Saturday 11 January 2014

Saturday Snippets (13)



One of life's simple pleasures is surely making preserves.  To take fresh ingredients, add salt or sugar and capture the resulting mix in a jar or bottle for future use, engenders pleasing feelings of comfort and thrift.  At this time of year it is the transformation of Seville oranges into marmalade that occupies me. The smell of zest and juice is intoxicating, whilst the glorious clarity of jelly with suspended shreds of orange rind, become a visual delight.  



Then when you break the seal months later, the perfume hits you and takes you back to that gloomy winter day when you pottered in your kitchen and felt no guilt whatsoever that you ought to be doing something else.

This is my recipe for Three Fruit Marmalade.  It is one of the easiest recipes for marmalade I possess; it looks good and it tastes good. 

Ingredients:  4 lemons, 2 juicy sweet oranges, 2 grapefruit (total weight 3 lbs), 6 pints of water, 2 lbs sugar. 

Method:

1  Wash the lemons and oranges, halve them and squeeze out the juice and pips.  Slice the peel thinly.

2  Wash the grapefruit, pare of the rind thickly with a knife or vegetable peeler and slice it thinly.  Remove any thick white pith and membrane from the fruit and chop the flesh roughly.

3  Put the fruit juice and flesh, sliced peel and water in a preserving pan.  Tie up the pith, membrane and pips in a piece of muslin and add to the pan.  Simmer gently for about one to one and a half hours, or until the peel is really soft and the liquid is reduced by about half.  Remove the muslin bag and squeeze any juice back into the saucepan.

4  Add the sugar, stirring until it has dissolved.  Bring to the boil and boil rapidly until setting point in reached, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.  Leave the marmalade to cool for about 15 minutes, then put into warmed jars and cover in the usual way. 



Seville Orange Marmalade

Ingredients:  3 lbs Seville oranges, washed, Juice of 2 lemons, 6 pints of water, 6 lbs sugar

Method:  

1  Halve the oranges and squeeze out the juice.  Collect the pips and pulp in a piece of muslin and tie into a bag.

2  Slice the peel thinly with a sharp knife or vegetable slicer.  Put the fruit juices and water in a preserving pan and tie the bag to the handle.

3  Add the peel and simmer for about two hours, until the peel is soft and the liquid reduced by about half.

4  Remove the muslin bag, squeezing it well between two plates to extract all the juice (this improves the pectin content).

5  Add the sugar and stir until it has dissolved.  Bring to the boil and boil rapidly for 15 minutes.

6  Test setting point, then leave to cool for 15 minutes. Stir, pot and cover in the usual way.


Things you could do in January:

  • Build a bird box
  • Go on a beer safari
  • Ice-skate in a woodland
  • Explore some well-known "gardens" near where you live
  • Ensure you have a bright and welcoming winter front doorstep
My garden in January never ceases to amaze me with early spring flowers.  So far we have snowdrops beginning to poke through the ground.  When they are out they will look like this


We also have aconites that grow closely with the snowdrops



and already there are lots of Hazel catkins that dance in the wind along our driveway.



Weather here in the UK has been atrocious.  A series of gales accompanied by horizontal rainfall continue to rip their way across the country, coming in off the Atlantic.  So far we have been spared the worst of the flooding. Others haven't been so lucky.  


All we can do is sit it out.  


They're a tough lot those Canadians!

Finally a bit more humour to end with. I couldn't help but laugh at this one

  
And as for my computer playing up constantly!


Why didn't I think of that?  And finally...


Don't you just love cats?!


24 comments:

  1. Oh wow Ami :) I think my dad would fall in love with you if he ever read this post. His favourite thing, orange marmalade. It's so hard to find where he lives, so if I ever go to visit I take a load of jars for him. I've never made marmalade, jams yes, but never dared to try this, I'm gonna give it a try now :)

    Happy weekend dear :) oh and that first joke with Dawn, was too funny haha

    Hugs x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Missy! I'm glad, because orange marmalade is just soooo yummy spread thinly (or thickly if you have a mind) on hot toast. As I have to watch my sugar levels, it is a luxury I don't get to enjoy very often, but everyone else around here enjoys it, and I give jars away quite liberally.

      Try the easy recipe. I am sure you will never go back to "bought" marmalade ever again.

      Hugs
      Ami

      Delete
  2. Hi Ami, I enjoyed reading this :)

    Thank you for the marmalade recipes and glad to hear you have been spared the worst of the flooding. From what we have been seeing here it looks insane and my thoughts are with those in the affected areas.

    Love the jokes. The first one cracked me up (pun intended :)

    Hugs,
    Roz

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The flooding has been insane, and now the difficulties lie with these people being unable to insure their properties against future floods.

      I only wish the name in that first joke had said Dan instead of Stan!

      Hugs
      Ami

      Delete
  3. Those jars are beautiful! I love all things citrus but am not a big marmalade fan - maybe I need to try it again. I've only made freezer jam. I haven't attempted what my friend calls "Big Girl Jam". Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh Leah you should try some Big Girl jam. Try the easy marmalade recipe - it's fail safe. When you make your own I am sure you will like it. You can always pick out all the bits of peel and line them up on the side of your plate!

      Hugs
      Ami

      Delete
  4. Ami, you are the Martha Stewart of my circle of friends.

    Terrific post, I love the pictures and cartoons.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Sunny! Is being a Martha Stewart okay? I quite like the name Martha, only I think I would have to be a "Marti".

      Made a huge Truffle Torte today - only dared have a tiny slice. It's like eating pure chocolate. Oh dear. I am already getting apprehensive about next Thursday!

      Thanks, honey, for your support. (I read one of your books again today and I still think the heroine is like me - always with the attitude!) Good grief! Glad you had a laugh anyway.

      Hugs
      Ami

      Delete
  5. Hi Ami, how industrious you are. No wonder you don't have time for anything!!
    Me, I am a bit more lazy, I loved the cartoon btw
    love Jan.xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think I am particularly industrious, because I do all these enjoyable things whilst everyone else is doing sensible things like exercising at the gym. I don't think you are lazy at all.

      Hugs
      Ami

      Delete
  6. Ami,

    Haven't made marmalade in yonks. Thanks for the recipe.

    Jokes made me laugh.

    Love,
    Ronnie
    xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Golly, Ron, you belong to the generation that uses words such as "Yonks!" Love it! My type of girl!

      Try the easy recipe, I can recommend it.

      Hugs
      Ami

      Delete
  7. I couldn't grow flowers if my life depended on it! I have never heard of Hazel catkins either.

    I love one Cat. :)

    Cute post. I would love to try the marmalade but I can't do citrus. I love
    apple butter if you have a good recipe for that?

    love sara :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You could grow bulbs. All you do is pop them in the ground at the appropriate time of the year, and wait for them to flower. We have trees over here called Hazel and during the winter they have these catkins on them that look like little lambs' tails. In the late summer/early autumn they have hazel nuts on which are very good to eat.

      I don't have a recipe for apple butter and I am not sure what it is. Perhaps you could explain and send me a recipe? Every autumn we have loads of apples and never know what to do with all of them.

      Hugs
      Ami

      Delete
  8. Funny our 'snowdrops' tend to look a tad different over here in January! Huh?

    love
    willie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hahahahaha!!!

      Still digging yourself out of your driveway then, Willie?

      Hugs
      Ami

      Delete
  9. Ami I am going to wait until I can visit. You can show me how to make the marmalade while we have a few cocktails! Sound good?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh Minelle, it sounds superb! I simply can't imagine what trouble we would get into, can you?

      Hugs
      Ami

      Delete
  10. Goodness, what a busy little bee!

    Snowdrops in January??? Wow, must be warm there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know. Hence the weight increase. And I made some more bread too. Your influence!

      Our snowdrops are not out yet, they are late this year, but are well above ground. I was out walking in the spinney today and the hyacinths are well up as well, and the daffodils are around two inches above the soil.

      We are getting what is known as s "False Spring". Even the birds are beginning to sing and think winter is over, so I foretell lots of frosts to come and probably some ruined blossom on the fruit trees. Our winter isn't over by any means, and it has been known to hold off till February and then snow like the blazes. But these anticyclones bring such bright sunny days, you can almost forget.

      Hugs
      Ami

      Delete
  11. The flowers are beautiful...makes me eager for spring. :-) I have never made marmalade before - have saved the recipe to try sometime. :-) Hugs

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are many different kinds of marmalade and if you don't like one particular fruit or are allergic to it, you could try a different one, but marmalade is traditionally made from citrus fruits. If you don't like the peel in marmalade, you can leave it out and just make the jelly. Hope you try making some one day. Sunshine in a jar!

      Hugs
      Ami

      Delete
  12. I have never made jams or jellies :( maybe I should give it a try. Then again we probably don't need the sugar. January certainly is a difficult month! I'm a bicyclist and I'm dreaming of it getting warm enough to get back out there. Hope you're surviving the winter blues! Clara

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Homemade jams and jellies taste completely different and you can make them with much less sugar than the ones you buy from shops. You needn't put too much on your toast either, just a scraping will give you a lovely taste. I'm diabetic and must be very careful, but so far have managed to eat jam or marmalade occasionally with no repercussive effects.

      We have this really weird false spring over here and feel our come-uppance could be on the way as snow is forecast over the Pennines tonight. Who knows? We are a funny country weatherwise.

      Hugs
      Ami

      Delete