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Martell’s country weblogger explains...
Winter drinks
Hello and welcome again to my diary! It’s been a nice quiet week for me and Geoff. Well, I say quiet – it was until Mary rang to say she’d had a thank-you card from Lucy and John full of the fun we’d had at the weekend, lovely walks and a brilliant afternoon of games at Mary and Peter’s – if you missed my diary, see www.telegraph.co.uk/martell. “And we loved the Martell Cognac and apple juice you introduced us to. We’d never have thought of mixing Martell,” Mary said. “If I pop round can you show me some more recipes?” So there we were in the kitchen, all warm and cosy. “I’ll copy a few of these winter drinks for you to try,” I said, getting out an old book of my mother’s.
Mary said, “How about this one, with tea?” It was very simple. Half a litre of Martell Cognac, half a litre of sugar, measured in the jug, two litres of fresh hot tea and the strained juice of 12 oranges and four lemons. Dissolve the sugar in the tea, add the fruit juices and warm through before adding the Martell Cognac. That makes enough for a good 20 glasses.
Mary wondered if there were non-alcoholic ones. I remembered Honeyed Apple Punch from my childhood. You put a litre of goodquality apple juice and two or three tablespoons of runny honey into a pan with two cloves, half a cinnamon stick and a couple of strips each of lemon and orange peel. Trick is not to let it boil or even simmer after heating it through, just let it infuse over a really, really low heat – or in a crock pot. That’s enough for four glasses but you can double or treble the recipe. “Not only good for children,” Mary pointed out, “but designated drivers.” I’ve put more on my website for you to enjoy. But then the strangest thing happened. I said, “Geoff and I are going on a winter shopping trip next week. It’s a surprise, he says, so I don’t know where we’re going yet.” Mary laughed, grabbed her jacket and scarf and was half way out of the door before I caught her words. “Better get your SKATES on then...” What could she mean? I hope to have the answer next week.
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