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Post by Chuckie on Nov 4, 2014 20:36:05 GMT -5
Found a VERY COMPLICATED recipe today to make apple schnapps--thinly sliced apples soaking in 80 proof vodka! LOL. Since we have THOUSANDS of Arkansas Black Apples, thought I'd give it a go. Here it sits b4 heading to the 'cool dark place'--a/k/a 1882 stone basement (for THREE MONTHS!), done in 1/2 gallon Mason Jars: Made six jars, or 3 gallons BEFORE taking the apples out. We have one of those colander thingys w/a wooden dowel that belonged to Monkey's Auntie. Although the recipe doesn't call for it, will 'dowel' them through there when done, then strain w/cheesecloth ( IF necessary). Recipe further says to 'turn or shake regularly'; dunno if that applies to the SCHNAPPS, or the FERMENTOR?! Stay tuned... CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by vaporvac on Nov 4, 2014 20:51:26 GMT -5
I could use a glass of that about now! Keep us posted.
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Post by karitx on Nov 4, 2014 21:06:28 GMT -5
Interesting! You'll have to give us a report when it's ready! Or mail out samples!
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Post by 58limited on Nov 15, 2014 13:38:42 GMT -5
Thousands of apples? I'll have to get you to send me some. I want to make a Cyser (apple cider mead).
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Post by Chuckie on Dec 22, 2017 20:15:16 GMT -5
I could use a glass of that about now! Keep us posted. Posted this in 2014, and JUST straining today!!! Monkey is gonna try using honey for some sweetness. It's fairly sweet NOW--after THREE years--so we'll see. Here it is after strained through coffee filters: Stay tuned!! CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by vaporvac on Dec 22, 2017 21:50:03 GMT -5
Wow!!! I bet that's amazing! I'm raising a glass to you both. : ) OT, a bit, but do you ever dry apples in the Twell or with the oven pilot?
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Post by Chuckie on Dec 23, 2017 0:51:16 GMT -5
Wow!!! I bet that's amazing! I'm raising a glass to you both. : ) OT, a bit, but do you ever dry apples in the Twell or with the oven pilot? Monkey did a wee small batch using honey, and didn't like the colour that much, nor the added "flavour"--even though she's a honey lover!!! There was a 1/2 gallon jar down in the basement that I fiddled w/a while back, and wrote on the side "3TBS sugar to one quart schnapps", so I guess that tasted GOOD--at the TIME anyways!! Monkey also commented that sugar "doesn't really ALTER the taste nor cloudy the liquid as much as HONEY does, it just 'sweetens it' "... To the full half gallon jug shown on the "L" in the picture I just now added one cinnamon stick and three whole cloves--hope that doesn't over power the flavor. And here we are toying w/such things, when we've got to make about five pounds of summer sausage before Christmas, cold smoke some cheese, smoke a salmon and also prep for a rather LARGE dinner party when all her family returns to town-- NOT staying with US however, praise God!! Stay tuned, updates as they occur!! CHEERS! Chuckie p.s.--after re-reading your post, no, we haven't tried drying them in the t-well or oven. We didn't get so much as ONE apple off the tree this year! And we've some friends in the country that have an Arkansas Black that they too rec'd by mistake from the same outfit. They got off enough apples to make ONE pie this year! Dunno WHAT the issue was--maybe a late frost hurt the blooms? Don't remember
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Post by vaporvac on Dec 23, 2017 11:43:58 GMT -5
Chuckie, I want to add some fruit trees this year as I'm finally removing all the weeding volunteers and bush honeysuckle from my lower level, focusing on apple, crab, pear and plum. I'm looking to cook, cider and dry them. I've never grown trees other than Cornus Mas as an edible (besides the wild paw paws we have), so any and all info is welcome if you have the time. Anyone else feel free to chip in. Should I start a new post?
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Post by nana on Dec 23, 2017 19:11:51 GMT -5
Chuckie--how did I miss this thread? Apple schnapps sounds like a great use for my Arkblacks! Our tree produced this year like nobody's business. I have like a three year supply of applesauce, dried apples and quarts and quarts of juice and still have three half bushel baskets of apples in the cellar that are starting to need to be dealt with. They keep, but not forever. I want more details! I assume from the lovely pink color of the strained schnapps that you left the skins on. So, pack a big mason jar with thin sliced apples, and pour on vodka to cover, removing the air bubbles, I guess, and do you add sugar and spices at the beginning, or just to taste at the end? Three years of mellowing--they must be fantastic. I found that the Arkblack apples are not really great hard cider apples, but they taste great and I bet they can really give a nice flavor to the vodka. Like an apple tincture.
I tried a rumtopf this year. We're going to try it out for Christmas dessert as a topping for homemade vanilla pudding. All summer I layered fresh strawberries, then blueberries, good peaches when I could find them, mangoes, and raspberries, with sugar and rum, in a big mason jar. They said to let it set at least 3 months, but the longer the better. This apple schnapps sounds like it works on the same principle.
How is it that you let three years go by? I wouldn't have been able to be so patient!
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Post by Chuckie on Dec 24, 2017 0:47:21 GMT -5
Chuckie--how did I miss this thread? Apple schnapps sounds like a great use for my Arkblacks! Our tree produced this year like nobody's business. I have like a three year supply of applesauce, dried apples and quarts and quarts of juice and still have three half bushel baskets of apples in the cellar that are starting to need to be dealt with. They keep, but not forever. I want more details! I assume from the lovely pink color of the strained schnapps that you left the skins on. So, pack a big mason jar with thin sliced apples, and pour on vodka to cover, removing the air bubbles, I guess, and do you add sugar and spices at the beginning, or just to taste at the end? Three years of mellowing--they must be fantastic. I found that the Arkblack apples are not really great hard cider apples, but they taste great and I bet they can really give a nice flavor to the vodka. Like an apple tincture. I tried a rumtopf this year. We're going to try it out for Christmas dessert as a topping for homemade vanilla pudding. All summer I layered fresh strawberries, then blueberries, good peaches when I could find them, mangoes, and raspberries, with sugar and rum, in a big mason jar. They said to let it set at least 3 months, but the longer the better. This apple schnapps sounds like it works on the same principle. How is it that you let three years go by? I wouldn't have been able to be so patient! Well, I THINK I read that online, to just let them age like that for only 3 weeks or so. We did indeed leave the peels on, and just sliced them REALLY THIN, and arranged them in the jar TIGHTLY so there wouldn't be much airspace atall, getting the air bubbles out. I would sweeten them in the END IMHO. (Cinn might jump in on the sweetening part and tell you something different, as she's MUCH more versed in this stuff than I!!) The only thing I would do different is place a large cinnamon stick in the bottom of the empty jar along w/two whole cloves, then pack as described. Maybe two MORE cloves on top, then add the vodka. I went down there regularly the first few days to check the liquid level, then maybe once a week, and then (basically) forgot about them. The way I read the recipe-- IF memory serves me!--was just mind them the first few days to ENSURE the fruit was COMPLETELY COVERED by the vodka. I took one quart mason jar sweetened as described to my nephew's "Dads' & Diapers" bonfire this past Fall, and B-O-Y, was it a HIT w/the young "flat belly lads"!!! Hope it works as well for YOU!! CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by Chuckie on Dec 24, 2017 17:47:41 GMT -5
Chuckie--how did I miss this thread? Apple schnapps sounds like a great use for my Arkblacks! Our tree produced this year like nobody's business. I have like a three year supply of applesauce, dried apples and quarts and quarts of juice and still have three half bushel baskets of apples in the cellar that are starting to need to be dealt with. They keep, but not forever. I want more details! I assume from the lovely pink color of the strained schnapps that you left the skins on. So, pack a big mason jar with thin sliced apples, and pour on vodka to cover, removing the air bubbles, I guess, and do you add sugar and spices at the beginning, or just to taste at the end? Three years of mellowing--they must be fantastic. I found that the Arkblack apples are not really great hard cider apples, but they taste great and I bet they can really give a nice flavor to the vodka. Like an apple tincture. I tried a rumtopf this year. We're going to try it out for Christmas dessert as a topping for homemade vanilla pudding. All summer I layered fresh strawberries, then blueberries, good peaches when I could find them, mangoes, and raspberries, with sugar and rum, in a big mason jar. They said to let it set at least 3 months, but the longer the better. This apple schnapps sounds like it works on the same principle. How is it that you let three years go by? I wouldn't have been able to be so patient! Well, I THINK I read that online, to just let them age like that for only 3 weeks or so. We did indeed leave the peels on, and just sliced them REALLY THIN, and arranged them in the jar TIGHTLY so there wouldn't be much airspace atall, getting the air bubbles out. I would sweeten them in the END IMHO. (Cinn might jump in on the sweetening part and tell you something different, as she's MUCH more versed in this stuff than I!!) The only thing I would do different is place a large cinnamon stick in the bottom of the empty jar along w/two whole cloves, then pack as described. Maybe two MORE cloves on top, then add the vodka. I went down there regularly the first few days to check the liquid level, then maybe once a week, and then (basically) forgot about them. The way I read the recipe-- IF memory serves me!--was just mind them the first few days to ENSURE the fruit was COMPLETELY COVERED by the vodka. I took one quart mason jar sweetened as described to my nephew's "Dads' & Diapers" bonfire this past Fall, and B-O-Y, was it a HIT w/the young "flat belly lads"!!! Hope it works as well for YOU!! CHEERS! Chuckie OK, Monkey decided she DID like the honey sweetening, so here it is w/it in there--a BIT cloudier, compared to the half jar of UNsweetened. Used 1/4 cup honey to the 1/2 gallon. Taking it to my nephew's house for party tonight, will let you know how it goes... CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by vaporvac on Dec 24, 2017 19:38:54 GMT -5
I wish you a great Xmas eve, Chuckie and wish I could join you! I hope you're walking home, though. :
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Post by mach12 on Dec 24, 2017 21:09:21 GMT -5
Honey sweetened apple schnapps - sounds like a perfect medicine for this flu that's kicking my tail!
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Post by karitx on Dec 25, 2017 0:31:39 GMT -5
It sounds delicious! I bet all the party-goers are happy to see Uncle Chuckie walk in the door with the apple schnapps!
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Post by Chuckie on Dec 25, 2017 1:12:39 GMT -5
I wish you a great Xmas eve, Chuckie and wish I could join you! I hope you're walking home, though. : Uncle Chuckie don't HAVE to walk home, as himself only drinks B-E-E-R, and NOT in "copious amounts" anymore. Besides that, I get TIRED anymore before I get DRUNK, so I'm a pretty mellow dude nowadays---plus I'm usually working/cooking around the CHAMBERS STOVE, so that kinda occupies your time. I DID sample the schnapps when sweetening, but--again--hard liquor is "lost" on this beer boy!! You should've know me in me prime, however----kinda scary... I'm happy me God nephew is gonna "tackle" the ham himself tomorrow. NOT that difficult a job in itself---I also left him DETAILED instructions--- BUT when you're soloing for the first time, prolly WOULD make you nervous!! I can SLEEP a coupla extra hours tomorrow though! Will make the spicy smoked mac & cheese to take though... Nollaig shona dhaoibh, Fröhliche Weihnachten, Felize Navidad, Happy Hanukkah, , etc., et al to ALL my Chambers pals!! And apologies for any "greetings" I misspelled! CHEERS! Chuckie & Monkey
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Post by nana on Dec 25, 2017 8:29:47 GMT -5
Nollaig shona dhaoibh, Fröhliche Weihnachten, Felize Navidad, Happy Hanukkah, , etc., et al to ALL my Chambers pals!! And apologies for any "greetings" I misspelled! Beautifully said! And the same from me as well!
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Post by karitx on Dec 25, 2017 14:56:21 GMT -5
Happy holidays! I hope you are all enjoying some good times!
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Post by mach12 on Dec 25, 2017 15:45:08 GMT -5
Our first White Christmas in a decade. Even being under the weather it was incredible to wake up early this morning and see the hills and trees covered with snow under the light of the moon. Like a postcard.
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Post by pooka on Dec 26, 2017 5:11:49 GMT -5
mach12, we got a slight dusting of snow here on the bend of the Ohio river, though it hardly amounted to much. It tried to flurry on Sunday, but it was too warm to stick to anything. Last week, we'd had many days in the 50s, or nearly 60. In the coming week, we're forecast to get down to 10 at night at least one day. That's the kind of crazy weather we can get around here. I dozed off at my brother & sister's after a meal of roast lamb & as they ran off to take some food to some friends. When I woke up around midnight to go home, there was a light dusting of white on the top of my car, & a somewhat scattered dusting on the streets & yards. It'll probably all melt away by mid day tomorrow. I'm sure your frosted vistas were much more picturesque than mine though. Stay warm & toasty & heal thyself of this current affliction my friend. You deserve a therapeutic rest from all your recent labors. Christmas may be a lousy time to be sick, but it's a great time to kick back & let other take the helm for a while. Sounds like you're having fun puttering around with Pepper between your restful flops. A new Chambers range can be the best toy train set a grown up can get for Christmas, at least for some of us, especially a shiny red one. Happy holidays to all my friends out there. Peace on earth. Good will toward all.
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Post by mach12 on Dec 26, 2017 14:22:50 GMT -5
We cancelled everything and just made it a day of rest. I napped about an hour in the morning and woke up around 8 a.m. to find my wife in the kitchen cooking French toast, had hash browns cooked and staying warm in the well, and some bacon cooking in a cast iron frying pan. I offered to help and got kicked out of the kitchen. Christmas is also my birthday so she said it was my birthday breakfast. The best part was seeing her having so much fun cooking with Pepper.
I was telling my son about this apple schnapps technique. He graduated from High School and started college in Germany and remembers all of the things often associated with meals, festivals and so on and schnapps was one of them. He dropped by later and handed me a little bottle and said he was sorry he couldn't find apple but that maybe pear schnapps would do. I'll bet you could substitute pears for apples in Chuckies recipe if you had pears to use too.
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Post by vaporvac on Dec 26, 2017 15:44:18 GMT -5
Happy Belated, mach12. What a sweet gift from your son; you raised him well which shouldn't be surprising. I hope you're feeling better soon. It's great that "The Mrs." is on board with the Chambers! Pretty soon she'll think is was her idea. LOL. I hear bacon is great and fuss-free cooked in the broiler.
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Post by nana on Dec 26, 2017 16:58:12 GMT -5
It started snowing around midnight Christmas Eve and we woke up to 8" of powdery, beautiful snow-- a blessing because Friday we got around 8" as well, and then it turned to rain and made everything icy and ugly. This week is going to be real below zero cold, so it should stay nice for a while. I will take any amount of dry fluffy snow over ice any day. The ice is still under there, but hidden. Our driveway was a skating rink, but now with cold crunchy snow on top it's OK.
Happy Birthday, Mach12! I hope you're up and about soon, but don't be surprised if it takes you a week or two, or three, to really feel yourself again. Give yourself time to recover.
I bought some half gallon jars and some vodka from Texas called Deep Eddy(10 times distilled!). I am not a vodka drinker, so I don't really know a good vodka from a bad one, but I do know that the more you distill alcohol the less flavor it has, which suits my purpose, which is to extract as much apple flavor as I can, without anything getting in the way. I'll make some with cinnamon and cloves and some without, to see which I like better. I'll add sweetening at the end, if needed. I'll give it at least a year. I know what I'll be drinking next New Years Eve, I guess!
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Post by mach12 on Dec 26, 2017 23:19:36 GMT -5
Thanks for the birthday wishes. I'm going to give the schnapps a try too, though I'll just use the cheap stuff I buy for sanitizing, filling air locks and so on when I'm brewing since that's what I have. At least to this point my favorite cold weather drink is Glühwein, German mulled wine. We did up a batch and I figured the T-well would keep it right at the perfect temperature but it's still in bottles and waiting. There are a bunch of Glühwein recipes out there but my favorite is from www.mybestgermanrecipes.com/mulled-wine-recipe-gluhwein/: Ingredients Mulled Wine Recipe (for 4 bottles with 750ml content) 750 ml white wine, dry 750 ml wine, rosé (Moscato) 1500 ml red wine, (Bordeaux) 300 g sugar 1 organic lemon 1 organic orange 2 cinnamon sticks 1 pinch nutmeg 5 cloves 2 star-anise 1/2 tbsp allspice Cooking Instructions Mulled Wine Recipe - Fill wine with sugar, grated lemon and orange peel and spices in a pot and bring it to a boil. - Let it stand for 1-2 days then strain it. - Fill the mulled wine (Gluhwine) into clean bottles and close them right away. Keep them up to 4 weeks at a cool and dark place. If you have a wine cellar, that's the ideal place.
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Post by Chuckie on Dec 26, 2017 23:21:38 GMT -5
I bought some half gallon jars and some vodka from Texas called Deep Eddy(10 times distilled!). I am not a vodka drinker, so I don't really know a good vodka from a bad one, but I do know that the more you distill alcohol the less flavor it has, which suits my purpose, which is to extract as much apple flavor as I can, without anything getting in the way. I'll make some with cinnamon and cloves and some without, to see which I like better. I'll add sweetening at the end, if needed. I'll give it at least a year. I know what I'll be drinking next New Years Eve, I guess! Sounds like a Groucho Marx show--"I never met a vodka I didn't LIKE!" Or "I NEVER met a BAD vodka!!" LOL We did NOT add ANYTHING in the three years they "aged" in the basement---just filled the jars TOTALLY with THIN sliced skin-on apples, and 80 proof vodka. I think I turned them upside down a few times over the first few days, then basically "forgot about them"... After we FINALLY strained them three years later (first via fine colander then thrice through coffee filters), we added 1 FAT stick cinnamon stick and about 4 cloves to 1/2 gallon, and let that sit about 2-3 days upstairs on the kitchen counter. To THAT, we sweetened with 1/4 cup honey to 1/2 gallon---taste ratio that worked for US, and everyone that tried it--then shook the hell outta it to dissolve.... Hope that helps, again N-O-T rocket science--you're NOT "fermenting" or anything with yeasts, etc... CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by nana on Dec 27, 2017 10:35:38 GMT -5
I plan on squeezing out every last drop in the cider press before filtering. Waste not, want not, I always say!
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Post by nana on Dec 27, 2017 18:11:22 GMT -5
So. Four half gallon jars of apple, 2 spiced, 2 unspiced, and one more of an apple/bosc pear blend. I could have made more, I still have two baskets of apples, but that'll do for now. When you made yours Chuckie, did you find that you needed to top off the vodka? We got out as much air as we could and filled them all the way up, but after we finished up, when we checked each jar needed a tiny bit more, as though the apples had absorbed some of the vodka. We'll keep checking, I guess. Interestingly enough, my son gave me a book all about Moonshine fo Christmas. How to build a still and everything. I don't think I want the revenuers knocking at my door anytime soon, so for now it's purely for fun, but they did have some recipes for what to do with your finished 'shine, one of which sounds tailor made for Mach12 up in cherry country: Cherry Bounce. Love the name! I hope you can click on it and read it. If not, let me know and I'll type it in.
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Post by Chuckie on Dec 27, 2017 23:37:34 GMT -5
When you made yours Chuckie, did you find that you needed to top off the vodka? We got out as much air as we could and filled them all the way up, but after we finished up, when we checked each jar needed a tiny bit more, as though the apples had absorbed some of the vodka. We'll keep checking, I guess. I made this three LONG years ago, and do not recall this. But perhaps that is why I DID go down there daily the first few days, to check the vodka level, as it makes sense the apples WOULD absorb it. Good call, nana!! Again, I don't recall the recipe, other than I googled it, and I believe I chose the first one that came up!! CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by nana on Sept 15, 2019 12:22:19 GMT -5
We just opened and strained our first half gallon jar, which we put up in 2017. We just couldn't wait until three years, mainly because another bumper crop of apples plus a knee replacement coming up this fall means I will not be able to do any heavy duty processing, so I figured I better see if I like the final product before I make gallons more of it! The verdict is in: it is ambrosial! I don't think it needs any sweetener at all, it tastes amazing just as it is. It tastes like fresh apple cider, but with a kick like a mule. One half gallon jar made a little over a quart once it got squeezed in the press. (We put a little in a muslin bag and hand squeezed about a half pint to take over to a friend's house last night, so hard for me to say exactly how much it would be.) It is pretty cloudy; we strained it through layers of cheesecloth, but I think rather than straining through coffee filters, I'll let it settle out and rack it off with a siphon. I'm not sure if another year would make too much difference in the flavor, so I think we'll squeeze it all out so we have the jars to reuse for this year. But I do believe this may be one of the highest and best uses for a surplus of apples there is! PS- You see my problem! PPS- My husband wants to give it the full 3 years in the hopes of it developing a bit more aged character. I like the fresh cider taste myself, but I'm willing to give it a go. I will have to buy more jars, and I think I'll buy gallon sized ones this time. I think I've seen gallon mason jars somewhere. Probably the hardware store can special order it if need be. But when you squeeze it you're not only getting out the alcohol you put in, but also the juice from the apples, so it is no longer 80 proof, so I don't know how much it will "age". Does anyone know if it would be better to age it with the apples (pre-squeeze),or without them (post straining)?
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Post by Chuckie on Jul 1, 2021 13:37:29 GMT -5
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Post by nana on Aug 4, 2021 6:50:23 GMT -5
I have used this homemade liqueur method 3 times this summer, and it is a KEEPER!! I modified it to just use fruit and sugar, no added water, and I use the cheapest 100 proof vodka I can find. I do a quart mason jar about half full of the fruit and sugar sauce, and half vodka, let it sit on the counter for 24 hours and then strain it the way she says to. I’ve made raspberry and blueberry so far, but as soon as I can get some really good peaches I want to try that too. I like this because of the instant gratification aspect, but also because you can make a small amount as needed. The brewery near us makes a plain hard seltzer that they flavor with those Torino syrups, but I don’t really like those so much. So we just get a growler of plain and flavor it with this. Gives it quite a kick, let me tell you! (The 100 proof rotgut is actually something I keep in stock because I use it to make my homemade shower spray, which is awesome at keeping hard water stains and soap scum off your shower tiles and if anyone wants THAT recipe, just ask!)
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