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Members Unusual Hobbies And Interests


Stuart0742

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Oh come on Stuart!!!

You know I have got lots of wierd and unusual interests and hobbies.

Many of which I have previously shared on the site anyway.

Hey, - I know a member who has recently taken up making apple pies! ;-)

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My hobby is collecting mineral water bottles by sheffield mineral water companys, these bottles held soda water, lemonade , ginger beers , and hop bitters and the bottles in the photo are just part of my collection and date from 1870 through to 1915, i am always looking to purchase any sheffield bottles i dont already have and if any forum members can help me aquire any there help would be much appreciated. thankyou ! kevin

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and I know a member who has taking up eating them...

Just to fill you in on this "in the know comment" to Stuart.

In our garden we have an apple tree, - it was there when we bought the house 24 years ago.

It has cropped intermittently over time but has grown a lot and is now quite a big tree.

In the last 3 years it has produced bumper crops, - 5 or 6 sack fulls of apples, - and that doesn't include the extra 3 sack fulls from branches that overhang our neighbours property which we have told him to keep if he can use them.

Until last year some of the apples had holes in where bugs had eaten into them, but last winter my wife, who works in a garden centre, put a green band around the trunk which stops pests crawling up the trunk, along, along the branches and into the fruits. (I would have thought this damage was done by flying pests, but apparently not).

So this year we have not only had a massive crop but they are in perfect condition.

Unfortunately the apples on the tree are cookers (cooking apples) and not eaters (eating apples), they are very hard in texture and quite sour to taste. I would have prefered eating apples, or better still, something I could crush up and ferment into a few gallons of cider.

So, as the apples are only any good for cooking that means a hell of a lot of apple pies, apple crumbles and other pies supplimented with blackberries or rhubarb from my wifes allotment. There is far more than we could eat on our own, and if we made it and froze it we would need a big freezer and would be more than self sufficient in apple pies.

So when Stuart came to our house the other week we gave him a bag of apples.

I understand that he has been busy cooking and eating them ever since, hence my comment in the previous post.

Now, if I was a German pork butcher I could put one in the mouth of a pigs head in my shop window ;-) , and whats more, a couple of apples have already been made into apple sauce for serving with roast pork (pooerk). One of our favourites. However we have found that home made apple sauce tends to go mouldy quite quickly once you start using it.

Still on a German theme, we spent part of our summer holiday this year in Germany on the Rhine. A common local desert which we had to sample (because it is typically German, and we always like to sample the local food) was apple stroodle. It was delicious, - perhaps we could make some of our own from our own apples.

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My hobby is collecting mineral water bottles by sheffield mineral water companys, these bottles held soda water, lemonade , ginger beers , and hop bitters and the bottles in the photo are just part of my collection and date from 1870 through to 1915, i am always looking to purchase any sheffield bottles i dont already have and if any forum members can help me aquire any there help would be much appreciated. thankyou ! kevin

Don't know if it is still there but the museum at Elsecar near Barnsley used to have a "bottle museum" with a lot of locally amde soft drink bottles.

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DaveH

Thanks for filling me in!

The dogs "killed" our two young apple trees whilst chasing around in the garden and we never replaced them, the trees, I mean.

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Don't know if it is still there but the museum at Elsecar near Barnsley used to have a "bottle museum" with a lot of locally amde soft drink bottles.

The museum at Elsecar is still there (I was at the Elsecar Heritage Centre in August) and it is run by the Coddswallop Trust

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So, as the apples are only any good for cooking that means a hell of a lot of apple pies, apple crumbles and other pies supplimented with blackberries or rhubarb from my wifes allotment. There is far more than we could eat on our own, and if we made it and froze it we would need a big freezer and would be more than self sufficient in apple pies.

I use the brambles out of our garden to make bramble whisky - much better than putting them in an apple pie!

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I used to go blackberry picking along the River Weaver whilst staying at my Aunt's in Northwich.

Years later, I started picking blackberries in the forests here in Switzerland. I, too, made my own blackberry liqueur and labelled it Gill's Blackberry Wine - very potent but delicious!!

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Guest Barbara M

Apart from Sheffield History & my family history I draw animal's birds & insects with pastel pencils, ( see attached picture ) it keeps me amused & I am a member of our local Art Club.

Barbara M

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I used to go blackberry picking along the River Weaver whilst staying at my Aunt's in Northwich.

Years later, I started picking blackberries in the forests here in Switzerland. I, too, made my own blackberry liqueur and labelled it Gill's Blackberry Wine - very potent but delicious!!

I have spent part of today and yesterday picking sloe and bullace for the production of sloe gin (and bullace gin). My partner loves the stuff, although I find it too sweet for my taste.

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DaveH

Thanks for filling me in!

The dogs "killed" our two young apple trees whilst chasing around in the garden and we never replaced them, the trees, I mean.

No problem Gillmar,

I think I may have talked my wife into making an apple strudle, as the one we had in Germany she really enjoyed.

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I use the brambles out of our garden to make bramble whisky - much better than putting them in an apple pie!

Bramble WHISKEY <_< <_<

In Britain, while it is perfectly legal for anyone (even children) to FERMENT beers, lager, ciders and any type of wine, any of which may contain up to around 15% alcohol it is ILLEGAL to DISTIL these drinks to make SPIRITS.

Spirits contain much higher alcohol levels, typically around the 40% mark. Whiskey itself is a spirit and as such it is not legal to make your own.

However, in home brewing, some "whiskeys" are NOT real distilled whiskeys.

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So that's why the base for my bramble whisky is a bottle of cheap out of Aldi..............! I use the Scottish whisky rather than the Irish whiskey.

This year a friend gave me a bag of wild plums out of her garden which I've used to make plum gin - with a bottle of Aldi gin. It'll be interesting to see what that tastes like at Christmas. Last year I made sloe gin which went down very well. Its wonderful using this free food!!

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So that's why the base for my bramble whisky is a bottle of cheap out of Aldi..............! I use the Scottish whisky rather than the Irish whiskey.

This year a friend gave me a bag of wild plums out of her garden which I've used to make plum gin - with a bottle of Aldi gin. It'll be interesting to see what that tastes like at Christmas. Last year I made sloe gin which went down very well. Its wonderful using this free food!!

Got it!

So it is a home made spirit "whisky", but is done perfectly legally by buying a bottle of whisky as one of the ingredients.

That legalises it because by buying the whisky you are paying the duty on it, which is all the law is really interested in, - making money out of it.

I'm suprised that they haven't tried to stop home brewing of beers and wines by now as the cost of home made stuff is a lot less than bought stuff, - and most of the cost is of course duty tax.

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I have spent part of today and yesterday picking sloe and bullace for the production of sloe gin (and bullace gin). My partner loves the stuff, although I find it too sweet for my taste.

Sloe Gin I know but Bullace? Can you fill me in, please?

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Sloe Gin I know but Bullace? Can you fill me in, please?

The bullace is the fruit from prunus insititia and is, in the wild form, a larger fruit than the sloe, sharing the same black skin and bluish bloom. Essentially the bullace is the wild form of the damson.

Bullace, from A Modern Herbal

If making bullace gin it is usual to use less sugar than for sloe gin as bullace is a sweeter fruit than the sloe.

I prefer bullace as it easier to pick than sloe, the tree being less thorny and it takes fewer fruits to get the required amount for gin making :rolleyes:.

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My sister has made many many items from papier-mache, done in the old fashioned way with

flour, water and newspaper.

It does require a lot of patience when you have to wait untill it's thoroughly dry before you can paint it.

In the mean time she starts on another one. Here's a few samples.

Basket not papier mache

Dish not included

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My sister has made many many items from papier-mache, done in the old fashioned way with

flour, water and newspaper.

It does require a lot of patience when you have to wait untill it's thoroughly dry before you can paint it.

In the mean time she starts on another one. Here's a few samples.

Basket not papier mache

Dish not included

Now that papier mache food looks like the real thing.

Anyone ever mistaken it for the real thing and tried to eat it?

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Now that papier mache food looks like the real thing.

Anyone ever mistaken it for the real thing and tried to eat it?

You bet. Sometimes when you visit , you have to be very careful what you pick up to nibble

especially the licorice allsorts and chocolates.

What about beans for tea or a drink or two?

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You bet. Sometimes when you visit , you have to be very careful what you pick up to nibble

especially the licorice allsorts and chocolates.

What about beans for tea or a drink or two?

Joan's baked beans :blink:

That ones a bit of a give away, but the others look very realistic and lifelike.

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Joan's baked beans :blink:

That ones a bit of a give away, but the others look very realistic and lifelike.

Ye that's the girl that made em.

Now these were put in an exibition in the local community centre . Even the the bristles of the scrubbing

brush are made from paper and the tacks.

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Ye that's the girl that made em.

Now these were put in an exibition in the local community centre . Even the the bristles of the scrubbing

brush are made from paper and the tacks.

..and a size 4 flat iron.

My wife has a collection of old irons.

I am sure I have posted some pictures of them in another topic somewhere

But if not here they are again, not papier-mache but the real thing

.and a gas powered iron as well

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