Whilst I’m on a little babymoon maternity leave from the blogosphere, I thought you’d still like a dose of She Sows Seeds goodness! I’ll hopefully be still popping in with baby spam and news of life in our little farmhouse with two littles now to fill my arms and days (you can also catch us over on Instagram). But in the meantime, here’s something I prepared earlier…
In the first few weeks of Eleanor’s life, my first few weeks of mamahood, my friend Sandra delivered some homemade lemon cordial (as well as some pretty delicious homemade baked beans!) Other family and friends delivered home cooked meals to fill our weary tummies in those first few weeks, but the lemon cordial, well it was quite possibly the best food-gift I received as a new mum, and I tell people that regularly when preparing for a newborn! The long nights of feeding feeding feeding that hungry little bubba is thirsty work. So thirsty. I guzzled that lemon cordial like nobodies business – so refreshing! Even in the depths of our very cold Winter nights, I craved that lemon cordial. So, in the lead up to another Winter babe joining us I set to making some more lemon cordial to quench that almighty breastfeeding thirst…
Almighty Thirst Quenching Homemade Lemon Cordial
Ingredients
6 lemons
1.5kg sugar
1 tablespoon citric or tartaric acid
4 cups boiling water
Method
Finely grate the lemon rind. Squeeze the juice from the lemons. Place the sugar, citric or tartaric acid, lemon rind, lemon juice and boiling water in a large bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Leave to stand to cool, then strain through fine sieve to remove rind and pour into sterilised bottles.
If you have some upcoming babies due to be born in your circle of family and friends this could be just the perfect, but unexpected, gift that a new mumma bear remembers, I know it was for me. A homemade gift of food is always welcome to new parents, but I wouldn’t have thought to give homemade cordial – now I suggest it as a gift all the time! The taste of lemon cordial will always transport me back to those dark cold nights by the fire feeding our baby blossom, taste and smell is so evocative of memories. And now I’ll have the same taste and smell memories of feeding our peachy girl Harriet in the Winter of ’16 too. Because I am thirsty!
Original recipe from ABC Hobart, by Sally Wise.