I thoroughly washed the 2 bottles I chose for this, and filled them with hot water. BIG HINT: choose bottles with wider mouths, especially if you have a fresh cut on your finger. More later. lol.
While that kept the bottles nice and warm, I sliced 2 lemons (thin slices) and 2 limes (slender wedges), peeled about 10 or 12 cloves of garlic, and washed the 6 stalks of rosemary I had cut from my bush. While I did all that, I had a big pot of apple cider vinegar heating to a boil on the stove. When the lemons and limes were sliced thin, I spent the next few minutes stuffing the bottles with the garlic, citrus, and rosemary. After pouring out the hot water, of course. LOL. I thought it was prettier to make the slices rather than the wedges. The whole thing about a wider mouth bottle was that with the narrow opening bottles, it squeezed out a lot of juice and wasted it, not to mention soaking my cut finger even THROUGH the bandaid, lol; so please think ahead and don't get those skinny neck bottles, no matter how cute they are or if they have an embossed wheat pattern on them. Yes it was an old whiskey bottle. lol. Yes, I drank the whiskey. But no, I don't drink any more and haven't for years. :)
Anyway. lol. Sorry about the sidetrack. When everything is stuffed in, shake it around with the bottle sideways so everything's not packed in the bottom. Get your funnel, and pour the boiling vinegar in the bottles, slowly. When it's cooled, you'll probably have to put a little more in there (doesn't have to be boiling that time) because the level of vinegar sinks a bit. Cork the cooled bottles, and let it set for a couple weeks, melding together.
Uses for this vinegar include salad dressings, sauces (a tablespoon in some homemade OR bought spaghetti sauce is divine), and whatever you'd use nice flavored vinegar for. We just like to uncork it and breathe it in a couple times a week. lol.
The one with lemons:
And the limes:
Both cooling:
No comments:
Post a Comment