Gin and Tonic, Nerdy Girl Style

Summer's coming.... 

Why not build your own soda maker?
http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2011/how-tuesday-build-your-own-seltzer-maker/



Nerdy science tip:  Use refrigerated water.  Cold water absorbs more CO2.  
From Howcast.com a recipe for tonic syrup.  I haven't tried this, but it looks good.  Add gin and a beautiful view and sunshine and you are set for summer.

Tonic Syrup

You Will Need

• 4 c. water
• 3 tbsp. cinchona
• 6 tbsp. citric acid
• 3 limes
• 3 stalks of chopped lemongrass
• 3 c. sugar
• A bottle or container
• Soda water
• Large saucepan
• Mixing spoon
• Strainer
• Coffee filter
• Allspice berries (optional)
• Salt (optional)
• Coriander (optional)
• Orange peel (optional)
• Bitters (optional)
• Lemons or limes (optional)

1. Step 1

   Combine ingredients

   Put all of the ingredients except the sugar in the saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil.
2. Step 2

   Simmer

   Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Tip
   Spice to your taste with allspice berries, salt, coriander, orange peel, bitters, and lemons or limes.
4. Step 3

   Strain

   Remove the mixture from the heat and strain out all the solids with a fine strainer.
5. Step 4

   Repeat straining

   Strain the mixture again, this time through a coffee filter.
6. Step 5

   Add sugar

   Put the strained mixture back into the pan, bring it to a simmer, and add the sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
7. Step 6

   Refrigerate

   Pour the syrup into a bottle or container that can be tightly sealed and refrigerate.
8. Step 7

   Add syrup and serve

   Add syrup to soda water to taste. Serve over ice, or use in cocktails.
9. Fact
   Cinchona bark contains quinine, which for centuries was the most common anti-malarial remedy in the world.

What sort of crafts will be on Nerdy Girl?

I'm currently going through screeds of photos looking for one's I've taken during the making of different projects and it's reminding me of all the crafts I've tried in the past, but set down to one side for some reason or another.  This blog will be an excellent excuse to pick up those things again and explore the techniques and try to improve on the first-attempt results.  


Perhaps you're like me and you find an idea on the net and you give it a go with, perhaps, not the exact same materials or ingredients, but you figure you'll fluff it and see how it goes.  Unexpected results go with the territory, but who ever gets it right on the first try?  When it comes to crafts, I don't like to think in terms of 'right' or 'wrong', but simply varying degrees of self-satisfaction.  That is why we do these things, isn't it?  Not to get it 'right', but for that feeling of accomplishment and self-satisfaction.  As I often say to my friends, 'It's cheaper than therapy.'  


But I digress in my progress.  I mean to tell you a few of the crafts coming up on this blog that will be attempted, reattempted, photographed and tutorial'd.  


Crafts I am rather big on at the moment are cold porcelain, reusing plastic bags, naalbinding, fabric stencilling and, of course, soapmaking.


Want to ask questions or comment?  Use the handy comment section below, so I don't get the feeling I'm talking to myself, again.  *looks around nervously*  
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naalbinding predates knitting.

making bathroom bags
from fused plastic

swirly, pretty soap