This year’s sloe gin* is gently steeping in the kitchen, slightly overshadowed by the chaos that surrounds it as our fridge and oven are replaced.  No more a simple old one out-new one in process, but a major operation involving at least two days work, the adjustment of three adjacent floor to ceiling cupboards and a modicum of plumbing work.  All of this is taking place amidst the contents of the aforementioned cupboards, hastily removed by Matt and Chris, the two delightful young men who didn’t trouble us when immediate action was needed but who simply moved every glass, mug, vase and dish we own onto the last remaining space on the worksurface.  They had already filled most of it with the contents of the pantry cupboard they’d emptied earlier.

We went to the pub for lunch and kept out of their way!  The kitchen’s going to be out of action overnight and I’m hoping they’ll manage to finish tomorrow, but it will take as long as they need and we won’t rush them.  Better to have it done well than quickly, I think.

 

 

So it’s a slight comfort to know that, thanks to the sloe-collecting efforts of my sweet friends Marjorie and Connie, we can close the door on the kitchen tonight and settle down to a glass of the newly bottled 2011 vintage sloe gin. 

It will warm the cockles, for sure.

* I used 2kg of frozen sloes, 1kg of sugar and 2.5 litres of gin which nicely filled a demijohn.  Freezing the sloes causes the skins to split, which means I don’t have to do that horrible pricking business, thank goodness.  We’ll give the demijohn a shake each day until all the sugar has dissolved, after which it will go down into the storeroom and quietly steep away for a couple of years, until I’m ready to bottle it.  Delicious!