In an effort to reduce the crazy consumerism around the holidays, a few years back our family decided to do homemade gifts for each other instead of buying everyone a gift. It has made the holidays a lot more special for all of us not to mention leaving our bank accounts in better shape come January. Last year I made pear brandy and Matt mixed a holiday CD.
This year I decided to make a few different fruit liqueurs including strawberry sherry, apricot brandy, and cherry cordial all made from local fruit. (Sorry family, no surprises on Christmas morning…) I bottled the strawberry sherry about a month ago, but decided it was time to bottle up the apricot brandy and cherry cordial this weekend.
Fruit liqueurs are ridiculously easy to make and they make a wonderful after dinner drink. I bought a few 4-5 quart clamp-top jars to make the liqueurs and a couple dozen 8 oz decorative clamp-top jars to bottle the finished products from Down to Earth. It’s a shame that they need to be stored in a dark place while they are processing because they are really beautiful to look at. I adapted both recipes from Blue Ribbon Preserves by Linda J. Amendt.
