and funnel, then decant the fruit mix from the bucket through the sieve and into the jug. From here, it gets poured into the bottles via the funnel lined with a coffee filter, before sealing the bottles. These should then be sat somewhere cool and safe, where the process of natural fermentation can work its magic.

 

Your fizz should be good to drink after as little as ten days but it keeps much longer, in my experience, as we have only just finished last year's batch. You do need to keep releasing excess pressure from bottles if you want to ferment this to a more potent alcoholic beverage and please do remember that it is mildly alcoholic and not a soft drink for children, despite how the final product tastes.

 

This time around, I am reusing my recycled clip-top bottles, of which I now have five, and screw top fizzy drinks bottles for any surplus.

 

You can also make this drink using elderflowers, red clover, honeysuckle blossom or virtually any other fruit or edible flowers, just adapt the amounts accordingly. For example, only use about a dozen strongly scented elderflower heads or quarter of a bucket of red clover heads. (I have never actually weighed flowers when using them.)

You can also use a mixture of elderflower and red clover or any combination of mixed fruit and flowers you prefer. Having tried several different combination, There still hasn't been one that wasn't agreeable - they all tasted lovely, especially chilled and shared with friends.

 

I shall update this post as my champagne-style fizz gets fizzing.

 

Frugaldom.

I Got Love-Bombed!

Festive Love Bombs and All That Stuff...

 

There's no other way of saying it, I got love-bombed last week! I'm still in shock, over-awed by what happened when someone detonated the love bomb. I was completely taken by surprise, totally unprepared and at the mercy of the postman and all he could carry to my mailbox!

 

During November, I set up the 2013 Frugaleur Challenge, launching it to coincide with Global Entrepreneurship Week. It allows us to establish the ground rules and get a head's start before 1st January 2013.

 

This year's challenge, as I explained in a previous post, has been grossly increased to a whopping great £50 start-up budget and a 13 month period to plan, start-up, develop and grow a micro-business from home.

 

We of the frugal living brigade need to earn our income somewhere and there just never seems to be enough of it to go around, hence the continual series of mini-challenges going on throughout the year. Priorities are things like paying off any debts, overpaying motgages, saving loose change in sealed pots, shopping via cashback sites and pursuing all manner of activities in order to succeed at decluttering, making do, reducing, reusing and recycling.  For some, it is still a case of trying to keep up with the rent and monthly bills! Becoming, and staying debt free is the ultimate goal. Anything more than that is an absolute bonus.

 

So, for 2013, McGonks are my thing! I now have a website, Facebook page, blog, an adoption centre for rehoming my furry little friends and, this weekend, the launch of Kindle subscriptions to their stories, available via Amazon both here in UK and in USA.

 

Back to the love bomb - I have been talking McGonks non-stop for nearly a month now, while I scour Frugaldom and send out search parties to family and friends, looking for all sorts of bits and pieces suitable for my latest project. There had to be some spending, it was unavoidable - especially when I make treasure trove finds on places like eBid!

 

Well! While I have been busy beavering away at putting together a unique secret santa gift and creating my McGonk empire, I have been inundated with gifts of all shapes and sizes, replenishing my diminished crafting stocks and ensuring that the McGonk project gets off the ground.  Fellow frugal and crafting bloggers, I salute you! In the true spirit of the love-bomb, I shall, of course, 'pay it forward' at every opportunity and in any way possible.

 

Now I would like to mention a Christmas Crafting Competition, again being hosted by our friends over at Moneysupermarket.com. This should appeal to even the youngest crafters, as it's a Christmas card making contest. I think the McGonks might be able to pull a few bits and pieces together in order for Thrift Cottage to submit an entry, don't you? Details can be found here.

 

It's been another busy day here, what with all the McGonk challenge preparations, but I'm glad to say that they now have their own 'Clan McGonk' blog. (Feel free to follow, subscribe, read and share.) This is where all their news and great adventures will be recorded in 2013, as I don't want to swamp the frugal living blog with cute, furry, frugal gonks.

 

Finally, today is the last day of the stirring of the pink champagne-style fizz! It smells delicious and is just starting to bubble and ferment. It's ready for filtering and bottling, so that is tomorrow's job. I'll drain off the liquid through the jelly bag and then pour it through a paper coffee filter, just to ensure all the 'bits' are out of it. The colour is very rich, much more like a sparkling red wine than a pink champagne. At 15p per bottle, it's frugal fruity fizz no matter what colour it becomes. I may even transfer the strained fruit to the big pan and boil what's left of it into a jar of festive, gourmet jelly! After that, there probably won't be much fruit left for the compost or the worms.

 

Frugaldom

www.frugaldom.com

 

Pink 'Champagne' Style Fizz of a VERY Frugal Variety.

Champagne, Perry or Bubbly - Frugal Pink for Me!

 

With such a busy start to the month, I thought it best to get the frugal 'champers' on the go so we had some ready in time for Christmas.

 

I've no rhubarb left (other than frozen, pre-stewed for pies), so I'm using a mixture of fruits, meaning my 'pink champagne' may turn out to be a slightly darker shade of pink, verging on something resembling sparkling 'Ribena'.

 

Never mind, as long as it goes with a pop, fizzes and tastes nice, that is all that matters. I know there'll be Vitamin C in it, but not too much by way of alcohol. It's being started off as we speak!

 

CHRISTMAS 2012 LAST MINUTE 'CHAMPERS'

About half a kilo of mixed fruit (Free)

About half a kilo of sugar (50p)

1 sliced lemon (20p)

Splash of cider vinegar (1p)

3 litres water

 

I tipped three cartons of frozen fruit into my bucket - one each of blueberries, raspberries and blackcurrants - but didn't bother weighing the quantities.

 

To this, I added about half a bag of sugar, then a sliced lemon. I'm not a stickler for waxed or unwaxed as it seems to make no difference at all, from my limited understanding. In fact, a recent report actually suggested that the standard waxed lemons provide better flavour, so no point wasting money trying to source unwaxed varieties. Hopefully the lemon tree will grow and begin producing fruit over the next year or two, that would be handy!

 

Next was the water. I boiled the first litre and poured that over the top of the fruit and sugar, then added the next two litres, unboiled. It's warm enough to dissolve the sugar quite quickly. About a tablespoonful of vinegar was added and I used what I had available - cider vinegar. (The hens like it in their water.)

 

Job done! It's all been covered and is now sitting in the livingroom in its little bucket, infusing with flavour and alreay turning a pretty shade of pink. It will be left to soak until the weekend, but I'll give it a stir each day between now and then.

 

Come the weekend, the liquid will be strained, fruit set aside for some sort of pie filling or sponge topping and the resulting juice filtered off into my clip top bottles. I have three of those, recycled, of course, plus there are a couple of screw cap glass bottles that can be used. If my estimates are correct, I reckon it will cost 15p per bottle, including the electricity needed to boil the kettle.

 

I realise that this won't be particularly strong in the alcohol stakes, but a fortnight is sufficient time for the sugars to start fermenting and it does seem to work with almost every type of berry, edible flower or fruit I have tried.

 

Have fun if you try this at home, but don't forget to check the bottles for any signs of over-fizz, s pink isn't the easiest colour to get out of anything that happens to be in the way.

 

Until later,

 

Frugaldom.