Family Friendly Mulberry Cocktail

Have you ever heard of a Mulberry Cocktail? No...well neither had I until I was looking for some recipes to use up our mulberries and came across Mulberry Cocktail in the Queensland Country Women's Association Cookery Book with recipes from the original 1959 QCWA Cookery Book. In the Introduction it says 'The QCWA Cookery Book reflects very much the era in which it was compiled. Recipes tended to be hearty and wholesome, nothing was left to waste and recipes of ethnic original were few and far between. The instructions in many instances assumed that the cook knew exactly what to do, as they were often very scant in detail'.

There are some really interesting recipes in this book and some of the original recipes have been retained for interest's sake. Not much was wasted in those days and there are recipes for Sheep Tongues in Tomato Puree with Potato Salad, Ox Tongue with Tomato Aspic and Jellied Tongue with Beet Salad and Mayonnaise. Thankfully Mum didn't serve up brains or tongue but we did have our fair share of liver. 

In the Index there are various sections including 'The Hostess at Mid-Morning Tea' and there are a lot of scone recipes in that section. Then there is the 'The Hostess's Reserve Supply' which has a heap of jam, chutney and pickle recipes as well as 'The Cocktail Hostess' which is the section with the Mulberry Cocktail recipe. If anyone has a glut of mulberries and would like to make this 'Cocktail' here is the recipe:

Mulberry Cocktail

2 cups (500 Ml) fresh mulberry juice

1 cup (250 Ml) water

1/2 cup (110g) sugar

Juice of one lemon

1 cup (250 ml) orange juice

Combine liquids and sugar, stir till dissolved. Chill thoroughly and serve with a berry in the glass. Loganberries or strawberries may also be used. 

As you can see there is no alcohol in this drink so I am not sure why it was called a cocktail. In the photo above, the glass (which looks dirty but really isn't) contains pure mulberry juice as it had drained off the mulberries I used to make ice cream. The next batch we pick will be made into a Mulberry Cocktail although I can't imagine combining mulberries and orange. I might make half a batch to start off with. 

If you would like to 'drop a hint' to someone to buy this recipe book for you for Christmas, you can find out how to purchase it on the QCWA website.

 

Source. Used with permission from Pimpos

As I started this blog last year and had to learn step by step how to add this and that, find out what on earth 'gadgets' were and try to understand Blogland lingo, I wrote a post on the Down to Earth Forums on how to set up a blog and added the links I had come across which had helped me. 

Well after reading that Vicki got inspired and started up her own blog Vee's Easy Vegan which has been hugely successful and to celebrate her 6 month blog anniversary she is having a Pimpos Kids Shoes giveaway. They have five varieties for girls and one for boys. There will be three winners for a pair of children's shoes so if you have a young child in your family, head over to Vicki's blog and enter. You don't have to be on Facebook to enter by the way. I'm not....okay, okay...I know I'm a dinosaur! However, I am sure I can live without Facebook. :-)

Don't you just love those shoes with the cherries on? I'd like a pair for myself!