Plus Laundry Tips
It all started very well. Fantastic concept and all the ingredients to hand. The frozen Morrison’s Wonky blackberries and blackcurrants were separated from the strawberries and put into the ubiquitous smoothie container. And look……
already looking rather scrummy. You can see 100% dark chocolate powder on top of Blackberries, Blackcurrants, Tayberries and the odd blue berry. 4 Measures of white rum, 2 measures of Cointreau and the juice of two limes have been added to the smoothie mix.
All was going as usual on a quiet Sunday afternoon. The lid was screwed tightly onto the Blitzer. The power button pressed to on. The dog went bananas at the noise – equalling and adding to the already high decibels. Tranquillity returned as soon as the blitzing was complete.
This is the point when it all went Pete Tong. We expect this mix to be thick and icy but a tiny taster revealed that the mix was pure ice and pips 😦 This mixture was so thick with pips that it would be impossible to strain it. This is the point where most mortals throw the contents away and have a glass of wine instead.
A glass of Elderflower cordial to the rescue! The slush was poured into a large jug and well mixed with the cordial. This was then put through a medium and then a fine sieve. At this point the kitchen looked like a darker version of Innocent Intentions and the Raspberry Bloodbath.
Pips strained away a deliciously quaffable hybrid daiquiri was created.
And so we retreated to the Summer House (little more than a bus shelter in reality) and enjoyed our Black Forest and Elder Flower Cordial Daiquiri’s
We discussed further experimenting with the notion of replacing the blackberries with Crème de Mûre. A little online research finds a link to the A Tipsy Giraffe blogging site with some lovely images and a great recipes detailing how to make your own Blackberry Liqueur
We may experiment by replacing the Cointreau with Crème de Mûre, Crème de cassis, Crème de Cacao or a mixture of all three.
Then we had a DISASTER – yes, it is worthy of All Caps! By a degree of magnitude it was just one over the event horizon.
There could have been an earthquake, an aged United States military super computer brinking on senility may have forgotten how to play Tic Tac Toe and the War Games cyber criminal version of High school student David Lightman had successfully failed to win.
Whatever catastrophic event initiated this catastrophe, a decent slug of dark daiquiri splashed onto the wooden floor of the summer house/bus shelter. This was of little consequence, the floor already having been copiously splattered with paint, peanuts and other garden related debris. Actually the only thing in question is whether the fragile wooden structure would collapse before the floor was cleaned and covered.
Infinitely worse than the slug were the two fat and wobbly globule’s which in slow motion dropped from the rim of her glass and landed with a splosh onto her irreplaceable powder pink M & S 7/8 cropped summer pedal pushers.
A leading question should be why on earth was she wearing summer pink in December and just three weeks away from the winter solstice? Rollercoasting through her 60’s the world was lucky that she wasn’t in a bikini and mink faux fur coat!
Crisis Action was for later. Approaching super old, priorities change and in the moment and looking skywards the mortals savoured the deliciously quaffable hybrid daiquiri.
How to save irreplaceable powder pink M & S 7/8 cropped summer pedal pushers?
Top Tips for removing fruit and red wine stains
THE DO NOT’S
- Never, never, never use warm or hot water. This will cook the stain and make it permanent.
- Do not let the stain dry. If you have no chemicals, soaking the fabric in cold tap water will buy you time
- Do not rub the stain, this will spread the wine/fruit juice etc and make the stain bigger!
NOW THE DO’S
- Salt. Drain the soaking water, leaving your garment damp. Do not wring the fabric as this may spread the stain and/or move the wine/fruit juice etc deeper into the fabric. Generously cover the stain with salt. Leave for 10 minutes. If the stain is still visible rinse and repeat, leaving for a longer period of time. Once the stain has gone wash as usual.
- Bicarbonate of soda. Mix into a paste 1 part baking soda to 3 parts water and spread over the damp material. Leave to work it’s magic. If necessary rinse and repeat until the stain has vanished then launder as usual.
- Use a commercial product such as Vanish Gold Oxi Action Powder. These products contain the chemicals necessary to dissolve the stain.
Finally, the TOP TIP on how to avoid red wine an fruit stains…….. drink gin and tonic!
Claudia Bow 