Elderberry Wine - well let's hope so!

So we will return to Torun in the next blog. But, just a quick alcohol related note. You may recall me making some Elderflower wine, champagne and cordial. Well the wine has matured after about 3 or 4 months in the demijohn and has made a magnificent floral white wine. It looks something like this on a nice warm day when chilled.

So if you don't pick all the flowers you end up with some berries remaining later in the year. Also, if you remember to go and pick them you can make some wine, apparently. I found when I got to my harvest ground that someone who was sneakier than I, had already been and pillaged the area. Luckily, they must have been short as there were still some berries on the upper branches, but the wind had thinned out the density somewhat. I even picked a few dried bunches as well just to try and get more flavour into the wine as I was worried that I didn't have enough. I have never tried to make it but, most recipes called for like 1.5kgs of berries. I only had about 450g, so, we will have to see how it goes.

So now a quick little wine making maths:

This

Minus this

And this

Gives you these

And then later this.

So the crushed berries have now been added to 2.5L water, some sugar (500g), some citric acid (1tsp probably too much to be honest) and some yeast (1 packet of red wine yeast) of course. We will see what happens, it isn't bubbling away with any intensity yet, but we will hope to hear it soon!

Swerving in Sverige, Maniacal Mariestad

After a brief, two hour, but lovely train ride, John picked us up at the station and gave us a quick run through on the way to the summer house. It really was a marvellous setting, that's M-A-R-V-E-L-L-O-U-S. For all the cricket fans out there. We got to meet Madelene and little Loke for the first time. I think it was just us, but he did manage to belt out some decent screams.

From sad to happy with only the acceleration of a car

but with a bit of playing

he would be back to his dribbling self.

We popped into the house to find that the cat had caught a snake and kindly brought it home for us, minus the head.

Green door, what is that secret your keeping?

Then we thought what would be a really nice thing to do? Yes, like most of the time I think about food. So, I convinced everyone to head into the forest on the back of John's talk of mushrooms and berries. and my word it was a good idea.

hunting for the elusive blueberry and wild strawberry

So far a reasonable haul of wild strawberries and raspberries the odd blue in there too

Then we found a good patch of blueberries

We ended up doing well with the bucket

Then as we neared the house the girls picked some really sweet dark cherries

While the men hunted Chanterelle mushrooms

On return they are in need of a trim and a brush

Here Dr. John shows us the temperate require.

To me the Chanterelle is the prettiest and tastiest mushroom

The golden yellow and the white innards are just stunning

What ever should we do with such a beautiful bunch of mushrooms, as fresh as they can be....

Some eggs in your crepes

And some cream and pepper with your mushrooms makes a great breakfast.

Wild Summer of Love

Ok, ok, so the title is a little misinforming. What I am talking about is the foods of the wild. Here in Poland, as in many of the European locations, wild food really is actually closer than you think. In Australia.... I don't remember much else than the obvious animal protein, but then again that probably shows my simple ignorance and lack of attachment to the land, during my city slicker time living there. In Poland, however, it really is something that people add to their diet. It may come from the times when queues were long and supply was short, so they did the most natural thing and turned to the natural larder to get them through the leaner times. Either way, they certainly have some great traditions that I want to be part of!

We went to Sokolka so that I could vote in the elections. Yes, I voted. Well..... I put the voting slip into the box! So technically I am saying I was on the winning team even if it wasn't me registered to vote. So I am now a PPP - Polish Political Person. :) Whilst in Sokolka I continually pestered the family to take me looking for Jagoda, blueberries. To be perfectly honest, I have never seen a plant of blueberries on a farm, let alone in the forest. I knew that they were in abundance, as I had bought some recently in our local Saturday markets. Then, on the way to the far East Outpost that is Sokolka, there were scores of kiddies, grannies and the old leather jacket clad scooter rider trying to sell their deftly picked windfall on the side of the highway. I was amazed looking at them, most people with two or 3 Nescafe styled and sized jars to sell. I thought "How lazy! Couldn't they even be bothered to pick a decent amount?" Of course, this was all prior to me attempting to pick said dark purple berries.

So after getting in early Friday afternoon, and dropping the hint every hour or so that I wanted to go, Marta and her Mum finally caved in to my persistent pressure and took me to the forest. Sure I could go on my own, but I wouldn't know what was poisonous and alternatively deliciously edible. That is until I would fall over crying and hallucinating like Ralph Wiggum (see the Simpsons episode Das Bus). Ahhh, the Simpsons, always there for a reference.

So off we went, up the road maybe a whole kilometre (or to those old schoolers aka Americans, English and all Australian older persons, that is 0.621371192237 miles) we came to a stop. It was a beautiful place, opposite some tractors making hay while the sun shone. Yes, that was a literal interpretation of the site, along with 4 storks in the field hunting frogs or equally scrumptious creatures. We hopped out of the car on this dirt road and the first thing we saw was a little plant with a tiny red berry on it. I presumed that as many things in nature, red = certain death. However, Marta's mum walked over and pulled it off the plant and offered it to me. I shook my head kind of vigorously and then she popped it into her mouth. Marta made it round to the other the side of the car. "Oh goody! Wild Strawberries!"she exclaimed, as I suddenly felt like an ignorant fool. Ela wasn't trying to kill me, just give me a nice present. So we picked a few and popped them into our greedy mouths, hoping there were no bugs or sticks caught up in the collecting process. Hungry for more we climbed the steep bank of the road leading us into a small woodland.

Once there I was amazed! Originally, we had been hunting Jagodas, the elusive blueberry or maybe the odd kurki (Chanterelle), but instead we found a never ending field of wild strawberries! Well gatherers can't be chosers, so we started to pick. We picked and picked and picked and picked. Here is how kiddies without buckets would store berries for the stroll home. I personally don't know how they could survive the temptation to eat them long enough!
Ela showing a happy strawberry smile.

Non-stop for about 45 minutes or so, apart of course from the stretching to stop the knees locking, and the sneaky little munch here and there on a berry or three.
At this stage we had half a bucket full, which probably would have weighed in at about 500 or 600 grams.
It is hard to contain yourself to stop picking sometimes, when you see the almost red glow coming from these little berries when they catch the sunlight.
Quite a lot when you think most berries grow solo and none are bigger than an index fingers nail. We also did a few strawbs lay backs. Which is pick a handful and tip them all into your mouth and basically let them dissolve. These little things have the most intense flavour of strawberries ever. They are so delicate and sweet. Due to this delicate nature, there is really no point collecting huge masses of them as they won't last more than a few hours. Unless of course you are planning to make jam..... which crossed my mind, but I let the Vuvuzelas rule me. I wanted to get back to watch the Argentina vs Germany World Cup match. For once my belly didn't win! I will be back next time though.... to murder that wild field of berries and make some of the most intense jam ever! I promise this.

So what to do with these? Well other than eat them like the great healthy little snacks that they are..... I decided at half time to make some pancakes with them and a little vanilla flavoured whipped cream.
First get rid of all sticks and bugs that may be hiding there.
Distribute onto pancakes.
Stare at them in marvel.
Cover with cream, roll and add more cream and a little grated chocolate to make it look pretty. These were fantastic and I found it hard to stop at one. Luckily I only made enough batter for two rounds of pancakes each!