Preparing for Winter V

Primrose

Must give this a try.  My mum made a lemon barley drink when I was a child which I think included pearl barley but haven't come across any receipes in her old pre-war cookery book.  Has anybody ever made this?

annieb64

I make something smilar but with just 1 lb of sugar , 1 oz citric acid and three unwaxed lemons. It can be frozen.

Cherryfudge

Primrose said:

Must give this a try.  My mum made a lemon barley drink when I was a child which I think included pearl barley but haven't come across any receipes in her old pre-war cookery book.  Has anybody ever made this?

I've never made it, but my 1935 copy of the Radiation Cookery Book has two recipes:

Barley Water (1)
2 to 4 oz barley depending on the thickness required
1 quart water
1/2 to 1 oz sugar
1 lemon
Wash the barley, place it in a saucepan with the water and simmer gently for 1 hour or more. If the lemon is used, the rind can be peeled thinly and added during the simmering process. Strain, add sugar and lemon juice, if liked. NOTE: to blanch the barley, cover it with cold water and bring to the boil, then strain. This is sometimes done before adding the barley for barley water, but it is not really necessary.
Barley may be used a second time if the cooking has not been for much longer than 1 hour.

Barley Water (2) Quickly made.
1/2 oz patent barley
3 pints of boiling water
Sugar to taste
2 lemons or other flavouring
Mix the barley to a paste with sufficient cold water. Boil up 3 pints of water. When boiling remove the saucepan from the burner and pour the paste into the water, stirring well. Reboil and cook for 1 minute, stirring all the time. Add sugar and lemon juice or other flavouring. If liked, a strip of lemon rid may be boiled with the water and removed before adding the paste.

The same book suggests making  effervescing lemonade by stirring half a teaspoon of bicarb into lemonade just before serving, or varying barley water with 1/2 lb. of rhubarb, blackcurrants or other fruit and using the second method.

These are all listed under 'invalid food'. It set me off looking up health benefits of barley and wondering where to buy it nowadays.

Eenymeeny

annieb64 said:

I make something smilar but with just 1 lb of sugar , 1 oz citric acid and three unwaxed lemons. It can be frozen.

I'm thinking that if it can be frozen it might be nice as ice cubes or ice lollies to soothe a sore throat

London_1

Sadly when my late ma-in-law Clara died back in the mid 1980s her big brown recipe book with handwritten recipes and remedies that HER granny had written out in beautiful 19th century copperplate was thrown out.

 I was so cross when I found out my brother -in-law had thrown it away ,apart from the recipes there were the old ladies (ma-in-law's Granny's) different remedies to keep you healthy ,long before there were the sorts of medicine of today. My brother-in-law being single said he didn't think anyone would have wanted it !!!  Some of the dates in that big brown book were from around 1850 onwards .OK probably nothing I would perhaps have made living in London "Take a decent sized hare and gut and skin it " but I would have kept it for historical value for my grandchildren as a glimpse into how people survived in those days. But sadly it probably ended up in landfill  

To my late Ma-in-law it was her go-to book for almost anything a sort of 19th century written google  

But its interesting how folk remember their Gran and how they managed to make things out of almost anything

JackieO xx

Cherryfudge

That's heart breaking Jackie, I hope somehow it found its way into friendly hands. I found a wartime scrap book of magazine cuttings, particularly knitting patterns, in a charity shop and I treasure it. There's a kind of bond with the person who made it.

MrsCD

It's looking quite stormy out there tonight. Stay safe everyone!

Laura_Elsewhere

We finally got round to taking down the big sitting-room curtain-pole and sorting out the curtain-rings that had unhooked themselves, closing up the gaps so they stay on this time  
We've got the summer's accumulation of bits and pieces moved as well, so now we can easily pull the heavy, lined, velvet curtains across the big north-facing window to keep the sitting-room cosy. 

We cleared the table properly too, and this afternoon played a board-game for the first time in ages. I am looking forward to being able to do jigsaws again now we have a usable table- who needs expensive outings to enjoy themselves?!  

Cherryfudge

That sounds wonderfully cosy, @Laura_Elsewhere, especially the velvet curtains. We have a velvet door curtain (Under £30 from Dune!m a few years ago) and it always makes me feel I'm snuggling in for the evening when I close it.

Incidentally, for those with curtain hooks instead of rings, we were advised to use furniture polish on the curtain track and it makes a huge difference when opening and closing them. Needs topping up a couple of times a year. I don't know how it took me nearly 60 years to learn this invaluable advice! I haven't, however, managed to solve the problem of why there are never enough hooks for the curtains.

YoungBlueEyes

I second the furniture polish trick. I did mine not long ago - spray some polish on a duster and wipe the whole track, especially the top where the hooks slide along. It's so easy and makes a huge difference  

I've seen bags of hooks for sale in Dunelm Cherryfudge.