Monthly Archives: September 2012

Vino Hedgio – Foraged Wine

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Andy Hamilton

I’ve had a few email’s about my appearance on The Alan Titchmarsh show on 28th September. They all ask for the Vino Hedgio recipe and as I like to please, here it is. It was the one that Jilly Goolden … Continue reading →

Posted in Booze for Free recipes, Drinking/home brewing, foraging, recipes | 3 Comments

What to do with the left over sloes from sloe gin

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Andy Hamilton

What to do with left over sloes from Sloe Gin I once had a demijohn full of sloes just sitting up on a shelf, I forgot about it for months or perhaps even (2) years. The sloes were perfectly preserved … Continue reading →

Posted in Booze for Free recipes, foraging, recipes | 15 Comments

Two Sloe Recipes that don’t involve Gin!

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Andy Hamilton

Sloe Recipes There is more to sloes than sloe gin as sloe wine is always worth a go (Booze for Free p275)! But the ancestors to our native plum must have been a source of food for the ancestors of … Continue reading →

Posted in foraging, recipes | 6 Comments

Sloe Gin and the Shameful history of Britain

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Andy Hamilton

Imagine the first ever sloe gin ever made and you might picture a chocolate box Tudor Britain. Perhaps a pastoral scene an adorable old lady returning home with a wicker shopping basket full to bursting of sloes, carving off a … Continue reading →

Posted in Comment, Drinking/home brewing | Tagged , | 19 Comments

Sloe Gin Recipe

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Andy Hamilton

Sloes grow on the blackthorn bush (Prunus spinosa)which are not only very common throughout Europe but can be found on all of the non-frozen continents of the Earth. I have heard it suggested that you should beat the blackthorn to … Continue reading →

Posted in Booze for Free recipes, Drinking/home brewing | Tagged | 10 Comments

Himalayan Balsam, eating invasive plants -The Lunchbreak forager

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Andy Hamilton

If I was to mention Policeman’s helmet,  Bobby Tops, Copper Tops,  Gnome’s Hatstand, Kiss me on the mountain and Impatiens glandulifera or Himalayan Balsam I’d be talking about the same plant. For a plant that only reached the UK in … Continue reading →

Posted in foraging, lunchbreak forager, Video clips | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Lunchbreak forager – Plums and some quick and easy plum recipes

Posted on September 2, 2012 by Andy Hamilton

Lunchbreak forager– Plums Juicy Victoria plums, or wild sweet purple damsons and greengages; plums have to be up there as one the greatest foraged foods (and plum wine is a great wine too). A heavy branch of damson hangs over … Continue reading →

Posted in foraging, lunchbreak forager | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

Straight Glasses help curb binge drinking, apparently

Posted on September 1, 2012 by Andy Hamilton

Dr Angela Atwood et al* recently published a paper that suggests binge drinking can be influenced by drinking from long straight glasses rather than round glasses. In the study participants were given a glass of lager either in a half … Continue reading →

Posted in Comment, Drinking/home brewing | Tagged , | 1 Comment